The Elusive Low Stakes Phoenix Game
The regular season has not been that nice to Orange County the past couple of weeks. They are falling back into old habits of conceding goals and subsequent leads at inopportune times. Their start to the season has been good enough to allow for some dropped points here and there and with the dip in form they are still second in the West. But they are entering into a break from the marathon for their second matchup of the USL League Cup.
Orange County suffered defeat to El Paso at home in their opening match of the group stage which is all but a death blow to their hopes of advancing out of the group. With only one team advancing out of each group along with a singular wild card team across the entire tournament, losses are essentially run killers.
Like Orange County, Phoenix Rising FC were also defeated in their first game of the tournament. So while neither team is officially eliminated yet this could be just a game played for experience and pride.
THE OPPONENT - PHOENIX RISING FC
This is normally a marquee matchup for both clubs but when this is a part of a tournament that is essentially already determined then the edge is just simply not there. But that is not the entire story with this game as both teams do have things to prove to themselves. Orange County’s biggest question is simply can they win games convincingly? Phoenix on the other hand have seen some impressive showings. They got a point off of first place San Antonio last weekend which came after defeating the defending champions Pittsburgh on the road no less. They only sit 6th in the West so while OC are kind of happy that this game will be nonconsequential Phoenix is likely feeling the opposite. After this game Phoenix will start a grueling 3 game stretch against Tampa Bay, Sacramento and Louisville so were not exactly sure who we will see on Saturday for Phoenix.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
I am going to go out on a limb and predict Patrick Rakovsky will get the start again in net against his former club OC. Rakovsky of course was a big part of the storyline when Phoenix knocked Orange County out of the US Open Cup back in early April. Rakovsky has served the backup role for Phoenix in 2026 with 5 appearances in the league. He did not start in the loss to Colorado Springs in the group stage but that could change if Phoenix decides to punt this game away. 46 total appearances with Phoenix in what is now his fourth season with the club.
On the orange side of things, Efren Solis is another up and coming midfielder who recently turned 18 years old. Solis is an OCSC academy product who while only making 6 total appearances with the senior team across two seasons now he is starting to break into the 18 more so in 2026. He is still in pursuit of his first career goal and assist however he and many more others will get a lot of minutes with the last 3 group stage games.
PREDICTED STARTING XI
Expect a very youthful lineup with Solis, Espy, Ciotta and Kadono all getting the starts. Chirs Hegardt was the best OC player last week in Colorado Springs so look to him to keep the momentum going. The forwards for this game will be Bazini and Cambridge who have been impact players coming off the bench so this is a good chance to show what they can do with the start. The midfield core besides Solis is quite seasoned for Orange County so not much change there. Apolo Marinch will serve his one game suspension for the send off he got against El Paso this match.
THE MATCHUP
This is already the third of four scheduled matchups between OC and Phoenix and we are not even halfway through the season yet. That is what happens when you face them in both the mid season tournaments. This will also be the second time OC goes to Arizona in 2026 where they did get a gritty point in the league game in March. Phoenix still have the overall record in both regular season and tournament games with OC having yet to defeat Phoenix in non league games. This is a game that is not the most momentous but with feelings not wholesome then I still expect there to be an effort from both teams to get one over the other.
WHAT TO KNOW
Game - @ Phoenix Rising FC (USL Prinx Tires Cup)
When - May 16th, 7:00 PM PST
Where - Phoenix Rising Stadium (Phoenix, AZ)
OCSC Form - DLLDW
PHX Form - DWLWL
All-Time Series - 11-10-17 (38 Matchups)
TV - ESPN+