Orange County SC saw defeat in the regular season for just the second time in 2026 with a 2-3 heartbreaking defeat. OC squandered two different leads in a game that can simply be described as drunk. The storyline going into the game of two very strong defensive teams would be what team would break first. To everyone’s surprise they would combine for 5 goals with plenty of goals having context to it. The match would see both teams concede a penalty, both penalties get saved and truthfully one of the most egregious mistakes anyone can make.
FIRST HALF
Orange County’s lineup for the match would be about what we expected with only one wrinkle. Coming off a not very good week in the League Cup, Apolo Marinch got the start again at right wing. Everywhere else across the pitch was about the norm. Ousmane Sylla would get the start in the midfield where he will likely stay for the rest of the season.
The game would get off to a blistering start with the power of USL refereeing. Sacramento would open the scoring in the 4th minute of the game with a pass into the box that would get slotted past Rando. The goal would immediately be called back for offsides. Sacramento would get called for offsides a lot in this game with their high pressing style of attack. Orange County was on their heels a bit to start the game but they would get a big break when OC would get a penalty kick awarded in the 11th minute. Jack Gurr jumped to defend a cross with his arms up which you cannot do. Lyam MacKinnon would step up to take it and he did strike it well but Danny Vitiello would make a great save to tip it wide. This would start a spell for Orange County where they would hold possession in the offensive third and actually found themselves with good attacking opportunities.
It was off one of these offensive spells where, with numbers in the box, Stephen Kelly would turn to his left and would fire a seeing eye shot that Vitiello would get screened on and it went in back post. Sacramento claimed that Ethan Zubak who did screen Vitiello was offsides however to me it looked as if the left for Sacramento on the other side of the box kept everyone onside. So Sacramento, who have already gotten a goal called back, got a penalty conceded against them and now conceded a goal they do not think should stand, really started to apply pressure.
Sacramento’s plan on offense looked to attack down the sides and cross balls in the box. This was putting a lot of pressure on the center backs and defensive mids to clear everything out. Sacramento would feast on this and would see one effort rattle off the crossbar. It was very much helter skelter style of defending with lots of last ditch efforts to clear away balls and this is about when the game really started to slow down with lots of fouls committed. Going into the half, OC would hold a 1-0 lead.
SECOND HALF
The second half would be just about as eventful if not more so. Sacramento would continue the pressure in about the same way they had done all night. In the 57th minute of the game it would be Jack Gurr on the right side who would put in a perfect cross that Arturo Rodriguez would head home. The game was now tied and this was when OC would make their first changes. The substitutions for OC this year have been pretty good to this point. Lots of game changers have been brought on in the second half and this game was no different. Chris Hegardt, a Sacramento fan favorite, would come in first followed by Yaniv Bazini and the OC debut for Brandon Cambridge. Cambridge was a Sacramento player this season so a bit of a coincidence his first game came against them. Cambridge notably did not register any stats with Sacramento but would assist on OCs second goal where he would put in a ball to Bazini in the box who would head home a goal. It was very similar to the goal Sacramento scored.
OC had now put 2 past a good Sacramento defense and one would assume that this would be enough for OC to steal a win. It would not be. Sacramento would come out and expectedly really pressure the OC net and backline. A throw-in on the far side in the offensive third would get put to the Sacramento winger who inexplicably has all the time in the world to not only receive the ball but also set himself up to put a perfect cross into the box. So one would assume that if nobody on OC pressures the winger then they would all be in the box ready to clear it away. They would not and Kyle Edwards would get a free header and the rebound to tie the game in the 88th minute. It would be the second goal conceded by OC from a cross in from the right side against a team that has tall defenders.
Orange County would generate some chances here and there and this is when a chaotic night would see its most chaotic moment. On a ball played over the top, Tyson Espy is able to control it in his own box. However for reasons unknown, he either hears a whistle or assumes the play is offsides because he picks up the ball in sight of everyone in the stadium. Just like that the ref awards a penalty. Soccer is a cruel sport. A couple of weeks ago it was Espy who scored the game winning goal against Colorado Springs for his first professional goal but this is a notoriously awful mistake to make. One that he will never make again and very unfortunate to have happen in the dying minutes of the game and in a tied one against a rival. Alex Rando nearly bailed him out too when he was able to save the penalty but to rub salt in the wound, Sacramento would convert on the rebound that bounced right back to kick taker Michelle Benitez. OC would get another great chance that did require a great save from Vitiello and the game would end 2-3.
OVERVIEW
There are only a few OC games that come to mind where I am truthfully at a loss for words. I just know off memory in 2022 at Oakland when OC conceded two free kick goals in extra time to lose 1-2. I remember in 2022 at home vs Las Vegas when OC tied the game in extra time, conceded the lead, earned a penalty and then missed the penalty. I remember in a must win game losing to a North Carolina team 0-1 at home who had not won on the road all year. But the loss to Sacramento Saturday night takes its spot in the hall of I wish to forget games. This sucks too because the offense did its job and had a forward score a goal. It was only Sacramento’s second league win of the year but this game shows that both teams are playoff contenders. This is another crazy chapter of the OC-Sacramento rivalry that has seen some really spicy games the past couple of seasons. Does Tyson Espy’s mistake dominate the narrative of the game, yes. But OC this game also missed a penalty and let not one but two crosses find a Sacramento forward. There is an argument to be made about playing young players in high leverage situations. We have seen it go amazingly with first career goals, clean sheets, whatever. However the past two games have unfortunately been marred by costly game-changing mistakes from high-potential youth players. So now for OC the discussion is this. We know they have the means and players to compete with any team in the West. However, when will they start to?