Orange County’s Season Starts Now
The road has been laid out before them. With no other competitions left on the schedule means Orange County can shift all of their attention and focus to the USL Championship. It has been a bit of time since Orange County did play in a league game and not much has changed with the table. Orange County still sit atop the West with a 3 point lead over San Antonio. There is a new challenger in New Mexico who has games in hand to use. We are roughly around the half way point for the regular season too. The one positive trait for Orange County is they have found ways to gain points even if not playing their best game. They have only seen defeat twice this season which puts them tied with Tampa Bay in the East as the lowest in the league. Sure there have been some games that OC should have liked to win that they could only draw but this is a very good position to be in. Especially considering that they have historically not had good starts to seasons. If they can garner another strong latter half of the season then they are poised to be a playoff threat.
But what separates the great teams from the good teams is that the great teams are able to easily dispatch lesser opposition. For the first time in 2026, Orange County SC will play Monterey Bay FC. This is the last of the California teams remaining and Monterey Bay have not been very good. It was a horrible first half of the season that sees them bottom of the conference. If Orange County have a somewhat healthy lineup like we expect them to have then this is a borderline must win game.
THE OPPONENT - MONTEREY BAY FC
Monterey Bay FC are as frustrating a team can be in 2026. Just how bad was their start to the year, they did not win any of their first 11 USL competitive games. That includes a loss to League One side Boise. But oddly enough after that stretch they went on to win four of their next six. But have returned to a 3-game winless run. You cannot win if you cannot score and Monterey’s 16 goals scored are tied for the lowest in the West. It is going to take a massive turnaround for them to make the postseason in a season that has seen them yet to play any of Orange County, New Mexico, or quality Eastern Conference opponents yet.
But as much as they need to be better in games, their record at Cardinale Stadium is a respectable 4-3-1. Their record away from home is where the troubles begin. They have the potential to put together good games with their scoring output improving but they have really had issues playing good on both sides of the ball at the same time. They scored two goals against Phoenix and Las Vegas, but gave up 3 as well. Able to shut out second place San Antonio not once but twice, of course they do not score. But even with all of that they are only 5 points behind Sacramento for the 8th seed. A very tight Western Conference means that everyone still has something to play for.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Monterey needs to score more goals if they want to win games. While not the biggest issue in their last couple of games it has been the overarching one for 2026. But they might have just the player to fix that and it is somewhat of a surprising one at that. As of today, Monterey’s leading goal scorer is Riley Bidois. Even crazier is that Riley Bidois has only made 8 appearances for Monterey Bay. The 24-year old forward from New Zealand got his USL start with Loudoun United where he averaged roughly four goals a season in his two years there. In 2026 with Monterey Bay he already has five goals overall in again a very limited sample size. When Bidois scores goals, Monterey Bay wins as three of their four wins see him on the scoresheet. Unfortunately for Monterey Bay he has not appeared in their last four league games. He could be the one to get them the goals they need.
On the orange side of things, this will be the first league game for Orange County in 17 days and if your memory serves you right Orange County were dealing with a massive injury bug. It is club policy to not disclose injury information to the public so we really know who is in or out when their injury report is revealed on gameday. One player that is hoping to return soon is that of Mouhamadou War. The start of the season was marred by defensive depth or the lack of so it was War that played the first 10 games of the season at right back. But it was very surprising that War looked very natural in the position and did a very profound job there. In his 10 league starts on the backline, he helped to register 3 clean sheets. While his offensive numbers are obviously down due to this, War is another swiss-army type of player that Stone loves to play. Mouhamadou is also nearing the 50 appearance mark for Orange County which he should reach this season.
PREDICTED STARTING XI
Grain of salt perhaps? This is the lineup that we saw a lot of when Orange County was winning a bit more consistently. Based on who we saw in this week’s training sessions this is the likeliest scenario. Alex Rando returns to the net behind a backline that should see the returns of both Doghman and War. The midfield was not a third of the field that got very injured and so likely remains this. Lyam MacKinnon will likely get the start at striker but this could be a few different players.
THE MATCHUP
The newest team in California, Monterey Bay have found ways to get the better of Orange County SC. Since their debut in 2022 they have already knocked OC off on five separate occasions. This has come at home and on the road. Cardinale Stadium has not been an easy place for Orange County to play at either with OC being 1-1-3 all-time there. But this is a new season and the gap between these two clubs on the table cannot be any wider. Orange County are looking to maintain their number one spot in the West and hold off both New Mexico and San Antonio. This will be a very important game to get points from as after this week, Orange County will play four straight home games and nothing on weekdays. The time to prove it is now.
WHAT TO KNOW
Game - @ Monterey Bay FC (USL Championship)
When - July 25th, 7:00 PM PST
Where - Cardinale Stadium (Seaside, CA)
OCSC Form - LDDWW
MBFC Form - LLDWL
All-Time Series - 3-1-5 (9 Games)
TV - ESPN+
(ed: Look for Producer Andy, Nathan, and Dylan in the crowd when you’re watching ESPN+ tonight!)