There was definitely a lot to unpack from what was only a 1-1 draw. Orange County earned their first points in over 3 weeks on Saturday evening in a road game against lower sided Oakland Roots SC. It was definitely a match that either side could have won but I feel that both would be content with just a point earned. Being very honest with ourselves means that it was not a low bar to clear for Orange County’s sake compared to the performances we have seen in recent weeks. Any result that did not include more than 3 goals conceded would be a positive one at this point and OC did manage to do that. They even managed to get a forward to score a goal on top of it.
The most important takeaway from the match was that it answered a lot of questions about just how Orange County should play moving forward. In the shortest terms possible OC will be a competitive postseason team when their midfield is playing at their best. If this facet of the field falters in any way then it becomes exponentially that much difficult for both the offense and the defense to do their jobs. This is definitely asking a lot of the group to do but with just how the team is constructed and how others are playing that is the most plausible way I can see for Orange County to win games in. I will go more into what I mean later on.
The draw on Saturday kept Orange County in third place in the West. A playoff position is nowhere near guaranteed yet for Orange County but they are still a team that does control their own destiny. With the Oakland away match done that also leaves them with only three more away games in their last eight games of the regular season. There most important games of the season will be played at home and will be played with hopefully some momentum going into the postseason.
FIRST HALF
We for one know this match was taken seriously with perhaps the most no-nonsense lineup we have seen. Playing in front of Rando in net would be a backline of Doghman, Tubbs, Brewitt and Espy on the right side. Both Nico Benalcazar and Chris Hegardt would return to the starting midfield joining the likes of regulars Stephen Kelly and Ousmane Sylla. Rounding at the squad at top would be Bazini and MacKinnon. I stated earlier how the midfield needed to be the best part of the team and this lineup proves it with Nico going back to his natural defensive midfielder role. But of course nothing seems to come easy and this team would really get hemmed in to start the match. Orange County for the first half hour or so really had a hard time getting the ball up the pitch with lots of unforced errors and errant passes. The first big chance would come as a result of this in the 8th minute with an Oakland shot taking a deflection that Alex Rando would make a very good save on. Keep this in mind.
Oakland really did quite well to apply pressure on the OC backline. They had already forced the OC keeper into making one good save but this is a funny game that we like to watch and we were reminded of that. In the 20th minute it would be Oakland's Florian Valot that would cross the ball into the box but would mishit it. This mishit would completely elude Rando as the ball flew past him and into the far side netting. Alex Rando has now conceded two very questionable goals in successive weeks. But I am going to bat for Rando here. Alex Rando is a professional goalkeeper and he knows he should have saved it. Perhaps the sun from an early evening kick off time did not do him any favors on top of the shot on goal resulting from a mishit cross but those types of balls into the box are some of the hardest for keepers to take care of. Looking back on replay the ball does not have much loft to it leading me to believe that Rando did not see it until the last second. However it is humorous that Rando would actually make a number of very good saves this game but will only be remembered for this stinky goal he let in.
Regardless, Orange County have now fallen behind for a fourth straight game. We have seen them concede goals in bunches so they really had to pick up the pace. In previous weeks when OC had conceded the response after the goals was not the greatest but this time OC would show some heart. The next real big chance would fall to OC and in the 35th minute it was the Oranges with the ball in the offensive third and Ousmane Sylla inside the box that would turn and fire a high shot at the keeper. Oakland keeper Hackshaw would parry the ball straight into the air and Lyam MacKinnon would score the goal. But if there was anything more frustrating to a fan than missing a goal it has to be refereeing incompetence.
Lyam MacKinnon who would head home the rebound would see the goal disallowed for being offside. Lyam MacKinnon is played onside by a good yard. This is not one of those mere inches offsides calls, this is truly one of the worst refereeing decisions I have seen in a USL match. MacKinnon looked onside in real time and replays of it would confirm it. It is one thing for the ref to be wrong about an offside if again it is very tight and if the play is a fast-paced counter attack. Neither of those things is here. Everyone is in the final third, the AR looks to be in a good position to make the call and he wastes no time in raising the flag. If I mess up that poorly at my real job, I would get in trouble so perhaps some extra training is needed; or VAR like most other professional leagues.
If you're Danny Stone you have seen your team concede a goal through tomfoolery and a rightful goal scored taken away from even sillier tomfoolery so I cannot imagine he was in a good mood going into the break.
SECOND HALF
If there is one thing that Orange County is very good at it is they are the best team when coming out of half time. This is proven by the fact they lead the USL in goals scored in the first 15 minutes of the second half. They would remind us of this when Yaniv Bazini would see his shot hit the post and Sylla's shot blocked out for a corner in only the 52nd minute. Helping this offensive outburst would be the OC debutant Jaylin Lindsey at right back. Lindsey has plenty of USL experience with New Mexico United and some MLS as well. He would show this when he helped to move the ball forward eventually up to MacKinnon who would force a save from Hackshaw. But this would be very important as it would lead to the OC corner that would lead to the OC goal. It would be the 60th minute where a ball into the box would deflect to the back post where MacKinnon would do well to even put on goal. Oakland’s keeper Hackshaw would make the save but inexplicably parry across the face of goal instead of out. It was indeed a bold strategy but one that would backfire as Yaniv Bazini would fire it home to even it. Bazini would have to hop over Brewitt, who would get the initial touch on the corner into the box that was on the floor in the box.
Orange County had gotten the equalizer and it would be the hosts that Oakland that would begin to pick up the intensity again. Oakland would really get some good looks on the goal that either Rando would save or his defense in front of him would. Perhaps the best save of the evening should go to Yaniv Bazini who would get a goal line clearance in the dying minutes of the match. Not bad at all for a forward who is only with Orange County because South Georgia Tormenta died. But it was Orange County who would again be defending for their lives in the last couple of minutes of the match which we have seen them do a few times this season. While it would ultimately be another draw at 1-1, at least OC did not concede five.
OVERVIEW
I definitely alluded a lot in this recap to how I believe Orange County will go about their remaining games. This game is really a good example of why it should be done and a sign of how it will work. Let me explain. It is no secret that the midfield is the strongest facet of the team being spearheaded by Nico Benalcazar, Ousmane Sylla and Chris Hegardt. This is also one with perhaps the most depth too with guys like Efren Solis and Marcelo Palomino with a Kevin Partida still waiting to return from injury. When the OC midfield is playing at its best it allows Benalcazar and Kelly to act as the defensive midfielders they are giving extra support to the defense. The defense definitely operates the bend don’t break mentality and with Rando in net being a shot stopper keeper that makes sense too. OC are fine when they allow low quality chances. The defense is able to do this when Benalcazar particularly is playing in front of Brewitt and Tubbs. This does not always happen if Nico has to play on the backline in place of someone (the Jaylin Lindsey signing should help with this). But what also needs to happen is that OC needs to be a possession based team. Both Chris Hegardt and Ousmane Sylla are very talented offensive threats that can both distribute and finish. When you add Efren Solis into the mix as well on the opposite side then it allows Orange County to really spread the pitch and expand teams. The 2-2 draw against Hartford was the best example of this when the midfield at mostly full strength really carved up Hartford. Orange County have scored their goals very effectively this season and have done so when the midfielders are involved. The goal last week against Tulsa happened because Hegardt found his way up the pitch and got one pass into him inside the box. Ousmane Sylla has made a living going directly at backlines similar to what Brian Iloski did when he was with OC. Say what you may wish about the forwards this season who have been somewhat disappointing but Yaniv Bazini has become a very dangerous person inside the box who can poach out goals. His goal against Oakland shows that.
To simplify what I just said, the midfield has to mainly be box-to-box almost and hold possession while doing so. When OC does get the ball they look to go out wide with it to guys like Hegardt and find them in solo scenarios. Sylla is able to then find opportunities to go directly at opponents when they are spread out. Lyam MacKinnon has not been a crater either as he can draw in defenders towards him allowing for the overlapping runs. When OC’s midfield plays good the team plays good. When OC’s midfield does not play well defensively the team does not have enough on defense to make up for it. When is OC the most prone to conceding goals? The first 20 minutes and the last 10 minutes. This seems to be when Orange County are on their heels the most and it does not matter who the opponent is or where the game is played. If Orange County is able to survive initial onslaughts then they have shown to be a team that definitely gets better as the game goes along. Alex Rando has made a number of huge saves this season and will no doubtedly save some wins for OC in the future.
This was an important game for OC and I definitely had a lot to say about this one. Each and every game from this point will be important and OC’s opponents will be just as motivated. Orange County will return home next week against Sacramento for what should be another highly electric matchup between the two.