Why I Love Orange County SC
For every spike of excitement comes a time of despair. For every light at the end of a tunnel comes a point where you enter the tunnel. Orange County SC have definitely been no stranger to some great moments and some trying ones as well. But there are not many things in life that fill me with as much joy as Orange County SC. I started going to games in 2018 and have walked with OCSC through all the moments. To say that Orange County has fought through some truly trying times would be an understatement. Established in 2011 this was a club that was the only USL team west of the Mississippi River for a couple years; they prevailed. This was a team that began playing at a college campus in front of an average home attendance of maybe 500 attendees; they prevailed. They have undergone multiple different owners playing in 9 different stadiums in that time; and still prevailed. They have survived stadium battles, MLS takeovers, and a lot more than a number of different professional teams. I love this club even if they do not love me back at times.
But of course Orange County is in the thick of it on the sporting side of things and ultimately the 0-6 loss last week to Lexington was the nail in the coffin for Danny Stone. The Danny Stone era to me was an interesting one where ultimately it would be some bad luck that would spell the doom for him. I personally felt that a change should have come and it looks like I got my wish. However since replacing Braden Cloutier with Richard Chaplow back in 2021, OC have only hired from within when replacing managers. This will now be the fifth manager for OC that was already an assistant coach prior. So out goes Danny Stone and in comes Dekel Keinan (DEH-kehl kay-NAAN ). Keinan however is a good choice for the club as he was the Academy coach for OCSC II. The same OCSC II who have consistently finished in the top of their group and have qualified for the Academy league postseason twice in the previous three seasons with a chance for a third next Wednesday.
Now with the big news of the week taken care of, OC cannot afford to have any growing pains with the manager because each and every game from this point on in the season is borderline must win status. With just five games left in the season, OC sit 8th in the Western Conference right at the cusp of the playoff line. A new coach bump in form would do wonders and there is no better place to start than a late season home game against the defending USL champions.
THE OPPONENT - PITTSBURGH RIVERHOUNDS SC
It seems as if every time that Orange County plays Pittsburgh I have to bring up the fact that both these teams were inaugural members of USL back in 2011. For a good while too I would also remind everyone that Pittsburgh was the only inaugural active member without a USL title. But I can no longer say that. Pittsburgh not only won their first USL championship in 2025 but also snapped a 6 year streak of the West winning the USL title. The quintessential USL club the Hounds have had postseason success, success in the Open Cup and are one of the few USL teams to play in their own stadium proper. I really do tip my hat to them. Their 2026 regular season has been alright with Pittsburgh just 5th in the Eastern Conference but should be poised to make the postseason. The only thing they are playing for at this point is seeding and home field advantage. If there is one thing that OC has going for them is that Pittsburgh has just been average lately. A lot of low scoring games has plagued Pittsburgh with them being on the losing end of it on multiple occasions. Like most Pittsburgh teams, expect a very defensive team that if they are going to win a game will likely do pitching a shutout. The highest points total that Pittsburgh can finish with is 50 points which is not enough to clinch the East but just a win in their last four should be enough to clinch a postseason berth.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Pittsburgh has a good defense and good defenses have good defenders. Pittsburgh’s best defender has been a real work horse this year with Owen Mikoy leading the team in just about every defensive statistic. After missing the first three games of the season, Mikoy has made 22 consecutive starts for Pittsburgh. In that same span the Hounds are 10-5-7 with Mikoy playing. Even more impressive is that Mikoy has played a full 90 minutes in each and every game as well. Not bad for a player in his first professional season of playing. The OC offense has gotten a bit stale so they will need to do good to avoid Mikoy at all costs and force their other defenders to play their position.
On the orange side of things, what was already a very pivotal and crucial week for Orange County will get to add another wrinkle to the mix. Currently sitting at 112 appearances for Orange County are two different players who are tied for the club record in appearances. Brian Iloski ended his OC career with 112 appearances across five seasons and was a pivotal part in the Championship winning team alongside also being the pathway to get Milan Iloski on board as well who is the all time leading goal scorer for OCSC. But after Saturday, Brian will become the player with the second most club appearances as Ryan Doghman will take the mantle. What is more impressive about Doghman is that it took him just four seasons of play to reach the milestone which goes to show how consistent he has become for OC. He is on pace to make 20 or more appearances in all four seasons of regular season play on top of him being a constant at left back in tournament games. This is a club that has been around for 15 seasons now and only a handful have eclipsed the 100 game mark so it speaks much to just how highly regarded Ryan Doghman is to the club on and off the pitch. Regardless of what happens on Saturday, Doghman definitely deserves his flowers.
PREDICTED STARTING XI
This is going to be the hardest part of the preview because we really do not have much to go off of when it comes to how Keinan will arrange the lads. Of course last week saw a number of very important players unavailable for selection so whoever is healthy will need to step up.
What we do know about Keinan is that he has spent the better part of 2 seasons now coaching the OC academy team and there he used a 4-2-3-1 that really spread the field when it had possession. I definitely believe that OC does have the talent in midfield to expose teams that are opened up so Hegardt, Sylla and War will really just have one job to do; create havoc when they have the ball. I put down Yaniv Bazini as the player with perhaps the best goal poaching abilities on the team but really it could be him or Wathuta that takes this position. Nico Benalcazar was a big loss last week so if he does miss this week as well then Kelly and Solis will definitely need to put in a better performance than they did last week. Really the entire backline will be the biggest area of concern so hopefully they have short memories.
THE MATCHUP
Orange County are no strangers to new coach bumps in form and they will be desperately looking for another one. Even more important for them is the fact that OC have historically been very good when playing Pittsburgh. Even in the very mediocre years of OC, they have always had the number of the Riverhounds both in California and Pennsylvania. An all-time record of 6 wins, 3 draws and just the one loss is a very pleasing thing to hear. Looking at the Western Conference standings, essentially every team is on the same number of games played. Even more important is that OC is still a solid 3 points above both Phoenix and Las Vegas. I really do not want OC to lose this game but they can afford one more technically. If the need does arise then we should go over tiebreaker scenarios. Orange County does not hold the tiebreaker over Las Vegas with Las Vegas having the better goal differential in their head to head matchups. Taking this into consideration means that the OC home game against Phoenix on October 17th could be a very huge matchup which OC and Phoenix are no strangers to when playing one another. The first tiebreaker is head to head points earned in regular season matches (currently 1) and then goal differential in said matches (which is how Las Vegas has the tiebreaker over OC).
WHAT TO KNOW
Game - vs Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC (USL Championship)
When - September 25th, 7:00 PM PST
Where - Championship Soccer Stadium (Irvine, CA)
OCSC Form - LLDDL
PIT Form - LWDDL
All-Time Series - 6-3-1 (10 Games)
TV - Golazo Sports Network, KCAL+