The schedule has been favorable at the beginning of 2025, yet Orange County SC have not used it to their advantage.
Across all competitions, Orange County is just 2-1-2 in home games and 0-3 on the road. Orange County are still somehow 7th in the Western Conference. That win against Sacramento has done wonders for the standings with a number of high caliber contenders also struggling mightily to begin the season. Taking this into consideration, Orange County have been lucky to see themselves not get into too deep a hole to start the season.
But sooner than later they will have to start creating their own destiny, and the only way to do that is to start by winning games. FC Tulsa mark the next opportunity to do so.
THE OPPONENT - FC TULSA
Tulsa have found a number of different ways to win games. The first four wins across all competitions for Tulsa all came via a 1-0 scoreline. Since then, they have continued to win games and have started scoring more. Defensively, they have only let in four goals, which is tied for the best in the conference.
Tulsa are coming off a third consecutive season where they have failed to qualify for the postseason. It has really been a rebuilding in Tulsa post-rebrand, but they are finding ways off the pitch to improve themselves. This season saw the establishment of a youth academy team. They also brought in former Memphis 901 sporting director Caleb Sewell into a similar role.
Back on the pitch, Tulsa have seen a healthy crop of goal scorers, with five different players all tallying goals thus far. They will not be an easy test for Orange County, even if the hosts have historically gotten the better of Tulsa.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Taylor Calheira has been quite impressive in his first USL Championship season. The 22-year-old comes to Tulsa from New York City FC II where last season he had a respectable 17 goals scored in all appearances. Calheira made the switch to the USL Championship and has already been impressive scoring three from six matches. The key for Tulsa, along with their stellar defense, is a forward who can consistently score goals and Calheira has stepped up to that role to begin the season.
On the orange side of things is going to be the newest member of the Orange and Black: Koa Santos. Santos signed with Orange County SC last Friday and made his first appearance in their 3-1 loss to Las Vegas in the cup last week. Santos was a member of the Colorado Springs side that lifted the USL Championship title in 2024, though he missed the playoff run due to injury. With a diminished role to start 2025, he departed from Colorado before signing with OC to replace the injured Grayson Doody.
PREDICTED STARTING XI
The only thing we can hope for is consistency within the starting lineup if they are to start stringing together results. The back line, for the moment, looks to be trending in that direction. It is really hard to say whether it is the offense or the defense that needs to improve when really neither has looked that impressive.
Nathan Wander
War
Dunbar Sylla Hegardt
Partida Scott
Doghman Brewitt Benalcazar Santos
Shutler
Dylan Allen
War
Hegardt Sylla Dunbar
Partida Scott
Guimaraes Brewitt Latinovich Santos
If the comments made by Danny Stone after last week’s defeat are any indication then I believe that he is putting out his best possible lineup and fully going for the three points. This does mean War will start up top and the Partida/Scott duo return to facilitate things. Orange County realistically will need to get at least one to two goals if they want all three points with Shutler also needing to earn his first clean sheet of the season.
THE MATCH UP
This is likely a match that Orange County will look back on as the turning point or one that got away from them. With the front half of the season being home-game heavy, they are going to need to get all the points they can before they embark across the USL later in the year. This matter is compounded when looking at the lack of away success Orange County in 2025. Tulsa, though, are in a similar situation, with Saturday being just their third away game all season. Unlike Orange County, Tulsa have won both of their away matches.
Orange County is looking to snap a 3 game winless streak.
WHAT TO KNOW
Game - vs FC Tulsa (USL Championship)
When - May 3rd, 7:00 PM PST
Where - Championship Soccer Stadium (Irvine, CA)
OCSC Form - LLLWL
TUL Form - LWLLW
All-Time Series - 7-3-3 (13 Matchups)
TV - ESPN+, KCAL+