The saying one step forward, two steps back means that you make some progress that ultimately gets undone along the way. The loss against El Paso last week was like taking five steps back. The problem for Orange County is still their lack of any offense whatsoever. OC is ranked last in the league in shots with just 214. El Paso found ways to consistently frustrate Orange County and were able to come away with just their fifth win all season. To make matters worse, Kyle Scott is now suspended one game due to yellow card accumulation.
However even with everything seemingly going wrong for OC, they are still hanging onto the playoff places by a thread. With just 10 games left in their season the Oranges are seventh in the West and will now be looking at other teams across the league. The teams in particular are Monterey Bay, Tulsa, Phoenix and San Antonio. OC are ahead of all these teams by a handful of points, however have less remaining games than every team sub Monterey Bay.
It is the final stretch of the regular season with OC just having four away games left on the year. Saturday is likely to be one of the hardest of those away trips.
THE OPPONENT - CHARLESTON BATTERY
Charleston are having a picture perfect season both on and off the field. The reigning Eastern Conference champions are the second best team in the USL only four points behind Louisville in the Eastern Conference. They have the second best offense in the league. They are tied for the second best defense in the league. As mentioned before OC is last in the league in shots with just 217 however the team first in the league in shots is Charleston with 414. However, as good as the defense has been, they have lost their form a bit in their last couple of games. Eight goals have been conceded in the last four games, and it has resulted in two defeats to fellow Eastern Conference teams Tampa Bay and Detroit City. However you can also add the Indy game they won convincingly 5-0. The offense for Charleston has not really skipped a beat, having scored in each of their last eight games.
Last season saw Charleston reach the USL Finals and this season they essentially kept the same roster while adding on All-League selections Aaron Molloy and Graham Smith to replace Barajas and Williams. Whoever can come out of the East will be the frontrunner to a USL title.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
The single best player for Charleston this season is far and away one Nick Markanich. The 24 year old right winger has been running away with the Golden Boot this season with 21 goals scored in 25 appearances. The next closest to him would be Wilson Harris of Louisville with only 14 goals. Markanich with Charleston has been nearly unstoppable this season and has already doubled his goal total from last season and then some. Oh and he has five assists as well which puts him in a tie for 6th. What makes this even more impressive is that Markanich has shot the ball 66 times this season. That's a goal scored for every 3.14 shots. Milan Iloski during his 2022 golden boot season scored 22 goals and Markanich has already surpassed that total and there are nine games left for Charleston in the season.
On the orange side of things will be the man tasked with defending Markanich with one Markus Nakkim. This season, like many Orange County players, has not been the healthiest with Nakkim only having made 12 appearances. However he has returned to the lineup and has even tallied a goal this season. The captain for Orange County has led the team to the postseason once before and he has the capability of doing it again.
THE MATCH UP
Orange County and Charleston are two of three original USL clubs that were there for the first season back in 2011. Charleston in particular has a very storied history having been established all the way back in 1993. One of the founding clubs in the United States, they are looking to add a second title next to their one from 2012. It has not been until recently that these two teams face each other. In the modern era Orange County has gotten the better of the Battery including a 2-0 victory last season back in Southern California. However this is a much better Charleston team and one that will be looking for their first win over Orange County since 2014. Orange County will need to score a goal in any way that it can. They have gone 362 minutes without scoring a goal.
WHAT TO KNOW
Game - @ Charleston Battery (USL Championship)
When - August 24th, 4:30 PM PST
Where - Patriots Point (Mount Pleasant, SC)
OCSC Form - LDLLW
CHS Form - LWWLW
All-Time Matchup - 2-4-2 (8 Matchups)
TV - KCAL, CBS Sports Golazo