After a club record 0-6 loss, Paul Hardyman departed Orange County SC, and the club named Danny Stone, its third head coach of the 2024 season, interim head coach for the remainder of the season. His first match at the helm was this weekend, as OCSC hosted Las Vegas Lights FC.

FIRST HALF:

The boys in Orange and Black started out as strong as one could hope, with two goals in the first twenty minutes of the match.

Owen Lambe ignited the chance on the first goal when he sent a chipped a pass up to Chris Hegardt on the touchline. Hegardt then served it to Bryce Jamison in the box, who immediately crossed through the six. The initial attempt was blocked, but Seth Casiple recovered and found Ethan Zubak, who trapped it and flicked the ball around the Vegas goalkeeper to open the scoreline at 1-0 in the 11th minute.

Fans had been waiting for a goal from this club for five games, and the stadium erupted in excitement over Zubak's goal. No one would have expected that he would find his brace just eight minutes later. The ball made it to Cameron Dunbar on the left side through unified passing in the midfield. He crossed it into Hegardt; the midfielder could have taken a shot, but decided to be patient and ended up passing to Zubak in the six, who collected it and sent a great shot under Raiko Arozarena to give OCSC a 2-0 lead.

The strategy seemed clear for Orange County: send long balls down the sidelines to get into the final third and relay on the pace of Dunbar and Jamison to open up some space in the center to send in a cross. Jamison had two nearly perfect attempts at this quickly after the second goal, but the Vegas back line cleared the crosses away in the nick of time.

Unfortunately, the boys weren’t able to end the first half unscathed. In the 37th minute, Vegas was bombarding OC’s defense in the final third for a few minutes before eventually path opened up for a through ball to the feet of Khori Bennett. Dillon Powers nudged Bennett in the back as he tried to stop a shot, which resulted in a penalty. Bennett took the shot and shortened the gap in scoreline to 2-1 as the first-half ended.

SECOND HALF:

Orange County SC would need to keep their foot on the gas and stay aggressive to secure a victory. But it seemed like the County Boys completely took their foot off the gas and gave the Lights far too much space in the middle to dominate possession.

Eventually, Las Vegas was able to capitalize on their control of the pace of play with an equalizer in the 63rd minute. Another through ball pass defeated OC’s backline as J.C. Ngando found Bennett making a run into the box. He took a shot that seemed like it was going to be a save from Colin Shutler, however the strike deflected off his hand and into the net. Making it 2-2.

The only moment worth celebrating for Orange County fans in the second half was the return of both Thomas Amang and Kevin Partida, who had been on the injury list for months. Although each seemed a little rusty on the ball, both contributed some great moments with the short time they had on the pitch.

Las Vegas Lights shut down every chance that OCSC got into the final third and was in complete command of possession for the second half. Despite being down by 2 at one point, Las Vegas never eased up their attack, and it made the difference.

In the 87th minute, hearts were broken all over Championship Stadium when Vaughn Covil sent a cross that Shutler tried to stop. However, it deflected off his arm and went into the back of the net. Worst of all, it was marked down as an own goal from Shutler. Las Vegas took the lead for the first time all night, and the match ended as another loss for Orange County SC.

OVERVIEW:

It was one of the best starts for Orange County SC this season, getting two early goals and looking like everything was on track for their first victory under the new interim head coach Danny Stone. The new gaffer seemed to have a real understanding of the players on the pitch, unlocking the strengths of Hegardt, Jamison, Flood, and most of all: Zubak. By focusing the attack on the wings and crossing the ball to Zubak in the box, Las Vegas was helpless.

Yet, the boys in orange and black lost as soon as they got comfortable sitting on a lead. When they should have taken notes from their opponents last week and tried to barrage the visitors with goals, they instead sat back and gave the Lights complete control of the match.

It was a heartbreaking loss to witness and officially placed Orange County SC outside the playoff race. Their chance of fighting their way back is still possible but getting more unlikely each week, and they will need to treat every future match like they are already in the playoffs. Anymore defeats this season may be the nail in the coffin.

This next week, Orange County SC has a buy and will not be playing. Their next match will be September 14th at 7:00 pm PST against Rhode Island FC.