With thunder and lightning coming down on a Tuesday night in Carlsbad, the OCSC II team picked up their first away win since the 2023 season. It was quite a convincing win that saw Orange County make good on its offensive chances in the first half of the game, as well as a standout performance from goalkeeper Fernando Aguirre.
There were also a number of new faces making their first marks with the II team including the first goals scored on the season from both Oliver Kurnik and Cheick Mohamed Kone. Orange County SC were able to pick up their second consecutive clean sheet of the season thanks to a sturdy back line and goalkeeper heroics. Let’s take a look now at how the match unfolded.
FIRST HALF
Unlike the first game of the academy season that saw minutes from players like Barjolo, War and Miles. The second game of the season was much more of a true academy game. In fact the only players who have spent time on the pitch with the first team in any capacity were Nicola Ciotta and Gavin Karam. Every other player is, to our knowledge, relatively new to the system.
Unlike the first game of the season which saw OC employ a conventional 4-3-3 system, this game saw them line up in the 4-1-4-1 formation which the senior team also uses. This system looked to be quite fruitful as in only the 4th minute of the match, OC won a free kick from about 20 yards out from goal. The effort would beat the City SC keeper but go off the post and would be easily tapped in by Oliver Kurnik to give him and the team their first goal of the season.
A dream start to a match for OC that would be dampened by the injury and substitution of Nicola Ciotta in only the 6th minute of the match. Besides that fact it would be Orange County that looked to be the more dangerous side in the first half with the midfield and back line holding possession. This possession would hold the City SC backline true and the buildup play of Yusef Shahin and Lucas White were able to consistently feed Kone at top making numerous runs behind.
This buildup play would not go unrewarded and in about the 45th minute of play Cheick Mohamed Kone would find himself one on one with the keeper on the left side of the box and slotted away his first of the season quite nicely. City SC would push back just a bit and even saw one of their attempts go off the crossbar. But they were unable to register any efforts on target and would go into halftime down 0-2 to Orange County in the rain and lightning.
SECOND HALF
As expected, City SC would offer some push back and they would ultimately take control of the match from this point on. Orange County were definitely playing this way too with Michael Zill pickup up a caution for a tactical foul early into the half. Offensively, Orange County would have a bit more chances on goal, but none of them would end up on target.
By this point in the match is when goalkeeper Fernando Aguirre made his impact. He would make his best save of the night in the 80th minute with an absolutely robbery of a first time hit ball from the middle of the box that he was able to reach his arm out for keeping City SC off the board.
On top of the handful of saves, Aguirre is also quite good with the ball at his feet, and really the entire back line can say the same thing, as Orange County was able to hold possession of the ball and work their way up the field. The back line of Kevin Gonzalez, Nathaniel Kim, Daniel Garcia and the substitution Jakob Enciso along with midfielders Karam and Kurnik were instrumental in dealing with the City SC high press.
Aguirre would end up making one more big save and some lackluster finishing from City SC would see Orange County off with a 2-0 victory and their first win of the 2025 season.
OVERVIEW
Right now one of the largest problems with the Orange County senior side in 2025 is their lack of finishing as well as the lack of generating shutouts on defense. This game saw everything that has been missing and should be a good sign of things to come. Goals from Kurnik and Mohamed Kone came off a limited number of chances, and for a second consecutive game the OC midfield was able to string together passing sequences when they were needed.
The player that stood out the most in this game had to be goalkeeper Fernando Aguirre whose three saves came at the right time, even if there were not many chances where City SC truly looked dangerous in the box. This was Aguirre’s first start in net this season and it could not have been much better. His save in the 80th minute was quite impressive.
The II team will take a week off from games next week and will return to action on June 18th. While it’s another away match, but this one will be closer when they travel down to San Juan Capistrano to face Capo FC.