Orange County SC opened the season with a 1-3 loss to Louisville City FC this past Saturday. Although there were some highlight moments and a few players looked good, most of the team looked like a team playing their first game of the regular season, while one looked a little shaky at times. Let’s look at the player ratings for this match.
5 StarS: Nas
Considering all the great rappers in the history of the genre, it’s difficult to pick just one. Arguments can be made for Jay-Z, who has had a long career with numerous hits on his resume, Eminem, who is the greatest selling rap artist of all time, or KRS-One, who went from living on the streets to one of the most influential rap artists of all time. But in the end, I had to go with Nas, who rose to fame in the 90’s and quickly became one of the most respected lyrisist of all time. His debut album Illmatic went 2x Platinum, a rare feat at the time for a debut rap album, and followed it up with 5 more platinum albums, and 3 gold albums.
No one for Orange County SC was as good as Nas.
4 Stars: 2Pac / The Notorious B.I.G.
Because of the tragic events that took the lives of 2Pac and The Notorious B.I.G. too early, they seem to get lumped together in rap music history. Both were great rappers of their time, and their legacy continues to shine even more than 25 years after their deaths. They were both great MC’s that told stories in a charismatic way. I couldn’t choose between the 2, so they get a tie at 4 stars.
Kevin Partida (Community rating: 4)
Partida was hands down the player of the match for Orange County, controlling the midfield while also contributing the only goal of the night for the team. The only negative on the night was picking up a yellow card just before halftime.
Bryce Jamison (Community Rating: 3.5)
Jamison came on the pitch for Emil Nielsen late in the match, and although he didn’t get much time, he looked to take advantage of the playing time to show coach Richard Chaplow and the fans what he could add to the team with regular minutes. He played with high energy and had a couple good attacking moments that lacked the finishing touch.
Ashish Chattha (Community Rating: 3.5)
The former UCI Anteater came into the match in the second half and brought high energy to the attack. He had one of the best goal opportunities for Orange County with a header beat Louisville City keeper Kyle Morton but went just wide of the goal.
Markus Nakkim (Community Rating: 3)
It’s not too often that a center back leads a team in shots (and shots on target), but Nakkim did just that for Orange County. That’s either a sign that he had a great game, or his offense struggled. I’m guessing it’s somewhere inbetween.
3 Stars: Ice Cube
Ice Cube’s music career began over 35 years ago with NWA. In the 90s he blossomed into a good solo artists with hits like “It Was a Good Day”, “Friday”, and “We Be Clubbin’”. Not only did he have a successful solo career, he also got into acting. While not on the same level as Nas as a lyrisist, his career can be considered a huge success.
Brent Richards (Community Rating: 2.5)
Richards provided the assist for the lone Orange County goal in the match, but also was out of position for the first Louisville City goal, and was the defender for the third. The rest of the match was just average. If not for the assist, he would have been rated 2 stars.
Andrew Fox (Community Rating: 2.5)
Fox committed the most fouls of any player wearing black, and as much as you like to see aggressiveness, it was possibly too much. He played okay defense, but was poor on the second Louisville City goal.
Alex Villanueva (Community Rating: 2.5)
Villanueva was credited with 3 interceptions, a team high, but not much else stood out for for him in this match, thus the average 3 star rating.
Daniel Pederson (Community Rating: 3)
Pederson played well, but didn’t do much to stand out. He did deliver a good corner kick that was almost headed in by Nakkim, and led the team in crosses, but none of them led to a goal. He was solid defensively, leading the team in tackles won.
Kyle Scott (Community Rating: 3)
Another player that just didn’t do enough to provide Orange County with the right opportunities. Also didn’t do too much wrong.
Korede Osundina (Community Rating: 3)
Osundina was subbed off early in the second half due to an injury, so he was limited in his chances.
Milan Iloski (Community Rating: 2.5)
Iloski took 3 shots but none of them found the target. For many players, that might be okay, but for the reigning Golden Boot winner, that’s not enough.
Dillon Powers (Community Rating: 3)
Replaced Partida, who was on a yellow, early in the second half. Provided a good spark for the team, but nothing that lead to the ultimate goal, an equalizer (or winner).
Ryan Doghman (Community Rating: 3.5)
Came on for the injured Osundina and had the best opportunity to equalize in the 86th minute, striking a powerful ball into the crossbar. It was a shot that should have found the back of the net. He did provide a good spark in what was probably unexpected minutes, at least early on.
2 Stars: Mike Jones
Who? Mike Jones. Jones made a name for himself (literally) by repeating his name over and over and over in his songs. When not asking “Who?”, he would throw in his phone number for a quick change, tellling listeners to text him (did anyone actually do this?), and you have a recipe for a quick taste of success. Unfortunatly, his rap skills didn’t keep people listening for long, and was soon forgotten.
Colin Shutler (Community rating: 2)
Shutler looked like the young player he is. He looked a step slow at times, and indecisive at others. All three shots on target for Louisville City hit the back of the net, which is not what you want from your goalkeeper. Maybe he was already looking over his shoulder at new keeper Cody Cropper, or maybe this is the level of play to be expected from the young keeper.
Emil Nielsen (Community Rating: 2.5)
A disappointing debut for Nielsen as he had little to no impact on the offensive end of the pitch. Not what you want to hear about a starting forward.
1 Star: Denny Blaze
You’ve probably never heard of Denny Blaze, and that’s probably a good thing. He became known when a home recorded music video that he had sent in to MTV to try and become famous found it’s way to YouTube. Maybe his “hit” should have been called Below Average Homeboy.
No one on Orange County was as bad as the “Average Homeboy” Denny Blaze.
What do you think? Did we get the player ratings right? Do you agree with the rapper ratings? Share your thoughts in the comments below.