Orange County SC captain Kevin Alston shields the ball from San Antonio FC midfielder Billy Forbes in their 0-0 draw. | Photo courtesy of San Antonio FC
San Antonio, TX. - Playing against a very good home team in San Antonio FC, Orange County SC set out to collect their first road win of the season. Orange County looked up to the task early in the first half with San Antonio pressing early.
The first ten minutes saw OC keeper Patrick McLain come up huge several times to keep the ball out of the net. His teammates helped him out in the 9th minute when a ball that was careening toward the right corner was kicked away a few feet from the goal.
Orange County absorbed the pressure thrown their way and then gave it right back in the 15th minute with a free kick deep in the San Antonio third. Harry Forrester jumped up and nearly headed the ball in, but Matt Cardone, the San Antonio keeper, just managed to get his fingertips on the ball to keep his clean sheet intact.
Both teams struggled to find their rhythm in the middle of the first half, as both teams had a few chances but nothing seemed to click for either side. Orange County had a great build up at the end of stoppage time, but the attack stalled and the half ended at 0-0.
The second half was even more exciting than the first. Orange County played well on both sides of the ball. The 57th minute saw a pair of great plays from two defensive players in Kevin Alston and Walker Hume. In the 60th minute a wonderful set piece sent a ball into the box, but San Antonio cleared it off of an Orange County player and escaped the pressure.
San Antonio had a few good looks, but outside of a 61st minute shot that San Antonio sub Ever Guzmán put wide, Orange County looked like the more dangerous team in the second half. They put San Antonio under pressure and in the last several minutes Orange County looked close to scoring.
In the 88th minute a ball fell to Aodhan Quinn and his shot took a deflection, but Cardone was right there to scoop the ball up. In stoppage time, Darwin Jones put a great cross into the box which found Aodhan Quinn’s head, who put it just wide of the post but not close enough for a streaking Harry Forrester to get his head on.
Orange County leave Texas with a well deserved point against a team that does not lose very often at home. It keeps Orange County in touch with the top teams in the West, where only 2 points puts them right back into the top four.
Orange County look to do just that, and extend their home winning streak to four games when they host Orange County FC in the US Open Cup on Wednesday, and welcome the newest team from Texas in Austin Bold FC on Saturday. Wednesday’s match starts at 7:30 pm and Saturday’s kick-off is at 7:00 pm.
Discipline:
17’: Michael Lahoud (Yellow)
59’: Moisés Hernández (Yellow)
68’: Ever Guzmán (Yellow)
70’: Michael Seaton (Yellow)
72’: Aodhan Quinn (Yellow)
85’: Harry Forrester (Yellow)