At least according to Alan…
Orange County SC goal keeper Aaron Cervantes prepares to stop a shot from a New Mexico United player. | Photo courtesy of Orange County SC/Liza Rosales
The four most impressive:
“I saved Latin, what did you ever do?”-Max Fischer (Rushmore)
What can you say about a 17 year old kid that was thrust into a starting job? Well, I am going to attempt to say it. He was an impressive addition to the starting XI and was one of the reasons why Orange County made the playoffs. Heck, he was only 16 when the season started. The week he turned 17, he started his first match and won save of the week. I have a lot of experience working with high school age humans… with the way that Aaron carries himself on the field and how Braeden Cloutier speaks about him after matches, it is no surprise what this young player brings to the team. He only started 11 games, so it’s hard to compare to other keepers, but he had a 1.27 goals against per 90 mins which puts him right around C.J. Cochran for Fresno and Callum Irving in Ottawa. Both of those are good, experienced keepers. I look forward to seeing his development after his amazing debut season.
Jones came off a forgettable 2018 season and did not get a ton of playing time at Orange County last season. He had had some success with the Sounders 2 (now Tacoma Defiance), but what he put together this season was pretty impressive. Jones and Michael Seaton had an almost identical season statistically with both being even on regular season goals at 12 and assists at 5 (Jones had an assist in the playoffs, while Seaton added a goal to his 2019 tally as well). When he wasn’t showing up on the score sheet, he was doing a lot of work up top to make sure his teammates had the space to operate. He used his speed to stretch defenses and was adept at turning the corner and getting a pass or shot in. Only Harry Forrester (125) and Aodhan Quinn (133) had more crosses than Jones (99), which for a forward shows how important Jones was to getting the offense going. Particularly since Forrester and Quinn frequently took corner kicks.
You can pretty much say the same thing about Seaton that you said about Jones. Seaton led the team with 12 goals and had the highest Goals and Assists per 90 minutes of all of the regular starters. Both Seaton and Jones were efficient as they both had 12 goals on 28 shots on target. He was consistently the most dangerous threat offensively. Just like Jones, he was pulling defenders to him and opening up space in the box. I think one of the reasons that defenders had room to pass the ball across the box was because they had to keep an eye on Seaton. If Seaton doesn’t at least get a look from an MLS club in the offseason, I will be surprised.
What impressed me the most about Quinn’s season this year, was how selfless he was for the team. He just came off an amazing display last season, and I am sure he’d have preferred if he was in a more offensive role. This was not an option this year, as it became apparent early on that he’d have to sit further back and play more of a defensive midfielder. While it might have seemed like a big ask for him to fill that spot, he was a delight to watch. He might not have the same numbers, he did fill in and put up some impressive numbers in different areas. His 7 assists led the team and he was 6th in the league in passes with 1,853 (#1 in the Western Conference), 81% of which were successful. Quinn only missed 3 games, but Orange County was winless in all three. I don’t buy jerseys with names on them, but I grabbed an orange kit and Quinn’s name will adorn that one for sure.
Honorable Mention:
Harry Forrester (for seven weeks)
I want to include this, because for that seven week win streak, Forrester was the most impressive player on the pitch for Orange County. I won’t spend too much time on him right now, but he had 5 points over those seven games (1 goal 4 assists) and had a three game point streak with three assists, one in each game against Vegas, Monarchs, and New Mexico. He played a huge part in that 7 game run that I had to include that stretch of play.
The four least impressive:
“I love you too, but I am going to mace you in the face.”-Jack (The Darjeeling Limited)
Orange County goal keeper Carlos Lopez gives instructions to his teammates. | Photo courtesy of John Macaluso/1868 Weekly
I wanted to like this guy for a lot of reasons. He is young, he came from the Xolos...okay, just two reasons. I also hate writing bad things about players, because I know, for the most part, they are trying as hard as they can to play their best. This time, it did not work out at all. In two games, he conceded 7 goals (some of that was because of poor defending, but some were for sure not). He faced a total of 8 shots on target. I don’t know how else to frame it, but it was pretty bleak for a minute.
When we signed Leonardo, I was pretty excited. Our back line was not great at the beginning of the year and Leonardo looked like he was going to turn the team around. He scored in his first appearance to pull OC level against New Mexico. The rest of the year had a few smatterings of excellence, but for someone who has the pedigree that Leonardo has (over 120 MLS appearances), I was expecting more. He was a key player for Houston Dynamo and he won the Open Cup with them, so he should have been a dynamic defender for Orange County, but his most notable play was a late tackle to save a goal and preserve a tie against San Antonio. He was the last man in, and so he received a red card. He only appeared in two more games, and only went the full 90 once more as Michael Orozco quickly proved himself to be the better option.
I feel like a broken record in that this was another player that I thought would be good and that I really wanted to be successful. He would have been great in the defensive midfield role and would free up Quinn to move forward up the pitch. He did have moments of brilliance, but ultimately he wasn’t great. His unfortunate injury in July also stunted his season, and so we never got to see his full potential. It worked out okay, because it forced a lineup change and solidified the midfield of Quinn, Forrester, and Duke, which turned out to be our best midfield.
Harry Forrester
Outside of those seven games mentioned in the previous section, Forrester was a hot mess. He had a two-game stretch where he had an assist in each game, and the goal he scored in the first Fresno match was a stunner. Other than that, he was good for a few shots and even less on target. He was one of six players that appeared in at least 30 games for Orange County and we were constantly waiting for him to hit his groove. When he did, it was magical. His crosses in put OC players in good spots, his goals were spectacular. Nothing Forrester did was ever subtle. Well, one thing was, and it got him a second yellow and essentially tanked any ability for OC to come back in their playoff match against Real Monarchs. That, unfortunately, will be the lasting image of Orange County and Forrester in 2019. Because of that, color me unimpressed.