On another trip to the east coast, Orange County SC faced off against Miami FC for the second time in club history. The battle ended in a draw, but the growth in strategy and return of players from OCSC leaves fans with hope that the tides may turn on this season’s bad luck.
Orange County SC made the trip up north this weekend to face off against the Oakland Roots, who completely dominated the match and sent OC home with a 3-0 loss.
As the boys in Orange and Black took the pitch, there were some notable changes to the lineup for this week; most concerning was to see two of the team's midfielders, Dillon Powers and Daniel Pedersen, filling in as center backs. This choice put much fear in fans from the start that the defense would struggle without Markus Nakkim and Andrew Fox available to play.
There’s a game to talk about, but much of the future commentary in the coming weeks won’t be focused on the gameplay Saturday night’s contest.
In new head coach Morten Karlsen’s Orange County debut game against Southern California rivals San Diego Loyal,the team ended up on the wrong end of a 2-1 loss to start the month of May. Tensions are always high during meetings between these two teams, and this was no different. Within the first minute of the game, OCSC legend Ronaldo Damus was on display with his new team as he received a long ball over the top, outran defenders, and took a shot. Thankfully, this one went wide, but it was a bittersweet return to Championship Stadium for the 2021 USL Championship Game MVP.
This weekend Orange County SC visited The Lab, home of New Mexico United, where they left fans brokenhearted and fearful that this could very well be a repeat of last season’s disaster.
**Note from the editor: This article was written prior to the departure of Head Coach Richard Chaplow, and does not otherwise mention this news.
Orange County SC had their second away game of the season on Saturday, continuing their frustrating start to the season with a loss to the El Paso Locomotive.
Orange County SC’s first away game of the season saw them travel east to face off against Hartford Athletic, for the first time in club history, at the Trinity Health Stadium in Hartford, CT. A strong battle between these two teams ended with Orange County’s third tie in a row at 1-1.
POST-MATCH REVIEW: FIRST WESTERN CONFERENCE BATTLE
On Saturday night, Orange County SC had their first Western Conference matchup of the 2023 season against the Las Vegas Lights. It was an incredibly aggressive and offensive performance from both sides that ended the evening with a 2-2 draw.
Although a tie at home isn’t what anyone was hoping for, this Orange County squad showcased a lot of chemistry and promise on the pitch in their week 2 match against the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
