For Orange County, Saturday May 6th could be a very important day. 

First, it will be the inaugural game under interim-head coach Morten Karlsen who was announced as new manager on May 1 following the dismissal of Richard Chaplow. That in itself is enough to make Saturday a big day but the fact that it will be against San Diego just makes the game much more important. 

The OC-SD rivalry has been quite an even series with both teams having won away games and seen high-profile players don both kits. While only 79 miles separate the two clubs, the standings tell a different story. Through 8 league games played, Orange County currently sit in 11th with 6 points, 2 points behind the playoff. San Diego are sitting in 3rd with 14 points. 

A week after a devastating late goal against Los Dos brought Orange County a tough home loss, the team looked to rebound on the road against a Sacramento side they bested 1-0 at home a few weeks prior.

A week after a tough road loss to Tacoma to open their season, Orange County Soccer Club returned home to welcome not only Sacramento Republic to town, but also fans back into the stadium. The team looked a little flat their first game so Orange County was hoping that their home crowd would fire them up and fire them up they did.