USL Orange County SC

Blues Ready for Western Conference Semifinals

October 7, 2016 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Orange County SC News Release


Blues Ready for Western Conference Semifinals
Blues Ready for Western Conference Semifinals
(Orange County SC, Credit: USL/Swope Park Rangers)

IRVINE, Calif.- Coming off the first playoff win in club history last Saturday, the Orange County Blues (#8) are ready for Sunday's Western Conference semifinal match with Swope Park Rangers (#4) in Kansas City, Missouri.

The 2015 season saw the Blues finish as the top seed in the West, only to fall to LA Galaxy II in the Western Conference semifinals. A year later in 2016, the tables turned with the Blues entering the playoffs as the eighth seed, setting up a first round match at Bonney Field to face top seed Sacramento in front of a sold out crowd of 11,569.

Both teams created plenty of chances throughout the match, with neither side able to breakthrough. After 90 minutes of regulation and 30 minutes of extra time, the score remained 0-0 and penalties were needed to find a winner. Orange County was perfect from the spot, converting five straight penalties to take a 5-4 win and give the club its first playoff win.

Swope Park Rangers are also coming off their first playoff win in the club's inaugural season when they defeated LA Galaxy II (#5) 3-0 last Friday. Swope Park Rangers are now the only USL expansion side remaining in the playoffs, and will be looking to continue their run at Swope Soccer Village, where they have 11 home wins this season.

The Rangers are also the highest seed remaining in the West after the opening round of playoffs saw plenty of drama, with the top three seeds all getting upset by the visitors. At the top of the bracket, the Blues (#8) knocked off Sacramento (#1) on penalties. Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 (#6) and Oklahoma City Energy FC (#7) also took victory on the road, defeating Colorado Springs (#3) and Rio Grande Valley (#2), respectively.

Sunday's clash between the Blues and Rangers will be just the second meeting all-time between the two clubs. Their only matchup in the regular season came in Kansas City back on July 23rd, when the home side took a 3-0 win. That match saw Dane Kelly score a goal late in the first half to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead all the way until the 78th minute, before Swope Park notched two late goals to put things out of reach.

The Blues' roster has evolved quite a bit since that meeting, including the addition of midfielder Richard Chaplow, who has been key to the Blues' push into the playoffs and is a huge compliment to Ivan Mirkovic and Didier Crettenand in the midfield. All three played the full 120 minutes on Saturday, but will be ready for another shift in Kansas City this Sunday.

Orange County has seen some impressive goalkeeping as of late, with Josh Cohen recording critical shutouts in back to back weeks. On the final day of the regular season against then first-place Colorado Springs, Cohen kept a clean sheet when the Blues were desperate to win and advance on goal-differential. Last week in Sacramento, Cohen kept the Republic out for a full 120 minutes before recording a save in the penalty shootout that allowed the Blues to advance.

Swope Park has also seen some strong goalkeeping boost them into their current position. Rangers keeper Adrian Zendejas has gone 6-0-0 in his first six starts for the club since signing from the Xolos de Tijuana U-20s. Zendejas has been a major contributor to Swope Park's late run of form, which has them unbeaten since September 3rd against RGVFC.

One key absence for the Blues will be the team's leading goal scorer Trevin Caesar, who was called up to the Trinidad & Tobago national team for the third round of the CONCACAF Caribbean Cup this week. Caesar's pace has caused havoc for opposing defenses all season, and now the Blues will look to winger Akwafei Ajeakwa to pick up the energy for the Blues' attack.

Kickoff at Swope Soccer Village is set from 3pm CDT on Sunday, October 9th. The winner will face the winner of Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 and Oklahoma City Energy FC, who play on Saturday, October 8th at 3pm ET.

Check out the Orange County SC Statistics




Images from this story

Blues Ready for Western Conference Semifinals
Blues Ready for Western Conference Semifinals
(USL/Swope Park Rangers)		   



United Soccer League Championship Stories from October 7, 2016


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central