
Last Second OCSC 2-1 Winner During Home Finale against Las Vegas
October 24, 2021 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Orange County SC News Release
Leading scorer Ronaldo Damus in the 90+4' broke a six-game scoring drought to lift Orange County SC to a 2-1 victory over Las Vegas Lights FC on Scotoberfest and Fan Appreciation Night on Saturday, October 23 at Championship Soccer Stadium in Irvine. With a playoff berth clinched during the midweek, OCSC needed a draw or a win to keep their hopes of hosting a first round USL Championship Playoff match alive by moving into second place in the Pacific Division.
Las Vegas, who are at the bottom of the division and eliminated from playoff contention, almost played spoiler with a little late game drama in front of nearly 5,000 supporters in the OC. In the first of two minutes in stoppage time, 10-man Las Vegas scored an equalizing goal thanks to forward Danny Trejo that sucked the energy out of the stadium.
The Las Vegas celebration took long enough for a little extra time to be added, giving OCSC at least one more crack on goal. Rando slipped on a free kick try and the ball landed right with OCSC who immediately pushed forward ready to capitalize with the open goal and out-of-position keeper. Forward Darwin Jones sprinted with the ball into the penalty box and tapped it right to Damus who finally got his 14th goal of the season and the game-winner on the last kick of the game.
Damus almost had that 14th goal a few times in the match. OCSC's first goal of the game was ruled an own goal, but was created by a shot from Damus that was blocked by one Vegas defender with the ball ricocheting off another Vegas defender into his own net in the 65'. The unfortunate deflection came off Dekel Keinen, who was eventually sent off 11 minutes later after receiving his second yellow card of the match.
OCSC Patrick Rakovsky gave up his first goal in nearly 360-plus minutes and was on the verge of notching his fourth consecutive clean sheet in OCSC's home finale.
OCSC concludes the 2021 USL Championship regular season on the road up the 405 North at Dignity Health Sports Park against LA Galaxy II on Saturday, October 30 at 7:30pm. After the 405 Derby, OCSC looks towards the 2021 USL Championship Western Conference Quarterfinal playoff to be held either on November 6 or 7.
MATCH DETAILS
Orange County SC vs Las Vegas Lights FC
USL Championship | October 23, 2021
Venue: Championship Soccer Stadium (Irvine, CA)
Kickoff: 7:00 PM PDT
Weather: Stunning.
SCORING SUMMARY:
OCSC - 65' Keinan (Own Goal)
Las Vegas - 90+1' Trejo
OCSC - 90+4' Damus
DISCIPLINE SUMMARY:
ORANGE COUNTY SC
30' Kuningas
46' Henry
LAS VEGAS LIGHTS FC
12', 76' Keinan
86' Daroma
ORANGE COUNTY SC LINEUP:
Patrick Rakovsky (GK), Nathan Smith, Kevin Alston, Kobi Henry, Michael Orozco (C ), Thomas McCabe, Sean Okoli, Eric Calvillo, Mikko Kuningas, Brian Iloski, Ronaldo Damus
Subs: Abraham Romero (GK), Brent Richards, Seth Casiple, Francis Jacobs, Aidan Apodaca, Thomas Enevoldsen, Darwin Jones
Head Coach: Richard Chaplow (Interim)
Possession: 58% | Shots: 27 | Shots On Goal: 12 | Corners: 7 | Fouls: 14 | Offsides: 3 |
LAS VEGAS LIGHTS FC LINEUP:
Alex Rando (GK), Dylan Presto, Eric Iloski, Dekel Keinan (C), Antonio Leone, Frank Daroma, Nathan Sepulveda, Tristan Weber, Daniel Trejo, Roberto Molina, Julian Vázquez
Subs: Donovan Palomares, Mohamed Traore, Chinenye Uche, Christopher Jaime, Michael Yeboah, Bruce El Mesmari
Head Coach: Steven Cherundolo
Possession: 42% | Shots: 7 | Shots On Goal: 1 | Corners: 2 | Fouls: 11 | Offsides: 1|
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