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USL Orange County SC

Orange County Battles Hard, But Loses Late

June 23, 2019 - United Soccer League Championship (USL)
Orange County SC News Release


Orange County Soccer Club hoped to get back in the win column, and what better place to do it but at home where they have been unbeaten in their last six home matches. Their opponent was a tough, through in-form Portland Timbers 2. T2 brought in a 5 game unbeaten streak of their own to Championship Soccer Stadium.

The first half, Orange County looked the better side. Early on it was Michael Seaton and Vinicius, who have seldom featured together, teaming up for several good chances, but nothing came of those early attacks.

The 18th minute Orange County had a scare when a cross fell to Leonardo in the box. The ball deflected awkwardly off of him toward an open corner of the goal, but keeper Patrick McLain reacted just in time to dive on the ball before it trickled over the line.

Later, in the 25th and 27th minutes, it was Aodhan Quinn who had a couple of chances at goal. Both were close to being on target, but neither really tested Portland keeper Aljaz Ivacic.

Late in the first half, Orange County had some of their best chances. The first was a cross in from Owusu-Ansah Kontor toward Michael Seaton who put it high. The second was an individual play from Vinicius, but his shot was deflected just wide of the far post.

Although the first half ended scoreless, there was plenty of hope that Orange County would capitalize in the second half.

The second half started out well, but Portland had an early chance. In the 55th minute a ball came bounced around and deflected toward goal, but McLain was there again to keep the clean sheet.

Orange County had multiple opportunities to put themselves ahead but every opportunity came up short. The best chance came in the 81st minute when Darwin Jones put a ball in that hit the post and bounce right out to Liam Trotter, but his attempt was blocked.

Late in the second half Portland broke the home crowd's hearts on a corner kick. Cristian Ojeda put the corner kick into the box and Roy Miller flicked the ball into the left corner to put Portland up. That ended up being all Portland needed as Orange County tried but never found the back of the net.

In stoppage time, a ball through found Portland's Brayan Hurtado and he took it in on goal beating McLain to put the game away for good.

It was a frustrating night for Orange County. Koji Hashimoto, who recently returned to the pitch, said "it's disappointing to drop three points, but that I hope to bring patience to the field. We relied too much on the long ball. We need to control the ball more."

Cloutier was quiet after the match, clearly disappointed: "We worked really hard this week and wanted to play with passion. We didn't put away our chances and lost our individual battles. We have to get better, stick together, and find solutions in matches."

Scoring:

88' Roy Miller (Cristian Ojeda)

90'+1': Brayan Hurtado (Carlos Anguiano)

Discipline:

46': Cristian Ojeda (Yellow)

57': Vinicius (Yellow)

Check out the Orange County SC Statistics

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United Soccer League Championship Stories from June 23, 2019


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