OKC Energy FC vs. Orange County SC
2017 USL Regular Season (Week Nine)
Taft Stadium, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Saturday, May 20 – 5pm PST
Oklahoma City, OK. (May 20, 2017) Orange County SC travelled to Oklahoma City to take on OKC Energy FC, looking to make it two wins in a week following their U.S. Open Cup win in mid-week. However it was OKC Energy FC who took the spoils, as Orange County played the majority of the game with 10 men fell to a strike late in the first half.
After a scrappy start to the match neither side were able to take control of the game and both sides struggled to create any goal scoring opportunities. It wasn’t until the 17th minute for the first real chance of the game, when OKC’s Alex Dixon found space down the left hand side and struck a shot across Charlie Lyon’s goal, narrowly missing the far post.
The 25th minute saw a turning point in the game, when Orange County’s Oscar Sorto was shown a red card follow an adjudged pull back on the OKC forward when he was in on goal and the last defender. Not only was a straight red card shown to Sorto, but a penalty was awarded to OKC. However Lyon guessed correctly and made a smart save low down to his left to deny Kyle Hyland from the spot. 10 minutes later OKC did manage to find the back of the net, when Alex Dixon created a yard of space inside the box and fired across Lyon into the far corner of the net. OKC were denied a second on the stroke of half time when Lyon produced a fantastic save following a give and go on the edge of Orange County’s box.
The second half was a very tight affair, with Orange County fighting valiantly to stay compact and look for an equalizer on the break. Orange County came close to getting back on level terms when Jerry Van Ewijk found Carlos Alvarez from a corner but he couldn’t keep his strike down and it went narrowly over the bar. Minutes later Lyon was called into action once again and produced a contender for save of the week, when he spectacularly denied Miguel Gonzalez 2 yards from goal.
The 10 man Orange County side battled hard but were unable to find an equalizer and went down to a 1-0 defeat. Orange County will next face L.A. Wolves in the U.S. Open Cup on May 31st. Then they will take to the field in the USL on June 3rd at the Orange County Great Park against Real Monarchs SLC. The last time Orange County took the field at home they came out 4-0 victors over the L.A. Galaxy II and will be hoping for a repeat performance and result.
ABOUT ORANGE COUNTY SOCCER CLUB:
The Orange County Soccer Club is Orange County’s Professional Soccer Team. The club was one of 12 founding members of the new United Soccer League (USL) in its inaugural 2011 season. The predecessor club Orange County Blues were the 2015 Western Conference Regular Season Champions and have reached the Western Conference Semi-finals of the USL Playoffs in back-to-back seasons. The club’s brand-new owner, James Keston, is the Chief Investment Officer of LARO Properties, and will actively oversee all operations of the USL club in Orange County. Keston is dedicated to transforming the club into a world-class professional soccer organization that focuses on the fans, players, and youth clubs of Orange County.
For more information about Orange County Soccer Club or to purchase tickets, visit: https://www.orangecountysoccer.com.
Contact:
Kelly Salmieri: VP, Marketing & Community Relations, kelly@https://www.orangecountysoccer.com, 805.844.0856