IRVINE, Calif.- A chaotic and rainy second half left Orange County Soccer Club in a difficult situation within their Prix Tires USL Cup group as El Paso Locomotive FC got two deflected shots past County keeper Tetsuya Kadono in their 1-2 loss at Championship Stadium.
The first half had its fair share of attempts from both sides with El Paso getting the first shot in. Locomotive winger Jimmy Farkarlun sent a long cross from right field to Locomotive forward Diego Abitia which was followed by his fierce header but Kadono’s reflexes were even fiercer when he saved the shot.
Defender Tony Alfaro, from the left side of their defensive third, gave a long pass to defender Alvaro Quezada right past OCSC’s Pedro Guimaraes but Guimaraes did not let that become the final word of his defensive play as he sprinted with everything he had after the ball and right when Quezada was about to send a cross into the center of the box, the Brazilian defender slides to the rescue and blocks the attempt. This would be evidence that his slow but sure journey back to his old self is happening as he played the entire first half and was arguably the best player on the field with two recoveries and two interceptions.
OCSC opened the score sheet early in the second half(50’) with County left back Ryan Doghman sending a pass from his spot to Ousmane Sylla and upon receiving the ball, Sylla flicked the ball with a back heel passing El Paso’s midfielder. The flicked ball reached Ethan Zubak who pushed the play with Jamir Johnson on the left wing and as the winger sent it towards the left side of the keeper to find Apolo Marinch. Marich attempted his first shot upon receiving the ball but was deflected by El Paso’s keeper Abraham Romero which gave Marinch a second chance at a shot which was deflected again but this time towards the net. The ball going in that direction prompted El Paso defender Nicolas Cardona to make a header save on the goal line but ultimately set up an opportunity for County’s Grayson Doody who mentioned that he experienced an “all time high”, after coming from injury then leading himself to make a flying header making the initial score 1-0 OCSC lead.
This would be short lived as the 63rd minute came by and Locomotive Defender Tony Alfaro made an attempt outside the box which took everyone by surprise. The shot was deflected a few times within the player traffic in the box and made its way into the bottom left corner of the net with a bouncy journey towards it making the score leveled at 1-1.
These attempts may have been allowed due to the fact that County were down a man after Apolo Marinch picked up a second yellow card in the 58th minute after a bad tackle towards Nicolas Cardona.
At the 78th minute, El Paso made their match deciding move as Guatemalan Attacker Rubio Rubin sent a long ball pass from right field and Defensive Midfielder Robert Coronado makes a left footed shot towards goal and County defender Garrison Tubbs reaches for a block but as it is deflected, the ball follows another bouncy path towards the left side of the keeper making it 1-2 El Paso leading and ultimately claiming the first victory of their first Prinx Tires group stage campaign.
Article by Henry Caceres
Photos courtesy of Orange County Soccer Club
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