Kickoff: Saturday, March 22 (7:00 PM PDT)
Where: Championship Soccer Stadium (Irvine, CA)
How to Watch: FanDuel Sports Network SoCal, KCAL+, ESPN+
Available in the U.K: USL on YouTube
Orange County SC is back for a third home game in a row on Saturday night, and the club hopes to extend its 10-game regular season unbeaten streak back to September of 2024. On Saturday OCSC will host 12 local non-profits for Non-Profit Night. Each participating organization will have the opportunity to raise money based on gameplay and outcomes.
OCSC is off to a hot start scoring the most goals in the first 2 games of the season in club history at 6, the previous high was 5 goals in the opening 2 games of the 2019 campaign. OCSC has scored 6 goals by 6 different players so far in 2025 and has scored 11 goals in the last 5 matches going back to 2024.
The Black & Orange will look to Ethan Zuback to add to his goal tally on Saturday night and look for more minutes from Ousmane Sylla in the midfield. Keys to the game should run through the midfield for both clubs and OCSC will need to prepare for a physical and fast attack to keep Monterey Bay F.C. off the scoresheet.
CRISP’N KELPIE?
Monterey Bay FC Union is coming off a 4-0 win in the opening round of the US Open Cup against Inter San Francisco on Wednesday night. The short rest could impact the performance of the Crisp and Kelp who notched their first win of the season on Saturday night in a 3-2 win over the Oakland Roots. Goals by Malango, Paul, and Søjberg all scored in the game opening up the scoring for the club after being shut out in San Antonio. Defender Joel Garcia Jr. picked up a red card in the win and will be ineligible to play against OC. The Union has not kept a clean sheet in 7 matches and may find it difficult to keep OC’s offense from scoring.
Will their new mascot Kelpie make the trip?
Monterey Bay FC 2024 USL Championship Regular Season Record: 8-16-10
Goals Scored: 29 I Goals Allowed: 44 I Clean Sheets: 9
Players to Watch:
M Mayele Malango
F Ilijah Paul
NEW YEAR, NEW CREW
Orange County SC extends its unbeaten streak to 10 in regular season play. The club has seen a higher-than-normal offensive output so far this season with 6 different players scoring goals for the club in its first two matches. Kyle Scott and Chris Hegardt have done yeomen’s work holding down the midfield with player-of-the-week type numbers, The OCSC backline continues to work to find its footing after mistakes have resulted in an abnormally high number of goals over the past 2 games. OCSC will hope to see more from its attackers this week with forwards only contributing to 2 of the 6 goals scored so far.
OCSC 2024 USL Championship Regular Season Record: 13-14-7
Goals Scored: 38 I Goals Allowed: 45 I Clean Sheets: 15
Players to Watch:
D Ryan Doghman
M Chris Hegardt
All-time Record:
Orange County SC is 3-2-1 all-time against Monterey Bay F.C. Union
Previous Matchup: 2024 USL Championship
Orange County SC 0-0 Monterey Bay FC (Sept. 21st, 2024 – Cardinale Stadium, Seaside, CA)