Orange County SC earned a hard fought 1-0 victory on the road against Detroit City FC at Keyworth Stadium in Detroit, MI on Saturday, July 24. A goal from forward Milan Iloski was enough to separate the two sides and goalkeeper Colin Shutler earned his fifth clean sheet of the season.
Things nearly got off to a lightning fast start for the visitors as forward Marc “Sparky” McNulty received the ball from a throw-in near the top of the box, turned towards goal and fired a curler towards the back post that just went wide.
Midfielder Dillon Powers almost put himself in USL Championship Goal of the Week contention later on in the 13th minute. Defender Owen Lambe played a corner kick into the box and Powers lined up an audacious bicycle kick that just missed high over the bar, and the sides remained level.
The Black and Orange broke through in the 23rd minute, after a failed clearance from the Detroit backline was skied into the box and DCFC goalkeeper Nate Steinwascher did not come out to claim the ball. Forward Milan Iloski made him pay, rising up high for the header and tucked it into the back post for his seventh goal of the season, and Orange County had the crucial first goal of the match and led 1-0.
Sparky McNulty nearly doubled the lead for the Black and Orange in the 42nd minute, with one of the more insane plays of the season. After he forced a turnover off a throw-in near midfield, Sparky noticed Steinwascher out of his net and fired away from just inside midfield and his strike beat the goalkeeper, but just rang off the top corner and the two sides went into halftime with OCSC leading 1-0.
After not allowing a shot on target in the first half, goalkeeper Colin Shutler was first called into action in the 47th minute when he made a big save at full stretch to keep out a half volley chance from forward Ben Morris that seemed destined for the top corner.
Orange County SC had their biggest chance of the second half in the 56th minute, when Milan Iloski rounded the keeper on the left side, but the angle was unfavorable for a shot. He waited for the runners to enter the box, found his brother Brian Iloski who hit a shot to the bottom left corner that beat Steinwascher, but was cleared off the line by captain Stephen Carroll.
Shutler once again kept Detroit off the scoreboard in the 62nd minute. Detroit worked the ball in close and the ball fell to DCFC forward Skage Simonsen. Simonsen was in one on one with Shutler near the six-yard-box, but Shutler stopped the Norwegian’s effort.
The Black and Orange fended off Le Rouge’s attack at the end of the match, and earned themselves their first back-to-back victory of the season, defeating Detroit City FC 1-0.
OCSC returns home to The Champ on Saturday, July 1 at 7:00 PM vs. Monterey Bay FC for our 10th Anniversary celebration match. This match is also our Start of Summer Beerfest! Come on out to the Great Park in Irvine for a night of celebrations, beer and soccer right here in the OC. Grab your tickets here!
MILESTONES AND FACTS:
Goalkeeper Colin Shutler earned his fifth clean sheet in his eighth start of the season, placing him now into fifth place in the league standings.
Forward Milan Iloski scored his team leading seventh goal of the season, moving him into seventh in the Golden Boot race.
Orange County SC earned back-to-back wins for the first time since 2021.
| TEAM | FIRST HALF | SECOND HALF | FULL TIME |
| OCSC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| DET | 0 | 0 | 0 |
SCORING SUMMARY:
23’ Milan Iloski (OCSC)
DISCIPLINE SUMMARY:
ORANGE COUNTY SC
55’ Brian Iloski
61’ Sparky McNulty
65’ Kevin Partida
90’ Markus Nakkim
90 +6’ Kyle Scott – RED
DETROIT CITY FC
63’ Rhys Williams
70’ Matt Lewis
72’ Stephen Carroll
ORANGE COUNTY SC LINEUP:
Colin Shutler (GK); Ryan Doghman, Markus Nakkim (C), Dillon Powers, Owen Lambe: Seth Casiple (Daniel A. Pedersen 73’), Kevin Partida (Korede Osundina 81’), Kyle Scott (Andrew Fox 73’), Brian Iloski (Ashish Chattha 60’); Sparky McNulty (Thomas Amang 60’), Milan Iloski
Unused subs: Cody Cropper (GK), Alex Villanueva
Head Coach: Morten Karlsen
Possession: 50% | Shots: 10 | Shots On Goal: 3 | Corners: 2 | Fouls: 20 | Offsides: 1 |
DETROIT CITY FC LINEUP:
Nate Steinwascher (GK); Devon Amoo-Mensah, Stephen Carroll (C), Jalen Robinson (Matt Lewis 66’); Rhys Williams, Connor Rutz, Abdoulaye Diop (Dominic Gasso 34’), Maxi Rodriguez, Oniel Fisher (Richard Ballard 82’); Ben Morris (Dario Suarez 66’), Skage Simonsen Lehland (Yazeed Matthews 66’)
Unused subs: Ryan Shellow (GK), Adrian Billhardt
Head Coach: Trevor James
Possession: 50% | Shots: 11 | Shots On Goal: 6 | Corners: 6 | Fouls: 17 | Offsides: 0 |
Orange County SC @ Detroit City FC
2023 USL Championship | Matchday 17
Date: June 24, 2023
Venue: Keyworth Stadium (Detroit, MI)
Weather: We goin baaaack to back