OC Blues' trio Griffiths, Miranda, Ramirez suspended by USL

USL announced their weekly disciplinary report on Tuesday, and among the suspended are a key trio of Orange County Blues players.

First, the league suspended Real Monarchs SLC's Max Rauhofer for his role in a scuffle that broke out against the Blues in Saturday's 2-1 win for OC, a whopping five games. Based on the league's response, Rauhofer got the stiffest penalty from the melee at the end of the match.

Two players, the Blues' Brenton Griffiths and Pepe Miranda, were given red cards at the end of the game, with Griffiths receiving two yellow cards and Miranda a straight red. Griffiths will be suspended two games as a result, though it's unclear if it's because it's his second red card of the season or because of his actions in the scuffle.

Miranda, meanwhile, will be suspended just the standard one match for his red card.

Furthermore, Blues forward Christofer Ramirez picked up his fifth yellow card of the season, triggering an automatic one-game ban.

This means the starting goalkeeper, leading central defender and team co-scoring lead will be out for Orange County's home match on Saturday against the Austin Aztex, a key clash in the Western Conference playoff race. On the bright side, Oliver Wyss will have a full week to prepare without the influential trio, but certainly other players, especially those playing in the back, will need to step up to help the Blues continue to pick up points.

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