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The schedule is officially here! After waiting all offseason, and with training camp set to begin very soon, USL released the entire 2016 USL regular season schedule on Tuesday.
Although the schedule is expanded to 30 games this season, the main principles of the slate are in line with last year's schedule. The Orange County Blues, being a West Coast team, will not play any Eastern Conference teams again this year, and the schedule is tilted so that teams play opponents closest to them most often.
The downside is that the easternmost teams in the Western Conference, including Saint Louis FC and Swope Park Rangers, will only play the Blues once each this year, which doesn't seem great for competitive balance. However, the league appears to have heeded the complaints about teams having to play two games in three days, usually on road trips, and the Blues' tightest turnarounds are Thursday-to-Sunday this year, which seems more reasonable.
And the Blues will once again play at Anteater Stadium at UC Irvine for the coming season.
Here's OC's full schedule for 2016. Which games are you most looking forward to? Will the Blues be able to have another good season with this slate ahead of them?
Date | Opponent | H/A | Time (PT) |
Sat. March 26 | Vancouver Whitecaps | Home | 7 pm |
Sat. April 2 | Saint Louis FC | Home | 7 pm |
Fri. April 8 | LA Galaxy II | Away | 7:30 pm |
Sat. April 16 | San Antonio | Home | 7 pm |
Wed. April 20 | Portland Timbers 2 | Home | 7 pm |
Sat. April 30 | Sacramento Republic FC | Away | 7:30 pm |
Sun. May 8 | Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC | Home | 7 pm |
Sat. May 14 | Arizona United SC | Home | 7 pm |
Sat. May 21 | Real Monarchs SLC | Away | TBA |
Fri. May 27 | Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC | Away | 6 pm |
Sat. June 4 | Seattle Sounders FC 2 | Home | 7 pm |
Sat. June 11 | Arizona United SC | Away | 7:30 pm |
Sat. June 18 | Real Monarchs SLC | Home | 7 pm |
Thu. June 23 | San Antonio | Away | 5:30 pm |
Sun. June 26 | Rio Grande Valley FC | Away | 5:30 pm |
Sat. July 2 | LA Galaxy II | Away | 7:30 pm |
Sun. July 10 | Sacramento Republic FC | Home | 7 pm |
Sat. July 16 | OKC Energy FC | Away | 5:30 pm |
Sat. July 23 | Swope Park Rangers | Away | 5:30 pm |
Sat. July 30 | LA Galaxy II | Home | 7 pm |
Thu. August 4 | Tulsa Roughnecks FC | Away | 5:30 pm |
Sun. August 7 | Arizona United SC | Home | 7 pm |
Wed. August 10 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 | Away | 7 pm |
Sun. August 14 | Portland Timbers 2 | Away | 2 pm |
Sat. August 20 | LA Galaxy II | Home | 7 pm |
Wed. August 24 | Sacramento Republic FC | Home | 7 pm |
Sat. September 3 | Sacramento Republic FC | Away | 7:30 pm |
Fri. September 9 | Real Monarchs SLC | Away | 6 pm |
Sat. September 17 | Rio Grande Valley FC | Home | 7 pm |
Sat. September 24 | Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC | Home | 7 pm |
What do you think? Leave a comment below!