Orange County SC’s USL Championship restart schedule revealed

The USL Championship revealed the full restart schedule after releasing some drips and drabs in the morning, and now we know the scheduled path for Orange County SC for the remainder of the 2020 USL Championship season.

OCSC will open the slate July 16 at Championship Soccer Stadium against Phoenix Rising FC at 6 pm PT, to be aired on ESPN2. It’s a tough start for Orange County, but they believe they can go toe-to-toe with Phoenix so might as well get that litmus test right off the bat.

Here’s the full schedule:

• Thursday, July 16: Home vs. Phoenix Rising FC
• Saturday, July 25: Home vs. Phoenix Rising FC
• Wednesday, July 29: Away at Sacramento Republic FC
• Friday, August 7: Home vs. LA Galaxy II
• Wednesday, August 12: Away at San Diego Loyal
• Saturday, August 15: Home vs. Las Vegas Lights
• Saturday, August 22: Away at LA Galaxy II
• Tuesday, August 25: Away at Las Vegas Lights FC
• Saturday, August 29: Home vs. San Diego Loyal
• Saturday, Sept. 5: Home vs. LA Galaxy II
• Sunday, Sept. 13: Away at San Diego Loyal
• Friday. Sept. 18: Home vs. Las Vegas Lights FC
• Saturday, Sept. 26: Away at Phoenix Rising FC
• Wednesday, Sept. 30: Away at LA Galaxy II
• Saturday, Oct. 3: Away at Las Vegas Lights

So OCSC start off with two home games, but they end the season with three away games in a row. That means they will either need to be road dogs or wrap up their playoff spot before the three-game stand to book a spot in the playoffs.

The only out of group opponent they face is Sacramento Republic, who will not be an easy opponent, either. But again, Orange County have a strong roster, and if they can find chemistry, they can hang with the contenders, certainly.

Also of note, the club announced the home games will not include fans to start: “Due to State and local policies regarding large gatherings, OCSC will not be able to accommodate fans at Championship Soccer Stadium when the season resumes.” The club said they would work to create virtual watch parties while fans are not allowed to come to games. The club could get permission to have fans at some point, but with a resurgence in coronavirus, we have to get that under control before we can seriously consider that possibility.

Games other than the opener on ESPN2 will be aired on ESPN+ everywhere in the United States and Cox Yurview in Orange County.

So the schedule is out. Now we need to mark our calendars, practice good practices to slow the spread of coronavirus, and wait for the action to return.

What do you think? Which game are you highlighting? Leave a comment below.