Getting into the groove: Orange County SC 1, Las Vegas Lights 0

Aodhan Quinn scored his second goal in as many games to lead Orange County SC to a 1-0 win over Las Vegas Lights Saturday at Orange County Great Park.

The win was OCSC’s second of the week, after a 2-0 road win in San Diego Saturday night, and Braeden Cloutier’s side keeps climbing up the Group B standings in the USL Championship after a third consecutive win.

Frederik Due was pressed into action in the 13th minute, when Bryan de la Fuente bore down on goal on a counterattack, and his spectacular shot was pushed over the goal by Due to keep the game scoreless early.

In the 20th minute, it looked like Diego Lopez, making his debut for OCSC, was set up to open his account after a great effort from Brian Iloski, but Lopez’s shot inside the 6-yard box was somehow tipped over by Las Vegas goalkeeper Lalo Delgado.

Midway through the first half, Orange County were dealt a blow, as Seth Casiple appeared to suffer a knee injury and could not continue, and Edson Alvarado came off the bench on short notice to replace him in midfield.

Due got injured just before halftime, and Orange County were forced into another early injury sub, with Aaron Cervantes going into goal to start the second half.

Just before the hour mark, it looked like OCSC would get the breakthrough, as Iloski had another outstanding feed in a dangerous area, but his low cross trickled just wide of the mark and there was nobody at the far post to tap it in.

But they found the goal in the 69th minute, with Aodhan Quinn finishing a recirculated give-and-go, after Iloski set him up on the score in the box.

Iloski was huge in this game, not quite on target when shooting himself, but playing the playmaker role with absolute aplomb. Had his teammates helped him out a bit more, the fleet-footed Iloski could have easily had three assists and OCSC would have cruised to a win. As it was, it was a bit tighter of a game, but they held on nonetheless to get three points, and having Quinn finding a vein of form in the goals column is a very good omen indeed.

Orange County are scheduled to play next in a week’s time, on the road at 405 Derby rivals LA Galaxy II next Saturday. Los Dos will have an even longer gap between games than Orange County SC recently had, so while Galaxy II have been off to a good start this season themselves, the young squad will be coming off a team coronavirus outbreak and a long layoff. So who knows how that will go, we’ll see.

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