USL Championship – Match 32
Energy FC @ Orange County SC
Saturday, October 5 – 9 p.m. CDT
Championship Soccer Stadium – Irvine, Calif.

Where to Watch

Official Watch Party
ESPN+
@EnergyFC on Twitter

Week 30 Recap

Energy FC head back to the west coast after a 5-1 defeat away to LA Galaxy II last Saturday. Deshorn Brown opened the scoring with his 14th goal of the season before the hosts scored five unanswered to take all three points.

Week 31 Preview

Next up is a matchup with Orange County SC. In 2019’s first meeting between the sides, Alvin Jones scored on his Taft Stadium debut to help give the Greens a 1-0 win.

OKC holds a slight advantage in the all-time head-to-head record with six wins, four losses and one draw.

Orange County is arguably the most in-form team at the moment, having rattled off six consecutive wins by a combined score of 13-3, before falling 2-0 at Rio Grande Valley last weekend. 

Michael Seaton and Darwin Jones lead the way for OC with 12 and 11 goals, respectively.

The Greens will miss Callum Ross due to suspension for yellow-card accumulation but could be boosted by the return of Rafael Garcia from knee surgery. The midfielder was an unused substitute against the Galaxy.

Deshorn Brown leads OKC with 14 goals, Omar Gordon has the most assists with seven, and Cody Laurendi has extended his USL saves lead to 98.

Table Talk

A five-match winless run pretty much leaves the Greens in a must-win scenario this week. Sitting in 14th and trailing 10th place San Antonio FC by three points, the Greens will need to pick up maximum points and hope some of the teams hovering around the playoff spots don't pick up results. 

The potential for those other teams to drop points is high, with 12th place Portland Timbers 2 playing 1st place Phoenix Rising FC and 13th place Las Vegas Lights FC hosting San Antonio. 11th place New Mexico United will also have a tough test against Rio Grande Valley FC, who have won two in a row.

With the Western Conference still so congested, a win this weekend would put Energy FC back in the running for post season play: