The Three Sparks are coming off an excellent game against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds. A win would have been great but that’s always hard to get against the Hounds; a brief moment of defensive indecision cost the good guys 2 points in an otherwise near-flawless performance. Briggs was very happy: “I was really proud of the guys tonight. They all left it out there. They gave everything. They tried and they created opportunities…I think that performance gives us a lot to build on with nine games remaining.” The players themselves were not quite so happy as they knew they could have done better. But as Briggs said, they held nothing back and pretty much all of them were flat on the pitch at the final whistle. But onward and upward…
The most important part
This week the Legion begins a rough two-game Western road trip. Next week they will face West leaders FC Tulsa but first they have to deal with Orange County SC (Saturday, 9:00pm, ESPN Select). The two teams played each other last week in Tulsa, the home team taking a 1-0 win. The score is effectively even closer given that OC’s Stephen Kelly was red-carded just 20 minutes into the game. Tulsa scored just 4 minutes later but after that were held by the Californians. In fact, it is arguable OC was the better team for the remainder of the game and were unfortunate not to come away with at least a point.
As good as Tulsa has been this season, the West is extremely tight. Despite being 8th currently, they are only 4 points out of 2nd and have games in hand over the entire league; they are even 3 points and 3 games clear of Monterey Bay behind them in 9th. That’s another indication that they are a very good side. They also tend to be very flexible. They typically play with a 4-man back line (in a 4-2-3-1 mostly) but the actual players selected rotate on a regular basis. Trying to predict a lineup is nearly impossible. The only 2 certainties are Colin Shutler in goal and Ethan Zubak at striker.
Shutler their fans refer to as Shoutout Shutler. That may be true in other years but this year he has just 4, well off the lead in that category (8 games, shared by Danny Vitiello and last week’s opponent Eric Dick). He is very well-known to Ronaldo Damus. Ok, that’s an exaggeration. They were both at Orange County in 2022 for a total of 8 days back in 2022. They were also both at North Texas SC (while in USL League One) but at different times.
Zubak at the other end is Orange County’s latest star striker. He came to the team last year after stints with the LA Galaxy and Nashville SC. He has just 6 goals for the team lead (which means they have plenty of other threats) but he is definitely the target man. His wife had a baby just a couple fo weeks back so hopefully he’s not getting enough sleep.
One player we won’t be seeing is the aforementioned Stephen Kelly. That could be a problem for OC’s midfield. He joined the team in late June and has featured in 8 games overall for a total of 468 minutes. In that time he has managed to accumulate 2 yellow cards and 2 red cards. He played previously for Livingston FC and based on his discipline record it will probably not surprise you to know that team is in Scotland.
Equally as impressive as the team is their venue. Championship Stadium, which sits in the middle of a much larger facility called simply Great Park (which has all sorts of facilities for all ages), is a beautiful place to play. Briggs noted the team is also happy they will be playing on grass rather than artificial turf. Can’t say as I disagree. As far as the team is in general, he said, “…morale’s high, people are feeling confident. People understand what’s at stake and understand what our goal is and we’ll do all we can to achieve it.”
He has no illusions as to the nature of the game though. “It’s going to be a difficult game but we’ve got nothing to fear. We’ve got nothing to fear going in there. We have quality and we have what it takes to try and go and get a result.”
The Legion will be without Tyler Pasher again. He did incur a hamstring injury and told me he will be out a few weeks but expects to be back for the final games of the regular season. Ramiz Hamouda will also be absent on U-17 national team duty for the last international break ahead of the U-17 World Cup (to be played in Qatar this November). Phanuel Kavita should be available before he heads off to Rwanda for 2 World Cup qualifiers next weekend. That could cause some selection issues on the back line. It’s possible Amir Daley will move over to the left side although that is not his preferred position.
The problem may have just been solved: just moments ago as I write this the team announced the loan acquisition of Jackson Travis from the Colorado Rapids. He is a left-sided defender and has been playing regularly in MLS. It’s not clear if he can make it to Orange County in time. We shall see.
Prediction: It all comes down to mentality. If the team can really build on last week’s excellent outing there is a distinct possibility of taking all 3 points. A much more likely result is a draw though and I think that is what the team will come home with.
Best of the rest
For the second straight week all 24 teams are playing this Saturday evening. The Legion’s 9:00pm kickoff means that all Eastern teams should have ended their games already. That won’t have any impact on what the Three Sparks need to do but it will indicate how much the team can gain. Most of the games are of critical importance at this point so keeping track of all the scores will be necessary. Of those Eastern games, Indy Eleven v. Louisville City is highly likely to end in the Legion’s favor, so here are our selections for actual viewing as a warm-up to the main event:
Loudoun United v. The™ Miami FC (6:00pm, ESPN Select)
Loudoun’s early-season shine has long since worn off, and it doesn’t help that rumors are now abounding that head coach Ryan Martin (who has coached all but 9 of the team’s games) is on his way out. Miami of course has turned out to be a huge mess and sending keeper Bill Hamid off to Tampa Bay won’t improve matters. A Miami loss is probably the best for the Legion (they are tied on points but the Legion has the tiebreaker); a draw wouldn’t be bad either.
Rhode Island FC v. Charleston Battery (6:00pm, CBS Sports Golazo Network)
Rhody is a point ahead of the Legion but has hit a real road block. The Battery are chasing Louisville hard for the conference title and Players’ Shield. With the latter already being out of reach for the Three Sparks as well, the best outcome is obvious. Frustrations are building in the Bay State too; there have been calls for Khano Smith’s head.
North Carolina FC v. Hartford Athletic (6:30pm, ESPN Select)
Hartford is 7th and surging. North Carolina is solidly in 3rd. Not a fixture that most would have circled for late-season excitement but here we are. Hartford dropping points is what the Three Sparks will want; they have a 6-point lead and a game in hand. Predicting the outcome though is unadvisable; this could be the game of the week.
Tampa Bay Rowdies v. Pittsburgh Riverhounds (6:30pm, ESPN Select)
The Rowdies remain mired in the Eastern Conference cellar despite looking briefly like they might climb out. Pittsburgh is what it always is, cagey but consistent. Tampa is 2 points back of the Legion with a game in hand. The Riverhounds taking all 3 points probably wouldn’t hurt the Legion but a draw would be the most satisfying result.
