Orange County Soccer Club rallies to best L.A. Galaxy II

IRVINE —  Falling behind in the second minute was not the way that the Orange County Soccer Club wanted to start Wednesday’s match against rival Los Angeles Galaxy II.

Orange County fell in an early hole when the Galaxy’s Jonathan Perez sliced a header in the box inside the right post and past Orange County goalkeeper Frederik Due. Orange County coach Braeden Cloutier smacked the wall in front of him in disgust.

But OCSC used one of its top offensive weapons to find a way back.

Sean “Ugo” Okoli scored twice in the first half against “Los Dos,” which was enough for host Orange County to win the United Soccer League match 2-1 at Orange County Great Park.

“It definitely gives us some confidence, going into playing them again in [three] days,” Orange County midfielder Seth Casipie said. “The group is happy to get the job done. [We got] another three points, and we keep moving through the sprint … Everybody understands the goal, and everybody is willing to work for it.”

With 18 points, Orange County (5-1-3) moved ahead of Los Angeles Galaxy II (5-4) in the USL Group B restart standings. The Phoenix Rising (6-2-2) sit in first place with 20 points, though OCSC has a match in hand on Phoenix.

The top two teams in the group will advance to the playoffs.

Orange County Soccer Club midfielder Brian Iloski controls the ball in the home match vs. L.A. Galaxy II at Championship Soccer Stadium in Irvine on Wednesday.

(Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

Orange County and L.A. Galaxy II play again Saturday at 7 p.m. at Orange County Great Park, with the hosts looking for their third win of the year against their opposition from the north. There are five matches left in the regular season for Orange County.

Okoli now has a team-best five goals for Orange County. Casipie, returning after missing three matches due to a light quadriceps strain, got behind the Galaxy defense and sent Okoli a cross from the left in the 25^th minute. He took his time before turning and burying a shot into the back of the net.

Okoli’s second goal, in the 38^th minute, came after a pair of headers. An Orange County corner kick from the right went to the far post to Michael Orozco, who headed it back across the goal to Okoli. He flicked it in with his own head, giving OCSC the advantage.

“He’s extremely talented, very hard-working and very disciplined,” Casipie said of Okoli. “It makes me happy seeing him getting the goals that he deserves. He takes the responsibility of being that pillar up top, the one that has to score the goals and wants the pressure for himself. As you can see, he delivers.”

The match got a bit chippy in the second half, with four yellow cards — two on each side. L.A. Galaxy II had a couple of good looks from near the top of the box, but shots by Augustine Williams in the 60^th minute and Alejandro Alvarado Jr. in the 85^th minute went just wide right each time.

Orange County survived and remained in the thick of playoff contention. The team has given up more than one goal just once in its nine matches this season.

Orange County outshot L.A. Galaxy II 11-8 on Wednesday, including a 3-2 advantage in shots on goal, and had six corner kicks compared to just two for the visitors.

“We needed to raise the intensity tonight, I think,” said Orange County defender and captain Kevin Alston. “Last time we played them [a 2-1 road win on Aug. 22], we sat back a little bit too much and allowed them to get a better rhythm. We wanted to disrupt that from the start.”

Orange County Soccer Club forward Sean “Ugo” Okoli (9) celebrates scoring a goal with defender Daniel Finlayson during Wednesday’s home match.

(Raul Roa / Staff Photographer)

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