OC Blues snap four-match winless streak
IRVINE — One club is battling for a playoff spot and the other from being the worst in the United Soccer League.
If the regular season ended on Saturday, the Orange County Blues FC would be in the Western Conference playoffs and the Real Monarchs SLC would finish tied for the lowest amount of points in the third-division professional league in North America.
The Blues’ 1-0 win against the Real Monarchs at UC Irvine aided their postseason chances with nine matches left in the regular season. They went into the day one spot and point out of the sixth-and-last playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Tulsa Roughnecks (7-8-4) moved into sixth place with a 4-0 rout of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 on Friday.
Orange County (8-8-3) earned three points, giving it 27 points and it switched spots with the Roughnecks. Denzel Slager’s goal right before halftime proved to be the difference for the Blues.
The opening minute featured Slager’s first scoring chance. Slager received a long precise pass from recently signed right back Milton Blanco, and Slager, in stride near the box, volleyed the ball hard, only to see goalkeeper Eric Osswald somehow get a glove on it and knock it out of play to set up a corner kick for Orange County. The corner kick marked the first of three for the Blues in the first 16 minutes, but each time nothing serious developed.
In the 17th minute, the Real Monarchs almost broke a scoreless tie. Without Brenton Griffiths in the Orange County lineup at center back because he picked up a red card in the last match, a 1-1 tie at the LA Galaxy II on July 16, the Blues broke down in the back, allowing Alec Sundly to send a cross to a wide-open Max Rauhofer on the right side. The ball barely missed the sliding feet of Rauhofer, who was deep in the box.
Other than that, the Blues played solid defense without Griffiths. Ryan Felix, who has played in the midfield for the Blues, started for Griffiths, who had played in the first 1,512 minutes of Orange County’s season, until the referee sent the Jamaican off with his second yellow in the 71st minute at Stubhub Center’s Track and Field Stadium. Orange County left that affair with its first point in the rivalry against the LA Galaxy II.
The Blues got more than a point against the Real Monarchs (2-10-6). Slager helped their cause.
The right-winger found the back of the net in the 43rd minute, a minute after Osswald escaped trouble by getting to a ball before Didier Crettenand could attempt a shot in the box. Osswald stood no chance in stopping Slager’s shot from the right side.
A couple of seconds before, Osswald did turn back a shot by Pavle Popara from just outside the top of the box, but the rebound went right to Slager, who blasted the ball past a vulnerable Osswald (six saves).
Behind Slager’s fourth goal and keeper Pepe Miranda’s fifth shutout, Miranda made eight saves, Orange County broke a four-match winless streak. The club’s previous triumph came at home against OKC Energy FC on July 1.
The Blues returned home after four straight contests on the road, and they’re in for another trip. Orange County travels to Sandy, Utah, on Aug. 1.
The Blues haven’t performed well on the road, going 2-5-2. Nevertheless, they will face the Real Monarchs, who have only two wins to show in their debut season in the USL.
