Sean ‘Ugo’ Okoli scored a brace including the match winner in the second half in a wild Orange County SC home opener against Rio Grande Valley FC Toros on Saturday, March 19 at Championship Soccer Stadium in Irvine. The defending USL Championship title winners unveiled their championship banner before kickoff.
In front of a crowd of 5,061 spectators, OCSC played the final 35-plus minutes up a player after a RGVFC player received a red card. The scoring all took place after the 75’ and after Okoli came on as a substitute in the 71’ for Erick ‘Cubo’ Torres.
Coming off a corner kick in the 79’, Okoli’s header from the left side of the six yard box rainbowed over the RGV keeper and into the top right corner. This came moments after Milan Iloski’s free kick rattled off the crossbar and OCSC had their subsequent three shots blocked by the RGV defense.
The lead lasted for seven minutes when Frank Lòpez capitalized on an OCSC blunder to equalize the match. Due to several injury stoppages, there was a minimum of seven minutes added after the 90’ for captain Michael Orozco to anchor the defense and create a chance for the offense to score a winner.
More injury delays allowed stoppage time to continue on into the 90+9’ where OCSC had the ball in the attacking half. Tommy McCabe curled the ball towards the six yard box where it landed at the feet of Okoli. The former USL MVP calmly controlled it and slotted it in near-post for the match winner.
The win comes after a hard fought season opener loss in Colorado Springs and the transfer of last season’s USL Championship Finals MVP and team’s leading scorer Ronaldo Damus to Swedish first division side GIF Sundsvall.
OCSC’s season continues on the road against New Mexico United on Saturday, March 16 at 3:00 PM on ESPN+. OCSC will return home in a rematch of the 2021 Western Conference Final against San Antonio FC on Saturday, April 9 at 7:00 PM, tickets can be purchased here.
| TEAM | FIRST HALF | SECOND HALF | FULL TIME |
| OCSC | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| RGV | 0 | 1 | 1 |
SCORING SUMMARY:
79’ Sean ‘Ugo’ Okoli (OCSC)
86’ Frank López (RGV)
90+9’ Sean ‘Ugo’ Okoli (OCSC)
DISCIPLINE SUMMARY:
ORANGE COUNTY SC
39’ Mikko Kuningas
65’ Kobi Henry
90+9’ Sean ‘Ugo’ Okoli
RIO GRANDE VALLEY FC TOROS
26’ Emilio Ycaza
43’ Ricky Ruiz
55’ Emilio Ycaza (RED)
77’ Isidro Martinez
90+8’ Daniel Luis
ORANGE COUNTY SC LINEUP:
Patrick Rakovsky (GK), Michael Orozco (C), Milan Iloski, Seth Casiple, Cubo Torres (71’ Ugo Okoli), Daniel Pedersen (84’ Tommy McCabe), Tony Rocha, Kevin Partida (45’ Alex Villanueva), Kobi Henry (71’ Albi Skendi), Mikko Kuningas (59’ Danny Acosta), Hunter Gorskie
Unused subs: Colin Shutler (GK), Korede Osundina
Head Coach: Richard Chaplow
Possession: 51.3% | Shots: 9 | Shots On Goal: 4 | Corners: 4 | Fouls: 23 | Offsides: 1 |
RIO GRANDE VALLEY FC TOROS LINEUP:
Colin Miller (GK), Wahab Ackwei (53’ Daniel Luis), Isidro Martinez (84’ Duilio Herrera Ibarra), Emilio Ycaza, Frank López, Jesús Vazquez (C), Ricky Ruiz, Dylan Borczak (59’ Frank Nodarse), Robert Coronado, Juan Torres, Jonathan Ricketts
Unused subs: Javier Garcia (GK), Stefan Mueller, Luka Malesvic
Head Coach: Wilmer Cabrera
Possession: 48.7% | Shots: 8 | Shots On Goal: 1 | Corners: 2 | Fouls: 21 | Offsides: 1 |
Orange County SC vs Rio Grande Valley FC Toros
2022 USL Championship | Matchday 2
Date: March 19, 2022
Kickoff: 7:06 PM PDT
Venue: Championship Soccer Stadium (Irvine, CA)
Weather: Rain in SoCal.