Orange County SC edged out Sacramento Republic FC 1-0 when the sides met for the first time this season on May 22, with the second matchup set for this Saturday at Heart Health Park. | Photo courtesy Liza Rosales / Orange County SC
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Sacramento Republic FC and Orange County SC will square off for the second time this season with both teams looking to return to winning ways as they meet at Heart Health Park on Saturday night. Kickoff is scheduled for 11 p.m. ET.
@SacRepublicFC (2-2-1, 7pts) completed a two-game week against Orange County after having played to a thrilling 3-3 draw on Wednesday night against Oakland Roots SC on home turf that saw Dariusz Formella give the side an early lead before goals from Cameron Iwasa and Jordan McCrary in the second half brought the hosts back level. The scoring output matched Sacramento’s best attacking performance of the season so far, and the side will be hoping that carries over to its clash with Orange County after being somewhat stifled in a 1-0 defeat when the sides first met this season on May 22. That outing saw Sacramento held to only two shots on goal, but the side is set to be without two notable players on Saturday with both forward Kharlton Belmar (Grenada) and Shannon Gomez (Trinidad & Tobago) having been called up for international duty this week.
@OrangeCountySC (1-2-0, 3pts) suffered defeat in its last outing as it rallied back from a two-goal halftime deficit but was unable to hold on late against the LA Galaxy II at Championship Soccer Stadium in a 4-3 loss. Chris Wehan scored one of the goals for the side in the contest, and has now scored three goals in three games, including the winner when OCSC took victory against Sacramento last month. Orange County will likely be looking for a sharper start on Saturday as it tries to move up the Pacific Division standings and could also be looking for more control on the ball after completing only 71 percent of its passes through its first three outings.
FiveThirtyEight.com Match Predictor: Sacramento Republic FC 41%, Orange County SC 31%, Draw 28%
Most Recent Lineups
Sacramento Republic FC (3-5-2): Tomas Gomez; Hayden Sargis, Dan Casey, Mitchell Taintor; Jordan McCrary, Luis Felipe Fernandes, Jaime Villarreal, Tucker Bone, Chris Gloster; Dariusz Formella, Cameron Iwasa
Orange County SC (4-2-3-1): Patrick Rakovsky; Brent Richards, Rob Kiernan, Rhys Breen, Nathan Smith; Michael Orozco, Mikko Kuningas; Ronaldo Damus, Thomas Enevoldsen, Chris Wehan; Eero Markkanen
Discipline
Sacramento Republic FC – None
Orange County SC – None