IRVINE, Calif. – Orange County SC plays host to San Diego Loyal SC on Wednesday night at Championship Soccer Stadium in a top-three clash in the USL Championship’s Pacific Division that sees the hosts looking to clinch their postseason return and San Diego within range of locking up second place and a home game to open the postseason. Kickoff is scheduled for 10 p.m. ET.

@OrangeCountySC (12-10-7, 43pts) earned a 1-0 win against Oakland Roots SC on Saturday night at Laney Stadium to move within a point of clinching a place in the postseason as Ben Mines scored the only goal of the game. Mines has now recorded goals in three consecutive games, with the FC Cincinnati loanee also providing the winner last Wednesday night against Phoenix Rising FC. Orange County has also seen goalkeeper Patrick Rakovsky earn back-to-back shutouts to move him to seven for the season, tied for seventh in the league, with the German shot-stopper also sitting in the top 20 in the league in saves with 57. OCSC needs only a point to lock up its playoff berth, but with a win would move within a point of SD Loyal for second place with each side having two games remaining.

@SanDiegoLoyal (13-7-9, 48pts) conceded a late goal on Sunday afternoon, meanwhile, to finish in a 1-1 draw with New Mexico United at Torero Stadium. Douglas Martinez Jr. scored the opening goal for the hosts in the 61st minute but it wasn’t enough to keep San Diego’s three-game winning streak intact. Should SD Loyal take victory against Orange County it would clinch second place in the Pacific Division and a first home playoff game in the club’s history, but the visitors will be looking to avoid a repeat performance from the last time the teams met on August 21 when San Diego took a second-half lead only to concede twice in three minutes just past the hour mark to suffer a 2-1 loss and its most recent home defeat. One positive for the visitors against New Mexico was the return of midfielder Jack Blake as a second-half substitute for his first appearance since suffering an injury in the defeat to Orange County two months ago, and his presence could add to an already solid SD Loyal attack.

FiveThirtyEight.com Match Predictor: Orange County SC 44%, San Diego Loyal SC 29%, Draw 26%

Most Recent Lineups

Orange County SC (4-2-3-1): Patrick Rakovsky; Michael Orozco, Kobi Henry, Rob Kiernan, Nathan Smith; Eric Calvillo, Dillon Powers; Ben Mines, Mikko Kuningas, Brian Iloski; Ronaldo Damus

San Diego Loyal SC (3-4-3): Austin Guerrero; Grant Stoneman, Josh Yaro, Callum Montgomery; Elijah Martin, Collin Martin, Alejandro Guido, Miguel Ibarra; Douglas Martinez Jr., Corey Hertzog, Tumi Moshobane

Discipline

Orange County SC – None

San Diego Loyal SC – Caution Accumulation Warning: Corey Hertzog