IRVINE, Calif. – Orange County SC announced on Tuesday the club had re-signed midfielder Ashish Chattha for the 2024 USL Championship season. The transaction is pending league and federation approval.

The club also announced the return of defender Andrew Fox, who was previously under contract for the new campaign.

Chattha joined the professional ranks with OCSC last season after competing collegiately close by at the University of California, Irvine. Chattha played in 22 USL Championship matches, making 11 starts. He earned his first appearance on the scoresheet in his professional career in OCSC’s 3-1 victory over Monterey Bay F.C., providing the assist on defender Owen Lambe’s game-winning goal.

Fox is set for his sixth campaign in the USL Championship and second with OCSC. The Huntingdon, England native made 28 appearances in all competitions for the Black and Orange last season, including eight appearances in the starting lineup. He also made his 100th appearance in the USL Championship last season, after coming on as a substitute in OCSC’s 2-0 win over Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC. He heads into 2024 with 110 appearances all time in the Championship, with six goals and four assists as a left back and center back.

Analysis

Orange County’s re-signing of midfielder Ashish Chattha is an endorsement of a solid first season in which he proved a capable depth piece behind regular central midfielders Kevin Partida, Seth Casiple and Kyle Scott. The Fremont, Calif. native posted a passing accuracy rate of 84.8 percent and won 81.3 percent of his tackles, putting together a Goals Added mark of +1.99 in just over 1,000 minutes of action per American Soccer Analysis.

Chattha will likely fill a similar role with all three of Partida, Casiple and Scott set to return this season, but should be aiming to push for more minutes over the campaign and to challenge for a starting role. As much as OCSC is bringing back – with Fox likely in a similar position behind Dillon Powers and Markus Nakkim at center back – that could help continue to lift the tide of the side that finished second in the West last season.