San Antonio FC suffered its first defeat in league play this season at the hands of Orange County SC, losing 2-0 Wednesday at Championship Stadium in Irvine, CA.
OCSC wasted no time finding the back of the net, as striker Lyam MacKinnon took a long-range pass from Marcelo Palomino and deposited a first-touch shot off his left foot to the right corner in the 11th minute. In the 34th minute, SAFC goalkeeper Joey Batrouni blocked a shot from OCSC midfielder Chris Hegardt, only to be beaten by a point blank shot off the rebound from Orange County forward Yazin Bazini. It was all the host side needed to secure the victory.
“The moments we were bad as a team is when they scored the two goals. That’s the game,” Head Coach Carlos Llamosa said.
SAFC made adjustments and mounted a respectable attack in the second half but couldn’t find the net. OCSC simply had San Antonio’s back line disorganized and out of position for most of the match, fending off a relentless assault of one-way traffic.
With the defeat, SAFC saw its shutout streak of 407 minutes come to an end, as well as its reign atop the table in the west.
“It’s important to get back up on the horse. Really good teams — it’s about how they react after moments like this. We’ll really see who we are as a team,” SAFC defender Akeem O’Connor-Ward said.
The loss came in the last game of a two-game roadtrip in California. San Antonio FC battled to a scoreless draw against Monterey Bay Saturday, April 4 at Cardinale Stadium in Seaside, Calif. The scheduling gauntlet of three matches in seven days seemed to have an effect on SAFC, as it never found a comfortable tempo to mount a serious attack.
SAFC again dominated defensively as Goalkeeper Richard Sanchez, who got the start, had three saves and earned a clean sheet. It was the fourth consecutive match in which SAFC blanked its opponent in league play.
“Everybody, from top to back line, we’ve all been pretty united and pretty strong. We just gotta keep doing that as a unit,” Sanchez said.
SAFC dominated the possession phase, yet failed to find the back of the net – or even manage a shot on goal. The lackluster match featured two sides failing to convert on the attacking third of the pitch, creating very few scoring opportunities and squandering the few that arose.
“For the most part, we controlled the ball. We just need to be better up front. In the final third, we need to be more aggressive – crossing, shots on goal – we need to improve that part of our game,” Head Coach Carlos Llamosa said.
Looking to regroup and get back in the win column, San Antonio returns home Saturday night to face Miami FC at Toyota Field.