Published for Orange County SC fans — October 2026
By Toxlay Sports Editorial Team · Last updated October 23, 2026
🍊 Orange County Fans — The Black and Orange Never Fold!
Top of the West in August, a coaching change in September, and now one final-day shootout in San Antonio with the season on the line. Orange shirts, full voice — this is the week to stand with County.
The Club
Orange County Soccer Club is Orange County’s only professional soccer team, and its history comes in three layers. The wider Orange County Blues organization was founded in 1998 by Iranian-American businessman Ali Mansouri. The professional team was announced as a USL Pro expansion franchise on December 7, 2010 as the Los Angeles Blues and played its first season in 2011, became the Orange County Blues FC in 2012, and was purchased by James Keston in 2016. Ahead of the 2017 season the club rebranded as Orange County SC — so 2026 is the tenth season under the Orange County SC name. The club calls itself The Black and Orange, the mascot is Gnarly, and Keston remains majority owner and CEO alongside a community ownership component, with Peter Nugent running soccer operations.
Home is Championship Soccer Stadium at the Orange County Great Park in Irvine — “The Champ” — a 5,000-capacity soccer-specific stadium the club has called home since 2017. The venue earned a genuine moment of national pride in 2026: it was the U.S. Men’s National Team’s official Team Base Camp training site for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. That honour even reshaped the Orange County SC schedule, moving the May 23, 2026 home match against Oakland Roots SC to Santa Ana Stadium, where 7,651 fans watched.
The dugout story defines this season. Danny Stone, who took over in August 2024 and reached the Western Conference Semifinals in both 2024 and 2025, departed on September 24, 2026 after a seven-game winless run. In came Dekel Keinan — assistant coach since 2025, a former Israel international defender who played for Maccabi Haifa, Cardiff City and Blackpool — as interim head coach, the 12th in club history. His brief could not be narrower or bigger: rescue a playoff place that looked safe a month earlier.
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County’s top scorer in signature orange. A fan-inspired OC-style shirt honoring the 34 cities, with the No. 12 on the back — made for The Champ.
Last Season (2025): A Shootout and a Heartbreak
Orange County finished seventh in the Western Conference in 2025 with a 10–11–9 record, 39 points, 44 goals scored and 45 conceded — a side that saved its best football for the playoffs. Striker Ethan Zubak scored 12 goals, becoming only the third player in club history with consecutive double-digit regular seasons, but the postseason is what 2025 will be remembered for in Irvine.
As the No. 7 seed, County went to Sacramento for the quarterfinal on November 2, 2025 and drew 0–0 — then won the shootout 5–4, with backup goalkeeper Tetsuya Kadono substituting into the match and making the decisive save. The club’s own game notes now call it the night Kadono became an OCSC legend. A week later in the semifinal at New Mexico United, OCSC came within stoppage time of the Western Conference Final: Greg Hurst put New Mexico ahead, Malik Pinto equalised assisted by Ousmane Sylla, and Dayonn Harris won it at 90+4′. A last-minute heartbreaker — and the standard this group still measures itself against.
Best Players Right Now
Yaniv Bazini — #12, centre-forward. The team’s top scorer in 2026 with nine league goals. The 27-year-old Israeli played college soccer at Vermont, leading the Catamounts to their first-ever NCAA men’s championship in 2024 with 14 goals, then started his pro career at South Georgia Tormenta FC and joined OCSC after Tormenta folded in early 2026.
Ousmane Sylla — #8, attacking midfielder. Seven league goals from midfield, second on the team, in 27 matches. The Dakar-born playmaker also assisted OCSC’s 2025 playoff goal at New Mexico, and his late runs into the box have been a constant feature of County’s attack.
Chris Hegardt — #10, central midfielder. The creator wears the No. 10: four goals and a team-high five assists this season. The San Diego-born midfielder scored at El Paso on October 10 and sets the rhythm for everything County build through the middle.
Lyam MacKinnon — #11, forward. Four league goals, including a famous April week. The Swiss-born winger scored the opener in the 2–0 win over San Antonio on April 8 — the result County fans will cite all week — and then the winner at FC Tulsa three days later. His pace on the left gives OCSC the outlet they need when games turn into final-day chaos.
Stephen Kelly — #27, central midfielder. Three league goals and the team’s chance-creation engine, with 41 chances created — the club’s season high in its late-September game notes. The Scot from Port Glasgow rarely grabs the headline, but he connects defence to attack and keeps County playing through pressure.
Alex Rando — #1, goalkeeper. Ever-present in 2026: 29 appearances and all 2,610 minutes heading into the finale, with 80 saves credited by late September in the club’s game notes. In a season of coaching changes, Rando has been the one constant on the Orange County SC schedule.
Star Spotlight
Kadono’s shootout night. November 2, 2025, Sacramento. A Western Conference Quarterfinal finished 0–0 through extra time, and then a substitute goalkeeper — Irvine local Tetsuya Kadono — came on and made the decisive save as OCSC won the shootout 5–4 in front of Sacramento’s home crowd. The club’s game notes say it best: that was the night Tet became an OCSC legend.
The 90+3′ equaliser in the desert. March 14, 2026, at Phoenix. Ihsan Sacko put Phoenix ahead in the 38th minute, and the season’s first chapter of the Orange County–Phoenix war looked lost — until Nico Benalcazar equalised at 90+3′ for a 1–1 draw. It set the tone for a year of late goals and late drama, and it is worth remembering this week: this team has rescued results at the death before.
A new coach beats the champions. September 26, 2026, The Champ. Two days after Danny Stone’s departure, Dekel Keinan’s first match in charge was at home to Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC, the defending USL Championship title-holders — and OCSC won 1–0 in front of the home crowd. That night proved the dressing room never stopped believing.
🔥 More Fan Favorites
More County stars, same black and orange.
This Season (2026): From Top of the West to the Brink
It is hard to believe now, but Orange County were top of the Western Conference as late as August. Then came the slide: home losses to Tampa Bay and Louisville City started it, a seven-game winless run finished Danny Stone’s tenure in September, and the form line since tells the story — a 6–0 defeat at Lexington, the 1–0 win over Pittsburgh in Keinan’s debut, then defeats against Monterey Bay, El Paso and Phoenix. County enter the final day ninth in the West on 39 points from 29 matches, with 38 goals scored and 47 conceded.
The playoff picture needs care, because it is not a simple win-and-in. OCSC are level on 39 points with Phoenix Rising FC, who sit eighth — Phoenix hold the spot on goal difference, −1 against County’s −9, after winning the October 17 head-to-head 3–1 in Irvine. San Antonio FC, County’s final-day opponents, are seventh on 42 points and clinch with a win or a draw. So Saturday in San Antonio is a direct playoff-line shootout, but County’s fate also depends on the Phoenix–Lexington result and the conference tiebreakers — USL’s own analysis noted OCSC held the in-conference-wins tiebreaker edge over Phoenix heading into that October 17 meeting. The honest summary: win in Texas, then watch the scoreboard in Phoenix. The Orange County SC schedule has produced stranger endings.
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Mark Your Calendar
Saturday, October 24, 2026 — at San Antonio FC, Toyota Field, San Antonio (7:30 p.m. CT / 5:30 p.m. PT, ESPN+). The regular-season finale, and a direct playoff-line shootout. San Antonio, seventh on 42 points, clinch with a win or a draw; County won the first meeting 2–0 in Irvine on April 8 and need a result plus help elsewhere. Ninety minutes decides the season.
October 30 – November 1, 2026 — USL Championship Playoffs, Conference Quarterfinals. The top eight in each conference qualify for the single-elimination, fixed-bracket postseason. If County climb into the eight on the final day, this is their first playoff weekend.
November 6–8, 2026 — Conference Semifinals. The round County reached in both 2024 and 2025 — the minimum target if they get in.
November 13–15, 2026 — Conference Finals. One win from the national final for each conference’s last two teams.
Saturday, November 21, 2026 — USL Championship Final (12:00 p.m. ET, CBS). The season ends on the CBS Television Network — the stage OCSC conquered in 2021 and still dream about in Irvine.
Biggest Rivalries — The Wars
1. Phoenix Rising FC — the war that never stops. The October 17, 2026 meeting in Irvine was the 39th between the clubs across all competitions — the most frequent matchup between any two teams in the USL — and Phoenix hold the regular-season series edge. The history has playoff blood: Phoenix knocked OCSC out in extra time of the 2023 Western Conference Semifinal on their way to the title. The 2026 editions alone justify the billing: a 1–1 draw in Phoenix in March settled at 90+3′, a 2–1 Phoenix win in the USL Cup in May, and Phoenix’s 3–1 win in Irvine on October 17 that leapfrogged County into the last playoff spot with one game left.
2. Sacramento Republic FC — the California war. North against South in the same state and conference: 33 meetings since 2014, dead level at 12 wins each with nine draws. County fans will never forget November 2, 2025, when a playoff quarterfinal in Sacramento was won on penalties after Kadono’s heroics. In 2026 Sacramento took the edge — a 3–2 win in Sacramento on May 2, when a 90+5′ winner broke County hearts after Kelly and Bazini had twice put OCSC in the game, and a 1–1 draw in Irvine on September 5.
3. Las Vegas Lights FC — the near-neighbour grudge. The shortest road trip on the Orange County SC schedule, with a famous footnote: Ethan Zubak set the USL record for the fastest hat trick, eight minutes and 20 seconds, against Las Vegas back in 2018. Recent meetings keep the edge sharp — County’s 4–0 home rout on July 19, 2025, a 1–1 draw in Irvine in March 2026, a 3–2 County win in Las Vegas in June, and a 2–0 Las Vegas win in Irvine in September in a match billed as the California Classic.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do Orange County SC play their home games?
Orange County SC play at Championship Soccer Stadium — “The Champ” — inside the Orange County Great Park in Irvine, their home since 2017. The 5,000-capacity soccer-specific stadium was chosen as the U.S. Men’s National Team’s base camp for the 2026 World Cup.
Have Orange County SC ever won the USL Championship?
Yes. On November 28, 2021, Orange County SC beat the Tampa Bay Rowdies 3–1 in the USL Championship Final in St. Petersburg, Florida — a Ronaldo Damus brace, a Mikko Kuningas free kick and an early Patrick Rakovsky penalty save delivered the club’s first, and so far only, league title.
Who coaches Orange County SC now?
Dekel Keinan, the interim head coach since September 24, 2026, when the club parted ways with Danny Stone after a seven-game winless run. Keinan, a former Israel international defender who played for Maccabi Haifa, Cardiff City and Blackpool, had been an OCSC assistant coach since 2025.
Are Orange County SC in the 2026 playoffs?
Not yet decided — that is what the final day is for. OCSC enter Saturday, October 24, 2026 in ninth place on 39 points, level with eighth-placed Phoenix Rising but behind on goal difference, and finish the regular season at San Antonio FC. Their fate depends on their own result, the Phoenix–Lexington match and the conference tiebreakers. The playoffs run October 30 – November 22, 2026.
🍊 Orange County SC Fan Shop
The full County trio — Bazini, Sylla and Hegardt in fan-inspired orange. Fan-inspired apparel, made for supporters.
Sources & official links: Orange County SC official site · USL Championship official site · Orange County SC tickets
Black and orange, full voice, one more fight to finish — come on County.
