IRVINE, California (June 1, 2019) – Rio Grande Valley FC (4-5-4, 16 pts.) faced Orange County SC (4-3-6, 18 pts.) in a road match on Saturday night at Championship Soccer Stadium. A rough night defensively cost the Toros as they lost 2-1.
An attempted pass through the center of the box resulted in a penalty after a handball foul by Aodhan Quinn inside the box at the 4th minute, he was given a yellow card on the play. Ronaldo Peña took the penalty attempt for RGV which resulted in a blocked shot by Patrick McLain in the lower right corner of the goal to keep the score level at 0-0. Peña was on loan from Houston Dynamo for tonight’s match.
At the 10th minute of play, Orange County took the lead on a corner kick attempt when Aodhan Quinn sent a through ball to the center of the box and Michael Seaton struck a header to the bottom right side of the goal, just past the extended arms of Nico Corti, 1-0.
Jesus Enriquez broke away and dribbled to the left side of the box to take on McLain but got his chip shot attempt deflected to a corner, ending the danger on the play in the 22nd minute. As accustomed, the Toros offense continued to press up high and try to create opportunities to equalize.
Darwin Jones battled with Robert Coronado for position on a breakaway play and won, scoring a goal as he dribbled inside the box and tapped the ball past Corti to make it 2-0 in favor of Orange County, 31 minutes into the first half. Harry Forrester picked up the assist with his pinpoint pass from just past mid field to catch Jones in stride.
Corti was kept busy throughout the first half. He watched a free kick bounce clear to the right side of his goal at the 35th minute which was sent through by Quinn.
Just before halftime, at the 41st minute, Coronado struck a beautiful ball from outside the box and placed it into the top right corner of the goal, giving no chance to McLain as he extended in flight. The goal made it 1-2 as RGV FC inched closer to an equalizing situation.
Kyle Adams sent a softly headed shot across the front of the goal, but McLain cleared the danger as time expired in the first half, which ended 2-1 in favor of the home team.
RGV FC had a total of five shots on target, scoring on one occasion while Orange County capitalized on both shot on target opportunities they had to take the lead as they headed into the locker room for the break.
After a rather quiet start to the second half of play, Seaton created danger as he stole the ball from the feet of Alejandro Fuenmayor, who is on loan from the Houston Dynamo, and took on the goalkeeper one-on-one. Corti kept his composure and ended the threat as he challenged Seaton to trap the ball at his feet and gain possession of the ball.
Aodhan Quinn was issued a red card on a dangerous challenge against Coronado at the 66th minute, the red card was a result of a double yellow. The first booking for Quinn was the result of a handball in the early stages of the match. Orange County played the remainder of the match one man down with 10 players on the pitch.
Near the 83rd minute, a clear chance at goal was missed by Michael Salazar. On the play, Salazar ended up with the ball at his feet after Camilo Monroy sprinted through the right wing and sent a precise pass into the center of the box. Salazar kicked it into the hip of the defender on the shot attempt and was unable to regain possession as the ball was cleared of danger.
In stoppage time, the Toros made one final push as they attempted to earn the minimum of one point with a draw but were unsuccessful despite being up by two men and they faced a frustrated Orange County side. Darwin Jones was the second player of the match to get sent off via red card, at the 92nd minute.
At the 93rd minute, Enriquez attempted a bicycle kick from inside the box, with no room as the defender stuck to him like glue. The shot went softly to the left side of the goal as McLain laid out and collected the ball to end the threat.
Orange County did not give up the lead throughout the match despite a valiant effort by RGV FC in the final third. Throughout the entire match there was pressure on both ends of the field offensively by the Toros and Orange County. RGV FC tallied seven shots on target on the night. Two men down, due to disciplinary issues, OC was able to net two goals and get three shots on target, of the seven total shots taken.
Next for RGV FC is a road matchup against Real Monarchs SLC. Kickoff will be at 9:00 p.m. CT. The match will be available on ESPN+ and updates on the match will be provided via Twitter at @RGVFC or by following #SomosToros. To see more matchday information, visit https://www.rgvfc.com.
Scoring Summary: RGV FC – R. Coronado 41’
OC – M. Seaton 10’ (Assist by Quinn), D. Jones 31’ (Assist by Forrester)
Misconduct Summary: RGV FC –
OC – Quinn YC 4’ RC 67’, Jones YC 32’ RC 92’, Crisostomo YC 38’,Seaton YC 77’, Amico 90’
OC – McLain, Trotter, Leonardo, Amico, Alston, Jones, Forrester, Crisostomo (Hume 45’), Ewijk (Godoy 71’), Quinn, Seaton (Vinicius 86’)
Subs: Cervantes, Kontor, Des Pres, Hashimoto
Stats: Shots: 7 , Shots on Goal: 3, Saves: 7 , Fouls: 23 , Corner Kicks: 2, Offsides: 2.
RGV FC – Corti, Adams, Samuels, Fuenmayor, Coronado, Cabezas, Bird (Martinez 45’), Cabrera Jr., Foster (Monroy 78’), Peña (Salazar 57’), Enriquez
Subs: Willis, Castellanos, Mena, Lemoine
Stats: Shots: 23, Shots on Goal: 7, Saves: 1, Fouls: 7, Corner Kicks: 7, Offsides: 1.
# SOMOS TOROS #
