Las Vegas Lights FC is visiting Orange County SC on Saturday in their first of two meetings in the regular season. Here is everything you need to know:
WHEN AND WHERE: Kickoff is at 7:00 p.m. PT at Championship Soccer Stadium in Irvine, Calif.
WHERE TO WATCH: The match will be available to watch locally on SSSEN and streamed nationally on the CBS Sports Golazo Network.
2024 RECORDS AND STANDINGS: Lights: 9-8-8 (35 points, 5th West), Orange County: 8-13-4 (28 points, 8th West)
FORM GUIDE (all competitions, most recent first): Las Vegas: WLDWD, Orange County: LLDLL
PREVIOUS MEETING: OCSC defeated the Lights 5-1 at Cashmn Field in Las Vegas on Sept. 2, 2023. Milan Iloski, Thomas Amang, Markus Nakkim, Marc McNulty and Kevin Lankford scored for the visitors, while Daniel Rios added a consolation goal for Vegas.
SUSPENSIONS: Las Vegas Lights FC will be without defender Gennaro Nigro, who is suspended because of yellow-card accumulation. Orange County, meanwhile, will miss the services of defender Ryan Doghman, who was sent off in last weekend’s match against the Charleston Battery.
NGANDO OPENS HIS ACCOUNT: After what has been a very successful season in the middle of the park doing everything but scoring. Lights midfielder J.C. Ngando bagged his first goal of the year last weekend with a golazo from distance that helped spark a 3-2 win over Indy Eleven.
SCORELESS STREAK: Orange County enters this weekend on the heels of five consecutive matches without a goal, tying the longest in club history. OCSC has been outscored 11-0 in its last five contests (0-4-1) dating back to July 27.
PLAYER TO WATCH: Thomas Amang, F
Despite Orange County’s scoring woes recently, Amang is still the main target up front. The Cameroonian leads the team with five goals on the season and scored in the two teams’ previous meeting last year.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
Lights FC midfielder J.C. Ngando
On his goal he scored last weekend against Indy Eleven…
I knew going into this game that I would score a goal. I had no idea how. The ball came, bounced perfectly and I saw the angle open and just hit it.
Lights FC forward Joe Gyau
On how the team responded with a win last weekend after ending its unbeaten run the match prior…
I’m so proud. We’re not letting these losses define what we’ve done over the past few months. We’re not getting too high and not getting too low, we’re trying to stay balanced all the way through. We know you’re only as good as your last game, so we have to put the performances in one at a time. We can’t look too far ahead.
Lights FC Head Coach Dennis Sanchez
On the match this weekend against Orange County SC…
Orange County has had mixed results over the course of the season, but they have good players, they’re organized. They were, probably similar to us, when they went to Charleston a little bit humbled [losing 6-0] last weekend. I’m sure that they’re going to be responding in a way that shows who they are. We’re not taking them lightly…We’re going to go in there, play our way and hopefully take care of business and get three points.
