Match info
Riverhounds (13-4-8) vs. Orange County SC (10-9-4)
Date: Wednesday, Aug. 16
Time: 10 p.m.
Location: Championship Soccer Stadium, Irvine, Calif.
Odds: Hounds +150 / Draw +230 / Orange County +155 (FanDuel)
Streaming: ESPN+
Live statistics: USL Championship Match Center
Live updates: @RiverhoundsSC on Twitter
Match hashtags: #OCvPIT and #HOUNDTAHN
(Aug. 15, 2023) — After wrapping up a four-match homestand, the Hounds are back on the road and headed to Southern California for the first time in a decade to face Orange County SC on Wednesday night.
The last time the Hounds made the trip was 2013, when Orange County was known as the Los Angeles Blues and the teams played to a scoreless draw at the team’s old home at Cal State Fullerton. This time, the venue is Championship Soccer Park in Irvine, Calif., and the 10 p.m. ET match has big playoff implications for both teams.
The Hounds need every point they can get to consolidate their four-point lead atop the Eastern Conference after fellow contenders Charleston and Tampa Bay both also won over the weekend. While the Hounds boast a three-match winning streak entering the game, Orange County has won four on the hop and seven of the last eight, launching itself from the playoff bubble to fifth place in the West and just three points out of third. But with the Hounds visiting Wednesday and Charleston coming to town on Saturday, Orange County finds itself in an impactful week both for themselves and the race in the East.
So much for the home team runs through their leading scorer and last year’s USL Championship Golden Boot winner, Milan Iloski. Iloski is slightly off his 22-goal scoring pace from a year ago, but with 10 goals and four assists in 2023, he’ll still be the No. 1 man in the Hounds’ sights defensively, especially after scoring in the 90th minute last year to take a 1-1 draw in the teams’ meeting at Highmark Stadium.
The other goal scorer from last year’s meeting is still the Hounds’ top target, Albert Dikwa, who surpassed his 2022 goal total by scoring in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Hartford. Dikwa will become just the sixth player with 30 goals in his Hounds career with his next tally, and despite Orange County’s strong run of form, they have been susceptible at the back with just one clean sheet in their past six matches.
The Hounds, on the other hand, have back-to-back shutouts of Tampa Bay and Hartford to make their total a league-leading 12 as a team. Left back Dani Rovira earned a Team of the Week nod, and center back Arturo Ordóñez was on the bench of the USL Championship honors this week after the latest clean sheet, a one-save shutout for Jahmali Waite that was his eighth in USL play and 10th in all competitions this season.
Fans wanting to catch the game will need to tune in to ESPN+, which will have the live stream of the late-night kickoff.
Downloadable Game Notes
