Irvine, Calif. 6/27/19 - Orange County SC provided local soccer fans some Thursday night entertainment as they welcomed Liga MX side Club Tijuana for a mid-season friendly. The match was tight throughout, with OC playing a pretty even match against the top flight side, but in the end, the home team fell just short, losing 0-1.

Orange County held their ground from the beginning of the first half getting a few opportunities while limiting Tijuana in theirs. Just a couple minutes into the match, Darwin Jones had an opportunity to set up his teammates as he skied a cross in from the right side, but the ball landed right in front of Tijuana goalkeeper Gibran Lajud. A few minutes later, Jones was the recipient of a cross from Jerry van Wolfgang, but was unable to get a clean kick on the ball, giving Lajud an easy save. Shortly after that, the roles between the OC men were reversed, but the outcome remained the same.

In the 15th minute, Tijuana had their first dangerous opportunity as they found a hole in the OC defense on a pass that probably would have led to a goal if not for a tackle by Hugo Arellano that was called a penalty. The penalty was converted by Gustavo Bou, putting the visitors up 1-0.

In the 21st minute, Orange County’s Kevin Coleman pounced on a loose ball in front of the Tijuana keeper and put it in the back of the net, but as soon as the celebration began,the side judge lifted his flag for offside, waving off the equalizer. In the 30th minute, Vinicius pressured Lajud to win the ball with an opportunity to score, but was called for a foul, eliminating the opportunity.

Tijuana had an opportunity for a second goal just before halftime, when a cross was sent into the box, but it was just out of reach of Ariel Nahuelpan. Arellano was able to clear it away before it could become any more dangerous. Orange County answered back with what may have been their best opportunity of the first half, as Lajud challenged Darwin Jones outside of the box leaving the Tijuana goal exposed, and when Jones’ cross couldn’t find a teammate’s head, the ball fell to the feet of new signee Edson Alvarado just outside the box, but his shot went wide, leaving Orange County down 0-1 heading into halftime.

When the teams took the field in the second half, Orange County only had one starter remaining, Kevin Coleman. Two players that took the pitch were U-23 players (Victor Onofre & Joseph Perez) while a third, Jose Flores, was on trial. On the other side of the field, Tijuana kept all their starters.