The four most impressive:



“I saved Latin, what did you ever do?”-Max Fischer (Rushmore)



Aaron Cervantes

What can you say about a 17 year old kid that was thrust into a starting job? Well, I am going to attempt to say it. He was an impressive addition to the starting XI and was one of the reasons why Orange County made the playoffs. Heck, he was only 16 when the season started. The week he turned 17, he started his first match and won save of the week. I have a lot of experience working with high school age humans… with the way that Aaron carries himself on the field and how Braeden Cloutier speaks about him after matches, it is no surprise what this young player brings to the team. He only started 11 games, so it’s hard to compare to other keepers, but he had a 1.27 goals against per 90 mins which puts him right around C.J. Cochran for Fresno and Callum Irving in Ottawa. Both of those are good, experienced keepers. I look forward to seeing his development after his amazing debut season.

Darwin Jones

Jones came off a forgettable 2018 season and did not get a ton of playing time at Orange County last season. He had had some success with the Sounders 2 (now Tacoma Defiance), but what he put together this season was pretty impressive. Jones and Michael Seaton had an almost identical season statistically with both being even on regular season goals at 12 and assists at 5 (Jones had an assist in the playoffs, while Seaton added a goal to his 2019 tally as well). When he wasn’t showing up on the score sheet, he was doing a lot of work up top to make sure his teammates had the space to operate. He used his speed to stretch defenses and was adept at turning the corner and getting a pass or shot in. Only Harry Forrester (125) and Aodhan Quinn (133) had more crosses than Jones (99), which for a forward shows how important Jones was to getting the offense going. Particularly since Forrester and Quinn frequently took corner kicks.

Michael Seaton

You can pretty much say the same thing about Seaton that you said about Jones. Seaton led the team with 12 goals and had the highest Goals and Assists per 90 minutes of all of the regular starters. Both Seaton and Jones were efficient as they both had 12 goals on 28 shots on target. He was consistently the most dangerous threat offensively. Just like Jones, he was pulling defenders to him and opening up space in the box. I think one of the reasons that defenders had room to pass the ball across the box was because they had to keep an eye on Seaton. If Seaton doesn’t at least get a look from an MLS club in the offseason, I will be surprised.

Aodhan Quinn

What impressed me the most about Quinn’s season this year, was how selfless he was for the team. He just came off an amazing display last season, and I am sure he’d have preferred if he was in a more offensive role. This was not an option this year, as it became apparent early on that he’d have to sit further back and play more of a defensive midfielder. While it might have seemed like a big ask for him to fill that spot, he was a delight to watch. He might not have the same numbers, he did fill in and put up some impressive numbers in different areas. His 7 assists led the team and he was 6th in the league in passes with 1,853 (#1 in the Western Conference), 81% of which were successful. Quinn only missed 3 games, but Orange County was winless in all three. I don’t buy jerseys with names on them, but I grabbed an orange kit and Quinn’s name will adorn that one for sure.

Honorable Mention:

Harry Forrester (for seven weeks)

I want to include this, because for that seven week win streak, Forrester was the most impressive player on the pitch for Orange County. I won’t spend too much time on him right now, but he had 5 points over those seven games (1 goal 4 assists) and had a three game point streak with three assists, one in each game against Vegas, Monarchs, and New Mexico. He played a huge part in that 7 game run that I had to include that stretch of play.







The four least impressive:



“I love you too, but I am going to mace you in the face.”-Jack (The Darjeeling Limited)