Oklahoma road trips remained a challenge for Orange County SC, as their latest trip there resulted in an early red card and a 1-0 loss against OKC Energy FC on Saturday.

The game turned midway through the first half, as Oscar Sorto brought down Miguel Gonzalez with a tug on his shoulder. Orange County goalkeeper Charlie Lyon gave the visitors a major boost, as Kyle Hyland’s subsequent penalty was saved.

But OKC took the lead from the run of play, as Alex Dixon tallied in the 35th minute.

Orange County stayed with the game despite playing down a man for 67 minutes, but were unsurprisingly focused more on defending than stacking up a number of chances on the attacking end.

It’s a frustrating result for OCSC because when an early red card happens, form and the margin for error goes out the window. The red card itself was fair according to the laws of the game, and Lyon seemed to give his team a massive boost with the penalty save. But it wasn’t enough and Orange County walks away from two straight road trips to Oklahoma empty-handed. A loss is always a blow, but on the bright side they lost and didn’t play horribly, which is an improvement in a manner of speaking, even if it is little consolation.

Orange County are on another bye next week in league play, as their next game will come in the U.S. Open Cup on May 31 against LA Wolves FC. They’ll be back in USL action again on June 3 at home against Real Monarchs, aiming to stop their first league losing streak of the season.

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