Orange County Soccer Club drops match versus Sacramento Republic FC

Orange County Soccer Club surrendered two goals late, falling to host Sacramento Republic FC 2-1 on Wednesday at Papa Murphy’s Park.

Dariusz Formella tied the scored in the 79th minute, and Villyan Bijev provided the go-ahead goal in the 87th minute for Sacramento, which played a man short for much of the second half after Rodrigo Lopez was shown the red card in the 58th minute.

Sean “Ugo” Okoli put Orange County on top in the fifth minute with his team-leading sixth goal of the season.

Orange County suffered its second consecutive loss after dropping a home match to L.A. Galaxy II by a score of 2-1 on Saturday. After beginning the season with a six-match unbeaten streak, Orange County now has just one victory over its past five contests.

The standings in Group B of the United Soccer League Championship have tightened. Phoenix Rising FC (7-2-2, 23 points) is in first place. Orange County (5-3-3, 18 points) and the L.A. Galaxy II (6-5-0, 18 points) are tied for second. The San Diego Loyal (4-4-4, 16 points) are in fourth, and Las Vegas Lights FC (2-5-3, nine points) is last. The top two teams in the group secure a playoff berth.

Four of the five remaining games for Orange County are on the road. The next is at San Diego on Sunday at 7 p.m.

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