The Western Conference of the USL Championship is incredibly tight. Just how tight is it? It’s so tight that only six points separate 2nd place from 9th place. Memphis 901 FC sits almost perfectly in the middle of that in 5th place with 25 points. But because things are so tight, they are just three points out of second place and conversely, only four points ahead of the first non-playoff team. 901 FC will need to keep up their very good form as they travel to face Orange County SC.
Since the end of April, Memphis 901 FC has been a very tough team to beat. In fact, they’ve only lost once in their last eleven games (1-0 away to San Antonio FC). But in the other ten games they have found all sorts of different ways to get results. There was a forgettable 1-1 home draw with the Colorado Springs Switchbacks and shortly thereafter a wild come from behind 2-2 draw against Rhode Island FC. They’ve also had several big wins by big margins. Among those were 3-0 at the Birmingham Legion and 4-1 at home against the Tampa Bay Rowdies. Most recently, they played hosted the reigning USL Champion Phoenix Rising. The Beale Street Boys thoroughly dismantled them by scoring early and scoring often. Zac Duncan got his first 901 FC goal just 11 minutes into the game. Marlon Santos of course was also able to get on the scoresheet. In the second half, Emerson Hyndman got his first goal of the season as did Carson Vom Steeg just three minutes later. Nighte Pickering made it 5-1 with just nine minutes to play, his first USL goal since the season opener against the Las Vegas Lights (though he did score a pair of goals in their US Open Cup win over Miami United).
Memphis 901 FC might be flying high at the moment, but it’s a very different story for Orange County. Despite having already beaten 901 FC this year, Orange County is currently on the outside looking in at the playoff places. They have lost four of their last five games, and seven of their last nine. Five of those seven losses were by multiple goals: 3-0 at Louisville City, 2-0 vs Loudoun United, 4-2 away to the Colorado Springs Switchbacks, 2-0 at home against the Oakland Roots, and most recently, 2-0 on the road against New Mexico United. It was a trend they felt was not sustainable and they parted ways with head coach Morten Karlsen and named Paul Hardyman as their interim coach.
When, Where
Date: Saturday, July 6, 2024
Venue: Championship Soccer Stadium
City: Irvine, CA
Time: 9pm CT
TV: WMC 5.3, CBS Sports Golazo
All-Time Series
Memphis 901 FC trails 0-2-1
Last Meeting
Date: Saturday, April 6, 2024
Venue: AutoZone Park
City: Memphis, Tennessee
Attendance: 2,316
Result: Memphis 901 FC 0-2 Orange County SC
Conference Standing
Memphis 901 FC: 5th in West (25pts)
Orange County SC: 9th in West (21pts)
Next Game
Date: Saturday, July 13, 2024
Competition: USL Regular Season
Match-Up: Memphis 901 FC @ Detroit City
Venue: Keyworth Stadium
City: Hamtramck, Michigan
Time: 6pm CT
TV: WMC 5.3, ESPN+