The Orange County Soccer Club kicks off the 2023 USL Championship season Saturday.
OCSC will host Louisville City FC at Championship Soccer Stadium in Irvine (7 p.m., Bally Sports SoCal, ESPN+).
OCSC enters the season looking to bounce back from a last-place finish season. The club won the USL title in 2021.
One key will be forward Milan Iloski. Iloski returns after scoring 22 goals last season to win the Golden Boot.
“We feel very strongly about the roster that we’ve put together and it’s very clear, we need to perform,” President and General Manager Oliver Wyss said. “There’s pressure on everybody. This is a results driven industry.”
This is the first year that there will not be any MLS2 or reserve teams in the USL Championship. This season there are 24 teams (12 in each conference)
“I think this is where the league has to go,” Wyss said. “We’re a fully independent league now, where teams are doing their own business on and off the field. It is a redemption season for us. I’ve never finished last in anything I’ve done. It was humbling last year.”
Keep an eye on Korede Osundina. The 19-year-old forward from Illinois has received call-ups to the U.S. U-19 and U-20 teams and made 19 appearances last season for OCSC.
Damian Calhoun | Reporter
Damian Calhoun is the Prep Sports Coordinator and writer for the Daily Breeze. He’s also the soccer writer for the Southern California News Group, covering Major League Soccer and occasionally the U.S. national teams.
