Orange County FC (Irvine, CA) vs. Davis Legacy (Davis, CA)
This weekend, two of the best attacking teams in the country face off in what will be a tightly contested match in the UPSL National Bracket. Davis Legacy, who scored an impressive 72 goals in just 12 games, play Orange County FC, who finished the season with 42 goals and are coached by US Soccer Hall of Famer Paul Caligiuri.
Orange County FC (8-3-1) are the SoCal North Conference Champions and have put up impressive performances this postseason, taking down LAFC in the SoCal North Conference Final. Forward Jose Montes De Oca has 11 goals this season and will look to continue his fine form after scoring in the team’s victory against Escondido FC (CA) in the Round of 16.
Based in Irvine, California the team is led by head coach and US Soccer Hall of Famer, Paul Caligiuri. Caligiuri spoke about the level of competition en route to a potential National Finals spot in Columbus.
“We had a very tough road coming out of So Cal. Getting out the region was never easy and in each game, it could have gone either way. The margins for victory are very, very thin. Players in this part of the country realize that this is the best competition at the semi-pro level, so this region has always been incredibly competitive. When you look at Davis Legacy—the goals against record and their winning history—we know that we have a big challenge ahead of us.”
Davis Legacy (11-0-1) consider themselves favorites to go all the way this year, after falling to LAFC in the Quarterfinals last year. They finished the spring season as the NorCal North Conference Champions and are the best team in the country when going forward, scoring an incredible 74 goals this Spring. Gabriel Padilla who leads the team in goals with 13 this season, is on a 4-game scoring streak.
Head coach, Mark Torguson explained “This is our third year in the UPSL, and our third time in the playoffs. We made it to the quarterfinals last season, so this season we are looking to hit our peak. In our Round of 16 game against Sporting International (WA) we were down 1-0 for most of the game and we able to tie it up, then score the winning goal in the 93rd minute. The key to this competition is always finding different ways to win”
Orange County FC and Davis Legacy kick off this Saturday at 4:00PM (PST). Watch for free, live on the official UPSL YouTube.
Watch Live
Orange County FC (Irvine, CA) vs. Davis Legacy (Davis, CA)
7:00PM EST / 4:00PM PST (7/23)