Milan Iloski scored in the first minute of first-half stoppage time on a free kick and that was all that Orange County Soccer Club would need in Saturday’s USL Championship quarterfinal game.
OCSC, the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, defeated El Paso Locomotive FC 1-0 at Championship Soccer Stadium at Orange County’s Great Park in front of a sellout crowd of 5,550. This was the sixth sellout this season for OCSC.
OCSC nearly took a 2-0 lead in the 49th minute, Bryce Jamison got on the end of a corner kick, but his attempted was turned aside by a diving El Paso goalkeeper Benny Diaz. A minute later, Diaz came up with another save to keep the game at 1-0.
Diaz would also get a red card, after he was caught out of position late and fouled Iloski, who was in on a breakaway.
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El Paso didn’t record a shot on goal as OCSC booked a trip to next week’s conference semifinal, Oct. 28. Orange County will host either No. 3 San Diego Loyal SC or No. 6 Phoenix Rising FC.
Orange County missed the playoffs last season, finishing last in the Western Conference. In 2021, Orange County won the USL Championship final.