Rio Grande Valley FC scored twice in the first half to stun Orange County SC with a 2-0 victory at Champions Soccer Stadium on Saturday night.
Orange County’s Michael Seaton almost put the hosts ahead in the 28th minute as his shot from the right side of the penalty area took a slight deflection and went over the crossbar, but the Toros took the lead on the half-hour mark as Matias Zaldivar turned past his marker in midfield, drove in on goal and curled a shot into the bottom-right corner. Jordan Jones almost doubled the lead for the visitors 10 minutes before the break, only to be denied by a low save from OCSC goalkeeper Andre Rawls, but in first-half stoppage time Carlos Small sent home a low free kick to the right corner to put the Toros two goals up.
The Toros almost added to their lead five minutes into the second half as Rawls made a pair of saves to keep out Small and Nico Perea, while Small almost found the net with a header that went just wide of the left post shortly after. Seaton went close again for the hosts with 10 minutes to go with a curling shot to the right corner that Toros goalkeeper Tyler Deric was equal to. Deric also produced a pair of excellent saves to keep out a pair of late free kicks by Aodhan Quinn, and that proved enough as the Toros walked away with their first road win of the season.
