SANDY, Utah – With a place in the 2017 USL Cup Playoffs already clinched, Real Monarchs SLC will look to expand its lead in the chase for the USL Regular Season Championship when Orange County SC makes the trip to Rio Tinto Stadium on Friday night looking for a win which would push it back into the playoff positions in the Western Conference. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. MT.
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Real Monarchs SLC news and notes
Current record: 17-5-5, 56pts
Real Monarchs SLC is coming off a 2-0 defeat against Phoenix Rising FC on Saturday night that extended the club's winless streak to three games.
The loss continued the worst run of the Monarchs' season as the side's winless streak reached three games.
The Monarchs' lead in the race for the USL Regular Season Championship was cut to two points on Wednesday night as Eastern Conference-leader Louisville City FC defeated the Rochester Rhinos 2-1. Both teams have five games to play in the regular season.
Real will play three of its final five games of the season at Rio Tinto Stadium, where the side has gone 11-1-1 so far this season.
Orange County SC news and notes
Current record: 9-9-9, 36pts
Orange County SC earned a 2-1 victory against Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 on Sunday in its last outing to move into ninth place in the USL Western Conference.
Zach Kobiyashi opened the scoring for Orange County in the 40th minute before the match was won by Jerry van Ewijk with an 83rd-minute goal.
Irvin Parra provided the assist for both goals, earning him a place on the USL Team of the Week for a second consecutive week.
Orange County sits a point behind eighth-place OKC Energy FC going into Friday night's game, but has played one fewer game as the club looks to earn a third consecutive postseason berth.
Series Notes
Squads
Real Monarchs – GK: Connor Sparro, Andrew Putna, David Ochoa; D: Reagan Dunk, Justin Schmidt, Demar Phillips, Chris Schuler, James Moberg, Kyle Curinga, Max Lachowecki, Emilio Orozco, Taylor Peay, Riggs Lennon; M: Sebastian Saucedo, Charlie Adams, Diego Calvo, Nick Besler, Sebastian Velasquez, Karsten Hanlin; F: Andrew Brody, Daniel Haber, Chase Minter, Chandler Hoffman, Juan Mare, Skyler Milne, Jonel Desire, Danny Cruz
Orange County – GK: Charlie Lyon, Casey Beyers, Michael Suchy; D: Oscar Sorto, Joe Franco, Alberto Navarro, Sola Abolaji, Juan Pablo Ocegueda, Roy Meeus, Jeannot Esua, Walker Hume; M: Victor Pineda, Richard Chaplow, Gustavo Villalobos, Carlos Alvarez, Jerry van Ewijk, Dusan Stevanovic, Amirgy Pineda, Kevin Jeon, Zachary Kobayashi, Frank Olijve, James Baxendale; F: Rodrigo Pacheco, Monday Etim, Duke Lacroix, Wuiilito Tavares Fernandes, Irvin Parra
Discipline
Real Monarchs – Accumulation warning: Kyle Curinga, Michael Gallagher
Orange County – Accumulation warning: Oscar Sorto
Officials
REF: VICTOR RIVAS
AR1: TJ Zablocki
AR2: Kali Smith
4TH: Daniel Spicer-Escalante
Game hashtag:
Twitter social handles
Real Monarchs SLC – @RealMonarchs
Orange County SC – @OrangeCountySC
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