SAN ANTONIO – Orange County SC struck late from the penalty spot to tie San Antonio FC 1-1 on Saturday in front of 6,725 fans at Toyota Field. The home team opened the scoring in the second minute of play with a cross from Greg Cochrane finding the head of Kris Tyrpak at the back post. Typak’s goal was his fifth of the season and the fastest goal scored in club history. The early lead set the tempo for the first half as both teams asserted their offensive presence with box-to-box attacking play. Following a short spurt of attacking possession from Orange County, Billy Forbes came close to a goal in the 17th minute as he rattled the near post with a shot from eight yards out. Between the two teams, the first half saw a total of 16 shots but only the early goal was on target.

Orange County came into the second energized and called SAFC keeper Diego Restrepo into action for the first time with a strike from Frank Olijve in the 55th minute. Throughout the game Rafa Castillo wasn’t afraid to try his luck on goal, but never looked more dangerous than when he ripped a shot from 25 yards out in the 62nd minute and forced an outstanding save out of Charlie Lyon. Chances went begging for Orange County as they couldn’t capitalize on a couple of solid opportunities late in the second half; in the 75th minute Gustavo Villalobos put his free-kick at the top of the box well over the crossbar and Dusan Stevanovic failed to equalize for in the 80th minute when he found himself unmarked at the top of the box, also placing his effort just over the bar. The game came to a dramatic end as Michael Reed gave up a penalty for San Antonio in stoppage time, giving Jerry van Ewijk the opportunity to convert from the spot and earn the visitors a point.

Scoring:
2’ – SA – Kris Tyrpak (Greg Cochrane)
90+4’ – OC – Jerry van Ewijk (penalty)

• #SAvOC: Full Match and Opta Box Score

Three Things That Matter:

• 1. San Antonio remain undefeated at home for the 12th time this season, extending their record to 6-0-6. While disappointing that they didn’t get the win, the one point picked up tonight is valuable to San Antonio as they continue to chase down Real Monarch SLC who dropped points this evening against OKC Energy FC.

• 2. Coming out of this weekend, Orange County still has games in hand on every team in the Western Conference. Saturday’s game was an opportunity to jump into the top half of the table, and while tonight’s tie isn’t a significant bump on the road to the playoffs, picking up three points certainly wouldn’t have hurt. Despite the draw, Orange County need to look ahead to their next game - at home against Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC who have only won on the road twice this season - which is set to kick off less than 72 hours from Saturday's final whistle in Texas.  

• 3. This evening’s equalizer was the sixth time this season that Orange County has converted from the spot. Racking up a total of 26 goals so far, 30 percent of those have been scored as a direct result of a penalty kick or set piece. While the visiting team looked dangerous tonight, they’ll need to find a way to manufacture more goals in open play and get shots on frame if they’re serious about making a run for the playoffs.

USLSoccer.com Man of the Match

Rafa Castillo, San Antonio FC – Castillo was the engine behind San Antonio’s attack, hitting four shots, three key passes and connecting on 89 percent of his passes. 

Upcoming Games:

San Antonio FC at Reno 1868 FC – August 12, 10:30 p.m. ET, Greater Nevada Field
Orange County SC vs. Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC – August 8, 9 p.m. ET, Orange County Great Park