USL PRO Game Report
Thursday, April 24, 2014
IRVINE, Calif. -- The Orange County Blues got a pair of goals apiece from Christopher Santana and Chris Cortez as they claimed a 4-1 victory against the Harrisburg City Islanders at Anteater Stadium on Thursday night. Cris Hernandez scored for the City Islanders, their first goal of the season, but the Blues pulled away as Cortez recorded a pair of goals in the final 20 minutes to earn Orange County victory.
The first goal came after just six minutes as Gabriel Gonzalez played the ball through for Santana to curl home his first professional goal into the right corner of the net. Santana was at it again in the 25th minute as a shot by Allan Russell was tipped by Harrisburg goal-keeper Nick Noble right into his path for an easy tap in at the back post.
Harrisburg found a lifeline two minutes before halftime when Hernandez was fouled just outside the box. The Philadelphia Union loanee picked himself up and struck a deceptive a free kick that outwitted Mohammad Mohamadi to halve the Blues' lead at the halftime break.
Both teams came flying out of the gates in the second half. Yann Ekra was very dangerous for the City Islanders as he looked to connect with Clesio Bauque. Harrisburg’s attacks were repelled time and time again as Rauwshan McKenzie, playing his first game on loan from the Portland Timbers, kept the Blues' backline compact and organized.
The second half, though, belonged to Cortez. The forward came in towards the tail end of the first half in place of defender Seth Moses who limped off with a hamstring injury. Cortez would find his first goal of the season in the 74th minute as he climbed highest to head home a corner kick from substitute Mohammad Roknipur.
With the visitors pressing to get back into the game, Orange County ended the match as a contest three minutes from time. Cesar Rivera broke down the left flank on the counter attack and pulled the ball across goal. The ball took a deflection off a Harrisburg defender and deflected over a diving Noble. Cortez, was on hand at the back post to tap in the game's final goal.
The Blues improved to 2-3-0 on the season and will look to get to .500 on Sunday when the LA Galaxy II make the short trip across the Orange Curtain. Kick-off is set for 4 p.m.. PT. This is the first meeting between the rivals at Anteater Stadium. After two losses at StubHub Center against LA, the Blues will be extra motivated to claw back in the series in front of the home crowd.