# 2022 Orange County SC season

The 2022 Orange County SC season was the club's eleventh season of existence, and their eleventh consecutive season in the United Soccer League Championship, the second tier of American soccer.
Orange County came into the 2022 season the reigning champions of the USL Championship, after beating the Tampa Bay Rowdies to win the 2021 USL Championship Playoffs. However, the team failed to replicate their championship season, only winning seven games all season and placing last in the Western Conference with a record of 7–13–14.
At the end of the season, despite having one of the worst records in the league, starting forward Milan Iloski, with 22 league goals, won the USL Championship Golden Boot award for scoring the most goals in the 2022 season.

## Roster

    As of June 26, 2024
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | GER | Patrick Rakovsky |
| 3 | DF | USA | Alex Villanueva |
| 4 | DF | IRL | Rob Kiernan |
| 5 | DF | USA | Ahmed Longmire |
| 5 | MF | USA | Dillon Powers |
| 6 | DF | USA | Michael Orozco (Captain) |
| 7 | FW | USA | Milan Iloski |
| 8 | MF | USA | Seth Casiple |
| 9 | FW | MEX | Erick Torres |
| 10 | MF | USA | Brian Iloski |
| 11 | FW | USA | Bryce Jamison |
| 12 | MF | DEN | Daniel Pedersen |
| 13 | MF | USA | Thomas McCabe |
| 14 | MF | BLZ | Tony Rocha |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 16 | DF | USA | Brent Richards |
| 18 | FW | USA | Korede Osundina |
| 19 | FW | USA | Sean Okoli |
| 20 | GK | USA | Colin Shutler |
| 22 | MF | ALB | Albi Skendi |
| 24 | DF | HON | Danilo Acosta |
| 25 | MF | FIN | Mikko Kuningas |
| 26 | MF | USA | Kyle Scott |
| 28 | MF | USA | Jonathan Gomez |
| 29 | MF | KOR | Aloísio dos Santos Gonçalves |
| 30 | GK | USA | Juan Santana |
| 31 | MF | USA | Ian Hoffmann (On loan from Houston Dynamo 2) |
| 32 | FW | USA | Nicolas Ruiz |
| 33 | DF | USA | Ashton Miles |

### Technical staff

| Role | Name |
| General Manager | Oliver Wyss |
| Assistant GM | Peter Nugent |
| Technical director | Frans Hoek |
| Head coach | Richard Chaplow |
| Assistant coach | Morten Karlsen |
| Strength & Conditioning | Claudio Trabattoni |
| Asst Strength & Conditioning | Dan Sparks |
| Goalkeeping coach | Victor Nogueira |
| Team Operations | Jakob Harding |
| Athletic Trainer | Mitchell Deyhle |
| U23 Head Coach | Jerry Tamashiro |
| U23 Assistant Coach | Didier Crettenand |

## Competitions
### Preseason

In preparation for the 2022 USL Championship season, Orange County played in five pre-season friendlies, mainly against fellow USL Championship teams. They announced these pre-season matches on February 16, 2022.

### USL Championship
#### Standings

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 9 | Las Vegas Lights FC | 34 | 12 | 13 | 9 | 40 | 50 | −10 | 45 |
| 10 | Phoenix Rising FC | 34 | 12 | 16 | 6 | 50 | 58 | −8 | 42 |
| 11 | LA Galaxy II | 34 | 11 | 16 | 7 | 53 | 63 | −10 | 40 |
| 12 | Monterey Bay FC | 34 | 12 | 18 | 4 | 42 | 59 | −17 | 40 |
| 13 | Orange County SC | 34 | 7 | 14 | 13 | 49 | 59 | −10 | 34 |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |

#### Match results

On January 12, 2022, Orange County released their full regular season schedule.
All times are in Pacific Standard Time.

##### October
### U.S. Open Cup

As a member of the USL Championship, Orange County entered the Open Cup in the second round, matched up against the Los Angeles Force, a member of the NISA, a league in the third tier of American soccer. After winning 5–2 at home, they got thrashed in the third round away at BMO Stadium against Los Angeles FC, a member of the highest tier of American soccer, MLS.

### International friendly

On September 23, Orange County and German 2. Bundesliga team Hamburg SV announced an international club friendly against each other on November 15, with Orange County hosting the German visitors at the end of the USL Championship season and ahead of the international break for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The visitors ended up winning 1–0.