ALESSANDRO CANALE SCORES FIVE GOALS IN WIN OVER CORINTHIANS USA

Orange County FC got back to their winning ways with a record setting 13-0 win over SC Corinthians USA on July 1st. One week after a tough loss to Albion, OCFC got off to a perfect start when striker Jose Montes found the back of the net after seven minutes to give his side a 1-0 lead.

Twelve minutes later Montes turned provider when his pass was finished off by midfielder Connor Gordon to extend the lead to 2-0. The roles were reversed in the 34th minute when a run from Connor Gordon on the right side ended with a pass that was fired into the net by Montes. OCFC led 3-0 at the half but the score could have been a lot higher if it weren’t for the excellent reflex saves from Corinthians keeper Edgar Lima.

The second half would be a much different story as OCFC’s second half substitutes would prove to be too much for Corinthians to handle. It only took one minute for Tristan Weber to finish off a through ball from Connor Gordon as OCFC caught the home side sleeping. Striker Alessandro Canale scored a hat-trick with goals in the 54th, 56th, and 60th minutes to give OCFC a 7-0 lead. Amazingly, all goals were assisted by midfielder Andrew Hernandez.

“We have a good connection,” said Hernandez. “I know his runs and he knows my runs so we work off each other.”

One minute later Hernandez had a shot on goal parried by Lima and the rebound was put in by Gordon for his second goal of the game. Orange County FC led 8-0 but refused to take their foot off the gas. In the 71st minute, captain Michael Bryant found Jonathan Romero and the midfielder made no mistake by blasting a long range shot past Lima to increase the lead to 9-0.

One minute later OCFC reached double digits on the scoreboard when Tristan Weber scored after receiving a nice pass from Andrew Hernandez and slotting his shot past Lima. Michael Bryant was part of the action again in the 83rd minute when he provided a perfect pass to Canale and the striker netted his fourth of the game. Four minutes later Canale completed his career night by scoring his fifth of the game and it was only fitting that the assist was provided by none other than Andrew Hernandez.

“We came into the second half fresh off the bench,” said Canale. “We wanted to make an impact on the game and I told Andrew to be looking for me.”

In the 89th minute, Connor Gordon completed his hat-trick after some excellent team work with Tristan Weber. Midfielder Andrew Hernandez created problems on the right side and finished the night with six assists.

“It feels great,” said Hernandez. “A lot of hard work has been going into practices. Everything we do is a team effort and we all motivate each other.”

Corinthians didn’t know where to turn in the second half. OCFC dominated with excellent team work, possession, and ball movement.

“Michael Bryant earned Man of the Match honors,” said assistant coach Ernie Richau. “Michael was great with his ball distribution and leadership on the field. He kept the guys going from start to finish.”

Striker Alessandro Canale was not Man of the Match but with his career night against Corinthians to go with his hat-trick one week ago against Albion, Canale is on fire with eight goals in the last two games.

Afterward some fans were questioning if OCFC had found their dynamic duo in Canale and Hernandez.

“I think so,” said Canale. “We are set to take down a city.”

OCFC took down the city of Chino with a 13-0 win over Corinthians and now they are focused on taking down City of Angels FC in the regular season finale.