Orange County Soccer Club removes Braeden Cloutier as coach

Orange County Soccer Club announced Thursday that it has relieved Braeden Cloutier of his duties as coach.

Cloutier has been in charge of OCSC since 2017.

“After much thought and a long evaluation of our current situation to accomplish our goals for the season, we made the difficult decision to relieve Braeden of his duties as head coach,” President of Soccer Operations and General Manager Oliver Wyss said in a statement. “Braeden has been part of the Orange County coaching staff for more than six years, including his role as head coach for the past four plus seasons, and we are forever grateful for his contributions and successes on and off the field. Braeden has been an exceptional professional and has represented this club with incredible class, and we wish him all the best moving forward.”

Former captain and current assistant coach Richard Chaplow will take over as interim coach starting with Saturday’s game against San Diego Loyal SC.

OCSC (7-7-5, 26) is currently in fourth place in the Pacific Division.

Cloutier led OCSC to a first-place finish in the Western Conference in 2018 and led the club to the playoffs in 2019.

This season, the team started promising, but as of late, has hit a round patch, securing just one win in the last eight games.