Ethan Zubak played just 341 minutes for Nashville SC over the last two MLS seasons, so it was no surprise the team declined his contract option this winter. What was a surprise was Zubak’s decision to move on to the Orange County SC of the second-tier USL Championship instead of another MLS club, a decision that made it appear as if his career path had hit a dead end.
But that would be true only if you didn’t know where Zubak, 25, hoped that path was headed. The former Galaxy forward never planned on spending his whole career in MLS; he wanted to play in Europe. And by joining Orange County, Zubak, whose signing was announced on Christmas Day, wasn’t taking an offramp on that path, he was pulling into the fast lane.
“The goal right now is to play here and to achieve things here individually and as a team,” he said. “Whatever opportunities, if you play well, that come your way are always welcome. Maybe Europe.”
And for American soccer players, it’s easier to get to Europe from Orange County than just about anywhere else.
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Over the past three seasons, OCSC has transferred four players to European clubs; according to the authoritative German website transfermarkt, no team in the U.S. or Canada has sent more. Over the past 10 years, just four MLS clubs — the Red Bulls, New York City, Chicago and Vancouver — have moved more players to the continent than OCSC, which sent 29.
Orange County isn’t so much a soccer club as it is a European travel agency — which is exactly what Zubak was looking for.
“Over the past six, seven years we’ve created that pathway to Europe. So I think now people are looking at us not as a step down, but just to kind of pivot into maybe their objectives. And they see a clear pathway to Europe,” said Peter Nugent, the team’s president of soccer operations and one of four members of the front office or coaching staff who either played, coached or scouted at the top levels in Europe. “That’s what we’re trying to establish. So these players, they’re excited to come here rather than reluctant to come here.”
That certainly describes Zubak and Cameron Dunbar, a former teammate who played 21 MLS games with the Galaxy and Minnesota United before coming to Orange County on loan…