Orlando City

Orlando City at San Jose Earthquakes: Player Grades and Man of the Match

Published

8 years ago

May 18, 2017

For the third time in three years Orlando City and the San Jose Earthquakes failed to produce a winner — this time in a 1-1 draw at Avaya Stadium in the wee hours East Coast time. Considering a huge rotation of the squad by Head Coach Jason Kreis, a point is not a bad result. But, considering the Lions led on a goal in the 81st minute, it still feels like a letdown.

Nevertheless, it’s another point in the standings and a chance to come home with several starters fresh for Sunday’s match with New York City FC.

Here are my individual ratings for Orlando City’s participants in the match.

Starters

GK, Joe Bendik, 6 — Joe made two saves on a night when the Quakes didn’t threaten the goal much, with 11 shots but only three on target. He perhaps could have gotten out to square up on Chris Wondolowski quicker but came in at an angle, allowing Wondo to poke in a floating cross off his arms for the equalizer. He got a hand to a free kick from Jahmir Hyka in the 26th minute on a ball that might have hit the bar or gone over but he did well to take no chances. Made a comfortable save on Marco Urena in the first half. His distribution wasn’t terrible but could have been a bit better. A solid if not spectacular game.

D, Victor “PC” Giro, 8 (MotM) — PC made his MLS debut and it was quite an introduction. His vision in setting up Rivas’ goal was extraordinary and he provided energy all night while maintaining integrity on defense for the most part. He started early, earning a free kick in the ninth minute with a nice overlap with Luis Gil. Nearly opened his account in the 32nd with a stunning strike that beat David Bingham but not the crossbar. He led Orlando in tackles (5) and interceptions (4) and his passing rate of 71.4% was pretty good. His game on this night was better than his previous appearances with OCB this year and he’s earned more minutes.

D, Leo Pereira, 6.5 — Like PC, the young Brazilian made his MLS debut at Avaya Stadium tonight and the moment certainly wasn’t too big for him. Leo played within himself throughout the game, winning balls in the air. He was forced to take a tactical yellow in the 25th minute after a midfield turnover by Servando Carrasco, conceding a dangerous free kick chance. His vital clearance of a cross by Marco Urena in the 43rd minute snuffed out a dangerous chance. In the 79th, he again bailed out Carrasco after a turnover. His passing rate of 67.7% could have been better but he led the team in pass attempts (65) and didn’t make any errors in tight spaces under pressure. He led the team in clearances (5), with two tackles, three interceptions and a blocked shot. Not a bad debut but he was the closest defender to Wondo on the corner kick and lost track of him.

D, Jose Aja, 6.5 — The young Uruguayan took a lot of abuse from the opponents and got very few calls out of it but he stayed focused, kept his anger in check, and played a sturdy game. His two interceptions and two clearances were OK, his passing rate of 73.1% was decent, and contributed a key pass and two shots on offense, one of which just missed a bit high. He paired up well on the right side with Scott Sutter to snuff out most of the danger that came from that side.

D, Scott Sutter, 7 — Sutter may have been Orlando City’s best player in the first half. He was so cool and calm under pressure and in possession that you could chill your beer on his forehead. His long throw-in led to PC’s shot off the crossbar and he had an early cross for Luis Gil that was on target but a defender got there first. He recorded one tackle, two interceptions and three clearances, and connected well with Matias Perez Garcia up the right channel much of the game. His passing rate of 76.5% led the back four and he contributed one key pass while raining five crosses into the penalty area.

MF, Will Johnson, 7 — Will is probably going to take some heat from fans for keeping Wondo onside on the tying goal, but when the ball fell for Tommy Thompson, he retreated to guard the post and it was just unfortunate that the Earthquakes youngster mishit a shot attempt that somehow worked out for San Jose. His influence was noticeable throughout the game as he was often charged with starting possessions as Pereira and Aja fed him the ball deep to start the play. He passed at a solid 87.1% rate with the second most passes (62). In the 10th minute, he served in a free kick to Cyle Larin but the Canadian’s header was high. He finished with two key passes, four tackles, an interception, two clearances and generally ran his tail off all night.

MF, Servando Carrasco, 5.5 — I guess the word for Servando’s night is “workmanlike.” He finished with a passing accuracy of 89.7% — highest of all starters — but he also made the most glaring giveaways on the night. He had a terrible turnover in the 25th minute that started a San Jose break and forced Pereira to take a yellow and give up a dangerous free kick. He was dispossessed twice and both turned into scary moments for the defense as a result (the second came in the 79th minute). He finished with two interceptions, two clearances and one shot attempt. Overall he did a decent job of shielding the back line but will want to eliminate those giveaways.

MF, Luis Gil, 6 — Much of the night for Gil was spent providing coverage for the young Brazilian defenders behind him. Whenever the Quakes came forward, Gil was there to provide a second pressure point on the ball with PC and/or Pereira. But he wasn’t all defense, though he had two tackles and an interception. He played a nice give-and-go with PC early to set up a free kick when the latter was taken down. He had one key pass and got his one shot on target, though he didn’t get all of it as he tried to use a defender to screen his attempt from Bingham. His passing rate (68.4%) could have been better, though many of his attempts were with guys he hasn’t played with yet.

MF, Gile Barnes, 5 — The Jamaican didn’t leave much of a mark on the game offensively, with only a 40% passing rate and one shot that was off target — although that was the result of taking Fatai Alashe’s studs to his shin and didn’t get him so much as a free kick. His main contribution seemed to be gumming up the the works whenever San Jose tried to play out of the back. He gutted out much of the game after taking that horror tackle from Alashe.

MF, Matias Perez Garcia, 6.5 — It certainly looked like MPG was in the mood against his old team. The pocket-sized Argentine started the game with a great deal of energy, getting under the skin of his former teammates. He could have played Larin in on goal in the 24th but put too much on his through ball. Started a break in the 44th minute that forced Anibal Godoy to take a yellow card for a tactical foul. He was quick to the ball throughout the match, winning a team high six fouls on the night. He had three key passes, one shot, two tackles, and two interceptions. However, his score could have been much higher if not for a 39.3% passing accuracy. This was one performance where the stats don’t tell the story of the player’s impact on the game.

F, Cyle Larin, 6 — If the Canadian ever figures out how to face a defender out wide and beat him off the dribble, he’ll be an unstoppable force, but too often the Quakes comfortably defended Orlando attacks when Larin got the ball wide. He maybe should have done better in the 10th minute on a free header off a free kick, but headed over the bar. His header in the 18th minute forced a diving save from David Bingham to keep it out of the bottom corner. He earned a couple of early second-half corners — one on a shot blocked by Florian Jungwirth and the other on a dangerous-looking cross. He passed at a 68.4% rate, but there were too many of the unsuccessful ones that could have been a final through ball for a scoring chance. Still, he had one key pass and three shots (one on target).

Substitutions

MF, Kaká (63’), 6.5 — While it wasn’t the captain’s best performance since his return, he did make a big positive impact. He got the hockey assist on Orlando’s goal by drawing two defenders toward him at the top corner of the box and played PC down the left channel for the cross. He had a couple giveaways but did well to track back to defend afterward with a tackle and a blocked shot. It was only a 64% passing night for the Brazilian and he had the game on his foot in the 91st but his shot couldn’t beat Bingham and maybe he could have squared it to a wide-open MPG for the finish there.

F, Carlos Rivas (63’), 7 — In less than half an hour of work the Colombian led the team with five shots and scored what looked like the game winner in the 80th minute. His pace made an impact on the game over the last half hour as he always looked dangerous in space. As usual, he wasted a few shots in the stands, but overall it was a good shift. He passed at an 83% clip created a chance with a ball to Kaká in the 91st minute. Those maddening shots over the net were the only blemishes on Carlos’ night.

MF, Cristian Higuita (85’), N/A — The Colombian came on for Carrasco and he didn’t get booked, which is the most important thing he did (or didn’t do) because he’s sitting on four yellows. He completed all eight of his passes but surprisingly didn’t record any defensive statistics. Not enough time on for a fair grade.

That’s how I saw it. What did you think? Vote for your Orlando City MotM below and let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Polling Closed

Player	Votes
Will Johnson	4
Scott Sutter	8
PC	77
Carlos Rivas	40
Other	6

Related Topics:Player Grades SBN_migrated

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Orlando City

2024 Orlando City Season in Review: Pedro Gallese

The Peruvian goalkeeper had an inconsistent start to the year, but was solid throughout the team’s second-half surge.

Published

1 hour ago

December 30, 2024

Sean Rollins

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City initially signed goalkeeper Pedro Gallese on Jan. 17, 2020, and the Peruvian immediately became a fixture in the Lions’ starting lineup. He led the club to its first MLS playoff appearance and was sent off during penalties in one of the most bizarre endings in league history before leading the team to the postseason again every year since joining the Lions. In the 2022 season, he started the quarterfinal, semifinal, and final of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, helping the Lions win their first major trophy. Orlando City signed Gallese to a new contract on Dec. 27, 2022, keeping him in purple through 2024 with a club option for 2025.

Let’s take a look at how Gallese played in his fifth season in Orlando.

Statistical Breakdown

Gallese was Orlando City’s first-choice goalkeeper for the fifth straight season, playing in 29 games (all starts) and recording 2,610 minutes during the regular season. He gave up 39 goals while making 72 saves for a save percentage of 64.9% and a 1.34 goals-against average. Additionally, Gallese recorded eight clean sheets and saved two of his six penalties faced. The shot stopper completed 439 of his 614 passes (71.5%) in the regular season, including 83 long balls. He also recorded his first assist for the club, setting up an attack that resulted in a Duncan McGuire goal against Charlotte FC on Sept. 18.

In the playoffs, Gallese started all five games, recording 450 minutes. He conceded two goals while recording three clean sheets and making seven saves for a 77.8% save percentage and a 0.40 goals-against average. He completed 67 of his 97 passes (69.1%), including 14 long balls. He split his two penalty shootouts in the postseason, not making a save in Game 2 against Charlotte, but stopping the first two spot kicks in Game 3 against Pep Biel and Karol Swiderski to help Orlando City advance to the conference semifinals.

Gallese started all three Concacaf Champions Cup games, playing 270 minutes. He recorded a pair of clean sheets in a 3-0 win over Cavalry FC and a scoreless first leg against UANL Tigres before giving up four goals in the 4-2 loss to the Mexican opponent in the second leg for a 0.50 goals-against average. His 10 postseason saves resulted in a 71.4% save percentage. The starting goalkeeper completed 44 of his 59 passes for a 74.6% completion percentage.

In the Leagues Cup, Gallese started all three games, recording 270 minutes. He conceded a pair of goals with a clean sheet and made 15 saves for an 88.2% save percentage and a 0.25 goals-against average. Additionally, he saved the only penalty he faced in the competition during normal time. He completed 44 of his 69 passes for a 63.8% pass completion percentage. In Orlando City’s two penalty shootouts against Atletico San Luis and Cruz Azul, Gallese stopped Leo Bonatini to help the Lions win the former. He wasn’t able to make a save in the penalty shootout against Cruz Azul, and although Ignacio Rivero missed the net entirely, Orlando fell on penalties due to Robin Jansson and Dagur Dan Thorhallsson having their spot kicks saved.

Best Game

Gallese’s best game of the year was a game the Lions didn’t win and saw them eliminated from the Leagues Cup. On Aug. 9, he faced six shots on target in a scoreless draw against Mexican giants Cruz Azul, the third-highest number of shots he faced all season. However, he conceded four goals from nine shots in the second leg against Tigres and two goals from seven shots against Philadelphia on May 11. For this reason, I consider his clean sheet against Cruz Azul to be his best performance.

Orlando’s starting goalkeeper played all 90 minutes in that game and kept Cruz Azul off the board with his six saves. His distribution was also excellent, as he completed 21 of his 25 passes (84%). It was his only clean sheet of the tournament, as he conceded once each against CF Montreal and Atletico San Luis.

Due to the Leagues Cup format, the game went directly into penalties, which was unfortunate for Orlando City. Rivero missed the first attempt for Cruz Azul, but the other five shooters were successful. Cruz Azul goalkeeper Kevin Mier saved the two aforementioned penalties to put his team into the round of 16, but that doesn’t take away from Gallese’s strong performance against a good side from Liga MX.

2024 Final Grade

The Mane Land staff gave Gallese a composite grade of 7 out of 10 for the 2024 season. It’s the lowest grade he’s received since 2020, when he received the same grade. That season was followed by an 8 in 2021, an 8 in 2022, and a 7.5 in 2023. His 39 goals conceded are his second most since joining Orlando City and his 72 saves are his fewest in a 34-game season for the club. The latter number is attributable in part to Orlando City allowing the fourth-fewest shots against per match in 2024. Gallese, like the team in general, was particularly inconsistent in the first half of the 2024 season. However, he was at his best when it mattered most, especially in the shootout against Charlotte, when he stopped two the first two penalties and guessed correctly on the third. Gallese recorded three clean sheets in five playoff games and only gave up one goal in each of the other two games. Overall, while there was a slight drop in the Peruvian’s consistency, it was a solid season for the Lions’ shot stopper.

2025 Outlook

Gallese signed a deal through the 2024 season with an option for 2025 back in 2022 and that option was triggered because he achieved the necessary performance-based metrics. As a result, he’ll be the starting goalkeeper for his sixth season in Orlando. The only way the Peruvian won’t be in net is if he’s injured or away on international duty. While he allowed some uncharacteristic goals at times in 2024, he’s still a proven shot stopper and a leader on this team. Even with a slight dip in form, his presence is necessary for Orlando City to reach its goals in 2025.

Previous Season in Review Articles (Date Posted)

Cesar Araujo (12/28/24)

This concludes our 2024 Orlando City player-by-player Season in Review series. We hope you’ve enjoyed looking back on the Lions’ performances from the past year as we move closer toward seeing what lies ahead in 2025.

Lion Links

Lion Links: 12/30/24

Orlando City shares top goals of 2024, MLS transfer roundup, English Premier League results, and more.

Published

5 hours ago

December 30, 2024

Joshua Taylor

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Hello, Mane Landers. I hope you all have been doing well and enjoying time with family and friends for the holidays as we close out 2024 tomorrow. I’ve been busy working at Under Armour all week. I’ll also be back at Wrigley Field to work the NHL Winter Classic tomorrow, and two Big Ten college hockey games later this week. There is plenty to cover today, so let’s get to the links.

Orlando City Unveils Top Goals of 2024

Orlando City shared some of the club’s top goals of 2024 and invited fans to vote on which one was the best of the year.

The boys have scored some BANGERS this year 💥 Go vote for the goal of the year on our Instagram story 🗳️ pic.twitter.com/GBT83Ew90d
— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) December 27, 2024

The club has been slowly unveiling its top 10 goals of the season on its Instagram page. Here’s what the organization has chosen as the best so far:

10. Martin Ojeda’s goal against D.C. United on July 6.
9. Duncan McGuire’s chip goal against Charlotte FC on Sept. 18.
8. Ramiro Enrique’s volley against FC Cincinnati on Oct. 5.
7. Facundo Torres’ strike against the Chicago Fire on June 22.
6. Ramiro Enrique’s goal against Cavalry FC in the Concacaf Champions Cup.
5. Luis Muriel’s first goal as a Lion against the Philadelphia Union on May 11.

Orlando City’s top four goals of the year are still to come, but what was your favorite Orlando City goal from the 2024 season? Let me know in the comments section below.

MLS Transfer Roundup

We have some big moves in Major League Soccer to catch you up on from the weekend. FC Dallas has acquired defender Shaq Moore from Nashville SC in exchange for $50,000 in 2025 General Allocation Money (GAM) and incentive-based GAM of up to $100,000. Moore has agreed to a two-year deal through 2026 with a club option for 2027. San Diego FC signed goalkeeper Pablo Sisniega to a one-year contract for the 2025 season with club options for the 2026 and 2027 seasons. Sisniega previously played for USL Championship side San Antonio FC. Lastly, Inter Miami has reportedly signed former Vancouver Whitecaps winger Fafa Picault.

Sources: Inter Miami sign free agent winger Fafa Picault.

Picault, 33, had 9g/5a in 1,675 mins for Vancouver last season.

Family reasons a big driving factor for Picault. There were advanced talks with Austin, but Picault is off to Miami. pic.twitter.com/g2B2yVpreq
— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) December 29, 2024

English Premier League Recap

The Premier League fixtures continue through the holidays, and there were plenty of matches on Sunday. Manchester City defeated Leicester City 2-0 to snap its run of five consecutive matches without a win. Crystal Palace defeated Southampton 2-1, while Nottingham Forest won 2-0 against Everton and moved to second in the league table. Fulham and Bournemouth battled to a 2-2 draw, while Tottenham Hotspur and Wolverhampton’s match also ended 2-2. Liverpool cruised past West Ham United 5-0 as well. We have three more Premier League matches later today, with Aston Villa hosting Brighton, Ipswich Town facing Chelsea, and Manchester United taking on Newcastle United.

Keeping Up With the Americans Abroad

Several Americans were in action in Europe over the weekend. Brenden Aaronson scored the lone goal for Leeds United to defeat Derby County 1-0 to extend its unbeaten run to six matches and remain atop the EFL Championship table. Auston Trusty was on the bench for Celtic, but Cameron Carter-Vickers played a full 90 minutes against St. Johnstone in the Scottish Premiership. Celtic won 4-0 to extend its unbeaten run to 19 matches across all competitions. Weston McKennie played 62 minutes for Juventus before he was subbed off in the second half. Fiorentina grabbed a late equalizer for a 2-2 draw against Juventus as both sides have 32 points in Serie A and remain in fifth and sixth in the league table, respectively. Gianluca Busio played a full 90 minutes for Venezia, but his side lost 1-0 to Napoli on Sunday.

Free Kicks

NJ/NY Gotham FC will reportedly sign midfielder Gabi Portilho from Corinthians. Portilho won a silver medal with Brazil at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris and was a Ballon d’Or finalist.
AC Milan forward Christian Pulisic had an injury setback and did not play in Sunday’s match against AS Roma due to an ankle injury.
Dani Olmo is at risk of not playing for Barcelona in the second half of the La Liga season after a court rejected the club’s lawsuit to extend his temporary registration, which expires at the end of this month.
Dunfermline Athletic forward Dapo Mebude gave insight into resurrecting his career in an interview with BBC Sport. He had survived a car crash earlier this year while playing for Oostende in Belgium.

That will do it for me today, Mane Landers. Enjoy your Monday, and I’ll see you next time.

Orlando City

Top 10 Moments of 2024: Orlando City Advances to First Conference Final

In our No. 3 moment, the Lions advance further in the MLS playoffs than ever before at the expense of rival Atlanta United.

Published

1 day ago

December 29, 2024

Michael Citro

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC

As we count down to the new year of 2025 — which will be Orlando City’s 11th in MLS, the Orlando Pride’s 10th in the NWSL, and OCB’s third in MLS NEXT Pro — and say goodbye to 2024, it’s time to look back at the club’s 10 best moments of the year as selected by The Mane Land staff via vote.

Since Atlanta United rode Arthur Blank’s considerable checkbook into Major League Soccer, the club up north and MLS have been trying to create a rivalry between the Lions and the Five Stripes that would likely have developed anyway without any artificiality. Late drama in some of the earliest meetings and the overall unlikeability of Josef Martinez would likely have taken care of it without any billboards or hyperbole from the league.

But the rivalry did grow, even though it has largely been a one-sided one over the years. Since 2017, Atlanta had gotten the better of Orlando City, racking up eight wins against just four for the Lions entering the 2024 season, with the teams also playing to seven draws over the years. That didn’t improve for Orlando this year, as the Lions lost both regular-season meetings against Atlanta United, including a Decision Day game that saw the Five Stripes pounce early, building a 2-0 lead inside the first 16 minutes. Orlando outplayed Atlanta the rest of the way, but could only pull one of the two goals back, ending the regular season on a sour note and somehow allowing their rivals an improbable path into the postseason.

Yet, in a strange way, Orlando letting Atlanta get into the postseason changed the trajectory of the 2024 MLS Cup playoffs. In the first round, the Five Stripes shocked Supporters’ Shield-winning Inter Miami, Orlando’s bigger current bogeyman team and the bane of all people sick of hearing about Lionel Messi and tired of seeing ugly pink uniforms plastered to everything related to MLS.

It wasn’t only Miami that succumbed to the upset bug in the best-of-three first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. Top-three seeds Columbus and Cincinnati also crumbled, while fourth-seeded Orlando needed a Game 3 stoppage-time penalty and shootout win to advance, which handed the Lions an improbable home-field advantage for the rest of the conference’s postseason. That’s how Orlando ended up drawing nemesis Atlanta as an opponent in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Atlanta had to feel confident after knocking mighty Miami and its ex-Barcelona brigade out of the playoffs. The fact that United swept the season series from Orlando City also likely had the visitors feeling good entering the Eastern Conference semifinal match at Inter&Co Stadium Nov. 24.

On the plus side for Orlando, the Lions no doubt still felt a bit of anger over the Decision Day loss, which could serve as some extra motivation for Oscar Pareja’s team. In addition, this was the first time Orlando City would have its starting central midfield duo against Atlanta in 2024. Wilder Cartagena had missed both regular-season meetings with United due to suspension, while double-pivot partner Cesar Araujo missed the match in Atlanta with an ankle injury. Both booking-prone midfielders managed to get through Charlotte in three matches without earning a suspension. Atlanta had to face a first-choice Pareja lineup for the first time in the year’s three matches.

The winner of the match was going to the Eastern Conference final — in Orlando’s case, it would host the match if it could get past Atlanta. As an added bonus, the victor would also end its rival’s season. The stakes had never been higher throughout the series.

Both teams entered with momentum. Atlanta was no doubt still riding the high of knocking Messi and Miami out of the playoffs. Orlando could hardly have turned its fortunes around any later against Charlotte in stoppage time and then dominated the ensuing penalty shootout against perhaps the league’s best shootout goalkeeper.

In front of a sellout crowd of 25,046, the game on Nov. 24 quickly revealed itself. From the opening kickoff, it seemed Orlando City wanted to have the ball and look for an opening in Atlanta’s defense, while the visitors, coached by former USL Lion Rob Valentino, appeared content to wait for the Lions to make a mistake that they could turn into a transition goal.

Orlando tried to jump on Atlanta early, but the usual nerves of such a big game were showing. Facundo Torres sent a free header from Martin Ojeda’s gorgeous cross over the bar in the opening minutes. Dagur Dan Thorhallsson hit the post on a play that was eventually flagged offside anyway moments later. Ramiro Enrique sent a header straight at goalkeeper Brad Guzan in the 10th minute. It was the same lack of sharpness in front of goal that plagued the team early in the year, but at least the Lions were creating chances against a team that hardly seemed to consider posing a scoring threat at all.

Ojeda just missed the corner of the goal on a 23rd-minute volley attempt. Then Araujo missed the target with a header off a good Rafael Santos cross.

The way the match was unfolding, the longer it stayed scoreless, the more it built the pressure on Orlando and helped Atlanta, and it seemed as if we’d reach halftime without a goal. Then things changed suddenly on a set piece.

Ojeda sent in a good ball on a corner kick from the left side. The service bounced off of Atlanta defender Stian Gregersen and fell in the six-yard box, landing right in front of Enrique, who was the fastest to react to the loose ball, slotting it past Guzan to make it 1-0 in the 39th minute.

Ramiro Enrique pounces on the loose ball to give @OrlandoCitySC the lead! 👌

📺 #MLSSeasonPass: https://t.co/tQIOY7JfYx // Audi #MLSCupPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/bRByusRghH
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) November 24, 2024

Things got worse for Atlanta late in the half, when forward Jamal Thiare was forced out of the game with a knock. The Lions went to the lockerroom with a slim 1-0 lead that did not reflect their domination of the action in the first half. Orlando City led in possession (63.8%-36.2%), shots (7-3), shots on target (3-0), and passing accuracy (89.4%-74.9%) in the opening period.

Atlanta had to come after the game in the second half, and the Five Stripes tweaked some things to get more of the ball. A decent spell of possession early in the second half saw the visitors generate a few shots, but nothing was too menacing due to the play of Orlando’s back line and midfield. The closest the team came to leveling the match was Aleksey Miranchuk’s shot into the outside netting from the left side in the 51st minute. Over the next 10 minutes, the visitors sent a couple of half chances wide of the frame.

Orlando had the better chances in the second half, but neither team managed to get a shot on frame. Pedro Gallese didn’t have to make a save all game for the Lions, but he did make a smart and athletic play to get to a potentially lethal Saba Lobjanidze cross, preventing it getting through to the back post. A flicked shot from Duncan McGuire that went wide was the closest the Lions came to doubling the lead.

Eventually, time ran out and the match was over. Orlando finished with the advantage in possession (50.6%-49.4%), shots (14-8), shots on target (4-0), corners (5-4), and passing accuracy (85.8%-83.6%). Most importantly, however, the Lions had advanced to the Eastern Conference final for the first time, and they’d done it at the expense of their rivals from the north.

“On that corner and that type of play, I always intend to be ready for that second ball, for that second play,” Enrique said after the game. “When it was hit there, thankfully I anticipated it really well and just got into that space and beat everybody to the ball and was able to convert. Happy for this team and for this club, and to be able to move on in this moment, and to have a part in that by scoring the goal, I think being able to get to the conference final, we’re just really happy.”

It was Orlando City’s first meaningful win in the rivalry, and drawing some postseason blood should only add fuel to it in the future.

The Lions didn’t ultimately reach the MLS Cup final after defeating Atlanta, switching off just once in a tightly contested match against the New York Red Bulls. That was one of the few missteps Orlando City had in the game, but it was one too many in an otherwise strong defensive Eastern Conference final. The Red Bulls went on to lose to the LA Galaxy in the title game.

But Orlando fighting its way deeper into the MLS postseason than ever before, and doing so at the expense of a troublesome Southeast rival, is worth including on our list of the club’s top moments of 2024.

Come back through New Year’s Eve as we count down the remainder of the top 10 moments of 2024 for Orlando City, the Orlando Pride, and OCB.