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USA vs. Panama, Concacaf Championship: Final Score 5-0 as Carli Lloyd’s Hat Trick Leads the Way

Published

8 years ago

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The United States Women’s National Team took its second step toward World Cup qualifying with a lopsided win over Panama at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, NC. The U.S. got a first-half brace and an eventual hat trick from Carli Lloyd and cruised to an easy 5-0 win.

The U.S. stands atop Group A at 2-0-0 with six points and a +11 goal differential and should Mexico draw Trinidad & Tobago in the late game, it would give the USWNT the group with one match still to play. If any other team in the group reaches six points, it would have to overcome a huge goal differential and that’s simply not happening. The U.S. is as good as through to the knockout round which will determine which three teams will head to the 2019 World Cup.

Jill Ellis did a lot of rotating from the starting squad that took the pitch on Thursday against Mexico. Only Julie Ertz and Abby Dahlkemper returned to their starting roles from the Mexico match. Orlando Pride goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris started in place of Alyssa Naeher, while Alex Morgan was replaced by Lloyd. The entire attacking line was switched out, with Lloyd flanked by Christen Press and Mallory Pugh. Sam Mewis and Morgan Brian replaced Lindsey Horan and Rose Lavelle, with Casey Short, Hailie Mace — in her first USWNT start — and Emily Sonnett stepping in on the back line for Crystal Dunn, Becky Sauerbrunn, and Kelley O’Hara, respectively.

The USWNT jumped on the front foot immediately and earned a free kick in the fourth minute when Marta Cox fouled Mewis from behind just above the penalty area. Mewis took the set piece, which deflected off the wall and was headed just under the bar but 17-year-old goalkeeper Yenith Bailey made the save, handing the U.S. a corner.

The first goal came from that corner in the fifth minute. Press delivered the cross into the area, where Mewis nodded it just inside the far post to make it 1-0.

Lloyd nodded a shot off the crossbar in the 11th minute but was ruled offside, but that was only a momentary setback for the offense. Three minutes later, Lloyd was all alone in front to take a cross but her header was right at Bailey and her rebound attempt was denied by a great reaction save by Bailey with an assist from the left post.

Mewis sent one off outside netting in the 22nd minute after a great through ball from Press. A minute later, the U.S. doubled its lead on another corner kick. Lloyd arrived for a free header at the back post and powered it through Bailey to make it 2-0.

Despite the lopsided first half, the United States would have completely embarrassed Panama if not for Bailey, who made several huge stops to keep the score from getting even more out of hand. She robbed Pugh in the 24th minute after the Washington Spirit forward got in behind the defense. Mace sent one right at Bailey in the 28th minute off another corner kick.

A minute later, Lloyd scored her second. She took a pass in the box, made a great fake to the outside, then cut inside past two defenders and blasted a shot into the upper 90 on the right side to make it 3-0 in the 29th minute.

In the 31st minute, Lloyd nearly completed her hat trick when she was slipped in alone but Bailey scrambled off her line to take it off her foot. But the onslaught continued a minute later when Dahlkemper’s long ball unlocked the defense and sent Press in alone on goal. She rounded Bailey patiently and fired into the empty net to make it 4-0.

Press nearly got her second in the 39th if not for a save by Bailey. Then Bailey denied Lloyd in front in the 41st and made a great save with her right foot in the 42nd on Brian.

That was the final chance of the half as the U.S. completely dominated the game and only the heroics of Bailey kept the United States from potentially reaching double digit goals. Panama didn’t attempt a shot in the opening period.

The United States continued to own the game, adding a fifth goal early in the second half. Lloyd completed her hat trick on a header off a set piece delivery from halftime sub Rose Lavelle, making it 5-0 in the 48th minute.

Pugh nearly scored in the 50th minute on a shot that was cleared off the line and then Bailey again robbed Press 1-v-1 in the 53rd minute. Press headed a ball into the net off a throw-in play in the 55th but the play was whistled offside. Mewis got her head on it first, but Lloyd came back from an offside position to nod it to Press. Lloyd then sent a screamer at the net in the 60th but it was blocked just in front of goal.

Panama finally got a good look in the 61st minute when a ball out of the corner deflected into the area to Laurie Batista, but with a lot of time and space at her disposal, she completely missed the net, firing well over Harris’ goal.

The relentless attack from the U.S. continued a minute later, with Lloyd chipping one off the crossbar in the 62nd and Pugh missing high on the follow-up.

Panama finally got a shot on target in the 69th off a corner kick. The ball popped out to the top of the penalty area where Aldrith Quintero scorched a shot on goal but Harris punched it away with a solid save to preserve the shutout.

Lavelle was nearly in alone a minute later but she was pulled down in the open field by Katherine Castillo, who was booked for the tactical foul. Lavelle took the free kick herself and went for goal but hit it right at Bailey. Two minutes later, Pugh finally scored through two defenders after a collision in the box between Bailey, her own defender, and Lloyd. The bulk of the contact came from the Panamanian defender but Bailey was down injured and after a brief delay to attend to Bailey, Pugh’s goal was disallowed.

The 78th minute was eventful, with Pugh sliding a cross to Press, who missed wide. Seconds later, Pugh mishit a header but the looping effort found the crossbar. Lloyd fired a shot off Bailey in the 81st and on the ensuing corner, sent another shot that Bailey stopped. Press then cut inside from the end line and fired over the bar in the 83rd as the U.S. just kept coming.

Lloyd laid a ball off for Press in the 88th minute but the Utah Royals star’s curling effort didn’t curl enough to find the inside of the back post, flying a few feet wide instead.

Moments later the final whistle ended things mercifully for Panama and the U.S. stood alone at the top of Group A with a monster goal differential. The U.S. out-shot Panama, 37-3 (that is not a typo), with an 18-2 advantage in shots on goal. The Yanks also held lopsided advantages in corner kicks (9-1), and possession (68%-32%), with both teams committing seven fouls each.

The United States is now 34-1-1 all-time in the Concacaf Championship, 13-0-2 in 2018, and 20-0-3 since the 2017 Tournament of Nations.

The United States will finish Group A play on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. against Trinidad & Tobago, again at WakeMed Soccer Park. The game can be seen on FS2 and UDN.

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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. San Jose Earthquakes: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

Orlando City restarts its 2026 MLS campaign late tonight out west at San Jose.

Published

2 weeks ago

on

July 22, 2026

By

Image of Braian Ojeda taking a shot in a friendly against FC Dallas.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Justin Glatt

Welcome to your match thread for a late night midweek matchup tonight between Orlando City (4-9-2, 14 points) and the San Jose Earthquakes (10-3-2, 32 points) at PayPal Park (10:30 p.m., Apple TV). This is the only scheduled meeting between the teams in 2026 and the first time the teams have met since 2024.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of tonight’s match.

History

Orlando City is 3-1-3 in the previous seven MLS meetings with the Quakes since the club joined Major League Soccer in 2015. The Lions got their only away win in the series in the last meeting and enter tonight 1-1-2 on the road against San Jose.

The teams last met on May 18, 2024, with Jack Lynn coming off the bench to score the game’s only goal. Lynn’s strike in the 89th minute broke the scoreless deadlock and lifted the Lions to a 1-0 victory.

The teams met in Orlando most recently way back on June 22, 2021, with the Lions beating the Quakes down, 5-0. Orlando got things started with an early penalty kick goal by Nani, followed by braces from Benji Michel and Daryl Dike to easily put the game away. The lasting memory from the game is Michel’s celebratory dance wearing a cowboy hat that came out of the stands.

Prior to that Orlando City romp, the last time the teams met was on Aug. 31, 2019 when the Lions got freight trained 3-0 at Avaya Stadium, giving the Quakes their first win in the series. San Jose’s offense came via a Chris Wondolowski brace and an early opening goal by Magnus Eriksson. Orlando looked flat and weary out of the gate.

The Lions were victorious in Exploria Stadium in the 2018 meeting on April 21, a 3-2 Orlando win. It was the first win in the series for either side after three straight draws. Chris Mueller, Sacha Kljestan, and Dom Dwyer gave the Lions a 3-0 lead before Florian Jungwirth pulled two back in the game’s late stages.

The Lions led all of the first three matches in the second half only to see San Jose pull level, with two of those tying goals coming late. In the 2017 meeting, Carlos Rivas finally broke the scoreless tie and gave Orlando City the lead in the 81st minute, but Wondolowski spoiled the Lions’ night with an equalizer two minutes later as the teams drew at Avaya Stadium, 1-1.

In 2016, the Lions were gut-punched in the 94th minute in an emotional match that ended in a 2-2 draw. It was the first home match following the Pulse nightclub tragedy and what appeared to be a storybook ending to a cathartic win turned sour on a last-gasp equalizer by Shea Salinas. Seb Hines — now the Orlando Pride’s head coach — opened the scoring for Orlando, only to see Chad Barrett tie it up. Julio Baptista restored the lead in stoppage time, but Salinas ruined everything.

The two teams also drew in the first meeting, a 1-1 affair at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, with the Lions down to 10 men after Brek Shea was sent off in the first half. Kaká and Wondolowski each scored from the penalty spot four minutes apart in that initial meeting.

Overview

The teams meet tonight to get their post-World Cup portion of the season started. Orlando City has been terrible on the road all season long, keeping only one MLS opponent under two goals all year away from home and allowing five goals twice (at New York City FC and Nashville) and six goals twice (at LAFC and in the team’s most recent match away at FC Cincinnati just before the break).

Orlando City is a putrid 1-6-1 on the road this season, and now the Lions must face the Western Conference co-leaders tonight before coming home to face Supporters’ Shield-leading Nashville SC at home on Saturday. They’ll have to play at least tonight’s game without Martin Ojeda, who is out with a thigh injury sustained some time between his first-half goal a week ago in a friendly against FC Dallas and the time the availability report dropped on Tuesday.

But it isn’t all bad news for the Lions, who should have both Antoine Griezmann and Dike in the lineup. Griezmann was the club’s highly prized and widely publicized summer Designated Player signing, while Dike’s return to Orlando came together more recently, following his departure from West Bromwich Albion. They’ll help the club’s offense, but the attack hasn’t been the issue in 2026 — it’s been the historically porous defense, which is on pace to shatter the MLS record for goals conceded.

Meanwhile, San Jose is one of the first half of the season’s biggest surprises, as the Quakes have been outstanding in 2026. Scoring 34 goals while conceding just 15, San Jose is among the league leaders in goals scored (tied for third), goals conceded (third), and goal differential (+19, third).

The Earthquakes are 4-2-1 at home and are coming off a 3-1 road win at Portland in their last game prior to the World Cup break. San Jose boasts Golden Boot challenger Preston Judd, who leads the Quakes with 11 goals, adding two assists in his 15 appearances. Ousseni Bouda has chipped in five goals and three assists. Niko Tsakiris leads the team with seven assists to go along with his two goals, but he’s still recovering from a lower body injury and is not available tonight. However, the arrival of Timo Werner (four goals and five assists in just seven games) has truly elevated Bruce Arena’s Quakes, and he’ll need to be one of the main focal points for the Orlando defense.

To have any shot at taking something from this game, the Lions will need to play better road defense than they have all season. Orlando can score goals, but with Ojeda out, Griezmann will need to adapt quickly, and someone other than the team’s leading scorer will need to find the net.

The Lions will play without Ojeda (thigh), Joran Gerbet (knee), Nolan Miller (knee), Colin Guske (international duty), and Clovis Archage (international duty). In addition, Marco Pasalic may or may not have returned to the team after the World Cup. He was not in training Monday, although interim head coach Martin Perelman said he expected the Croatian back soon. The Earthquakes will be without Nonso Adimabua (lower body), former Lion Earl Edwards Jr. (lower body), DeJuan Jones (lower body), and Tsakiris (you guessed it, lower body…come on, San Jose).

Match Content

Official Lineups:

Orlando City (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Maxime Crepeau.

Defenders: Adrian Marin, David Brekalo, Robin Jansson, Griffin Dorsey.

Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Braian Ojeda, Eduard Atuesta, Tiago.

Forwards: Justin Ellis, Antoine Griezmann.

Bench: Javier Otero, Bernardo Rhein, Tahir Reid-Brown, Zakaria Taifi, Iago, Wilder Cartagena, Luis Otavio, Harvey Sarajian, Tyrese Spicer

San Jose Earthquakes (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Angus Gunn.

Defenders: Jamar Ricketts, Reid Roberts, Daniel Munie, Benjamin Kikanovic.

Defensive Midfielders: Beau Lerouox, Ronaldo Vieira.

Attacking Midfielders: Timo Werner, Nick Fernandez, Ousseni Bouda.

Forwards: Preston Judd.

Bench: Jonathan Gonzalez, Dave Romney, Paul Marie, Jack Skahan, Jack Jasinski, Ian Harkes, Francesco Montali, Max Floriani, Darius Johnson.

Referees

REF: Elijio Arreguin.
AR1: Adam Wienckowski.
AR2: Mike Nickerson.
4TH: Timothy Ford.
VAR: Jose Carlos Rivero.
AVAR: TJ Zablocki.

How to Watch

Match Time: 10:30 p.m.

Venue: PayPal Park — San Jose, CA.

TV/Live Stream: Apple TV.

Radio: AM 810 FOX Sports Radio Orlando (English), Mega 97.1 FM (Spanish), Nossa Rádio 1160 AM-WRLZ (Portuguese).

Social Media: For rapid reaction and live updates, follow us on Bluesky Social at @themaneland.bsky.social or follow Orlando City’s official Twitter (@OrlandoCitySC) or Bluesky (@OrlandoCitySC) feed.

Enjoy the match. Go City!

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Podcasts

PawedCast Episode 542: Tampa Bay Friendly, McGuire Traded, OCB Beats Cincinnati, and More

Lions maul the Rowdies in friendly action, OCB wins on the road, and it’s transfer season.

Published

3 weeks ago

on

July 14, 2026

By

Image of Antoine Griezmann and Ivan Angulo celebrating a goal in a friendly against the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City welcomed I-4 Derby rival Tampa Bay to Inter&Co Stadium for a friendly match on Wednesday and then proceeded to bludgeon the Rowdies with a couple of hammers named Antoine Griezmann and Justin Ellis. The two attackers combined for a goal and four assists in a 6-0 beatdown of the team from the Gulf Coast, with five different Lions scoring and Griffin Dorsey forcing an own goal. We discuss Griezmann’s first minutes with Orlando City, what the team showed in its formation, and how good Justin Ellis’ vision is.

Oh, and it’s also transfer season now. Duncan McGuire is on his way out and Marco Pasalic reportedly will follow soon, while a new left back may be headed from Spain to Orlando.

Following all of that, we discuss Maxime Crepeau being added to the MLS All-Star Team and the announcement that he’ll participate in the 2026 MLS All-Star Skills Challenge.

Our mailbagbox asked us about which World Cup semifinalist players we’d want to join Orlando this season (if we could only pick one), and more. Remember, if there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the show, just ask us by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC, or hitting us up on Bluesky Social with that same hashtag.

After the mailbagbox, we dive into OCB’s 2-1 road win at FC Cincinnati 2. It wasn’t the prettiest game by the Young Lions, but they managed to do enough to earn three points on the road, where they’ll stay to face Chattanooga on Saturday. We briefly preview that game.

Finally, Orlando City will be in Dallas Wednesday for the second of two friendlies leading up to the restart of the MLS season. It’s unlikely we’ll get a lot of details about that one, but we’ll see what happens. Maybe the FC Dallas folks will help us out.

Be sure to rate and review our show wherever you get your podcasts. Remember, we’ll read any five-star reviews we get on Apple Podcasts on the next show.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.

Here’s how No. 542 went down:

0:15 – Orlando City crushed the Rowdies, the transfer season is in full swing, plus: hey now, Crepeau’s an all-star.

28:50 – The mailbagbox is always good for a hypothetical scenario.

36:54 – The Young Lions slipped past Cincy and head to Chattanooga, while the senior Lions head to Dallas.

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Podcasts

SkoPurp Soccer Episode 119: International Break, USWNT, Louisville Preview, and More

The Pride return from a long international break looking to get their first-ever road win against Racing Louisville.

Published

3 months ago

on

April 22, 2026

By

Image of Haley McCutcheon scoring the opening goal in Orlando's home playoff win over Seattle.
Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

It feels like months since the Orlando Pride last took the field, but the calendar says otherwise. If you believe calendars, it’s only been a little less than three weeks, but time moves strangely in the post-pandemic apocalyptic world.

Anyway, we don’t have a match to recap, so we touched on a couple of Pride players putting the ball in the net during the international break and chat a bit about the United States Women’s National Team’s three-game friendly series against Japan. Emma Hayes used a lot of players, and the team looked solid for two of the three matches, but the rotated middle game seemed a bit disjointed. Hayes has greatly expanded the player pool and will have plenty of options when the World Cup approaches.

Our mailbagbox had questions about a potential change in the NWSL schedule, as the league explores adopting the fall-to-spring slate, and opposition own goals. Remember, you can ask us anything by hitting us up on Twitter at either @TheManeLand or @SkoPurpSoccer and using the hashtag #AskSkoPurp. You can use that same hashtag and hit @TheManeLand.bsky.social up on Bluesky. Or you can visit our show page, scroll down, and fill out the handy form. We’d also appreciate any ratings or reviews you can leave wherever you get your podcasts, and if you do that on Apple Podcasts, we’ll find them easily and read them on the show.

After the mailbagbox, we turned our attention toward Friday’s late afternoon tussle with Racing Louisville in Kentucky. The Pride have never won on the road against Louisville, and it’s about high time they did. This match begins a congested push to the June World Cup break, and although Friday’s hosts aren’t high in the table, the Pride must be at their best to get a road result in this fixture. We look back at the series history, compare the two sides, provide our key matchups in the game, and make our final score predictions.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.

Here’s how Episode 119 went down:

0:15 – We open the show with a little banter about the Pride in the international break and the USWNT’s series vs. Japan.

9:03 – The mailbagbox features questions via both eletronic mail and social media. We welcome all modes of delivery.

19:59 – The Pride travel to Louisville to face Racing. They’ve never won in Kentucky, but we inform them how to do so.

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