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Orlando City Stock Watch: Larin, Ashe Impress as Lions Click on all Cylinders
It had been six weeks since Orlando City won in league play, and the Lions proved once again that when it rains, it pours. Clicking as well as they had since the LA Galaxy game in May, the purple-clad lads put five goals on Columbus Crew SC for an emphatic three points. How does the Stock Watch respond to the outcome?
Rising
Corey Ashe – When he wasn’t pestering the opponent by every trackable metric in existence, Corey Ashe was placing beautiful service onto Kid Fantastic’s toe roughly every 90 seconds.
If you weren’t impressed by the three tackles, six interceptions or five clearances (somehow), you had to be impressed with his pace, two key passes, and seemingly natural chemistry with Luke Boden on the left.
As he gets more acclimated with his teammates here in Orlando, Ashe is becoming a very scary figure on the left side of the formation.
Cristian Higuita – The former Deportivo Cali midfielder scored his first MLS goal in the 85th minute, accepting service from Captain Kaká for a smooth header on the fifth goal of the night.
While not his usual statistically stalwart defense (two tackles, two clearances), Higuita's influence cannot be understated — drawing four fouls and jump-starting the attack on multiple occasions with his picture perfect six-for-six long passing.
Cyle Larin – How do you raise your stock after a hat trick? Well, scoring a brace is a pretty damn good place to start. The first-year wonder has tied the MLS rookie goal record, and if there’s any consistency with the way he found prime real estate on the pitch on Saturday, he’ll destroy that record.
Sorta runs with the #DefyExpectations theme, no?
Servando Carrasco – The newest Lion on the pitch blended well with his surrounding midfield on Saturday, somewhat falling into the shadows of Boden, Higuita, Kaká and Darwin Cerén despite a 90% passing rate that includes an obscene 10/10 on long passes.
Responsible for one of Larin's goals, Carrasco gets the hockey assist for his sweet ball in to Ashe that set the key play up.
Falling
Seb Hines – Didn’t play a terrible game by any stretch, but it is tough to keep pace in the XI when the offense breaks out like they did against Columbus. Made some solid defensive plays, but clearly struggled at times with the Crew attack, specifically Kei Kamara.
Show me a defender that hasn't struggled with Kei Kamara, and I'll show you a defender that doesn't play in MLS.
With Sean St. Ledger's time in Orlando over and David Mateos still en route, Seb has chances to stand out on his own still to come.
Aurélien Collin – Did great work in the 77th, slamming Boden’s corner off his face to put City up 4-1 and start the unofficial party inside the Citrus Bowl before accidentally putting one past Tally Hall in stoppage time.
Solid enough against the lethal Crew attack, but struggled a bit with his passing, coming in at 75% with a noticeably bad one-for-five on long passes.
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I'm nitpicking, but you have to in a game like this. A great effort from the boys, and three important points against a playoff contender.