Lion Links: 9/21/15

Okay Mane Landers, if this doesn't get your Monday started right, I'm unable to help ya!

For only the second time this season, Orlando City has managed to get back-to-back victories. This victory means that the playoffs are still in sight for your favorite club, and there is no better way to celebrate a victory than by diving right in to today’s Lion Links.

Weekend Recap

So let's just think about this…Orlando City goes on the road against a team desperately needing a win (just like ourselves) and without its talisman, Kaká, however, we still end up leaving with the three points. Nothing can be sweeter, except maybe our descriptions and take on the game:

• Our man Austin Siegel was on-site in Chi-town to take in the game and you can read his recap right here.
• Our very own Kaká, Michael Citro, gave us his player grades and MOTM.
• Orlando may have taken away three points, but Gavin Ewbank had five takeaways from the game at Toyota Park.
• If you want to get the other side’s viewpoint of Saturday’s game, last week’s Mane Land PawedCast guest and Hot Time in Old Town Editor-in-Chief, Sean Spence gives us Chicago’s recap.

Rawlins Gets Rewarded

We all know that Phil Rawlins (and the entire Orlando front office) is awesome. The front office brought soccer to Central Florida and made it a success. That success has led to increased tourism in Central Florida and that is why Phil Rawlins has been inducted in the Dick Pope Hall of Fame Class of 2015.

The Dick Pope Hall of Fame is a who's who of people who have been incredibly successful at increasing tourism to Central Florida. We here at The Mane Land are proud that the team we support continue to get recognition not just from the soccer community, but from the world at large. So, congrats Phil on continuing to be awesome.

USWNT Continues Rolling

The USWNT 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup victory tour continued yesterday and to be honest it might be time to start think about renaming the tour to the USWNT world domination tour. Yesterday saw the USWNT take on Haiti for the second time in four days, and once again the U.S. ran out convincing winners, dominating 8-0 in Birmingham, AL. The women out-shot Haiti by 39 attempts in front of the largest crowd for a USWNT game in the Southeastern U.S. (until Oct. 25, that is) and right now that means through four games of this ‘victory tour’ the U.S. has scored 28 goals and conceded just two.

The women also passed another landmark with their win yesterday:

Chicago Burns the Front Office

With Saturday’s loss to Orlando City, the Chicago Fire are virtually mathematically out of the Eastern Conference playoffs and Frank Yallop is definitely out of a job. Yallop, a two-time MLS Cup winner as a head coach, has been on the brink for weeks, as Fire fans have been upset with ownership since the MLS All-Star break, and the fact that — despite having a very promising team — results and the playoffs have remained elusive, it comes as no surprise that Yallop is now out of work.

The one promising thing for Fire fans is that, should they stay rooted at the bottom of the Supporters' Shield standings, they will lock up that No. 1 2016 MLS SuperDraft pick. And, in all likelihood, they will be able to grab collegiate defensive superstar, Joshua Yaro, which should help the Chicago Fire D stop leaking like a sieve.

That’s your Monday, Mane Landers, and remember that six points from two games is sweet, nine points from three will sound even sweeter. Stay tuned for our build-up to a must-win game (to be honest they are all must-win from here on out) against the New York Red Bulls this week.