Orlando City Stock Watch: Hines Shines Off the Bench in 2-1 Win Over Montreal Impact

Oh, what a night it was for the Orlando City Lions. With their fingers stuck in the playoff window, Inchy’s boys managed to crack it open just a bit more with a 2-1 win over the Montreal Impact.

With some time to rest before the home finale on Oct. 16, let’s take a look at who the Stock Watch smiles and frowns upon ahead of the visit from New York City FC.

Rising

Seb Hines – After Tommy Redding and Rafael Ramos collided early in the match, Inchy’s hand was forced in terms of his substitutions. Burning two early, Luke Boden and Sebby were the choices to come on. Just a week removed from a dislocated shoulder, Seb used his time on the pitch to separate Montreal from the hopes of leaving the City Beautiful with a point.

With the ball pinging and ponging all over the box, Hines was in the right place at the right time to put a boot on it and send it home.

Bonus points for Kaká's celebration. I can never get enough of seeing how pumped this dude gets for his teammates.

Servando Carrasco – Our own Michael Citro nailed it with his synopsis in his TML Player Grades — Carrasco was phenomenal Saturday night. One line he says sticks out the most: “Higuita’s absence wasn’t even noticeable.” I’ve sat here and tried to find a way to say it better, only to come up empty handed.

His 85.3% passing rate was good for third on the team, made even more impressive by attempting more passes than everyone on the team not named Darwin Cerén.

Four tackles and four interceptions tell only half the story of his defensive tenacity. Carrasco was Pitbull Lite in the midfield, passing both the eye test and the statistical analysis with flying colors. A damn fine performance in a damn important game.

Falling

The Officials – I'm over it. I'm over making subtle references towards the officials. I'm over plugging in a line or two to vent. The officials have been absolutely atrocious since the opener, and I'm over pretending that it's okay.

It is not.

Whether it’s Tally Hall having a ball kicked out of his grip, or phantom yellow cards that send the two most well-known Lions to the sideline when the games mean the most, these officials have been anything but inconspicuous.

Seriously, watch this, and try not to laugh at the incompetence on display.

The fact that this is titled, “Dominic Oduro sneaks one past Tally Hall,” insanely pisses me off. There was nothing sneaky about this. It was the most outrageous display of officials gone wild we’ve seen yet in an MLS season where the officials have been running roughshod on the games themselves.

Kaká – I'm not here to say that Ricky had a terrible game. He just didn't have the game you would expect from the highest paid player in MLS. Completing just two-thirds of his 34 passes, one of five crosses, and just one key pass, he didn't quite bring the magic in this one.

His demeanor, however, remains fantastic. You saw his reaction to Seb's goal. Watch him take a ride on the next MLS Rookie of the Year and take note of the way Kid Fantastic's face lights up when he realizes he's got Ricardo freaking Kaká on his back.

A leader in every sense of the word, I'm looking forward to writing him into the Rising section when he gets back on the pitch.