Lion Links: 11/3/15

Phew! What a day yesterday was. With everything that was going on with the NWSL Expansion Draft, you might have missed a few things, including the Expansion Draft itself. However, don't worry — we have you covered here at The Mane Land with today's edition of Lion Links.

NWSL Expansion Draft Recap

Just like the universe, the Orlando Pride continued to expand yesterday. This time in the form of adding nine new players to its NWSL Roster and starting to give us more insight into who will be playing for the Pride, and what type of formation and style of play we can expect to see in 2016. Here is a recap of what you need to know:

• Managing Editor Michael Citro gives you a breakdown of exactly who was taken during the Expansion Draft.
• Columnist Gavin Ewbank provides a recap of the post-draft conference call and highlights some of the reasoning behind the picks.
• Background from other blogs on our new players:
  • Once a Metro discusses defender Cami Levin & goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe.
  • The Bent Musket highlights the strengths and weaknesses of midfielder Maddy Evans.
  • Stumptown Footy breaks down Orlando’s ‘first’ selection in Meghan Klingenberg as well as the Pride’s No.10 Lianne Sanderson.
  • The Equalizer dissects Orlando’s decision to not select any FC Kansas City players.

Orlando is Now Home for Hines

Seb Hines has seen his career revitalized since crossing the Atlantic this season, and no one is happier about his time in Orlando than the man himself. Hines had a solid season in 2015 in his first year in MLS, and he’s looking forward to the end of season finale with the team at the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro against Flamengo. Hines is hoping that he has done enough to stay with the team in 2016.

Kreis Almighty

In news that shocked no one around MLS, NYCFC announced that head coach Jason Kreis has been relieved of his duties with the team. After a disappointing first season, the writing was pretty much on the wall for Kreis, because despite having big name players like David Villa, Andrea Pirlo and Frank Lampard available, NYCFC was unable to make the playoffs and the owners of the team (the owners of Manchester City) were always going to consider that a failure. Don’t expect a coach with the caliber of Kreis to be on the market for long and expect him to be on an opposing touchline in 2016 against Orlando.

MLS Goal of the Year

With the MLS regular season behind us, it's time to start reviewing the season and Orlando City has two players up for MLS Goal of the Year. The first is Cyle Larin for his third goal against NYCFC on July 26.

The second is Eric Avila’s finish on an excellent team goal against the LA Galaxy on May 17.

So remember to vote early and vote often!

Others Things You Need to Know:

• Study highlights that female soccer players potentially take on as much force as a man getting tackled in football.
• Florida collegiate soccer teams are ready for the start of the Sunshine State Conference tournament. Our very own Austin David will be providing play-by-play for the doubleheader at Rollins today, with both the Rollins men and women playing against FIT.

And What You Need to See:

This goal from Japan:

This assist:

This miss:

This own-goal:

That’s it for today, Mane Landers, but make sure to tune into 90.7 WMFE at 9 a.m. ET when yours truly will be on Intersection discussing Orlando City’s inaugural season, OCB and Orlando Pride.