Orlando City
Orlando City vs. New York Red Bulls: Final Score 1-1 as Molino Scores Again
The Lions played much better in Round 2 against the Red Bulls in Kaká’s return but split the points after going down to 10 men late in the match.
Orlando City is still unbeaten at home (1-0-4) but is now winless in five matches after a hard-fought 1-1 draw against New York Red Bulls (3-6-1, 10 points) in front of 31,264 fans at Camping World Stadium. Kevin Molino’s second-half goal rescued a point for the hosts, who played much better than in a 3-2 loss against the same opponents on the road two weeks ago.
The Lions (2-2-5, 11 points) may have been fortunate to earn the point, finishing the game on 10 men after Cristian Higuita was sent off late in the second half.
Head Coach Adrian Heath had more or less his entire roster to choose from and started the same back five (back line plus Joe Bendik), with a central midfield of Antonio Nocerino, Higuita and Darwin Ceren, with Kaká and Molino attacking behind Cyle Larin up top.
The Lions finished with a slight possession advantage (50.5%-49.5%), out-shot New York 12-5 (4-2 in shots on target) and earned seven corners without conceding one. The Red Bulls were good on 50/50 balls though, with a 69-44 advantage in duels won. It was a good performance, but the goalkeeping of Luis Robles and some missed chances by Orlando played a factor in yet another draw for the Lions.
“I thought we deserved more this evening. I’m disappointed for the players,” Heath said after the match. “I thought the effort they put in tonight could have warranted three points. But you never, ever underestimate a point against a really good team. I’m delighted with the boys this evening.”
As usual, the Red Bulls opened with high pressure that bothered Orlando’s back seven. New York punished the Lions for making slow, lazy passes, turning them over and building attacks. Still, Orlando got the game’s first good opportunity when Larin got behind the defense. He tried to chip Robles but instead the ball sailed over the bar.
Bradley Wright-Phillips opened the scoring just 19 minutes in when Sacha Kljestan threaded a pass into the box and Seb Hines lost track of the Red Bulls’ striker. Bendik tried to come off his line to challenge the shot but he could not get out in time and BWP slotted home.
Things got chippy in the first, with Aurelien Collin earning a yellow for a foul on Molino. Orlando apparently felt Ted Unkel wasn’t calling the game evenly as both Rafael Ramos and Kaká picked up first-half bookings for dissent.
After the goal, the Red Bulls sagged back a bit more and Orlando saw more of the ball, possessing the ball 52.7% of the first half. Despite more possession, the Lions’ attack broke down time and again due to an errant pass, a misread movement, or a timely Red Bulls interception.
Robles preserved New York’s lead in the 39th minute when Kaká found space and ripped a shot on target. The goalkeeper made a diving stop but left a juicy rebound for Larin, who fired low enough for Robles to parry away. Larin should have done better with the shot but it was a great save.
Orlando looked to have a golden opportunity to tie the game in the dying seconds of the first half when Collin fouled Hines in the box. Unkel pointed to the spot but the assistant referee ruled Hines just offside and yet another close decision this season went to the side not wearing purple, giving New York the 1-0 lead at the break.
The Lions picked up where they left off after the break, getting balls into the box but New York’s maligned back line dealt with them well. Ronald Zubar in particular cut out a couple of dangerous crosses. New York got an opportunity when Mike Grella was fouled just outside the box but nothing came of the free kick.
Kaká nearly put the Lions on the board with a near-post effort that got side netting in the 56th. Six minutes later, Larin headed over the bar as Orlando City kept the pressure on.
That pressure finally paid off in the 67th minute, when Larin got on the end of a Ceren long ball, cut into the box with a heavy touch, and the ball bounced between defenders, behind Kaká, right to Molino, who buried it past a helpless Robles to tie the game.
A few yellow cards later, Kljestan nearly broke that tie in the 72nd minute with a volley opportunity he hit over the bar. Five minutes later, New York should have taken the lead but a Felipe shot was deflected out off of Gonzalo Veron for a goal kick with Ramos defending desperately.
New York settled in and waited patiently after that, content to get a road point but a scramble just outside the box turned disastrous for Orlando City when Higuita was sent off for a two-footed challenge on Kljestan. The New York midfielder has now earned two yellow cards and a red card on the Colombian.
Orlando City got a final opportunity with the ball ping-ponging around in the box, but no one in purple could get on the end of it and the final whistle blew on a 1-1 draw.
The Lions are back in action in nine days with a trip to play Sporting Kansas City.
I leave you with a limerick in honor of tonight’s referee, Ted Unkel (who actually made the right call on Higuita but made a mess of a lot of other things on this night):
There once was a man named Ted Unkel
Did his job like a pile of junkel
He handed out reds
And filled fans with dread
And refereed like he was drunkel
Orlando City
Orlando City Fullback Alex Freeman Selected to Participate in 2025 MLS All-Star Game
The 20-year-old, currently with the USMNT, was selected via fan vote to his first MLS All-Star Game.
Fullback Alex Freeman has been selected to the 2025 MLS All-Star Team to compete in Austin, TX on July 23, the club announced today. Freeman, 20, who is currently away on international duty with the United States Men’s National Team in the Concacaf Gold Cup, was selected via fan vote and is the youngest player on this year’s All-Star squad. The 2025 MLS All-Star Game will pit the MLS All-Star Team against the Liga MX All-Star Team at Q2 Stadium.
Freeman was selected through the league’s fan, media and player voting process, receiving
the highest vote total among MLS right backs. The young fullback has had a breakout season in 2025, appearing in 17 matches (16 starts) with Orlando City, playing 1,474 minutes and scoring four goals with one assist. His four goals are the most by a defender in MLS play this season.
Prior to this season, Freeman had made just three MLS appearances — all off the bench — for a total of nine minutes, putting just one shot on target. He picked up his first goal contribution last year with an assist against D.C. United on July 6, 2024.
Freeman’s play has been head-turning, and he’s earned his first USMNT call-up and appearance at the senior level this season. A member of the U.S. Gold Cup team, Freeman started all three group stage games, becoming just the second USMNT player aged 20 or younger to do so. He helped the United States win all three matches, keeping clean sheets against Trinidad & Tobago and Saudi Arabia.
Freeman is the first Orlando City player selected to the MLS All-Star Team since Pedro Gallese and Nani represented the Lions in Los Angeles in 2021. He is also the first OCSC defender to be selected to the MLS All-Star Team. Freeman becomes the seventh different player and eighth different representative of the club overall in the midseason exhibition (James O’Connor was head coach of the 2019 event held in Orlando).
Orlando City SC All-Stars
| Year | Player | Position |
| 2025 | Alex Freeman | Defender |
| 2021 | Pedro Gallese | Goalkeeper |
| 2021 | Nani | Forward |
| 2019 | Nani | Forward |
| 2019 | James O’Connor | Manager |
| 2018 | Yoshimar Yotun | Midfielder |
| 2017 | Dom Dwyer | Forward |
| 2017 | Kaká | Midfielder |
| 2016 | Cyle Larin | Forward |
| 2016 | Kaká | Midfielder |
| 2015 | Kaká | Midfielder |
2025 MLS All-Star Team
Goalkeepers (3)
- Dayne St. Clair (Minnesota United FC / Voted In)
- Brad Stuver (Austin FC / Coach’s Selection)
- Yohei Takaoka (Vancouver Whitecaps FC / Coach’s Selection)
Defenders (8)
- Jordi Alba (Inter Miami CF / Voted In)
- Max Arfsten (Columbus Crew / Coach’s Selection)
- Tristan Blackmon (Vancouver Whitecaps FC / Voted In)
- Michael Boxall (Minnesota United FC / Voted In)
- Alex Freeman (Orlando City SC / Voted In)
- Jakob Glesnes (Philadelphia Union / Coach’s Selection)
- Andy Najar (Nashville SC / Coach’s Selection)
- Miles Robinson (FC Cincinnati / Coach’s Selection)
Midfielders (6)
- Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver Whitecaps FC / Voted In)
- David Da Costa (Portland Timbers / Coach’s Selection)
- Evander (FC Cincinnati / Voted In)
- Diego Luna (Real Salt Lake / Voted In)
- Jeppe Tverskov (San Diego FC / Coach’s Selection)
- Philip Zinckernagel (Chicago Fire FC / Coach’s Selection)
Forwards / Wingers (9)
- Patrick Agyemang (Charlotte FC / Commissioner’s Pick)
- Tai Baribo (Philadelphia Union / Voted In)
- Denis Bouanga (LAFC / Voted In)
- Anders Dreyer (San Diego FC / Coach’s Selection)
- Hirving ‘Chucky’ Lozano (San Diego FC / Commissioner’s Pick)
- Lionel Messi (Inter Miami CF / Voted In)
- Diego Rossi (Columbus Crew / Coach’s Selection)
- Brandon Vazquez (Austin FC / Coach’s Selection)
- Brian White (Vancouver Whitecaps FC / Voted In)
Orlando City
Orlando City vs. St. Louis City: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
The Lions make their first trip to St. Louis looking to build on their win at Colorado.
Welcome to your match thread and preview for a Wednesday night matchup between Orlando City (8-4-6, 30 points) and St. Louis City SC (3-9-6, 15 points) at Energizer Park in St. Louis, MO (8:30 p.m., MLS Season Pass on Apple TV). This is the second meeting ever between the two sides, the first in St. Louis, and the only one on the 2025 regular-season schedule.
Here’s what you need to know about the match.
History
These teams have met just once before. Orlando City won that match 2-1 on Aug. 26 at Exploria Stadium on Facundo Torres’ penalty in the first minute of stoppage time. Torres completed his brace after a handball in the box by Anthony Markanich stopped a shot by Rafael Santos. Torres opened the scoring in the second half, but Rasmus Alm equalized, with his goal being awarded after video review revealed the referee’s assistant should not have raised their flag for the ball going out of play prior to the critical pass that led to the goal. Jake Nerwinsky was sent off late in that game for a foul denying Ramiro Enrique a goal-scoring opportunity.
Overview
The Lions are 3-2-4 on the road this season after coming off a tightly contested 1-0 road win at Colorado on June 14, snapping a two-match losing streak that ended a busy May schedule. Orlando has been off since beating the Rapids but will try to continue building momentum as the month of June comes to a close. The Lions have six matches against Eastern Conference competition after visiting tonight’s Western Conference opponents in the leadup to the 2025 Leagues Cup at the end of July.
Orlando City center back Rodrigo Schlegel will serve his one-game suspension for yellow card accumulation tonight, and with Alex Freeman away with the USMNT, the Lions will be missing half of their starters on the back line for this match as the entire right half will be out. Look for David Brekalo to move to right center back. Dagur Dan Thorhallsson is the most likely candidate to take the right back spot, with either Kyle Smith or Santos slotting in at left back.
St. Louis City is 2-3-4 at home this season and is coming off a wild 3-3 home draw against the LA Galaxy on June 14. Joao Klauss scored a hat trick in the match, putting his third goal of the game in the net in the fifth minute of stoppage time to steal a point against the defending champions. Tonight’s hosts are 0-1-1 in their last two matches, but they’ve been playing better lately, with five consecutive games either decided by a single goal or finishing in a draw.
Klauss may have gotten three of his five goals this season in the last game, but he can be one of the league’s most lethal finishers. It’s not the best night for Orlando to be missing half of its back line with the Brazilian rounding into form. On the other end, Roman Burki is one of the best goalkeepers in the league, so Orlando City will need to be clinical to finish chances — something that the team has struggled with at times.
“St. Louis is a team we don’t regularly play, but we’ve followed them over the last three or four games,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said ahead of the match. “They’ve changed coaches, even though it’s someone who has been within the system. We try to capture what their current modes are — how they’re structured, how they’re playing — and then merge that into our game plan. We don’t have as much context of a rivalry as we usually do, since it’s a team we don’t know very well. But we keep preparing in our way and keep insisting that imposing our style on the game is what we’re looking for.”
In addition to Schlegel (suspension) and Freeman (international duty) the Lions will be without Duncan McGuire (shoulder), Wilder Cartagena (Achilles), and Yutaro Tsukada (knee), while Joran Gerbet (thigh) is listed as questionable. St. Louis City will be without Alm (hip), Chris Durkin (knee), Henry Kessler (hamstring), Eduard Löwen (hamstring), Joakim Nilsson (knee), and Tomáš Ostrák (lower body).
Match Content
- The most recent epsiode of the PawedCast includes our key matchups and score predictions for tonight’s match.
Projected Lineups
Orlando City (4-4-2)
Goalkeeper: Pedro Gallese.
Defenders: Rafael Santos, Robin Jansson, David Brekalo, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson.
Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Cesar Araujo, Eduard Atuesta, Marco Pasalic.
Forwards: Martin Ojeda, Luis Muriel.
St. Louis City SC (4-3-3)
Goalkeeper: Roman Burki.
Defenders: Jayden Reid, Timo Baumgartl, Kyle Hiebert, Tomas Totland.
Midfielders: Alfredo Morales Simon Becher, Akil Watts.
Forwards: Celio Pompeu, Joao Klauss, Marcel Hartel.
Referees
REF: Guido Gonzales, Jr.
AR1: Ryan Graves.
AR2: Walt Heatherly.
4TH: Matt Thompson.
VAR: Kevin Terry, Jr.
AVAR: TBA.
How to Watch
Match Time: 8:30 p.m.
Venue: Energizer Park — St. Louis, MO.
TV/Streaming: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
Radio: AM 810 FOX Sports Radio Orlando (English), Mega 97.1 FM (Spanish).
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 game. Go City!
Lion Links
Lion Links: 6/25/25
Orlando City and OCB play tonight, the Club World Cup continues, and more.
Welcome to Wednesday, Mane Landers. It is a busy week here at The Mane Land. Orlando City and Orlando City B play tonight, there are FIFA Club World Cup matches, Concacaf Gold Cup, and USWNT friendlies. It’s a lot, but it also means there’s a ton of soccer to watch, which is a good thing. Let’s get to the links.
Go West, Orlando City
Orlando City heads to Missouri to take on St. Louis City FC tonight. The Lions will be without Alex Freeman (international duty) and Rodrigo Schlegel (yellow card accumulation). Orlando City will need to deal with St. Louis City striker Joao Klauss while finding goals on the road. This is a must-watch midweek match. We will have a preview later today, and you should also listen to The Mane Land PawedCast to prepare.
Orlando City B Returns Home vs. Toronto FC II
Orlando City B hosts Toronto FC II at Osceola County Stadium tonight. Like the first team, we will have coverage for you. The Young Lions are coming off a two-week break after a loss to Carolina Core FC. It will be interesting to see which OCB shows up for the match. You can watch the match on mlsnextpro.com.
Club World Cup, Orlando-Style
There might not be as many people in the seats at the Club World Cup as FIFA would like, but Orlando is still a big part of it. The group stage finishes this week as the competition heads into the Round of 16. There’s a ton of prize money up for all the competitors no matter where they are currently in the standings. Our Michael Citro was at Camping World Stadium last night to cover LAFC vs. Flamengo in Group D.
USMNT News
The USMNT will face Costa Rica Sunday in a Concacaf Gold Cup quarterfinal match in Minneapolis. Malik Tillman has been a bright spot on the roster, though Orlando City fans will be watching Freeman. The perpetual search for a consistent striker continues for the USMNT, though Patrick Agyemang may be the answer — at least for now.
Free Kicks
- The Pride managed to maintain the Number 2 spot in SI.com’s Power Rankings despite the loss to Racing Louisville.
- So, the 2025 MLS All-Star jersey has arrived. Thoughts?
- There’s nothing quite like having your number retired after playing for a team for two whole years after playing for another club for six years. It is especially special when the new club has been in existence for a whole four years. Congratulations to former Orlando Pride forward Alex Morgan.
- Lyon has been relegated to Ligue 2 due to the club’s financial problems.
- Paul Mullin is headed to Wigan on a season long loan from the recently promoted Wrexham AFC. That’s probably a spoiler for a future episode of Welcome to Wrexham.
- Concacaf has cleared Jesse Marsh of allegations that he disregarded the competition’s rules regarding suspended match officials.
- After the Gold Cup, Agyemang may be making the move from Charlotte FC to Derby County.
- You may have seen that the USWNT is celebrating Pride month with rainbow numbers on the team jerseys. I am a supporter and ally, but it means even more to the players.
That will do it for today. Make sure you check back later for our match coverage. You can also follow our live coverage on Bluesky. Vamos Orlando!
Orlando City Fullback Alex Freeman Selected to Participate in 2025 MLS All-Star Game
Orlando Pride Sign Midfielder Haley McCutcheon to New Contract
Orlando City vs. St. Louis City: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
Orlando Pride vs. Racing Louisville: Final Score 2-0 as Pride Still Can’t Win in Kentucky
PawedCast Episode 486: Alex Freeman in the Gold Cup, FIFA Club World Cup in Orlando, St. Louis City Preview, OCB-Toronto Preview, and More
Lion Links: 6/24/25
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