Lion Links: 8/7/16

Good Sunday Morning Mane Landers and welcome to your daily fix of Lion Links. Normally I give a quick tip to avoid paying attention in church and secretly read Lion Links without getting caught, but I have some really awesome news to share. This past Wednesday, Aug. 3, my wife gave birth to our son, Jakson. It looks like Orlando City’s fan base just increased by one this week.

Hey, I’m feelin’ good! Let’s get on with some Links, shall we?

Another Crazy Night in Melbourne

How would Orlando City B top last week’s two-goal rally in stoppage time to beat Louisville City on the road? It probably can’t be done. Still, the young Lions tried in last night’s 2-1 win over Toronto FC II. After dominating play throughout, OCB led just 1-0 late, courtesy of a Lewis Neal goal. But in the 90th, the young Lions conceded, turning a win into an apparent draw. Nope. Not so fast. Just seconds after the restart from the TFCII goal, Michael Cox — who assisted Neal’s goal — took a pass from Pierre Da Silva, spun, and put the ball into the net to restore OCB’s lead. It was another dramatic game for the club, which saw first-teamers Tommy Redding and Cristian Higuita play significant roles. Be sure to check out Sean Rollins’ recap in the link above.

FourFourTwo’s Got You Covered: Game Preview

You’ve already probably read Austin Siegel’s awesome match preview, but FourFourTwo’s Paul Tenorio also wrote an in-depth game preview regarding today’s showdown between Orlando City and the Seattle Sounders. In this game, featuring two teams that either went through or are still going through coaching changes, Mr. Tenorio gives us the players to watch (Kevin Molino, c’mon!) and a rundown of some of the moves recently made.

Even with the game at home and Seattle’s road woes (just two wins this season away from CenturyLink), the prediction line stands at 2-2. I guess we will find out later, but my gut says we’ll see a 3-2 kinda game, in favor of our guys, of course.

USWNT Beats France, 1-0

Well, it wasn’t the first half anyone on the team would’ve wanted to see, but after 45 minutes of no goals, the Yanks scored the only goal off a beautiful play set up by Tobin Heath. Her shot was deflected and hit the post, but Carli Lloyd cleaned it up nicely. Some rock solid goalkeeping by Hope Solo finished off the second half and Team USA is now 2-0 in group play.

The final game in the group stage phase will take place on Tuesday as the USWNT returns to the pitch to face Colombia at 6 p.m. est.

For more game coverage here at The Mane Land, check out Daniel Byrd’s game recap right here.

The Pride’s Alex Morgan: “We are badass women.”

Want some more from the USWNT? Well check out this interview that Hannah Storm had with Alex Morgan. In the interview, Morgan goes over everything from her thoughts on the Olympics to her role in getting more girls interested in the world’s game.

Honestly, I don’t know that we as Pride fans could ask for a better face of the team than Alex. Her honesty and bluntness was on point in this sit-down session and I hope we get to hear more from her as both the Olympics and the NWSL season continue on.

Community Shield Preview

Manchester United (with ZLATAN!!!) take on Leicester City today in the Community Shield friendly. Does the game count in the standings? Nope. But it is an interesting game nonetheless, as it will give us a bit of a reading on how the season might go.

Obviously both teams made moves this summer – Man United with that one guy… what’s his name(?) and Leicester City working hard to keep Jamie Vardy around. Some prevailing questions that pundits across the world will try to answer after the game will be things like, "Was Leicester City a one and done?" and "Did Man United do enough to run away with the EPL?"

I wouldn’t read too much into the outcome either way, but it should be a fun game to watch.

Free Kicks

Well, the Olympics are obviously in full swing and Team USA took the very first gold medal of the games. Virginia Thrasher won the medal in the 10m air rifle competition. Nice job, Ginny! And finally, the USA Men’s Basketball Team put a whooping on China to open their competition, 119-62.

That’s it for today. We’ll see you guys back here later as we get closer to kickoff for the Sounders and our own Orlando City. Have a good one everyone!