Lion Links
Lion Links: 8/17/16
Good morning, City fans, and welcome to Wednesday’s edition of Lion Links. As you look forward to your weekend on this week’s Hump Day, let us help you build some anticipation for Orlando City’s Saturday match with these links.
Orlando City Down Two Players to Injury
Orlando City will be missing two midfielders after Sunday’s draw with the Chicago Fire. Cristian Higuita suffered a hamstring injury, estimated to keep him on the bench for at least four weeks while Matías Pérez García injured his quad, and is listed as day-to-day. For more information on these injuries, check out our full report from Sean Rollins.
Orlando City B Takes on Charlotte
Fresh off a trip to New York, Orlando City B will play the Charlotte Independence tonight at 7 p.m. ET at Ramblewood Soccer Complex. This will be the third time these two teams have faced off this season with Orlando walking away with points in each game. With several call-ups in the last few weeks, Orlando City academy players David Norris and Isaque Couto were called up to travel with the team for this match. Charlotte is coming off a five-game unbeaten streak, while Orlando suffered its first loss in two months. We'll have your full match recap up after the game.
Pride Player Will Receive Olympic Medal
After yesterday’s semifinal games between Germany/Canada and Brazil/Sweden, one Pride player will be walking away from Rio with a medal. Josée Bélanger and Canada took on Germany yesterday afternoon, falling short of a Gold medal match berth after a 2-0 loss. Bélanger did not play in the game, which could be a reason that Germany’s attack was able to slip in two goals. Any who, Canada had some excellent chances but it was not able to capitalize on any of its shots, failing to advance. The Canadians will play Brazil and fellow Orlando Pride player Monica on Friday at noon ET in the Bronze medal game. Speaking of Brazil, Monica and her teammates lost in yet another penalty shootout to Sweden yesterday. For a tournament that has never had a PK shootout, there sure have been quite a few this time. As you may recall, Sweden defeated Alex Morgan and the USWNT in the quarterfinals after going to penalty kicks. It seems as if Sweden’s tactic to sit back and drain the clock has worked, as the Swedes will play Germany on Friday in the Gold medal match. Can they force a third penalty shootout?
Pride Players Enjoy Time Off
If you have been wondering where the Pride has been for the last couple of weeks, just a reminder that they are still on break until Aug. 26 against the Washington Spirit. While we are anxiously awaiting the return of our favorite players, the team is enjoying much-needed time off, getting to spend some quality time resting and relaxing (although also training) before coming back stronger than ever. Kaylyn Kyle, Sarah Hagen and Toni Pressley spent some time in Puerto Rico, while Maddy Evans traveled to New Hampshire and Philadelphia to spend some time with family. The rest of the team has started to return in anticipation of the big playoff push, including Olympian Ashlyn Harris, who enjoyed her time off at Universal earlier this week.
That's it for today, enjoy your Wednesday! See you next time.