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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. Toronto FC: Player Grades and Man of the Match

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9 years ago

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After more than a year without a home loss, Orlando City has dropped two straight at Camping World Stadium after a crushing 2-1 loss to Toronto FC. The Lions probably deserved something from a game in which they missed a few early opportunities, fell behind on a play that perhaps should have been their free kick instead of Toronto’s throw, and then drew level early in the second half.

But that’s not how the 2016 script has gone so far and once again it was Jozy Altidore scoring on Orlando off a Sebastian Giovinco assist. This one came late enough for Toronto to hold the lead.

Let’s just get to the grades before I throw up in my mouth (again).

Starters

GK, Joe Bendik, 7.5 (MOTM) — Could Joe have done anything more to have kept either Toronto goal off the board? I don’t know. Being left one-on-one as a keeper in soccer is asking a lot. Conversely, he made plenty of saves he had no business making but made them anyway. He finished with five saves and all five were difficult. He was decisive in coming off his line to thwart several through balls and punched every cross he could get to. He kept Orlando in this game.

D, Luke Boden, 6 — Bodz got lots of help tonight defensively as Orlando shifted left to crowd the right side of Toronto’s attack – something Greg Vanney talked about after the game. His 82.5% passing was decent, his five interceptions quite good, and his cross on Cyle Larin’s goal was superb. He led the game with 115 touches, but a lot of that was short back-and-forth passing with Kaká in non-threatening spots. However, he overcooked a number of other crosses – one so badly that I swore it had to have been deflected – and his lack of pace continues to put Orlando in dangerous situations.

D, Seb Hines, 6.5 — Seb may have been the best player for Orlando the first half. He wasn’t quite as sharp the second half and it showed in the team-high four fouls conceded, as well as a booking. He took charge of the defense, finishing with two blocked shots, four interceptions, two tackles and two clearances, and passed at an 86.2% clip. Toronto looked more dangerous after Seb’s knee flared up and he was substituted off for David Mateos.

D, Tommy Redding, 5.5 — Three interceptions, three clearances and a tackle don’t tell the full story for Tommy, nor does his 90.2% passing accuracy, although they all helped. He seemed the easier defender to pick on all night, and got caught up field on the first goal. I will say that I took nothing off his grade for that because he cleared the ball out for a throw and then was taken out. A foul should have been given instead of a Toronto throw, in my opinion. Still, it wasn’t called and he not only got beat back, but tripped himself up in the process of trying to keep up with Tosaint Ricketts. Redding has a bright future but still must get better in the air (he won no aerials in the match) and in reading the play.

D, Kevin Alston, 6 — Kevin didn’t always accomplish what he set out to do, but he worked hard throughout the night, finishing with a blocked shot, three clearances and three interceptions. After completing all 11 of his first-half passes he finished with just a 78.9% overall accuracy, with too many careless attempts after halftime. He didn’t have a single cross attempt and was accurate on only three of eight long balls. You definitely can’t fault his work rate though, as exemplified on a play where he not only prevented a Toronto corner, but also earned a free kick through sheer hustle.

MF, Tony Rocha, 7 — Despite what seemed like a quiet night (which is usually a really good thing for a defensive midfielder), the youngster created a game-high four chances and a game-high 93.8% passing accuracy. That’s right. He created more chances than Giovinco, Kaká, or Michael Bradley. In fact Orlando as a team created eight chances and he had half of them. Seven of his eight long balls were accurate. Defensively he had three tackles and an interception against one of the best midfields in MLS.

MF, Antonio Nocerino, 6.5 — It was another nice night for the Italian, who is stringing together some good performances now, although not quite as good as he was at Colorado. Nocerino completed 885% of his passes, tracked back well, made two tackles, an interception, and a clearance, and five of his six long balls were accurate. I thought he did well linking play between the back line and the attacking midfield and moving the ball from side to side before coming off in the second half.

MF, Kaká, 5 — I thought the captain was better at Colorado and I didn’t think he was very sharp that night. His pass completion of 77.5% is still low for him. He took four shots and three were on target but all of them were directly at the goalkeeper. He didn’t register a single chance created or accurate cross. His set pieces were short, he had trouble beating defenders and there were at least two occasions where I thought he switched off and was late getting to a ball he might otherwise have won.

MF, Matias Perez Garcia, 6 — MPG showed flashes but it wasn’t a complete game by any means. He won a game-high five fouls, passed at an 85.4% accuracy, and created one of Orlando’s eight chances. He pitched in defensively with two tackles, three interceptions and a clearance. However, he wasn’t always sharp around the box, overcooking an early ball for Larin and another for Kevin Molino.

MF, Kevin Molino, 4.5 — He nearly scored a goal on his return but The Original pushed it just wide of the far post. Aside from that, Molino wasn’t his usual threatening self, registering the fewest touches of any of Orlando’s starting midfielders. His passing accuracy was low (74.2%) and seemed to get caught in between two possible runs a few times. He was somewhat active defensively, with three interceptions and a tackle. He created one of Orlando’s eight chances. Still the Trinidadian led all players in bad touches (4) and didn’t look his usual, confident self.

F, Cyle Larin, 4.5 — Although he managed to get on the score sheet with his 13th goal of the season, it wasn’t the best night for Kid Fantastic. After the match, Jason Kreis chalked it up to a day in the life of a striker, saying on another night he might have put four in. The problem was, he didn’t. Larin tied Kaká for the most shots on the team (4) but only two were on frame and one of those was straight at Alex Bono. His second golden chance was launched well wide of the goal frame and he had another great opportunity he didn’t even get a shot off as it flicked off his heel. He could have been a hero with a powerful late drive in stoppage time but he hit the outside of the right post. He completed just 69.2% of his passes and touched the ball just 30 times in 93 minutes. Hey, that goal was awesome, though. You‘ve got to give him that.

Substitutes

MF, Servando Carrasco (69’), 5 — Serva came on to spell Nocerino as Kreis wanted fresh legs on as he shifted to a single defensive midfielder to move Rocha into the attack. He put in his usual hard night’s work and completed a good percentage of his passes (88.9%) but only touched the ball 12 times. He posted one tackle and one clearance. Still, he didn’t leave much of a mark on the game.

MF, Brek Shea (75’), 5 — Brek came on for a gassed and largely ineffective Molino. He worked hard, making two vital defensive clearances in his own box, and completed all six of his passes. Still, he accomplished little in his 11 touches.

D, David Mateos (82’), 4.5 — It certainly wasn’t planned to bring the Spaniard on for Seb Hines. Kreis said after the match that changing a center back either means someone played poorly or there was an injury. In this case, it was the latter. Mateos’ introduction, or rather Hines’ departure, tilted the field in Toronto’s favor a bit. He quickly picked up a yellow card shortly after being introduced, although I question that decision. David touched the ball only six times and completed just four passes. He didn’t register a defensive statistic.

That’s how I saw tonight’s performances. Let us know what you thought below and be sure to vote for your Orlando City Man of the Match.

Polling Closed

PlayerVotes
Tony Rocha9
Seb Hines3
Joe Bendik113
Antonio Nocerino11
Luke Boden4
Other3

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Orlando City

Orlando City Striker Duncan McGuire Undergoes Shoulder Surgery

It’s the other shoulder this time, but Big Dunc is on the shelf for awhile again after undergoing surgery.

Published

12 hours ago

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June 6, 2025

By

Dan MacDonald, The Mane Land

Orlando City announced today that Duncan McGuire has undergone arthroscopic surgery to repair the labrum in his left shoulder. The surgery was performed by Orlando City Chief Medical Officer Dr. Craig Mintzer of the Orlando Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute performed the surgery. Mintzer previously repaired the labrum and rotator cuff in McGuire’s right shoulder back in December for an injury he sustained in Orlando City’s playoff match against Charlotte FC Nov. 9 when he was pulled down by Djibril Diani.

The club’s press release said the 24-year-old striker’s return to play is expected “later this year.” The recovery given for his right shoulder surgery in late 2024 was listed as four to five months, but McGuire was able to come back and play much earlier than expected, appearing for the first time in 2025 in Orlando’s March 15 against the New York Red Bulls — at least a month before the earliest initial projection — however, this time there was no mention of damage to the rotator cuff.

Regardless, the Lions will be without the big target striker for a considerable amount of time.

McGuire had appeared in 12 matches during the regular season in 2025, starting three and scoring one goal and adding an assist. His goal came recently, serving as the game winner in Orlando’s 1-0 home victory over the Portland Timbers on May 24. He was recently listed as questionable on the club’s availability report ahead of the team’s most recent match against the Chicago Fire.

Orlando City drafted McGuire in the first round (No. 6 overall) in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft. After a breakout rookie campaign, in which the Omaha, NE native scored 14 goals, he was courted by several teams in Europe, signing with Blackburn Rovers, only to see the transfer rejected by the English Football League due to an administrative error by the EFL Championship club. After returning to Orlando, McGuire signed a new deal on Aug. 22 to remain a Lion. The new contract runs through 2027 with a club option for 2028. McGuire scored 10 goals and added three assists in 2024. For his Orlando City career, McGuire has appeared in 88 games (46 starts) across all competitions, scoring a total of 28 goals to go along with seven assists.

What It Means for Orlando City

McGuire appeared to be just finding his form, so this injury is unfortunate. The club didn’t put a timeline on McGuire’s recovery this time, but shaving a little off his 2024 recovery estimate, it’s likely that he’ll be out until at least some time in September.

Oscar Pareja has been favoring a 4-4-2 with Luis Muriel and Martin Ojeda up top in recent weeks, with Ramiro Enrique — who is also finding his form — typically spelling one of them when needed. Not having McGuire will affect Pareja’s late-game substitution pattern when Orlando is trailing, as he likes to put Enrique and McGuire both on the field when chasing the game. It also takes the team’s best target striker option out of the lineup when dealing with back lines with lots of height.

McGuire brings size and strength and an ability to occupy center backs that others on the roster can’t replicate. There are times when Enrique’s game is better suited to the opponent, but without McGuire there will be no ability to pivot. With Jack Lynn’s off-season retirement, that leaves the striker pickings mighty slim on the Orlando City bench. That might change Ricardo Moreira’s approach to the MLS Secondary Transfer Window.

Losing a scorer of McGuire’s caliber is always difficult, but this season it could be the difference between finishing high in the table and simply getting into the postseason in a strong Eastern Conference field.

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Opinion

Orlando City Must Learn from May’s Mistakes

The Lions can learn some valuable lessons from the three losses they suffered in May.

Published

18 hours ago

on

June 6, 2025

By

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Jeremy Reper

Orlando City hadn’t quite achieved juggernaut status as the Major League Soccer season turned from April to May, but a 12-match unbeaten run in the league is nothing to sniff at, despite there being a healthy number of draws interspersed with the victories. Things turned sour as May drew to a close though, as the Lions lost three of their final four matches of the month and entered a two-week break with a whimper rather than a roar.

Losing is never fun, but in this case those three defeats don’t need to be entirely negative experiences, and there are plenty of lessons to be learned from those three bitter losses that will hold Orlando in good stead if it can implement the proper solutions.

More Squad Rotation

One of the biggest factors in Orlando’s rough finish to May was a lack of squad rotation. Oscar Pareja has always been a coach that likes to find his first-choice XI and stick to it almost religiously. He doesn’t normally tweak his lineups or tactics according to whatever opponent is on the slate, and very much values consistency. In periods of fixture congestion, that tendency can be to Orlando’s detriment, and that was very much the case against both Nashville SC and the Chicago Fire.

After beating Inter Miami 3-0 in an emotional rivalry match on May 18, Pareja made just one change for a U.S. Open Cup match against Nashville SC three days later. Ramiro Enrique slotted in for Luis Muriel up top, but every single other starter from the Miami game also got the nod midweek. With Nashville deploying a heavily rotated lineup mostly filled with backups, the gamble was a simple one: hope that OCSC’s A-team can open up a big first-half lead against Nashville’s B-squad before bringing mass changes in the second half to get guys some rest. Hindsight is, of course, 20/20, but the strategy backfired badly as the Lions lost 3-2. Orlando started well with Marco Pasalic’s 17th-minute strike, but the team faded badly afterwards and gave up a couple of very uncharacteristic goals to lose the game. Lapses in concentration and tired defending cost OCSC the game, and that isn’t something we can normally say about this team.

Then, after losing to Atlanta United 3-2 on May 28 due in no small part to Cesar Araujo’s red card, Pareja made two changes for a match against the Chicago Fire on May 31, with Muriel coming in for Enrique, and the other change being a forced one, as Eduard Atuesta replaced the suspended Araujo. Those starters looked noticeably gassed during the resulting 3-1 loss, and the fatigue manifested itself by players missing chances that would normally be converted or in sloppy, mistake-ridden defending.

May was a packed month with a whopping nine matches in 31 days, and most months won’t be that busy. August is set to be the busiest remaining period of the year with six games in 31 days, although that number could rise higher if the Lions make a run in Leagues Cup. The bottom line is that guys are going to need more rest as the season goes on. If the coaching staff doesn’t trust some of the guys currently available as backups, then they need to dip into the transfer market in one way or another and get some players that they do trust, because if the starting XI gets run ragged during busy periods it’s going to cost Orlando, plain and simple.

Cool Heads Usually Prevail

Orlando City has received three red cards on the season, which is tied for the second-most in the league. Unsurprisingly, the Lions are winless in games in which they’ve had a man sent off, with draws against the New York Red Bulls and CF Montreal and a loss to Atlanta United. The results against the Red Bulls and Atlanta were particularly difficult to swallow, as before going down to 10 men, Orlando had looked on track to get three points in each game.

Araujo’s red card against Atlanta was especially frustrating, as he allowed Mateusz Klich to get under his skin, grabbed him by the throat, and reduced his team to 10 men when OCSC was nursing a 2-1 lead on the road. It was completely unnecessary and was also the sort of thing that Orlando had looked to put in the rearview mirror after keeping its collective composure and not picking up any bookings in the 3-0 road win against Miami, while the Herons picked up four and looked noticeably rattled in the process.

It should go without saying, but the Lions can’t afford to get key players sent off. Six extra points could make a big difference in the standings at the end of the year, and that number could rise even higher if OCSC can’t put its disciplinary issues to rest once and for all.

Focus for the Full 90

There were moments in each of Orlando’s three May losses that the team committed bad defensive lapses or mistakes. Whether it was not playing to the whistle on Nashville’s third goal, Atuesta’s bad turnover against Atlanta, or the Lions collectively allowing Chicago to stroll through midfield to score a third goal, there were plenty of examples of bad breakdowns that were largely absent during the team’s unbeaten run. Can some of that be attributed to tired minds and tired legs? Maybe so — it’s a lot harder to play crisp and focused when the minutes have piled up. Regardless, its something that can’t continue to happen going forward. It’s possible that having more rotation in the squad will help that a lot, but it’s also on the players on the field to stay as mentally sharp as they can when they’re out on the pitch.

Clearly, a recurring theme here is that fresh legs and balanced squad rotation are top of my list of things I want to see change. I’m all for riding the hot hands, but tired legs make for tired minds, and tired minds make mistakes and are easier to rile up. Whether reinforcements come from the bench or an outside source, using more bodies will go a long way towards solving some of the issues that we saw in May’s three losses. All we can do now is wait and see what happens once the team returns from its break. Vamos Orlando!

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 6/6/25

Alex Freeman called up for Concacaf Gold Cup, Orlando Pride get ready for the Houston Dash, Orlando City B plays tonight, and more.

Published

21 hours ago

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June 6, 2025

By

Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

Happy Friday! I’ll be spending this weekend celebrating my birthday by beating my friends at mini golf with no mercy but still hope to catch some soccer over the next few days. I’ve also been on a bit of a movie kick and plan on catching Wes Anderson’s new flick at some point soon. But for now, let’s dive into today’s links!

Alex Freeman Called Up For Gold Cup

Orlando City defender Alex Freeman was officially called up by the United States Men’s National Team for the Concacaf Gold Cup this summer. He’s the only Lion who will be at the tournament and is one of seven uncapped USMNT players on the roster. The 20-year-old could receive more playing time than expected, as right back Sergino Dest is not on the roster so that he can recover over the summer. Left back John Tolkin was added to replace Dest, so Freeman has a real shot at making a claim for the position this month. The U.S. will take on Turkey Saturday in the first of two friendlies before its first Gold Cup match against Trinidad & Tobago on June 15.

Orlando Pride Prepares to Host the Houston Dash

With the international break for women’s soccer over, the Orlando Pride return to action Saturday with a home game against the Houston Dash. It should be a great opportunity for the Pride to ease back into the swing of things against a Dash team that’s only scored 10 goals this season. Pride midfielder Ally Lemos spoke on the benefit of being able to rest heading into this match while maintaining a winning mindset from a 3-1 victory on May 23.

Anna Moorhouse Called Up For 2025 Euros

Orlando Pride goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse was named to England’s final roster for the 2025 UEFA European Women’s Championship. She’s one of three goalkeepers on the squad following Mary Earp’s surprise retirement from international soccer, and she will likely compete with fellow uncapped player Khiara Keating for the backup position behind Hannah Hampton. Moorhouse has started in every game for the Pride this season and was an NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year finalist for her record-breaking season last year. England’s Euro run will begin July 5 against France before other group matches against the Netherlands and Wales.

Orlando City B Takes On Huntsville City FC

The Young Lions are riding high after a 2-1 win over Chattanooga FC and will take that momentum into tonight’s road match against Huntsville City FC. Midfielder Noah Levis scored his first career goal in that home win, with Justin Hylton providing the assist in his OCB debut. Orlando’s offense has been hot and cold this season but has a variety of attacking talent that can create chances in different ways. The Young Lions have only won once on the road, but a win tonight would lift them to third in the Eastern Conference.

Free Kicks

  • FIFA Club World Cup action is coming to the City Beautiful this month and Orlando City legend Kaká spoke on how it’s nice for Orlando to host games.
  • San Diego Wave Head Coach Jonas Eidevall was named NWSL Coach of the Month. The Wave were undefeated in May, winning three of their four matches to climb to second in the league standings.
  • The NWSL will allow intraleague loans for all teams, with the players needing to consent to the move in order for it to happen. Denver and Boston’s expansion teams will have access to potentially over $1 million in Allocation Money starting on July 1 to build their rosters before the 2026 season.
  • Atletico Madrid is reportedly close to signing American midfielder Johnny Cardoso from Real Betis.
  • South Korea, Uzbekistan, and Jordan all qualified for the 2026 World Cup, while China was eliminated from contention. Australia beat Japan 1-0 and will qualify so long as it doesn’t lose heavily to Saudi Arabia on June 10.
  • Spain beat France 5-4 in a wild game to reach the UEFA Nations League final against Portugal on Sunday. Lamine Yamal continues to take the world by storm, but a late rally by France nearly completed a comeback.

That’s all I have for you this time around. I hope you all have a fantastic Friday and rest of your weekend!

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