The good times from the win over Charlotte didn’t last long, as just three days later the Lions started and finished poorly on the road at D.C. United. The part that was good was nice, but everything else, especially the late collapse, was subpar. We look back at Orlando City’s latest road loss in a season full of them already. In fact, the Lions have already lost the same number of road matches in 2026 as they did all of last year, when they went 6-4-7 away from home.

We review our score predictions from last week, discuss the goals that counted and the one that didn’t, and make our selections for Man of the Match.

Our mailbagbox wanted to know how much ground Orlando City could reasonably make up on the playoff places after Antoine Griezmann’s arrival. Remember, if there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the show, just ask us by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC, or hitting us up on Bluesky Social with that same hashtag.

After the mailbagbox, we looked back at OCB’s wild match at Chicago Fire FC II Sunday afternoon. This time it was the Young Lions who fell behind two goals before rallying to tie the game, but OCB continued its trend of shootout wins to grab the extra point. There are still no wins under Edward Wilding, but at least the matches are just as crazy as ever.

Finally, we looked ahead to both of Orlando City’s road games this week. The Lions will visit a good New England team Wednesday night in U.S. Open Cup play before heading south to play an even better Inter Miami squad on Saturday. The team’s fortunes so far wouldn’t suggest a positive result in either place for the Lions, but you never know.

We give our key matchups and score predictions for the league game, because you never know how much rotation a team will use in the USOC.

Be sure to rate and review our show wherever you get your podcasts. Remember, we’ll read any five-star reviews we get on Apple Podcasts on the next show.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.

Here’s how No. 530 went down:

0:15 – The Lions lost again and we’re stuck talking about how this one happened.

21:45 – Our mailbagbox is small but mighty and we discuss OCB, the club’s only team to snag any points over the weekend.

33:19 – Two massive road games await this week, and we’re not super confident the Lions will get a win in either, but we’ll keep watching because that’s what you do.

Orlando City played shockingly like the Lions of the last six years on Wednesday night in a 4-1 home win over Charlotte FC. We didn’t anticipate having such a long show this week, but we’re not used to talking about multi-goal wins, and it turns out it’s a lot more enjoyable to do that than to discuss five- and six-goal losses. Injuries, illnesses, and Charlotte FC combined couldn’t slow down the Lions for at least one night.

We break down Orlando’s best (by far) match of the season; discuss the key moments, players, and the postgame press conference; check back on our score predictions; and make our selections for Man of the Match.

In our mailbagbox segment, our listeners wanted to know about Ignacio Gomez’s availability after playing twice on a short-term deal, stadium names (again), OCB players to watch out for with the first team, and more. Remember, if there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the show, just ask us by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC, or hitting us up on Bluesky Social with that same hashtag.

After the mailbagbox, we looked ahead to OCB’s match at Chicago Fire FC II on Sunday afternoon. The teams are evenly matched in the standings, but can the Young Lions finally give their new head coach his first win?

Finally, we looked forward to Saturday’s road game against D.C. United. The Lions have yet to win on the road or put together back-to-back victories this season, and with healthy bodies scarce, it’s hard to imagine the team not wearing down on short rest with travel involved unless some guys return from injury. However, that could happen! Maybe!

We look at the series history between the Lions and the Black & Red, check out their relative status in the table, discuss the danger of Tai Baribo, provide our key matchups, and make our final score predictions. We will hopefully be just as wrong on Saturday as we were on Wednesday.

Be sure to rate and review our show wherever you get your podcasts. Remember, we’ll read any five-star reviews we get on Apple Podcasts on the next show.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.

Here’s how No. 529 went down:

0:15 – The Lions not only won, but won big! That’s new (at least in 2026). We discuss.

31:03 – Our mailbagbox is even sweeter after a win. We’d forgotten about that.

48:10 – OCB visits Chicago II and Orlando City heads to the nation’s capital.

It feels like months since the Orlando Pride last took the field, but the calendar says otherwise. If you believe calendars, it’s only been a little less than three weeks, but time moves strangely in the post-pandemic apocalyptic world.

Anyway, we don’t have a match to recap, so we touched on a couple of Pride players putting the ball in the net during the international break and chat a bit about the United States Women’s National Team’s three-game friendly series against Japan. Emma Hayes used a lot of players, and the team looked solid for two of the three matches, but the rotated middle game seemed a bit disjointed. Hayes has greatly expanded the player pool and will have plenty of options when the World Cup approaches.

Our mailbagbox had questions about a potential change in the NWSL schedule, as the league explores adopting the fall-to-spring slate, and opposition own goals. Remember, you can ask us anything by hitting us up on Twitter at either @TheManeLand or @SkoPurpSoccer and using the hashtag #AskSkoPurp. You can use that same hashtag and hit @TheManeLand.bsky.social up on Bluesky. Or you can visit our show page, scroll down, and fill out the handy form. We’d also appreciate any ratings or reviews you can leave wherever you get your podcasts, and if you do that on Apple Podcasts, we’ll find them easily and read them on the show.

After the mailbagbox, we turned our attention toward Friday’s late afternoon tussle with Racing Louisville in Kentucky. The Pride have never won on the road against Louisville, and it’s about high time they did. This match begins a congested push to the June World Cup break, and although Friday’s hosts aren’t high in the table, the Pride must be at their best to get a road result in this fixture. We look back at the series history, compare the two sides, provide our key matchups in the game, and make our final score predictions.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.

Here’s how Episode 119 went down:

0:15 – We open the show with a little banter about the Pride in the international break and the USWNT’s series vs. Japan.

9:03 – The mailbagbox features questions via both eletronic mail and social media. We welcome all modes of delivery.

19:59 – The Pride travel to Louisville to face Racing. They’ve never won in Kentucky, but we inform them how to do so.