PRO Referees and Orlando City: Which Referees Were Kindest to the Lions in 2016?

Since joining MLS in 2015, Orlando City and the Professional Referee Organization (PRO) have had a strained relationship. 2016 was much better in certain respects, but there were still some calls from different referees that left fans scratching their heads.

Last year, I decided to figure out who did what by compiling all the ref performances that were head officials during the season. I dove into the games that they reffed, how many cards they gave out, and how they could have affected the Lions' games. This time around, I did the same thing, but I also combined the referees that have spanned both years in MLS and provided their combined stats over that time. The object here isn't to dump on the referees, so much as to draw some statistical data from their performances to see what, if anything, we can take away from the matches they've officiated so far.

Let's begin the fun, shall we?

Referees That Officiated Orlando City Games in 2016 and 2015

Alan Kelly (two games in 2016): Reffed the 4-1 drubbing of the Portland Timbers and the scoreless draw at Toronto FC. Gave out four yellow cards against Orlando. Kelly was named MLS Referee of the Year for the second consecutive year.

Through two seasons, Kelly has reffed five of City's games, from which Orlando has a 2-2-1 record. He has also given 10 yellow cards and one red card.

Chris Penso (two games): Reffed the crazy 2-2 home opener against Real Salt Lake and the 2-1 loss in the August match-up against Toronto FC. Gave out four yellow cards and a red card against Darwin Cerén in the opener.

Through two seasons, Penso has reffed five games, from which Orlando has a 1-3-1 record. He has also given a crazy 17 yellow cards and one straight red card.

Jorge Gonzalez (one game): Only reffed the wild 2-2 draw in the Bronx against New York City FC where Kevin Molino scored the equalizing goal in the 94th minute. Dished out five yellow cards in that game alone and awarded NYCFC a penalty, which David Villa missed in hilarious fashion.

Through two seasons, Gonzalez has reffed four games, from which Orlando has a 1-2-1 record. He has given nine yellow cards to Orlando players, while giving 13 to the opposition.

Ted Unkel (two games): Reffed the lame 1-1 draw against Chicago Fire in the second game of the season and the 1-1 draw against New York Red Bulls at home in May. Dished out seven yellow cards to Orlando players, including one straight red to Cristian Higuita against New York. He also gave out seven yellow cards to the opposing teams, including a straight red to Chicago’s Michael Harrington.

Through two seasons, Unkel has reffed four games, from which Orlando has a 0-0-4 record. He has given 14 yellow cards to Orlando players, while giving 15 to their opponents, as well as one red card.

Ricardo Salazar (one game): Only reffed the 2-0 win in Philadelphia in the penultimate game of the season. Only showed one yellow card to José Aja, while giving three yellow cards to the Union.

Through two seasons, Salazar has reffed three games, from which Orlando has a 2-1-0 record. He has given only three yellow cards to Orlando players as well as a straight red for Rafael Ramos in Columbus, while giving six yellow cards to their opponents.

Jair Marrufo (one game): Just reffed the 2-1 loss to the Union in April, in which Tranquillo Barnetta scored the game-winning free kick while his teammates were offside. No yellow cards issued to Orlando players in that game, while only giving one to the Union.

Through two seasons, Marrufo has reffed three games, from which Orlando has a 2-1-0 record. He has given only three yellow cards to Orlando players, one of them being against Kaká for putting on Molino’s jersey. Also sent off Dom Dwyer in the SKC match in 2015, which was later overturned. Marrufo finished second in MLS Referee of the Year voting this season, and was third last year.

Allen Chapman (two games): Reffed the 1-0 win against NYCFC in New York in March and the 3-1 loss to the Seattle Sounders in August. Gave out five yellow cards to Orlando players and gave out five to the opponents.

Through two seasons, Chapman has reffed five games, from which Orlando has a 2-1-2 record. He has given only nine yellow cards to Orlando players, as well as a straight red for Brek Shea in San Jose last year. He gave out six yellow cards to opponents, hardly ever going two per game.

Silviu Petrescu (three games): Reffed the 4-0 loss in Texas against FC Dallas, which was Adrian Heath’s last game. He also reffed the 3-1 win over New England in Jason Kreis’ first game and the 4-1 win in Montreal over the Impact. Only gave out six yellow cards to Orlando players, while giving out six yellow cards to the opponents, with a straight red to Evan Bush of Montreal for a denial of a clear goal-scoring opportunity.

Through two seasons, Petrescu has reffed six games, from which Orlando has a 3-2-1 record. He has given 11 yellow cards to Orlando players while giving out 14 yellow card to opponents, including two straight red cards to Bush and Michael Parkhurst of Columbus last year.

Juan Guzman (one game): Reffed the final game of the year, the 4-2 win over D.C. United. Did not hand out one disciplinary card in the match.

Through two seasons, Guzman has reffed three games, from which Orlando has a 2-1-0 record. He has given seven yellow cards to Orlando players, including a second yellow send-off to Luke Boden at the end of last year’s FC Dallas game.

Sorin Stoica (four games): Reffed the 2-2 draw against the Union in May, the 2-0 loss at Red Bull Arena in July, the scoreless draw in Colorado, and the 4-1 loss at D.C United in September. Gave out a whopping 12 yellow cards to Orlando players, with straight reds to David Mateos against the Union and Antonio Nocerino against D.C. Also gave out seven yellow cards to the opponents.

Through two seasons, Stoica has reffed five games, from which Orlando has a 0-2-3 record. He has given 14 yellow cards to Orlando players, and three red cards (Mateos, Nocerino and Kaká, his only career straight red card). Only gave eight yellow cards to opponents.

Baldomero Toledo (one game): Reffed the 2-2 draw against New England and called the very controversial total crap handball on Servando Carrasco in the 96th minute, which led to the game-tying penalty kick. Only gave one yellow card to each team in that game.

Through two seasons, Toledo has reffed only two games, from which Orlando has a 0-0-2 record. He has given three yellow cards to Orlando players, and three yellow cards to opponents. Toledo finished third in MLS Referee of the Year voting and second last year.

Mark Geiger (two games): Reffed the 2-1 win over Montreal in May and the 2-2 draw in Chicago in August. Gave out seven yellow cards to Orlando players and only two to opponents.

Through two seasons, Geiger has reffed three games, from which Orlando has a 1-1-1 record. He has given 10 yellow cards to Orlando players, and three yellow cards to opponents.

Fotis Bazakos (one game): Reffed the scoreless draw against Houston in the first game after Adrian Heath was fired. Bazakos showed no cards to either team.

Through two seasons, Bazakos has reffed only two games, from which Orlando has a 0-1-1 record. He has given only one yellow card to Orlando players, but red carded Larin (with the help of fourth official Ted Unkel) in the game against the Red Bulls last year, but that was eventually rescinded — not that it helped City retroactively against New York.

Officiated Orlando City Games for the First Time in 2016

Hilario Grajeda (two games): Reffed the 3-2 loss at Red Bull Arena in April and the 2-2 draw in Vancouver. Gave out four yellow cards to Orlando players and only one each to the Red Bulls and Whitecaps.

Robert Sibiga (three games): Reffed the 2-2 comeback draw at New England in April, the 2-2 emotional draw against San Jose after the Pulse shooting, and the 2-1 win over NYCFC at the end of August. Gave out seven yellow cards to Orlando players and six to the opposition.

Ismail Elfath (three games): Reffed the 2-1 loss at Sporting Kansas City, the dramatic 3-2 win over Toronto FC with Kaká’s 100th-minute penalty, and the 4-2 loss out in LA against the Galaxy. Gave out three yellows to Orlando players and six yellows to opponents, with a straight red to Toronto’s Josh Williams.

Drew Fischer (two games): Reffed both Columbus home and away games, finishing with a 4-1 defeat and 2-2 draw, respectively. Handed out six yellow cards to Orlando players and only one for Columbus' Gaston Sauro.

Armando Villarreal (one game): Reffed the 1-0 loss at home against Montreal that officially eliminated the Lions from playoff contention. Only gave out one card to each team.

Did Not Officiate an Orlando City Game in 2016

Kevin Stott (two games last year): Reffed the 2-0 win at the Portland Timbers and the 0-4 loss at the Seattle Sounders. A tale of two games for Stott. The Portland match was favored for Orlando City, but the Seattle game was very much against the Lions. A total of six yellow cards were given to Orlando, including a second yellow send-off to Tyler Turner in the Sounders game.

José Carlos Rivero (three games last year): Reffed two out of three games against Toronto FC (0-2 loss at home and 0-5 loss in Toronto) as well as the 1-0 victory at home against D.C. United. Gave out nine yellow cards, with two red cards (a straight red to Ramos and a second yellow send-off to Adrian Winter, both in Toronto).

Edvin Jurisevic (two games last year): Reffed two games against the Montreal Impact. The 0-2 loss in Montreal and the 2-1 win in Orlando. Gave five yellow cards in those two games, two of them resulting in yellow card accumulation suspensions for Kaká and Brek Shea. Also missed the controversial goal scored by Dominic Oduro in the game in Orlando but that’s more on the assistant ref than the head ref, although his positioning could have been better.

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The three finalists for MLS Referee of the Year officiated four OCSC games combined, with Kelly doing the most (two).

So, now comes the fun part, which I will leave up to you, the reader. Just like last year, which of the aforementioned referees were the best or worst for Orlando City? Let me know in the comments and, before you mention it, you cannot say that all of them were terrible. That wouldn't be any fun.