Connect with us

Uncategorized

Staff Roundtable: Orlando City Hosts San Jose Earthquakes; Pride Visit Washington Spirit

Published

10 years ago

on

Orlando City gears up for the visiting San Jose Earthquakes this Saturday as the club returns to league play. The Quakes have featured one of the stronger defenses in the league, but one of Orlando City’s strikers has been in great form recently.

The Washington Spirit have been one of the best teams the NWSL has had to offer, and the Pride have struggled to score on the road. They'll take their 4-4 record to Maryland Soccerplex — which side of .500 will they come home on?

Daniel McGann, Jeff Milby, and Brent Petkus discuss all this and more in this week's edition of The Mane Land Roundtable.

Orlando has been rocked by a weekend of uninitiated, fatal violence. What sort of atmosphere are you expecting Saturday night at Camping World Stadium?

Daniel: One of solidarity. Since coming to Orlando, I have noticed that even though this city may be known for its tourism, it is Orlando's sense of community that sets this city apart. Saturday may be reflective, emotional, and difficult for some, but together this city will become stronger.

Jeff: I expect it to be a rather surreal atmosphere Saturday, but I also expect it to be a positive one. Sports has a way of uniting people in the wake of a tragedy, and it gives them a sense of normalcy at a time when normal feels very far away. Considering the nature of this particular tragedy, you'd expect the soccer community — which has always been more forward thinking on LGBTQ acceptance than other sports — to make a big show of support, unity and pride in response to the attack.

Brent: I am expecting an atmosphere that will rival the first game ever for Orlando City in MLS. The community wants a reason to cheer and come together with friends. We will get that chance on Saturday and it will be both a somber but healing atmosphere. I know I have been looking forward to Saturday to see some friends and cheer.

The San Jose Earthquakes have been a strong defensive side this season, allowing just 16 goals in 14 matches, good for third best in the Western Conference. How can Adrian Heath plan to attack this defense?

Daniel: With speed and movement. Even though the Quakes have been difficult to break down and are playing well defensively on set pieces, Orlando could have the ability to run at them with the speed of play OCSC is capable of. Hopefully we see a lineup that will reflect that idea.

Jeff: In order to score on San Jose you need to fight fire with fire. San Jose likes to muck it up, making challenges and disrupting your rhythm of play. Orlando needs to be the more aggressive team, be strong with the ball and be quicker to 50-50 balls. The Lions can't let the Quakes' defensive style frustrate them into silly fouls or giveaways, especially if they go down a goal at any point.

Julio Baptista looked great coming on against NYCFC, and has been fitting in well with the Lions. Should an expanded role be discussed?

Jeff: It's definitely a talking point worth exploring. A player like Baptista has had many good moments in purple, but I suppose whether or not he deserves an expanded role depends on how Orlando management and Adrian Heath view this season. If, as Phil Rawlins alluded in the preseason, winning in the moment is a must, then expanding Baptista's presence on the team is worth considering.

Daniel: He also looked good on Wednesday in the U.S. Open Cup match vs. Jacksonville, even though he missed a clear chance early. But, arguing for more playing time when he has been seeing the pitch about as much as he should is a different story. This team is deep and unless there are injuries or a specific match-up, I don't expect more than a sub appearance.

Brent: Julio Baptista played 90 minutes in the U.S. Open Cup win over Jacksonville, so I don't see him having an expanded role this week. I really like the super sub role he currently has on this team. He enters the game and is a spark to the team. I just don't know if he still has the fitness to go 90 minutes every week.

Sean Rollins recently wrote of the depth the organization has at center back. Do you agree or disagree with his assessment? Is there a solution within the organization, or should the club be active in the transfer window?

Brent: I think there needs to be consistency in the back line. I think that is the most crucial reason why back fours are successful. If this team wants to continue to make a run in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and MLS playoffs, they need to bring back some experience on the back line. This argument is very similar to the one that said we needed a more experienced striker with Cyle Larin. The club brought in Baptista and we are talking about expanding his role.

Jeff: I agree with Sean that there is now some depth at that position throughout the organization, but I question how quality that depth is. Donovan and Garcia have been getting playing time with OCB, but haven't been terribly successful in the USL. OCB has given up the third-most goals in the third division, and Mark Ridgers has been relied upon to make some big saves so far this season. Perhaps it's early to condemn this center back group, but if injury strikes and the Lions need a replacement at the MLS level, they may need to look outside of this current crop.

Daniel: Do not forget that Luke Boden can provide depth, as well as some other players on the roster. However, having only three true options at that position is a bit of a concern. This can be exacerbated as well considering Hines’ injury history, so I fully expect a central defender to be brought in this Summer. Whether that player is for the MLS side or someone that pushes Conor Donovan up the depth ladder is something we will have to wait on.

Pride Time

The Orlando Pride have now been outscored 6-2 on the road. Is there anything Tom Sermanni can do differently to get the club scoring goals away from home?

Brent: I don’t think there is a lot Sermanni can do differently. He has to roll out Alex Morgan as his striker and continue to ride her streak. She is crucial to whether or not they are successful. Even though they aren’t doing well on the road, I think Sermanni is exceeding expectations with this team and they are on pace to make the playoffs.

Daniel: Get them to be more proactive on the ball and to stop playing so direct. It seems to be an issue on the road with Orlando playing the type of direct play that can hinder an offense away from home. This team could be extremely good at possession, but at times they seem to squander that.

Jeff: Playing on the road is much more difficult than playing at home, and it's true that the Pride have been outscored on the road, but Orlando hasn't been out of these games. Of the Pride's road losses, only one was decided by more than one goal. Sometimes with a new group of players you have to take some bumps on the road before you can turn things in a positive direction. Patience.

The Washington Spirit have lost just once this season, and come into this match with a feared one-two punch of Joanna Lohman and Diana Matheson, who have combined for six of the side's nine goals. Can the Pride do anything to slow these two down?

Jeff: If you want to stop a goal scorer, you need to cut off their service. In the case of Washington, with two big goalscorers, that becomes a difficult task. Be strong in the air, be a nuisance to the player on the ball, and be aggressive when cutting out balls coming into attacking areas. Especially on the road, that's easier said than done, but I suspect Tom Sermanni will be employing a similar strategy on Saturday.

Brent: Before the season, if I had to pick a team who I thought was going to win the NWSL it was going to be the Washington Spirit. They have so many great weapons aside from the ones you mentioned; they also have Crystal Dunn and Ali Krieger. Orlando Pride have to be well organized and compact in defense. I think they need to look to counter and be okay with a draw.

Daniel: Yes, posses the ball and stop giving it away so cheaply. Pretty simple really.

***

And this edition of the roundtable is adjourned. Let your opinions be heard below, and remember to figure out how the hell to use your picture-in-picture feature on the TV — the Pride and Lions will be playing at the same time this week. And since the Pride match will be on YouTube, make sure your television has that capability…or just keep your tablet or laptop nearby.

Related Topics:
Continue Reading

Orlando City

Orlando City vs. San Jose Earthquakes: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

Orlando City restarts its 2026 MLS campaign late tonight out west at San Jose.

Published

2 weeks ago

on

July 22, 2026

By

Image of Braian Ojeda taking a shot in a friendly against FC Dallas.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Justin Glatt

Welcome to your match thread for a late night midweek matchup tonight between Orlando City (4-9-2, 14 points) and the San Jose Earthquakes (10-3-2, 32 points) at PayPal Park (10:30 p.m., Apple TV). This is the only scheduled meeting between the teams in 2026 and the first time the teams have met since 2024.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of tonight’s match.

History

Orlando City is 3-1-3 in the previous seven MLS meetings with the Quakes since the club joined Major League Soccer in 2015. The Lions got their only away win in the series in the last meeting and enter tonight 1-1-2 on the road against San Jose.

The teams last met on May 18, 2024, with Jack Lynn coming off the bench to score the game’s only goal. Lynn’s strike in the 89th minute broke the scoreless deadlock and lifted the Lions to a 1-0 victory.

The teams met in Orlando most recently way back on June 22, 2021, with the Lions beating the Quakes down, 5-0. Orlando got things started with an early penalty kick goal by Nani, followed by braces from Benji Michel and Daryl Dike to easily put the game away. The lasting memory from the game is Michel’s celebratory dance wearing a cowboy hat that came out of the stands.

Prior to that Orlando City romp, the last time the teams met was on Aug. 31, 2019 when the Lions got freight trained 3-0 at Avaya Stadium, giving the Quakes their first win in the series. San Jose’s offense came via a Chris Wondolowski brace and an early opening goal by Magnus Eriksson. Orlando looked flat and weary out of the gate.

The Lions were victorious in Exploria Stadium in the 2018 meeting on April 21, a 3-2 Orlando win. It was the first win in the series for either side after three straight draws. Chris Mueller, Sacha Kljestan, and Dom Dwyer gave the Lions a 3-0 lead before Florian Jungwirth pulled two back in the game’s late stages.

The Lions led all of the first three matches in the second half only to see San Jose pull level, with two of those tying goals coming late. In the 2017 meeting, Carlos Rivas finally broke the scoreless tie and gave Orlando City the lead in the 81st minute, but Wondolowski spoiled the Lions’ night with an equalizer two minutes later as the teams drew at Avaya Stadium, 1-1.

In 2016, the Lions were gut-punched in the 94th minute in an emotional match that ended in a 2-2 draw. It was the first home match following the Pulse nightclub tragedy and what appeared to be a storybook ending to a cathartic win turned sour on a last-gasp equalizer by Shea Salinas. Seb Hines — now the Orlando Pride’s head coach — opened the scoring for Orlando, only to see Chad Barrett tie it up. Julio Baptista restored the lead in stoppage time, but Salinas ruined everything.

The two teams also drew in the first meeting, a 1-1 affair at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, with the Lions down to 10 men after Brek Shea was sent off in the first half. Kaká and Wondolowski each scored from the penalty spot four minutes apart in that initial meeting.

Overview

The teams meet tonight to get their post-World Cup portion of the season started. Orlando City has been terrible on the road all season long, keeping only one MLS opponent under two goals all year away from home and allowing five goals twice (at New York City FC and Nashville) and six goals twice (at LAFC and in the team’s most recent match away at FC Cincinnati just before the break).

Orlando City is a putrid 1-6-1 on the road this season, and now the Lions must face the Western Conference co-leaders tonight before coming home to face Supporters’ Shield-leading Nashville SC at home on Saturday. They’ll have to play at least tonight’s game without Martin Ojeda, who is out with a thigh injury sustained some time between his first-half goal a week ago in a friendly against FC Dallas and the time the availability report dropped on Tuesday.

But it isn’t all bad news for the Lions, who should have both Antoine Griezmann and Dike in the lineup. Griezmann was the club’s highly prized and widely publicized summer Designated Player signing, while Dike’s return to Orlando came together more recently, following his departure from West Bromwich Albion. They’ll help the club’s offense, but the attack hasn’t been the issue in 2026 — it’s been the historically porous defense, which is on pace to shatter the MLS record for goals conceded.

Meanwhile, San Jose is one of the first half of the season’s biggest surprises, as the Quakes have been outstanding in 2026. Scoring 34 goals while conceding just 15, San Jose is among the league leaders in goals scored (tied for third), goals conceded (third), and goal differential (+19, third).

The Earthquakes are 4-2-1 at home and are coming off a 3-1 road win at Portland in their last game prior to the World Cup break. San Jose boasts Golden Boot challenger Preston Judd, who leads the Quakes with 11 goals, adding two assists in his 15 appearances. Ousseni Bouda has chipped in five goals and three assists. Niko Tsakiris leads the team with seven assists to go along with his two goals, but he’s still recovering from a lower body injury and is not available tonight. However, the arrival of Timo Werner (four goals and five assists in just seven games) has truly elevated Bruce Arena’s Quakes, and he’ll need to be one of the main focal points for the Orlando defense.

To have any shot at taking something from this game, the Lions will need to play better road defense than they have all season. Orlando can score goals, but with Ojeda out, Griezmann will need to adapt quickly, and someone other than the team’s leading scorer will need to find the net.

The Lions will play without Ojeda (thigh), Joran Gerbet (knee), Nolan Miller (knee), Colin Guske (international duty), and Clovis Archage (international duty). In addition, Marco Pasalic may or may not have returned to the team after the World Cup. He was not in training Monday, although interim head coach Martin Perelman said he expected the Croatian back soon. The Earthquakes will be without Nonso Adimabua (lower body), former Lion Earl Edwards Jr. (lower body), DeJuan Jones (lower body), and Tsakiris (you guessed it, lower body…come on, San Jose).

Match Content

Official Lineups:

Orlando City (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Maxime Crepeau.

Defenders: Adrian Marin, David Brekalo, Robin Jansson, Griffin Dorsey.

Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Braian Ojeda, Eduard Atuesta, Tiago.

Forwards: Justin Ellis, Antoine Griezmann.

Bench: Javier Otero, Bernardo Rhein, Tahir Reid-Brown, Zakaria Taifi, Iago, Wilder Cartagena, Luis Otavio, Harvey Sarajian, Tyrese Spicer

San Jose Earthquakes (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Angus Gunn.

Defenders: Jamar Ricketts, Reid Roberts, Daniel Munie, Benjamin Kikanovic.

Defensive Midfielders: Beau Lerouox, Ronaldo Vieira.

Attacking Midfielders: Timo Werner, Nick Fernandez, Ousseni Bouda.

Forwards: Preston Judd.

Bench: Jonathan Gonzalez, Dave Romney, Paul Marie, Jack Skahan, Jack Jasinski, Ian Harkes, Francesco Montali, Max Floriani, Darius Johnson.

Referees

REF: Elijio Arreguin.
AR1: Adam Wienckowski.
AR2: Mike Nickerson.
4TH: Timothy Ford.
VAR: Jose Carlos Rivero.
AVAR: TJ Zablocki.

How to Watch

Match Time: 10:30 p.m.

Venue: PayPal Park — San Jose, CA.

TV/Live Stream: Apple TV.

Radio: AM 810 FOX Sports Radio Orlando (English), Mega 97.1 FM (Spanish), Nossa Rádio 1160 AM-WRLZ (Portuguese).

Social Media: For rapid reaction and live updates, follow us on Bluesky Social at @themaneland.bsky.social or follow Orlando City’s official Twitter (@OrlandoCitySC) or Bluesky (@OrlandoCitySC) feed.

Enjoy the match. Go City!

Continue Reading

Podcasts

PawedCast Episode 542: Tampa Bay Friendly, McGuire Traded, OCB Beats Cincinnati, and More

Lions maul the Rowdies in friendly action, OCB wins on the road, and it’s transfer season.

Published

3 weeks ago

on

July 14, 2026

By

Image of Antoine Griezmann and Ivan Angulo celebrating a goal in a friendly against the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City welcomed I-4 Derby rival Tampa Bay to Inter&Co Stadium for a friendly match on Wednesday and then proceeded to bludgeon the Rowdies with a couple of hammers named Antoine Griezmann and Justin Ellis. The two attackers combined for a goal and four assists in a 6-0 beatdown of the team from the Gulf Coast, with five different Lions scoring and Griffin Dorsey forcing an own goal. We discuss Griezmann’s first minutes with Orlando City, what the team showed in its formation, and how good Justin Ellis’ vision is.

Oh, and it’s also transfer season now. Duncan McGuire is on his way out and Marco Pasalic reportedly will follow soon, while a new left back may be headed from Spain to Orlando.

Following all of that, we discuss Maxime Crepeau being added to the MLS All-Star Team and the announcement that he’ll participate in the 2026 MLS All-Star Skills Challenge.

Our mailbagbox asked us about which World Cup semifinalist players we’d want to join Orlando this season (if we could only pick one), 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 dive into OCB’s 2-1 road win at FC Cincinnati 2. It wasn’t the prettiest game by the Young Lions, but they managed to do enough to earn three points on the road, where they’ll stay to face Chattanooga on Saturday. We briefly preview that game.

Finally, Orlando City will be in Dallas Wednesday for the second of two friendlies leading up to the restart of the MLS season. It’s unlikely we’ll get a lot of details about that one, but we’ll see what happens. Maybe the FC Dallas folks will help us out.

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. 542 went down:

0:15 – Orlando City crushed the Rowdies, the transfer season is in full swing, plus: hey now, Crepeau’s an all-star.

28:50 – The mailbagbox is always good for a hypothetical scenario.

36:54 – The Young Lions slipped past Cincy and head to Chattanooga, while the senior Lions head to Dallas.

Continue Reading

Podcasts

SkoPurp Soccer Episode 119: International Break, USWNT, Louisville Preview, and More

The Pride return from a long international break looking to get their first-ever road win against Racing Louisville.

Published

3 months ago

on

April 22, 2026

By

Image of Haley McCutcheon scoring the opening goal in Orlando's home playoff win over Seattle.
Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

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.

Continue Reading

Trending