Lion Links: 5/14/17

Good Sunday to Mane Land Nation and happy Mother’s Day! It’s the new guy at the helm and here’s what I’ve been able to glean from around the ‘verse for your edification. Enjoy!

Lions Return Home

Orlando City was back in the cozy confines of the fortress on Saturday night to host Sporting Kansas City. After falling behind early — the first seven minutes trailed at home all season — the Lions roared back. Things looked pretty good until the equalizer materialized and then it looked like OCSC had regained the lead, only to see a goal waved off. Here’s all you need to know about the game:

• Gavin Ewbank has your match recap.
• Michael Citro doled out the player grades and Man of the Match.
• The Blue Testament provided the opposition’s view of the game.

And check back later today for a photo gallery and our five takeaways.

Young Lions Hit the Road

It’s a weird part of the schedule for Orlando City B. After two weeks off, the young Lions headed to the Midwest to play FC Cincinnati, earning a 2-0 win with a pair of second-half goals from Pierre Da Silva and Richie Laryea. Now OCB will have a couple more weeks off. Strange. It was OCB’s first victory over Cincy. OCB is unbeaten in its last four (2-0-2) and has kept three consecutive clean sheets. And to think some people wanted Head Coach Anthony Pulis fired just two games into the season.

Morgan Out!?

Olympique Lyonnais stretched the lead to 10 points in the Feminine Division I of Ligue 1 with a 3-0 thrashing of PSG Saturday. But, during the win, Alex Morgan appeared to suffer an injury. No word on the severity, but she did not return to the game and has been ruled out of the club’s French Cup final on Friday. As an aside, she did score in the 28^th minute of the game for Lyon.

Here’s to the Future

The Orlando City SC Youth 98/99 Elite Club National League girls squad just wrapped up its latest session and, according to the team, each member of the team is heading to college. Awesome job!

Krieger Excelling in Leadership Role

Orlando Pride defender Ali Krieger appears to have taken a solid hold on leading the Pride this season. The Orlando Sentinel’s Alicia DelGallo filed this piece on how Krieger, 32, is mentoring younger members of the team this season. The Pride will host league-leading North Carolina Courage at 4 p.m. today. Stay tuned to The Mane Land for full coverage of the match.

Pugh Goes Pro, Lifetime Capitalizes

Mallory Pugh, the youngest member of the U.S. Women’s National Team, recently decided to turn pro and, on Saturday she signed with the Washington Spirit. Lifetime, which just signed on to televise every NWSL game and its parent, A&E Networks, bought part of the league. Saturday’s announcement of Pugh entering the league should provide a nice boost to the league and a nice boost to those watching on television.

Pugh doubled down on an awesome day by signing a long-term deal with Nike.

Free Kicks

• Impressing Arena…Saturday’s game with Sporting Kansas City was an opportunity for players on both sides to impress U.S. National Team Head Coach Bruce Arena, as he was in attendance for the game. Goal.com has this piece on which players need to impress this week before World Cup qualifiers begin this summer.
• The next head of MLS…According to The Telegraph, Arsenal’s chief executive Ivan Gazidis could be in line to take over as head of MLS if he loses his power battle with Gunners’ manager Arsene Wenger.

That’s all we’ve got for you this morning. Check back later today for more on last night’s draw against SKC and coverage of the Pride’s home match against North Carolina. Why not take your mom to the game?