Orlando City B vs. Toronto FC II: Final Score 1-0 as Young Lions Blanked in Canadian Matinee

Orlando City B fell to Toronto FC II this afternoon 1-0 at Ontario Soccer Centre. Jordan Hamilton’s ninth-minute goal was the difference between the two sides.

Due to the senior team’s Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup game tonight against Miami FC, OCB (4-5-4, 16 points) displayed a weakened side for this afternoon affair. The team included four academy players (David Loera, Aaron Smith, Jordi Avila, and Allen Seals) and former Lion captain and current OCB assistant coach Rob Valentino on the bench. The early start time was because of Toronto FC II (2-7-5, 11 points) hosting its inaugural School Day Game where local school children were invited to learn about soccer and living a healthy lifestyle.

The game started miserably for OCB as starting center back Seb Hines went down after just 30 seconds holding his right knee. As his left foot slid out from under him, his right knee buckled, which resulted in him being replaced by Conor Donovan in the third minute.

The first half didn’t get much better for OCB as play was dominated by the home side. Toronto FC II scored after just nine minutes when Ryan Telfer sent a long cross into the box. Hamilton received it with his chest on the far post and slid the ball past OCB goalkeeper Jake Fenlason for the game’s only goal.

Three minutes later Toronto nearly doubled its lead through Sergio Camargo, who got in on goal but Fenlason came off his line to make a big save. Ten minutes later, Toronto saw a flurry of chances on goal resulting from two corner kicks but couldn’t find the back of the net.

The closest the home team came from scoring a second came in the 35^th minute. Liam Fraser found some space from outside the box and took a shot at goal. The shot beat Fenlason but slammed off the post, keeping the OCB deficit at one.

OCB’s best first-half chance came just before halftime when Michael Cox made a run to the right of Angelo Cavalluzzo’s goal. His shot was saved by the young Reds’ goalkeeper but was likely going wide anyway. It was OCB’s only shot of the opening period.

After a lackluster first half, the young Lions came out flying in the second. Just five minutes after the restart, they saw their best chance of the game to that point. An OCB corner found the head of Cox, who directed it on goal. However, Cavalluzzo made a diving save and the follow-up was saved off the line to keep the Lions off the board.

OCB saw several other opportunities from Cox and substitute Ben Polk but nothing would go in for the visitors. In the end, Toronto was able to hold onto that early lead and escape with the 1-0 win.

The loss in Toronto keeps OCB at 16 points from their first 13 games and in ninth place in the USL’s Eastern Conference. The young Lions will return to the field next Tuesday at 11:00 am in Ottawa for another School Day Game against the Ottawa Fury.

Starting XI: Fenlason; Ellis-Hayden, Hines (Donovan, 3’), Carroll, Thomsen; Martz (Polk, 63’), Schweitzer, Kraft (Seals, 85’), Deakin, Cox, Loera.

Unused Subs: Smith, Valentino, Avila.

Goals: TOR – Hamilton (9’).

Yellow Cards: ORL – Carroll (56’), Donovan (85’).