Orlando City B
Orlando City B vs. Harrisburg City Islanders: Match Preview and How to Watch
Orlando City B (5-6-8, 23 points) has been unbeaten over the past five games, drawing its previous four. Tonight, the young Lions will welcome City Islanders (6-9-5, 23 points) from Harrisburg, PA, as they look to continue that streak.
After having two weeks off, the young Lions will now be playing their second game in five days. They’re coming off a good draw against the first-place Charleston Battery, which saw the return of Battery star striker Romario Williams, who was away on international duty with Jamaica. Tonight, they will face a City Islanders team that they are tied in points with, along with the Pittsburgh Riverhounds. The three teams sit one point behind New York Red Bulls II and Ottawa Fury FC for the final playoff spot in the USL’s Eastern Conference.
This will be the second time the two clubs face each other this season. The first meeting came back in April in Harrisburg, resulting in a 1-1 draw. After City Islanders took the lead through an 80th minute goal by Tiago Calvano, Zach Carroll equalized for OCB three minutes into injury time. The two teams faced each other twice last season in the span of nine days with the City Islanders winning both match-ups.
Harrisburg grabbed the initial meeting, 1-0, at the Titan Soccer Complex, in Melbourne. Bryan Rochez scored the lone goal for the young Lions against Harrisburg in the second of the two meetings, a 2-1 road loss.
While the young Lions are looking to continue a five-game unbeaten run, the City Islanders are coming off a 3-0 loss to FC Cincinnati, which ended a three-game unbeaten run. That unbeaten run included wins over New York Red Bulls II and the Richmond Kickers and a draw against the Charlotte Independence.
Each team will be missing one key player for this match-up due to yellow card accumulation. OCB right back Zach Ellis-Hayden was cautioned in injury time over the weekend in Charleston and City Islanders midfielder James Thomas was cautioned in the 62nd minute over the weekend in Cincinnati.
The good news for OCB is that tonight’s game will mark the return of star midfielder Pierre Da Silva after the 19-year-old was suspended for three games for violent conduct against FC Cincinnati on July 1.
Most Recent Lineups
Orlando City B (5-6-8, 23 points): Earl Edwards, Jr.; Austin Martz, Zach Ellis-Hayden, Seb Hines, Fernando Timbo; Paul Clowes, Danny Deakin, Tony Rocha, Scott Thomsen; Hadji Barry, Lewis Neal.
City Islanders (6-9-5, 23 points): Brandon Miller; Shawn McClaws, Abass Mohammed, Tiago Calvano, Travis Brent; Rasheed Olabiyi, Jake Bond, John Grosh, Paul Wilson, James Thomas; Ropapa Mensah.
How to Watch
The 7:30 p.m. kickoff from Orlando City Stadium can be streamed from the official USL YouTube page or at orlandocitysc.com/live. For rapid reaction and live updates, follow @TheManeLand on Twitter.