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Five Potential USL Affiliates for Orlando City in 2018
Orlando City is at a bit of a developmental impasse in 2018. With the club’s USL side, Orlando City B, temporarily dormant as the club reviews its options for 2019 and beyond, there has to be a shift in how the coaching staff handles the development of its young professionals in the meantime. While Head Coach Jason Kreis has preached competition throughout preseason so far and championed the idea that everyone will be provided an opportunity to earn MLS minutes, inevitably some players will fall to the bottom of the depth chart or fail to break into the rotation.
In the long term, OCB will likely find a home in a league — be it USL’s new division three or another landing spot. But for this year, there’s a tenuous gap. Keeping the youngsters with the first team keeps them in an MLS environment, but it also denies them of any playing time. Kreis mentioned during Media Day last week that the club is in discussions for a temporary affiliation with a USL club, similar to the organizational structure Orlando had in 2015 with Louisville City FC, but which club that ends up being will have an impact — even a small one — on the future of the players loaned down.
Ideally, the affiliate would be close by and, at the very least, in the Southeast. Other MLS teams have had to reach halfway across the continent (New York City FC allied themselves with San Antonio FC last year) and that’s less than ideal should Orlando want to recall them. But for the right circumstances, it might have to do. With USL’s highly divided scheduling, travel in the East is also less of a strain and would mean that no matter when City would want a recall, the loanees would likely be nearby.
Orlando has built an impressive stable of central midfielders with Yoshimar Yotun, Will Johnson, Cristian Higuita, Uri Rosell, Dillon Powers, Cam Lindley, and Tony Rocha all available. So much depth, however, means that at least three will likely be pushed down the depth chart and see a lot of the bench in 2018 — and that’s if Kreis deploys a formation that utilizes three central midfielders.
Highly touted prospect Pierre Da Silva could also find himself on the outside looking in after just one minute in MLS last season. With the introduction of Mohamed El-Munir, PC could also find himself at the bottom of a talented depth chart at left back and one of Earl Edwards Jr. and Adam Grinwis will likely be in a similar position.
That means that a talented player or three will be in need of playing time and Orlando needs to find opportunities for them. Luckily, quite a few of these players have proven themselves in the USL already and would be welcome additions to most sides. Others are top college prospects that could provide an infusion of new talent into the professional ranks. It remains to be seen how many of Orlando’s young players the club will be willing to relinquish without full control over their development, but playing time is playing time.
Here are five likely candidates to be Orlando’s USL partner in 2018:
Charleston Battery
The Battery have long been considered a nemesis of Orlando City’s since the USL days, but they find themselves without an MLS affiliate after Atlanta United pulled out to create its own USL team, the creatively named Atlanta United 2. The Battery have the positive of being relatively close to Orlando as far as USL teams go, a need for MLS talent (Charleston finished second in the Eastern Conference last year utilizing Atlanta’s players), and they could use another infusion of young blood.
The possibility to add Da Silva to the mix will be enticing for most USL squads and with the potential prospect of Lindley or attacking midfielder Richie Laryea, teams will be landing quality starters. That will likely be important for the Battery, who will be looking to augment their already strong squad and unlikely to take on young projects.
Nashville FC
The USL expansion club is in a unique situation. With MLS on the horizon, it might behoove the Tennessee side to focus on developing its own young players with an eye to preparing them for that inevitable jump. But in a similar situation, Orlando City’s 2014 season saw quite a few MLS loans down to the USL side only months before the Lions made the MLS move. Cobi Span (from FC Dallas) and Ian Christianson (from the New York Red Bulls) joined a cast of future MLS players and made some significant contributions over the course of the season with Span being a near-regular.
Whether or not Nashville is set to make the jump in 2019 or later, a short-term loan agreement could benefit both sides. The Tennesseans have built around youth, including former OCB player Michael Cox, and would provide a clean slate for loaned players to compete for minutes. An identity still needs to be defined, but there are plenty of opportunities for playing time on the banks of the Cumberland River. For Orlando, however, there’s a bit of uncertainty. There would likely be no guarantees for playing time and there is little to go on when it comes to positive club culture and a nurturing environment.
Louisville City FC
Louisville might have the least incentive to bring in MLS players unless they absolutely have to. After all, they won last season’s USL cup without any help from the top division. But they are Orlando’s former affiliate and there are still some connections with the Louisville ownership and Head Coach James O’Connor.
One of the positives of loaning players to Louisville is that there is already an established winning culture and environment. They would be playing with the best of the best in the USL and aiming for championships. But it will take a lot of skill to break into the rotation and O’Connor’s system is not similar to Kreis’ system. For players like Da Silva, where minutes in general might be more important than where he’s at on the field and what he’s being asked to do, it might be the right fit. For players like Lindley who haven’t spent a lot of time in Orlando or in Kreis’ training sessions, perhaps it’s best to keep him closer to home.
FC Cincinnati
It’s a bit of a different story for Louisville’s rivals on the other side of the Ohio River. FCC has received plaudits for the fan atmosphere and the team’s Cinderella run in the U.S. Open Cup, but the fact of the matter is that the side struggled in the league. They hung on to their playoff place — but were threatened by OCB into the last weeks of the season — and then flamed out once they got there. If Cincy wants to compete with one of its main rivals in Louisville while still rotating for the Open Cup, they could use an influx of talent.
Tampa Bay Rowdies
In some ways, it’s the ideal situation. In others, it’s unimaginable. Just a short drive down I-4, players would be ready for recall whenever possible, much like when Orlando City B was technically housed in Melbourne. Players could still live in Orlando, which takes away the added strain of adjusting to a new city for a young professional.
The Rowdies were competitive in their first season in USL and would provide a positive, competitive environment to foster the growth of the young players. But it would also mean watching Orlando’s prospects in green and gold hoops and — at times — cheering on the team down the road. With experienced professionals from top leagues like Marcel Schafer and Joe Cole, there are role models in St. Pete that City’s youngsters can learn from. It remains to be seen whether Orlando and Tampa would be willing to engage in a formal partnership, even a short-term affiliation, but it might be the best-case scenario for the Lions.
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.
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
- Our most recent PawedCast includes our key matchups and score predictions for tonight’s match.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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