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Orlando City vs. Montreal Impact: Final Score 3-0 as Lions Still Can’t Finish

The Lions couldn’t overcome a slow start in Montreal.

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8 years ago

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Dan MacDonald, The Mane Land

Orlando City has now matched its six-game winning streak earlier this season with a six-game losing streak after falling on the road to the Montreal Impact, 3-0. The Lions (6-8-1) were unable to score, despite forward Dom Dwyer returning to the starting lineup for the first time since May 13. Meanwhile, the Impact improved to 5-11-0 and will try to begin to climb back up the Eastern Conference standings.

Impact forward Ignacio Piatti scored a brace in the match — including from the spot to set the tone early — continuing his dominance over Orlando with seven goals in eight appearances. Montreal’s second goal came off an own goal after left back Daniel Lovitz sent in a low cross that bounced off Amro Tarek and beat Joe Bendik.

Orlando had plenty of chances to answer, but poor finishing, bad passing, and dumb luck cost them yet another game.

Here’s the lineup Head Coach Jason Kreis fielded, with Jonathan Spector getting his first start in an MLS game since April 8:

Montreal started the game with its foot on the gas and Orlando City didn‘t look like it was ready for the match. Orlando City nemesis Piatti and Raheem Edwards spent the early minutes of the match causing mayhem and it didn’t take long for the pressure to cause Orlando City to crack. Montreal’s moment came after a corner caused by an Edwards’ shot that Joe Bendik had to deflect out of play.

In just the fifth minute, Cristian Higuita made a grave mistake while desperatley trying to stop Montreal’s Saphir Taider and clipped him inside the box. The referee took little time to give Montreal a penalty for the foul as Orlando City got off to perhaps its worst start of the season, which is saying something given how sluggish Orlando is to start games.

Piatti converted the penalty, with Bendik diving the opposite direction and Montreal taking an early 1-0 lead.

Down a goal, Orlando City began to see more and more of the ball as the team searched for an equalizer. But the Lions weren‘t able to make anything happen with the ball at their feet. Any time the Lions looked dangerous, the target was always Dwyer. The forward was chasing every long ball and cross sent his way and was close many times.

A chance came in the 11th minute when Justin Meram found Tony Rocha out wide and the left back delivered a pass that danced in front of Montreal’s net. Dwyer slid to try to get on the end of it but was inches away from making contact, possibly due to the wet field that caused the ball to quickly skid past the center of goal.

Frustration seemed to set in for Dwyer after the miss and he picked up a yellow card after a late, and frankly, unnecessary, tackle. Higuita then followed up Dwyer’s performance with one of his own, giving a signature hard foul and being issued a yellow card as well. But unlike Dwyer, Higuita’s yellow card will now have him sitting out of Orlando’s next MLS game thanks to accumulation.

Orlando City‘s first shot didn’t come until the 31st minute, when Dwyer got his head on the end of a cross by Oriol Rosell. Dwyer had to come back to the ball to make contact, sacrificing some power behind the attempt and Montreal goalkeeper Evan Bush comfortably collected the shot.

Gaining some confidence on the pitch, the Lions had another opportunity in the 34th minute with a set of nifty passes between Meram and Sacha Kljestan that ended with an open shot outside of the box from Rosell that sailed just wide of the goal. It would‘ve been unexpected for Rosell to score from that far out, but it was a nice sign to see from the trailing Lions desperate to end their losing streak.

In the 42nd minute, the Lions were given a chance to level the game before the half after Dwyer was fouled just outside the box. After earning the foul, Dwyer fired a curving shot from the set piece that curled over the wall and beat Bush but wasn’t able to dip into the goal.

That was the last real chance the Lions had before the break, finishing the first half ahead in possession (51%) after finding a good amount of momentum and looking the better team outside of the first 15 or so minutes. Despite looking like the better team for the latter stages of the first half, the Lions finished with just three shots.

Orlando City started the second half right where it left off with a sense of urgency, but momentum came to a halt in the 49th minute when Rosell slid in for a ball and was issued a yellow card and the game was stopped by the referee and he went to video review to see if the challenge was worthy of more discipline. After probably taking the rainy conditions (and common sense) into account, the referee decided a yellow was enough and the game continued.

The break was apparently all Montreal needed to put itself back in the driver’s seat. Montreal started to see more of the ball and found the back of the net for the second time when Piatti found open space down the left side, cut toward the middle and sent Lovitz down the left. Orlando couldn’t close in on him before he whipped a ball into the box. Neither Bendik nor Montreal‘s Matteo Mancosu got on the end of the ball. Instead, it was Tarek who made the slightest bit of contact and caused an own goal, giving Montreal a 2-0 lead in the 55th minute and making the uphill climb for Orlando that much steeper.

Down two, Kreis made his first substution of the match by putting Jose Villarreal in for Higuita in the 57th minute. The midfielder had an immediate impact, his first touch of the game being a cross to Dwyer that was just behind the forward and making him unable to get enough power to drive the ball into the goal yet again.

Villarreal delivered another good ball, finding Rocha down the left side as the left back weaved his way towards the goal but the final pass just wasn’t good enough and the chance was lost. I bet you’re starting to see a theme here.

But Orlando City didn’t stop pressing forward. Meram was finally able to give Dwyer a cross he wanted in the 65th minute, but the shot went inches wide and the scoreline remained the same.

After having little impact on the match for the most part, Josué Colmán’s opportunity finally came in the 66th minute as the Young Designated Player chased down a long ball. The Paraguayan was able to fight past two defenders but he couldn’t hit his shot cleanly and sent it harmlessly wide and over the bar.

Seeing enough, Kreis took Colmán out immediately after the missed shot, electing to put rookie Chris Mueller into the game for an injection of energy. That move was followed by a similar one as Meram came off for Stefano Pinho.

In a night full of bad, there was at least something to smile about in the 70th minute when Piatti was in a one-on-one situation with Spector and the American center back was able to hold his own against the potent attacker. He may not have been able to stop the onslaught of three goals, but it’s nice to have Spector back in the lineup.

Like every chance it had in the game, Orlando City simply couldn’t catch a break in 78th minute when Rosell had a wide open shot that was sure to go in but was accidentally deflected by Pinho right into the belly of Bush, who was down on his side.

Orlando City’s assualt continued just minutes later when Dwyer got on the end of a cross for his best scoring chance of the night but the header went off target and Orlando remained scoreless.

Another chance came shortly after with Pinho making contact with the ball directly in front of the net, but the shot somehow went high and over the bar. It would be almost comical how close Orlando was to scoring if not for the frustration that comes from Orlando City squandering opportunities yet again.

Bendik was able to stop Montreal from extending its lead on two occasions late in the game, with two big saves where he had to come out and make the stop. However, third time was the charm for the Impact when Piatti caught the tired Orlando City defense sleeping. Alone behind the defense with the ball after a through ball, Piatti dribbled around Bendik and easily tucked the ball into the goal to secure his brace and put Montreal up 3-0.

A few late chances by Dwyer and Pinho were unsuccessful and the Lions were shut out for the third time this season.

The chances were there for Orlando City, but like so many games during this six-game losing streak, the Lions simply weren’t able to score. Orlando City ended the game with 57% possession and led Montreal in shots, 12-11. Both teams had four shots on target but the game obviously came down to finishing with Orlando City unable to score.

The Lions continue their five-game road trip with only a U.S. Open Cup victory to show for it so far. Orlando City will hope to keep its run in the tournament alive on the road against D.C. United next Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET. The Lions will then look to end their MLS skid at home a week from Saturday in a rematch against Montreal on June 23.

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Orlando City

Flashback Friday: June 10, 2023 vs. Colorado Rapids

Let’s take a trip down memory lane to a booking-laden match at home that took place a little less than three years ago.

Published

18 hours ago

on

June 12, 2026

By

Dan MacDonald, The Mane Land

The World Cup is now officially underway, and while that means Orlando City is on break, we can’t have you forgetting about the Lions while all the international action is taking place. That means its time for another edition of Flashback Friday, where we hop in the trusty time machine and reminisce on OCSC matches of yesteryear.

Last week we relived a rousing road win over the New York Red Bulls from June, 3 2023, and this week, we actually pick up right where we left off, on June 10, 2023 as the Lions returned home to take on the Colorado Rapids.

Coming off a 3-0 win over the Red Bulls in the previous match, Oscar Pareja decided to not mess with a good thing, and kept Orlando City’s same starting XI from that victory. Pedro Gallese was in net behind a back line of Rafael Santos, Robin Jansson, Antonio Carlos, and Kyle Smith. Wilder Cartagena and Cesar Araujo played the double pivot; Ivan Angulo, Mauricio Pereyra, and Facundo Torres were the attacking midfielders, and Ercan Kara was deployed as the striker.

In typical June fashion for the City Beautiful, kickoff was delayed by just under an hour as the stadium was pounded by storms, and the delay did not look to have done any favors for Orlando’s sharpness. That said, OCSC did win a corner kick less than a minute into the game, and Torres had a tame shot saved in the eighth minute, but the Lions weren’t consistently sharp with their passing in the early moments of the contest.

The teams traded chances just before the 15-minute mark, with Kara sending a header too high before Cole Bassett sent a shot straight to Gallese. Carlos then picked up a yellow card in the 24th minute, which evened things out between the two teams after Lalas Abubakar was cautioned for the Rapids after just six minutes. Those two bookings proved to be a harbinger of things to come, because Colorado went down to 10 men in the 39th minute after midfielder Braian Galvan caught Angulo with a high boot while his studs were showing.

Pereyra had Orlando’s best chance of the opening 45 minutes in stoppage time but could only send his effort right at goalkeeper Marko Ilic, and that was the last significant action of the half. The Lions ended the half with an edge in possession (59.7%-40.3%), shots (7-2), shots on target (2-1), and passing accuracy (85.3%-79.4%), while both teams won two corners.

Pareja made two moves at halftime, bringing on Rodrigo Schlegel for the once-booked Carlos, and Martin Ojeda for Cartagena in an effort to go more offensive against a shorthanded Rapids side. The Lions certainly looked brighter going forward as the second half got underway and had a few dangerous moments before finally breaking the deadlock in the 55th minute.

Pereyra played a ball across the top of the box for Torres, who took a couple of touches before sending a ball to the net that took a wicked deflection off Andreas Maxsø that carried it past Ilic.

It wasn’t the prettiest goal the Lions have ever scored, but for a team that was guilty at times of passing up good shots in favor of the perfect look at goal, it was proof that sometimes you just need to take shots in dangerous areas.

Fortunately, Orlando seemed to take that lesson to heart. Kara went close in the 65th minute despite shooting through traffic, Angulo had a shot deflected by Abubakar three minutes later, and Torres had another deflected effort go just wide of the post four minutes after that.

The game changed again in the 75th minute, when the Rapids had another player sent off. Abubakar lasted for 69 minutes on a yellow card but got burned by Angulo in midfield and hauled him down in order to prevent the Lions from potentially working a transition opportunity. He had some teammates behind him, but the referee showed him a second yellow card. Pareja smelled blood in the water and just three minutes later he brought on Ramiro Enrique for Smith, who had been given a yellow card in the 52nd minute.

Ilic made a great save on Pereyra in the 81st minute to keep the score at 1-0 and keep the Rapids in the game, but Orlando got its second goal just two minutes later. Torres had the ball on the right side of the box with a Colorado player backing off him, and that gave him ample time to get his head up and pick out a man. He played a ball to Enrique at the top of the box, who had plenty of time to take a couple of touches and send a low shot into the bottom corner past a diving Ilic for his first goal as an Orlando City player.

Somewhat surprisingly, the game started to get a little stretched after the Lions doubled their advantage. Colorado had a shot blocked in the 81st minute, Kara sent a shot very close to the post six minutes after that, and Gallese saved a Darren Yapi attempt in the 88th minute to keep his clean sheet alive. Aside from Pareja handing Alejandro Granados his MLS debut, that was the last significant action of the match, which finished 2-0 to the good guys.

Unsurprisingly, considering Colorado’s deficit in players, the Lions dominated all of the game’s most important statistics. OCSC finished with the advantage in possession (65%-35%), shots (15-4), shots on goal (6-2), corners (5-3), and passing accuracy (89.4%-81.5%).

The victory made it back-to-back wins for the first time in 2023, stretched Orlando’s unbeaten run to six, and gave El Pulpo his 100th clean sheet for the team in all competitions.

Marcus Mitchell had the helm for Player Grades in this one, and Torres got his nod for Man of the Match with a goal, an assist, and a grade of 7.5 out of 10. Several other Lions graded out at 7 out of 10, with only one player grading below a 6.

While it was a weird win, it unfortunately was the final game of the unbeaten streak, as the Lions fell to a familiar defeat at Gillette Stadium the following week, although things got back on track soon afterward. I’ll see you back here in a week for another trip down memory lane. Vamos Orlando!

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Lion Links: 6/12/26

USMNT plays Paraguay tonight, red cards rain down in World Cup opener, Sporting Kansas City linked with Yann Gboho, and more.

Published

22 hours ago

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June 12, 2026

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Image of Alex Freeman sliding in celebration of a goal.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Happy Friday, Mane Landers! The World Cup is in full swing and the U.S. will play today, so it’s a pretty exciting Friday to say the least. I’m a bit of a bundle of nerves about how the team will do, but I’m still looking forward to catching the game. If you have any gameday rituals, be sure to share, so that we can conjure up enough luck and support for the team tonight. Let’s get to the links!

USMNT’s World Cup Campaign Begins Today

The United States Men’s National Team will take on Paraguay at 9 p.m. tonight in its first match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. There’s plenty of pressure on the U.S. to perform well as one of the host nations, and this will also be Head Coach Mauricio Pochettino’s first time coaching at a World Cup. Pochettino stated that all 26 players are available for selection, including center back Chris Richards, although he may not necessarily start. Former Orlando City defender Alex Freeman, who is the youngest player on the U.S. roster, could make his World Cup debut tonight, so be sure to root for our hometown hero should he take the field. Hopefully, the Yanks can start this tournament off on the right foot with a big win in California.

World Cup Opener Features Three Red Cards

This year’s World Cup began in Mexico City, with Mexico beating South Africa 2-0 in a match that included three red cards. All three were straight red cards given in the second half in separate incidents, as Sphephelo Sithole and Themba Zwane were sent off for South Africa before Mexico’s Cesar Montes was shown red in stoppage time. There hasn’t been a World Cup match with that many red cards since the record of four was set in 2006 in a match between Portugal and the Netherlands. As for the game’s goals, Julian Quinones pounced on a mistake by South Africa to give Mexico an early lead and Raul Jimenez doubled that lead while South Africa was reduced to 10 men.

Sporting Kansas City Linked With Yann Gboho

While the World Cup roars on, the rumor mill is in full force as clubs make plans for summer reinforcements. Sporting Kansas City is reportedly pushing to sign Toulouse winger Yann Gboho, who recorded 10 goals and three assists across all competitions this past season. The surprising aspect of this pursuit would be that Toulouse values Gboho at an eye-watering $20 million transfer fee, which would be a club record by a country mile. Kansas City needs all the help it can get on offense, as it has scored just 14 goals in 14 games so far this season.

Jose Mourinho Officially Returns to Real Madrid

It’s been a bit of an open secret over the past few weeks that Jose Mourinho would become Real Madrid’s next manager and it’s now official, with the 63-year-old signing a three-year contract with the Spanish club. Mourinho helped Real Madrid win a La Liga title and the Copa del Rey over a decade ago before his departure in 2013 after three seasons with the club. Now, he joins a Real Madrid side that has finished second in the league standings and been eliminated in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League the past two seasons. I, for one, can’t wait to see how one of the biggest personalities in soccer works alongside a locker room of star players that seemed in disarray this past season.

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That’s all I have for you this time around. I hope you all have a fantastic Friday and rest of your weekend!

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Lion Links: 6/11/26

Wilder Cartagena linked with move to Sporting Cristal, Orlando Pride hire Dr. Nicole Surdyka, Barbra Banda injury update, and more.

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2 days ago

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June 11, 2026

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Jermey Reper

The World Cup is finally here! Today starts what should be an exciting month of international soccer featuring more teams than ever before. While I wasn’t able to part with the arm and leg necessary to afford a ticket to one of the games, I’m still looking forward to watching along when I can with the rest of the world. Let’s get to the links!

Wilder Cartagena Linked With Move to Peruvian Club

You’ll need a translation tool to check out the full details unless you are fluent in Spanish, but Sporting Cristal of Peru’s top flight is reportedly interested in signing Orlando City midfielder Wilder Cartagena. The 31-year-old is currently under contract with Orlando through 2026, with the contact also including a club option for 2027. He was a crucial part to Orlando’s success in 2024, but he missed all of last year and has only started one game so far this season due to injuries. It’s not much more than a rumor as of now, but it’ll be something to keep an eye on during this break in the league schedule.

Barbra Banda Sustained a Hamstring Injury

Zambia Head Coach Nora Hauptle stated that Orlando Pride forward Barbra Banda is dealing with a hamstring strain. Banda didn’t play in either of Zambia’s matches during this international break, but Hauptle also noted that she should recover in the next week or two and will be fine for the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations at the end of July. Banda was injured late in the Pride’s 3-1 win against Bay FC on May 29 and it was unclear how severe the injury was. Hopefully she’ll be good to go before the Pride’s match against Angel City FC on July 3.

Dr. Nicole Surdyka Named Orlando Pride Director of Medical & Performance

The Orlando Pride have hired Dr. Nicole Surdyka as their new director of medical and performance. She’ll oversee the Pride’s medical operations, nutrition, and more while also working with Orlando Health. Dr. Surdyka has over a decade of experience that included leadership roles with OL Reign and the LA Galaxy and has studied extensively into developing frameworks for health and performance in women’s soccer.

“Nicole is one of the most respected practitioners in our field, and her expertise in women’s football, return‑to‑play, and high‑performance systems will elevate every aspect of our medical and performance environment,” said Caitlin Carducci, Orlando Pride VP of Soccer Operations & General Manager. “Her leadership, her commitment to evidence‑based practice and her passion for supporting athletes make her an exceptional addition to the Pride.”

Analyzing Paraguay Ahead of USMNT World Cup Match

The United States Men’s National Team will play its World Cup opener on Friday when it hosts Paraguay at SoFi Stadium. It will be the 10th match between the two nations, with the USMNT most recently winning 2-1 against Paraguay in November of last year. There’s a familiar face on Paraguay’s roster in Orlando City midfielder Braian Ojeda, with Miguel Almiron and Andres Cubas as other MLS midfielders called up. Paraguay’s defense is anchored by center back Gustavo Gomez, who you may remember as the player who put former Lion Alex Freeman in a headlock during that aforementioned November friendly. As for Paraguay’s attack, the Yanks will need to keep Julio Enciso and Antonio Sanabria from wreaking havoc. Paraguay is a physical team that’s also strong in the air, so we’ll see how the USMNT deals with that on Friday.

England Beats Costa Rica 3-0 at Inter&Co Stadium

Orlando City’s Inter&Co Stadium hosted a friendly between England and Costa Rica on Wednesday, with England winning 3-0. Declan Rice gave England an early lead, but Costa Rica kept the Three Lions off the scoresheet until the substitutes came on for England in the second half, with Anthony Gordon and Ollie Watkins both scoring. England got the full Orlando experience due to a heavy storm that delayed kickoff, but Inter&Co Stadium earned praise for its drainage system that had the pitch ready to roll in no time. Enjoy this satisfying time-lapse video of the transformation provided by the stadium.

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That’s all I have for you this time around. I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday and rest of your week!

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