Lion Links: 6/16/19

Happy Sunday, Mane Landers. I have to start by wishing everyone a happy Father’s Day. I hope you have a good one. I know I will. I’m taking my stepdad and mom to a barcade for the day. It should be good one, as most barcades these days have broken machines aplenty and a poor selection of beer.

Arcade Monsters over in Oveido, while it may be more of an arcade than a bar, is the spot and I’d recommend you folks check it out if you can. I can’t wait to see my parents’ faces when they see that the original Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man machines actually work. Meanwhile, you can catch me in the virtual reality game section. Man those are fun.

All right, we’ve got a lot to get into today so enough of my rambling, let’s do this. Here’s your Sunday dosage of Lion Links. Enjoy!

The Pride Visit the Dash and Steal a Point

The Orlando Pride, thanks to goals from Joanna Boyles and Danica Evans, stole a point on the road against the Houston Dash, battling out to a 2-2 draw. The match, missing many of the would-be starters due to the Women’s World Cup, featured some new faces on both sides as coaches Marc Skinner and James Clarkson experimented with the personnel available to them.

Orlando City B Visits Georgia, Loses 2-0

Taking on Tormenta FC of south Georgia, Orlando City B fell 2-0, with both goals coming in the second half. OCB dominated much of the first half, but failed to find the back of the net during spells of long possession that often ended disappointingly. After two intense matches, the young Lions now have an entire week off to prepare for their next match, an away trip to Michigan to take on Lansing Ignite FC.

Things to Watch For at the Gold Cup

Tom Bogert over at mlssoccer.com provided a nice list of things to keep an eye on during this summer’s Gold Cup. The list includes exploring the idea of the USMNT being a new powerhouse under Berhalter, Mexico and Tata Martino turning the corner, acknowledging the Canadian and Jamaican national teams, and even predicting what he thinks will be the biggest Cinderella story of the tournament. Meanwhile, the USMNT has fallen to an overall world ranking of no. 30 — down six spots after its recent uninspiring losses. Hopefully the Yanks can use this as motivation and parlay that into strong performances at the Gold Cup. Time will tell.

The U.S. Women’s National Team Looks to Improve

Where do I even start with a team that put 13 past a helpless Thailand? I guess the first thing I could say is that the U.S. women are looking to improve upon their performance, noting that they want to fine-tune the details. That’s right. They want to do better. The competition and level of quality they’ll see will only increase from here on out, so I’m glad they are keeping their focus as they play out an already historic World Cup. Another strength that the U.S. has? The depth of quality on the bench. Players like Carli Lloyd, Christen Press, and Ali Krieger (among many more) are not currently designated as starters for the UWSNT. That really speaks to just how strong the bench is for the Yanks, and they’re raring to go when called upon.

The (Other) Women’s World Cup Update

The Canadian Women’s National Team beat their counterparts of New Zealand, 2-0, thanks to efforts from UCLA’s Jessie Fleming and the Houston Dash’s Nichelle Prince. The Netherlands beat Cameroon, 3-1, with two Dutch goals coming from Vivianne Miedema. Dominique Bloodworth also scored for the Dutch, while Gabrielle Onguene got Cameroon’s only goal.

Free Kicks

• Former Lions gaffer Jason Kreis made an emotional return to Salt Lake City — this time as the U.S. U-23 Men’s National Team head coach — for a camp with his new squad. Congratulations, Jason!
• The Chicago Fire’s Djordje Mihailovic has been called upon to replace the injured Duane Holmes on the the Gold Cup roster for the U.S. Men’s National Team.
• Whew…Adam Grinwis is one hell of a goalkeeper…

• Speaking of Grinny, who had a strong performance against Memphis rewarded with a trip to the round of 16 of the U.S. Open Cup, check out this hype video!

• Mark-Anthony Kaye’s career has been quite the journey. Who knew that James O’Connor was a notable figure in his journey? On his time with Louisville City, Kaye stated:

“Louisville humbled me a lot, and I appreciate them for that,” Kaye said. “[I got better because of] my overall drive to keep pushing. I think that talent-wise, I was always there. I think that James just harped more on the little things, on the mental side of the game and just not letting your opponent get into the game and trying to really beat them out. Being around the team environment, it really gave me an understanding of what it takes to be a top-level pro.”

• Tallahassee Soccer Club hosted AFC Mobile in important match between the GFPL’s second and third placed teams, respectively, with the match going the full 90 minutes without a goal.

• This isn’t soccer related, and it’s technically “old” news, but NBA2k19 is on sale right now on the Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch markets for a sparse $2.99. I’ve been obsessing over career mode since I got it, and even if you wouldn’t normally snag it, you can’t beat $2.99!

All right, folks. That’s all I’ve got for you today. Enjoy the Women’s World Cup fixtures today (most importantly, the U.S. vs. Chile — watch this site for full coverage), celebrate your loved ones (especially our fathers, stepfathers, and fathers-in-law), have a great Sunday, and an even better week!