Lion Links: 8/25/19

Happy Sunday, Mane Land! Not the greatest weekend for Orlando soccer, but as their social media teams always insist, “On to the next!” Let’s get to the links.

Orlando Pride Fall to Washington Spirit

A terrible goalkeeping mistake in the ninth minute let the Spirit open the scoring as Washington’s Crystal Thomas took advantage of a lackadaisical Ashlyn Harris. Marta did well to score to pull Orlando back into it before halftime, only to see the Spirit’s Ashley Hatch score the winning goal in the 59th minute. The 2-1 loss on the road did nothing to help the Pride climb from the bottom of the standings. Grab your tickets now to see the rematch at home next weekend.

Orlando City B Loses Again

This time the loss came in Tucson, AZ, as the Young Lions fell behind 3-0 before eventually losing for the seventh consecutive match. The 3-1 loss came against FC Tucson at the site of the Young Lions’ only away point of 2019, so there may have been some optimism going in, but that was quickly squashed. Leonardo Simas kept the Young Lions from getting shut out, scoring off a pass from Luc Granitur. OCB is just playing out the string at this point and the end of the USL League One season can’t come fast enough.

OCB Signs Winger Lucas Ontivero

Prior to last night’s game, OCB announced the signing of the 24-year-old, who previously played professionally in the U.S., Mexico, and Argentina. He spent some time in MLS after going on loan to to Montreal Impact, where her scored twice and had two assists in his 23 appearances. OCB wasted no time in getting him into the lineup, as he started for the Young Lions last night at FC Tucson.

In Case you Hadn’t Heard, OCSC Can’t Finish

Similar to TML’s 5 Takeaways from Friday night’s match, ProSoccerUSA.com shared three things that can be learned from the loss at home. Of course the first thing of note is how finishing continues to be an issue. Then, on to Mauricio Pereyra earning more minutes as he works toward full match fitness.

“I hope the next game I should be ready, I don’t know yet. I worked really hard the last three weeks, I played 45 [minutes] against Minnesota and now 60 [minutes], so hopefully for the next game I should be ready,” Pereyra said about his minutes.

Lastly the focus was on Carlos Ascues finding offensive footing as he stepped out of his mostly defensive role and played more on the attack. The creativity we got to see Friday night was something I can get behind!

Free Kicks

• Lionel Messi to miss Barcelona’s home opener.
• Crystal Palace made history at Old Trafford.
• Pep Guardiola says Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling is the one pushing himself to grow into a world-class player.
• New stands equal new fans as Canadian Premier League’s Pacifc FC works to build a soccer culture on Vancouver Island.
• NYCFC beats the New York Red Bulls in the Hudson River Derby, as former Lion, Amro Tarek watched from the stands after picking up a red last week.

That’ll do it for me this morning, Mane Landers! Here’s hoping you have the day to relax and recover.