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Orlando City

Orlando City’s Rookie Class of 2019 Showed Tremendous Potential for the Future

Published

6 years ago

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Orlando City came into the 2019 season with three rookies on the roster — Homegrown Player Benji Michel and MLS SuperDraft selections Santiago Patiño and Kamal Miller. All three players showed promise in 2019, with Miller earning starting minutes on the Canadian Men’s National Team due to his versatility and athleticism at both center back and left back and Patiño getting a call-up from the Colombian U-23s. Meanwhile, Michel developed nicely over the course of the season and put up numbers comparable to MLS Rookie of the Year Andrei Shinyashiki of the Colorado Rapids.

Shinyashiki is a player that — like Patiño — stood out at the MLS Player Combine prior to the draft. At only 5-foot-9, the Rapids forward isn’t as physically impressive as the broad-chested, 6-foot-1 Patiño, but his play stood out at Exploria Stadium in the combine sessions I saw. The league’s top rookie has Orlando-area ties, having played at Montverde Academy, which he attended alongside Michel. Our Scott Carnevale wrote about Shinyashiki’s impressive run at the MLS Combine. Patiño, an Orlando-born Florida International product, who fell just a few months shy of qualifying for Homegrown Player status for Orlando City, also impressed at the event.

Orlando selected Patiño with the No. 3 overall pick and Shinyashiki fell to the Rapids at No. 5. At the time, Luiz Muzzi and James O’Connor both spoke about how they considered Patiño an Orlando Homegrown and how the club wanted to show its commitment to its academy players, past and present. Patiño was more than a draft selection — he was also a message to the area’s youth players that they are welcome and wanted. It was a necessary step by a club that had mismanaged its youth setup for years and was leaking potential prospects to the college game.

It’s easy now to point to Shinyashiki’s league award and say the Lions made the wrong choice on draft day, but it is also perhaps premature to do so. The Brazil native required Colorado to spend an international slot on him, which may have played a role in Orlando selecting Patiño, a guy physically built more like a traditional striker.

Shinyashiki benefited in 2019 from a less crowded group of attacking players ahead of him than Patiño, although it’s also possible he was simply more ready to step into the rotation as well. As a result, Shinyashiki won the league’s top rookie award after a season in which he played in 31 matches (18 starts), totaling 1,670 minutes. The Brazilian scored seven goals and added three assists.

Meanwhile, Orlando’s rookies also performed well when called upon, but struggled for minutes behind a three-man forward line that included Nani, Dom Dwyer, a resurgent Tesho Akindele, and Chris Mueller. Breaking in among that group was difficult for Patiño and Michel — even with Dwyer’s scoring slump in full swing this summer. Michel eventually managed to do so late in the season. 

Patiño saw the field only 11 times and started only three matches, tallying 322 minutes. But he made good use of that time, scoring two goals and adding an assist. Michel got on the pitch 17 times, starting nine games and playing 943 minutes. In that time, he scored five goals and added an assist.

If you break these numbers down, Patiño actually has the fewest average minutes per goal, as the rookie scored every 161 minutes on the pitch (yes, in an admittedly very small sample size). Michel, who has a larger sample size, scored a goal every 188.6 minutes he was on the field. Shinyashiki scored once for every 238.6 minutes he played. If you factor in assists, Patiño still leads the trio. He was involved in a goal (either scoring or assisting on one) every 107 minutes he played. Michel either scored a goal or assisted on one every 157 minutes. Shinyashiki did so every 167 minutes.

I’m not suggesting that Michel or Patiño are necessarily better or more successful than the MLS Rookie of the Year or that they’re as far along in their development. These numbers suggest that all three players were effective but it should not be overlooked that Shinyashiki had more opportunity. Obviously this gave him an advantage in driving his totals higher but he also got himself on the pitch. Whether that is because he had a less crowded field of attackers to navigate in Colorado than Patiño and Michel had in Orlando — Nicolas Mezquida seemed to be relegated largely to a sub role in Colorado and Jonathan Lewis only played in 16 games, leaving Kei Kamara and Diego Rubio as the team’s only other consistent attacking choices — or if he simply showed his coach that he was more ready, I couldn’t say, as I’m not at training every day. The Rapids’ reward for playing their kids was deserved.

But if Michel and Patiño can build on their 2019 seasons, and Miller can improve upon a rookie year in which he played 16 games (14 starts), this could be Orlando’s best draft class to date, regardless of a lack of league awards among the three. It has some way to go to beat the Cyle Larin-Earl Edwards Jr. draft of 2015, but the Lions’ Class of 2019 is off to a good start.

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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. St. Louis City: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

The Lions make their first trip to St. Louis looking to build on their win at Colorado.

Published

3 hours ago

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June 25, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Welcome to your match thread and preview for a Wednesday night matchup between Orlando City (8-4-6, 30 points) and St. Louis City SC (3-9-6, 15 points) at Energizer Park in St. Louis, MO (8:30 p.m., MLS Season Pass on Apple TV). This is the second meeting ever between the two sides, the first in St. Louis, and the only one on the 2025 regular-season schedule.

Here’s what you need to know about the match.

History

These teams have met just once before. Orlando City won that match 2-1 on Aug. 26 at Exploria Stadium on Facundo Torres’ penalty in the first minute of stoppage time. Torres completed his brace after a handball in the box by Anthony Markanich stopped a shot by Rafael Santos. Torres opened the scoring in the second half, but Rasmus Alm equalized, with his goal being awarded after video review revealed the referee’s assistant should not have raised their flag for the ball going out of play prior to the critical pass that led to the goal. Jake Nerwinsky was sent off late in that game for a foul denying Ramiro Enrique a goal-scoring opportunity.

Overview

The Lions are 3-2-4 on the road this season after coming off a tightly contested 1-0 road win at Colorado on June 14, snapping a two-match losing streak that ended a busy May schedule. Orlando has been off since beating the Rapids but will try to continue building momentum as the month of June comes to a close. The Lions have six matches against Eastern Conference competition after visiting tonight’s Western Conference opponents in the leadup to the 2025 Leagues Cup at the end of July.

Orlando City center back Rodrigo Schlegel will serve his one-game suspension for yellow card accumulation tonight, and with Alex Freeman away with the USMNT, the Lions will be missing half of their starters on the back line for this match as the entire right half will be out. Look for David Brekalo to move to right center back. Dagur Dan Thorhallsson is the most likely candidate to take the right back spot, with either Kyle Smith or Santos slotting in at left back.

St. Louis City is 2-3-4 at home this season and is coming off a wild 3-3 home draw against the LA Galaxy on June 14. Joao Klauss scored a hat trick in the match, putting his third goal of the game in the net in the fifth minute of stoppage time to steal a point against the defending champions. Tonight’s hosts are 0-1-1 in their last two matches, but they’ve been playing better lately, with five consecutive games either decided by a single goal or finishing in a draw.

Klauss may have gotten three of his five goals this season in the last game, but he can be one of the league’s most lethal finishers. It’s not the best night for Orlando to be missing half of its back line with the Brazilian rounding into form. On the other end, Roman Burki is one of the best goalkeepers in the league, so Orlando City will need to be clinical to finish chances — something that the team has struggled with at times.

“St. Louis is a team we don’t regularly play, but we’ve followed them over the last three or four games,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said ahead of the match. “They’ve changed coaches, even though it’s someone who has been within the system. We try to capture what their current modes are — how they’re structured, how they’re playing — and then merge that into our game plan. We don’t have as much context of a rivalry as we usually do, since it’s a team we don’t know very well. But we keep preparing in our way and keep insisting that imposing our style on the game is what we’re looking for.”

In addition to Schlegel (suspension) and Freeman (international duty) the Lions will be without Duncan McGuire (shoulder), Wilder Cartagena (Achilles), and Yutaro Tsukada (knee), while Joran Gerbet (thigh) is listed as questionable. St. Louis City will be without Alm (hip), Chris Durkin (knee), Henry Kessler (hamstring), Eduard Löwen (hamstring), Joakim Nilsson (knee), and Tomáš Ostrák (lower body).

Match Content

Projected Lineups

Orlando City (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Pedro Gallese.

Defenders: Rafael Santos, Robin Jansson, David Brekalo, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson.

Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Cesar Araujo, Eduard Atuesta, Marco Pasalic.

Forwards: Martin Ojeda, Luis Muriel.

St. Louis City SC (4-3-3)

Goalkeeper: Roman Burki.

Defenders: Jayden Reid, Timo Baumgartl, Kyle Hiebert, Tomas Totland.

Midfielders: Alfredo Morales Simon Becher, Akil Watts.

Forwards: Celio Pompeu, Joao Klauss, Marcel Hartel.

Referees

REF: Guido Gonzales, Jr.
AR1: Ryan Graves.
AR2: Walt Heatherly.
4TH: Matt Thompson.
VAR: Kevin Terry, Jr.
AVAR: TBA.

How to Watch

Match Time: 8:30 p.m.

Venue: Energizer Park — St. Louis, MO.

TV/Streaming: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.

Radio: AM 810 FOX Sports Radio Orlando (English), Mega 97.1 FM (Spanish).

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 game. Go City!

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 6/25/25

Orlando City and OCB play tonight, the Club World Cup continues, and more.

Published

7 hours ago

on

June 25, 2025

By

Image courtesy of Victor Tan / New Day

Welcome to Wednesday, Mane Landers. It is a busy week here at The Mane Land. Orlando City and Orlando City B play tonight, there are FIFA Club World Cup matches, Concacaf Gold Cup, and USWNT friendlies. It’s a lot, but it also means there’s a ton of soccer to watch, which is a good thing. Let’s get to the links.

Go West, Orlando City

Orlando City heads to Missouri to take on St. Louis City FC tonight. The Lions will be without Alex Freeman (international duty) and Rodrigo Schlegel (yellow card accumulation). Orlando City will need to deal with St. Louis City striker Joao Klauss while finding goals on the road. This is a must-watch midweek match. We will have a preview later today, and you should also listen to The Mane Land PawedCast to prepare.

Orlando City B Returns Home vs. Toronto FC II

Orlando City B hosts Toronto FC II at Osceola County Stadium tonight. Like the first team, we will have coverage for you. The Young Lions are coming off a two-week break after a loss to Carolina Core FC. It will be interesting to see which OCB shows up for the match. You can watch the match on mlsnextpro.com.

Club World Cup, Orlando-Style

There might not be as many people in the seats at the Club World Cup as FIFA would like, but Orlando is still a big part of it. The group stage finishes this week as the competition heads into the Round of 16. There’s a ton of prize money up for all the competitors no matter where they are currently in the standings. Our Michael Citro was at Camping World Stadium last night to cover LAFC vs. Flamengo in Group D.

USMNT News

The USMNT will face Costa Rica Sunday in a Concacaf Gold Cup quarterfinal match in Minneapolis. Malik Tillman has been a bright spot on the roster, though Orlando City fans will be watching Freeman. The perpetual search for a consistent striker continues for the USMNT, though Patrick Agyemang may be the answer — at least for now.

Free Kicks

  • There’s nothing quite like having your number retired after playing for a team for two whole years after playing for another club for six years. It is especially special when the new club has been in existence for a whole four years. Congratulations to former Orlando Pride forward Alex Morgan.

Jesse Marsch cleared of all allegations by Concacaf.MORE: news.canadasoccer.com/jesse-marsch…

— CANMNT (@canmntofficial.bsky.social) 2025-06-24T03:22:25.639Z
  • After the Gold Cup, Agyemang may be making the move from Charlotte FC to Derby County.

🚨🐏 Excl: Derby County are closing in on deal to sign 24 year old striker Patrick Agyemang from Charlotte FC. Talks underway with player’s green light already in place.

— Fabrizio Romano (MIRROR) (@fabrizioromano.yopro20.com) 2025-06-24T23:28:28.124048+00:00
  • You may have seen that the USWNT is celebrating Pride month with rainbow numbers on the team jerseys. I am a supporter and ally, but it means even more to the players.

That will do it for today. Make sure you check back later for our match coverage. You can also follow our live coverage on Bluesky. Vamos Orlando!

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 6/24/25

Orlando City’s upward aspirations, Tim Weah reportedly set for transfer, Club World Cup roundup, and more.

Published

1 day ago

on

June 24, 2025

By

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Happy Tuesday, everyone. We’ve got a busy week ahead of us with the Club World Cup approaching the end of the group stage, OCB at home on Wednesday, and Orlando City back in action with a pair of games. That means we have plenty to talk about, so let’s get straight into today’s links.

Orlando City’s Lofty Goals

Kyle Smith took some time after training on Monday to speak to the media and shed some light on where OCSC is at right now. The utility player was candid in saying he believes this year’s team is the best one he’s seen since he’s been with the club, and that’s saying something considering he’s the longest-tenured player on the team. Smith said the team is focused on climbing higher in the standings and that the two recent breaks will help the team do just that. He emphasized the importance of handling extra time off between games the right way by making sure the players are taking care of their bodies, getting in the gym, and recovering afterwards. That sort of professionalism paid off in the 1-0 win over the Colorado Rapids, so hopefully the same is true of Wednesday’s game against St. Louis City.

Tim Weah Reportedly on the Move

Nottingham Forest has reportedly agreed a deal with Juventus to sign Tim Weah and fellow Juve player Samuel Mbangula for roughly €22 million. That being said, personal terms have not yet been agreed upon with Weah, and that will likely take some time, since he’s playing for them at the Club World Cup, and the Italian side is probably keen to minimize outside distractions. Weah broke out with Lille during a four-season spell with the French side, earning a move to Juventus in 2023 as a result.

Club World Cup Roundup

The Club World Cup continues to roll on, as the tournament entered its final round of group stage games on Monday. Atletico Madrid became the first big name to exit the competition, as it beat Botafogo 1-0 to finish level with the Brazilians on six points but will be going home due to having worse goal difference. Atletico needed to win by at least three in order to overtake Botafogo in the standings and might have managed it if not for some poor finishing. In Group B’s other game, Paris Saint-Germain took down the Seattle Sounders 2-0 to finish top of the group. Seattle was given a brutal draw and accounted itself as well as can be expected, but ultimately, the Sounders exit the competition without picking up a point.

Club World Cup Takeaways

Speaking of the Club World Cup, what are some of the impressions so far of the expanded tournament? There have been plenty of good things, as teams have been taking it seriously with strong lineups, and barring the outlier that is Auckland City, no one team has been consistently getting shelled. On the other hand, making the jump from six teams to 32 simply feels like too much too soon, and that’s probably contributed to fluctuating levels of interest from local fans. High ticket prices and games starting in the heat of the day haven’t helped much either, as weather conditions have been a recurring concern among both fans and players. The competition is still a net positive overall, but there are certainly some things to learn from and improve upon next time around.

Free Kicks

  • Check out some of the scenes from the Lions’ training session on Monday.

That’s all I have for you this morning. Vamos Orlando!

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