PawedCast Episode 208: LAFC Rewind, Minnesota Preview, Dom Dwyer, NWSL, OCB, and More

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We were more than happy to be wrong about our 3-1 predictions of LAFC beating Orlando City. Call it “taking one for the team,” if you will. What we were even happier about was watching history unfold as the Lions knocked out the mighty west coast juggernaut in penalties after squandering the chance to do it in regulation. The Lions were even the better side for all but about 15 minutes of normal time, but the missed penalty and quick LAFC goal made us all squeamish until Joao Moutinho’s perfect header sent the game to spot kicks.

Dave and I break down the thriller — a name that applies to this match more than most 1-1 draws — and give you our Man of the Match selections. We also give you the latest on Dom Dwyer and touch on whether we think he’ll be back in purple again and whether Orlando will sign anyone to replace him for the rest of 2020. Oh, and the MLS regular season might be starting back up shortly after the MLS is Back Tournament wraps up.

Eli Hoff from E Pluribus Loonum joined us to give us the Minnesota United perspective of Thursday’s semifinal match-up against the Lions. We talked about old friends Adrian Heath and Kevin Molino a bit and find out what weaknesses Orlando City can exploit. Thanks to Eli for joining us.

On the women’s side, the NWSL will reportedly be returning to training in home markets Aug. 7 and potentially playing friendlies or four-team tournaments or some other kind of competition. The Pride’s Carson Pickett helped design a Nike cleat and there’s a new Alex Morgan Barbie doll in the company’s “role model” series.

OCB is back in action and the result was familiar even if the performance looked a bit more organized than the 2019 version of the Young Lions. It was OCB’s first game and Tormenta FC’s third, so you’d expect the more veteran Georgia side to be a bit further along in their 2020 trajectory, but there were some positives for the Young Lions.

This week’s mailbag features questions about Dwyer, where the LAFC result stacks up, and more. If there’s anything — and we do mean anything —you want us to address on our next show, just ask by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC.

Finally, we finish off the show with our key match-ups and score predictions for OCSC vs. Minnesota United.

That’s all for this week, but it’s another gigantic show. We’ll be back next week to recap Orlando City vs. the Loons.

Stay safe and enjoy the show!

Here’s how show No. 208 went down:

0:16 – Orlando City’s 1-1 draw and 5-4 penalty shootout win over LAFC was almost everything we could hope for and the Lions move on. We tell you how they did it.

1:00:02 – Eli Hoff jumps on and gives us the news out of the Minnesota United camp to let us know what to expect on Thursday.

1:23:17 – NWSL news and notes, OCB’s first match of 2020, our mailbag, and our key match-ups and score predictions for Orlando City vs. Minnesota United!