Orlando City B vs. Greenville Triumph SC: Final Score 2-0 as Young Lions Dominated on Road

Orlando City B (1-7-3, 6 points) fell 2-0 to Greenville Triumph SC (10-2-1, 31 points) in what was a very dominant performance by the hosts. Two second-half goals were the difference on the scoreboard, though OCB was never a threat in this one.

The OCB lineup featured many of the players you would expect, but with the addition of striker Julian Kennedy. The striker started the first four games this season before sitting until this game. The lineup included team captain Mateo Rodas and Raul Aguilera, who have recently been hindered by injuries. The addition of Kennedy came at the expense of usual starter Jose Quintero.

Greenville dominated this game from the very start. The hosts were a little more dominant in the first half than the second half but OCB never really showed any signs of being a threat to the Greenville defense.

From the outset, OCB was on the back foot, defending in its own third of the field. Greenville had early chances in the second minute by Lachlan McLean and in the ninth minute by Alex Morrell. Inside the first 16 minutes, Greenville had three wide open headers at the top of the six-yard box — three by McLean and one by Jake Keegan — but they were all right at OCB goalkeeper Austin Aviza.

Despite being dominated in the first half, OCB did have a couple of chances. In the 29th minute, a long ball was sent forward by Rodas, where it was flicked forward by Kennedy. Wilfredo Rivera ran onto it and played it back to Kennedy, who sent the ball just wide of the far post.

The best chance of the game for the Young Lions came in the 31st minute when Rivera sent a long ball for Moises Tablante. Attacking Paul Clowes, Tablante showed quality ball control to create space and get a shot away. Unfortunately, his shot went just over the crossbar. OCB wouldn’t get that close again to scoring.

OCB had some sustained possession for the first time inside the first 10 minutes of the second half but it didn’t last that long. In the 65th minute, the hosts finally broke through. OCB left too much room in the midfield and Greenville took advantage, playing nicely through the OCB defense. The ball eventually came through Morrell to McLean inside the box. Juan Pablo Monticelli initially stayed in front of him but a quick touch by McLean caught Monticelli on the wrong foot and the Australian played it to the far post for the opening goal.

It didn’t take long for the hosts to double their lead, doing so just four minutes later. The second goal of the night started with a mistake by OCB. A bad pass from Monticelli to Aguilera ended up with Keegan and a numbers advantage for Greenville. The forward found Morrell streaking to his right and, with plenty of space in front of him, he was able to line up the far post and place it past Aviza.

The two-goal lead gave Greenville the ability to play with more possession and not attack as much, though the hosts still created chances. They nearly scored a third in the 79th minute when Morrell found substitute Andrew Booth in the box. The shot was on target but Aviza made a nice diving save to keep the deficit at two.

OCB was unable to create any real chances in the second half, ultimately falling 2-0 to the league leaders. The first half was the more dominant one for Greenville as it held 65% possession and outshot OCB, 20-3. While not quite as dominant in the second half, the hosts still ended up with 64.3% possession and out-shot the Young Lions, 28-6.

It was expected that OCB would fall in this game, though not as badly as the Young Lions did. The 2-0 score line was probably generous to OCB, considering how dominant the hosts were. It could’ve been much worse.

OCB’s losing streak has now reached four games and the Young Lions are still having trouble finding the back of the net. The last goal they scored was in the 30th minute on Sept. 3 by Jose Quintero. That’s 420 minutes without a goal.

OCB will have to regroup quickly, with a makeup game scheduled for Wednesday against the Richmond Kickers in Virginia.