PawedCast Episode 314: NYCFC Rewind, Pride-Reign, Miami & Crew Previews, and More

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Orlando City was a little groggy after the international break and despite taking a lead early in the second half against New York City FC, the Lions couldn’t kill off the pesky Pigeons and conceded twice to lose a vital match in the chase for a playoff spot. That leaves Orlando in a precarious position with two matches left to play. Both are winnable, but both are also loseable and the Lions are not exactly in their best run of form after losing three of the last four. We break down the game at Red Bull Arena (seriously, build a damn stadium already, NYCFC!) and make our picks for Man of the Match from the 2-1 road loss.

The Orlando Pride mercifully ended their tumultuous 2022 campaign by following their seven-game unbeaten run with a six-game winless skid to close the season. The Pride were never really in it against the Reign, who went on to win not only the game, but the NWSL Shield as well. It’s going to be an interesting off-season for GM Ian Fleming and the Pride organization, and it sure would be nice if the league would let us know if Amanda Cromwell is out or not.

We also touched on the depressing report by the independent investigation into player abuse in women’s professional soccer and some of the horrific things that we learned from it and we just want the players to be safe. That’s it. That’s all that matters.

This week’s mailbag asked us to name names, and I did. We also explained how to achieve “friend of the pod” status and improved one aspect of five Orlando City players. If there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the next show, just ask by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC.

Finally, we previewed Orlando City’s visit south to take on Tropic Thunder rival Inter Miami tonight and the regular-season finale against the Columbus Crew on Sunday, giving our key match-ups and score predictions.

Stay safe and enjoy the show!

Here’s how No. 314 went down:

0:15 – The Lions lost a vital chance to all but assure themselves a spot in the postseason and now comes the white knuckle finish.

27:59 – The Pride ended the season as they started, by being bad at soccer.

56:29 – The mailbag beckons us. Plus, key match-ups and score predictions for Miami and Columbus.