PawedCast Episode 331: Tigres and Charlotte Rewinds, Philly Preview, Messiah Bright Interview, Orlando Pride, OCB, and More

Our new website is taking shape, our paperwork with SBN has been filed, and soon we’ll be an independent site and podcast. You guys made that happen through our GoFundMe crowdfunding efforts and we can’t thank you enough. We previously intended to keep that open until April 1 for those still waiting for payday or on the fence about contributing, but we think that might need to get cut a few days short of that so we have time to ensure the Founders section we’re building for the new site is ready to go when the site domain is transferred to us so we can go live with no hiccups.

This week, we caught up on our list of thank-you shout-outs to everyone who contributed through 9 p.m. Wednesday before diving into our Orlando City, Pride, and OCB news.

Orlando City drew Tigres last midweek but in this case a draw was a loss, as the Mexican side got the all-important road goal in a 1-1 stalemate and advanced in the Concacaf Champions League. The Lions proved they belonged and were never bested but the tiebreaker setup did not shine on Orlando. Ercan Kara scored Orlando’s first Champions League goal and no one who saw it will ever forget it. The team fought hard and it was a solid first outing in the competition against a former champion and perennial favorite. We broke the match down and named our Man of the Match — that second part was easy.

The Lions, unfortunately, did not take that good performance into Saturday. Orlando City played poorly in the first half and couldn’t recover from it after halftime. Martin Ojeda finally scored his first MLS goal but the Lions had little to celebrate other than that in a 2-1 loss at home to a Charlotte team that had been exceedingly poor to start the year. Still, we had to throw in some analysis and our picks for Man of the Match and we did our duty.

Orlando Pride rookie Messiah Bright scored a brace in the NWSL side’s final preseason match. That, along with a blast from Kerry Abello, allowed the Pride to come from 2-0 down against the Washington Spirit and win, 3-2. The Pride finished 5-0-0 this preseason.

Bright joins us this week as our special guest and talks about that brace helping her build confidence. It sounds like the Pride are a confident bunch and the rookie forward talked about playing for Seb Hines, whether he actually ever gets angry, and her adjustment from college soccer to the professional ranks. Big thanks to Messiah for coming on the show.

We discussed the Pride’s new “Highway Woman” primary kit — which is great — and the story behind it. Whether the team is good this season or not, Orlando will once again be on point in the uniform game. The Pride have a difficult opening day, traveling to Portland to face the defending champion Thorns. It should make for a good early test to see how Orlando stacks up against the league’s best.

We also briefly touched on the OCB roster that dropped this week. Some familiar names are back, some are gone, and there are some new faces — some of whom have yet to arrive — this season. The Young Lions kick off their 2023 MLS NEXT Pro season Sunday in Philadelphia.

This week’s mailbagbox asked for some predictions on Orlando City’s real-life finish vs. AFC Richmond’s fictional one, how we fell in love with the beautiful game, and more. 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 looked ahead to Saturday night’s game at Philadelphia, complete with our key match-ups and predictions for what might happen against the Union.

Stay safe and enjoy the show!

Here’s how No. 331 went down:

0:15 – The Lions were knocked out of Champions League despite never losing, but then they lost against what has been a pretty meek opponent to this point in the MLS season.

35:06 – Messiah Bright stops by! The Pride rookie was a delight to talk to and we look forward to seeing her on the pitch based on all the things she said in our interview.

51:54 – Pride and OCB news, our mailbagbox, and our key match-ups and predictions.