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PawedCast Episode 333: Alex Freeman Interview, Nashville Rewind, Pride-Angel City, OCB, and More

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Image courtesy of Orlando City B / Mark Thor

After a win at Philadelphia, Orlando City’s homecoming wasn’t a fun one Saturday, but if one looks beyond the scoreline of the Lions’ 2-0 loss to Nashville SC, the performance didn’t match the result. The Lions — for the most part, anyway — controlled the match, generated the most chances, and honestly should have scored a couple of goals. They didn’t. Instead, they got caught twice by the visitors, who created only a few chances, but converted on two of them, and the first was a gift.

We break down a frustrating home loss but we also aren’t ready to call for anyone’s head just yet, and we explain why. We also select our Man of the Match picks and look forward to Orlando getting healthy and rested for a meeting on April 15 with Minnesota United on the road.

We don’t normally talk about OCB second, but the Young Lions are the club’s only undefeated professional side after a 2-1 win over Huntsville City in the club’s home opener. Alex Freeman scored both goals for OCB and the team was albe to withstand a lot of pressure against the visitors to improve to 2-0-0.

Speaking of Freeman, he joined us as this week’s guest and we asked him about his experiences in camp, what Oscar Pareja has told him he needs to do better to get first-team minutes, how he adjusts to playing for OCB and then quickly changing gears for international play, and much more. Big thanks to Alex for coming on the show and to a couple of our Founders for submitting some questions.

The Pride dropped a heartbreaker in their home opener but man, did they ever create some scoring chances against Angel City. The visitors had to rely on a penalty and a last-gasp header, in addition to numerous missed opportunities by the home team to take three points out of Exploria Stadium for the first time. Ally Watt had a rough match in front of goal but better days lie ahead if Seb Hines can get that kind of performance out of his team each week. We also discussed NWSL expansion and the Pride’s recent signing of three young additions to the team.

The OCSC academy teams won their groups at the Generation Adidas tournament and will be in action today as a result. It’s always nice to see the kids doing well against difficult competition.

Finally, we dove into our mailbagbox, which asked us about bar brawls, how Orlando City spends money on players, and (of all things) the Tampa Bay Rowdies’ home crowd. 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.

Stay safe and enjoy the show!


Here’s how No. 333 went down:

0:15 – The Lions dropped a game they could have won (but didn’t) and a lot of people are upset about it. We’re going to try to stay rational and positive for the time being and explain why others should do so too.

41:41 –Alex Freeman scored twice and that really made us want to talk to him. So we did.

54:16 – The Pride played better but got the same result, although with a better scoreline. Also, the academy teams were cooking over the weekend and the mailbagbox was full.

Podcasts

SkoPurp Soccer Episode 85: Portland Rewind, North Carolina Preview, and More

The Pride equal last year’s loss total with another bad night in Portland, while the Courage wait in North Carolina.

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

The Orlando Pride have not played well for 2.5 of the last three matches, falling 1-0 on the road at Portland Saturday night. Scoring is an issue, as is breaking out of their own end. The Pride simply aren’t creating enough clear-cut scoring chances, and when they do, they’re not being clinical with those opportunities.

We break down Orlando’s second loss of the season — tying last year’s total already — discussing some of the game’s big moments, looking back at our predictions from last week, and making our selections for Player of the Match.

This week’s mailbagbox wants to know about NWSL announcers and officials, Pride cohesion, and the season-ending injury list. Remember, you can ask us anything by hitting us up on Twitter at either @TheManeLand or @SkoPurpSoccer and using the hashtag #AskSkoPurp. You can use that same hashtag and hit @TheManeLand.bsky.social up on Bluesky. Or you can visit our show page, scroll down, and fill out the handy form. We’d also appreciate any ratings or reviews you can leave wherever you get your podcasts, and if you do that on Apple Podcasts, we’ll find them easily and read them on the show.

Following our mailbagbox segment, we look ahead to the Pride’s trip to North Carolina to take on the Courage. It’s a tough place to get a result and a quality opponent for Orlando, but you have to play everyone in their place at some point. A result against North Carolina might be just what the doctor ordered for the Pride to get back on track and go on a run after falling in two of the last three games. We break down the all-time series, preview the Courage, provide our key matchups in the game, and try to predict the final score.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.


Here’s how Episode 85 went down:

0:15 – The Pride are not in the best form at the moment, but they’re still in first place, so there’s that.

17:26 – A bunch of questions were found in this week’s mailbagbox, so we answered them.

35:30 – The Pride head to another difficult place to get results with a trip to North Carolina on the schedule for Saturday. We preview!

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Podcasts

PawedCast Episode 476: Chicago Rewind, OCB at Fire II, Tampa Bay Rowdies Preview, and More

The Lions are stuck with another 0-0 draw, OCB gets drilled in Chicago, and Orlando heads to Tampa Bay.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City may have found its scoring boots against Atlanta, but the Lions put those away, wrapped them in mothballs, and stuck them in the attic before heading to Soldier Field to play the Chicago Fire. The result was another 0-0 draw, but it was a lack of lethality that plagued Orlando on Saturday night on the road, despite being up a man for more than half the match. Martin Ojeda and Marco Pasalic each hit the woodwork in the second half, but the Lions got no closer, as they refused to put shots on target — where they might create problems for a young goalkeeper who had to step in when Chris Brady was sent off late in the first half.

The Lions put only two shots on target all night in a wasteful effort in Chicago, and the draw felt a bit like a loss, but the upshot is they still ran their unbeaten streak to eight games (3-0-5). We looked back at our score predictions, discussed all the key moments, and made our picks for Man of the Match (honestly, there was no contest for that honor on Saturday, as Pedro Gallese was magnificent). Gallese’s effort earned him a spot on the Team of the Matchday this week.

The mailbagbox asks about what we collect, what’s up with music today, what we might see Wednesday in the U.S. Open Cup, and more. Remember, if there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the show, just ask us by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC, or hitting us up on Bluesky Social with that same hashtag.

OCB’s leaky defense over the previous two games was nothing compared to Friday night in Chicago, when Fire FC II pounded the Young Lions 5-1. Shak Mohammed scored first, but missed a penalty just before halftime that could have made a big difference. Chicago rode its momentum into the second half instead and simply beat the brakes off OCB. The Young Lions will have to live with that at least until hosting Inter Miami II on May 17.

Finally, we looked ahead to Orlando City’s trip to Tampa Bay Wednesday for the latest iteration of the I-4 Derby. The Lions last met the Rowdies in their first match of the 2022 U.S. Open Cup and now will open the 2025 run against their in-state rivals. The good news is that the 2022 team ended up playing six games in the competition and winning a nice, shiny trophy at the end. We provide our key matchups and score predictions for the midweek USOC match.

Be sure to rate and review our show wherever you get your podcasts. Remember, we’ll read any five-star reviews we get on Apple Podcasts on the next show.


Here’s how No. 476 went down:

0:15 – The Lions kept a fifth straight clean sheet, but also failed to score for the fourth time in five outings. That’s not optimal.

23:38– The mailbagbox is a welcome salve on our souls after another scoreless draw.

42:10 – OCB got pounded again, and the Lions head to Tampa Bay to renew the I-4 Derby rivalry.

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Podcasts

SkoPurp Soccer Episode 84: Angel City Rewind, Portland Preview, and More

The Pride came from behind to beat Angel City and will head northwest to Portland.

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

The Orlando Pride looked for all the world like they were about to sustain a two-game home losing streak. Down two goals to Angel City — a team the Pride had never beaten at Inter&Co Stadium — and looking hardly in the mood for the first half, the Pride came out of the locker room rejuvenated. Still, it took a while to break through and climb back into the match. Once that happened, Orlando always looked capable of going on and picking up all three points, which is what transpired. It was not only the Pride’s first home win over Angel City (and the first win by the home team in the all-time series), but it was also the club’s first multi-goal comeback victory.

We discuss the game’s talking points and big moments, check our score predictions from last week, and make our selections for Player of the Match in the Pride’s 3-2 home win over Angel City.

This week’s mailbagbox wants to know about expected goals, NWSL parity, the Pride’s choice of starters, underrated moments in the match, a second division in the women’s game in North America, and more. Remember, you can ask us anything by hitting us up on Twitter at either @TheManeLand or @SkoPurpSoccer and using the hashtag #AskSkoPurp. You can use that same hashtag and hit @TheManeLand.bsky.social up on Bluesky. Or you can visit our show page, scroll down, and fill out the handy form. We’d also appreciate any ratings or reviews you can leave wherever you get your podcasts, and if you do that on Apple Podcasts, we’ll find them easily and read them on the show.

Following our mailbagbox segment, we break down Orlando’s upcoming trip to Portland. The Pride have a terrible record at Providence Park (as most teams other than the Thorns do), but can Orlando exact some revenge for the Thorns ruining their unbeaten record late last season? We dive into the series history and the tale of the tape, provide our key matchups for Saturday night, and make our predictions for the final score. We’re coming to the realization that we normally predict pretty much the same few scores over and over. Soccer!

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.


Here’s how Episode 84 went down:

0:15 – The Pride looked like they were about to take a second straight loss, but in the second half, they decided to win instead.

18:21 – Our listeners must know things. And we’re here to help with that need to know in our mailbagbox segment.

41:30 – The Pride head to a difficult place to get results with a trip to Portland coming up this weekend.

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