Orlando City Will Look to Take Advantage of First Round Playoff Changes

What a strange place we find ourselves in at this point in the season. An international window fell between the last home game of the regular season and Decision Day 2023. Not only is the time off strange, to say the least, but Decision Day for the Lions will look decidedly different than in years past with the team having secured a spot in the playoffs a lifetime ago and home field advantage for the first round just slightly after that. When it comes to Decision Day drama, unfortunately for us fans who have grown accustomed to needing a litany of pieces to fall into place just to make the playoffs in years past, the drama department has closed for the year.

In the off-season, the Major League Soccer office decided to retool and refresh the playoff format when it came to the first-round matchups, including expanding the field and adding a wild card weekend of sorts. Round one, which will kick off on Oct. 28 and run through Nov. 12, will now find teams in a best-of-three scenario. Let’s take a look at why I think these changes and the form Orlando City has been in throughout the season may just be a match made in heaven to position the boys in purple and gold for a strong playoff run.

Round one will see the higher seeds like Orlando City host a lower seed (in our case the No. 7 position in the East) in a home-away-home format, where the first team to two victories will advance. Why does this change benefit Orlando, you might ask? Well, the team secured the best road record in the Eastern Conference this season and could top MLS in that category, depending on their final match and Real Salt Lake’s last two games (both away).

Orlando has proven time and time again that the venue does not necessarily matter, picking up wins this season in Philadelphia, Cincinnati, and Nashville, just to name a few. Combine the team’s road success with home field advantage and the form that the team has been in the second half of the season at home, and Orlando is positioned to not necessarily need a game number three to advance out of the first round, although matchups obviously matter.

In the first round there will be no ties, aggregate score, and — most importantly — no extra time played. If a match is tied at the end of regulation, teams will advance directly to penalty kicks ala the 2023 Leagues Cup, a format which Orlando City did well in during the group stage while earning an extra point against the Houston Dynamo by winning the shootout. After a run to the 2022 U.S. Open Cup championship, which saw the Lions win a couple of shootouts, with calm and collected nerves, and their experience in the Leagues Cup this year, if a match fails to produce a victor in regulation time, I am more than confident in this team’s ability to collectively step up to the spot and advance.

Predictions come a dime a dozen in the sports world, but I feel like the changes made to the playoffs this year and the way the team has played as of late in knockout matches — and in hostile environments — has this year’s squad perfectly positioned to get out of the first round and host an additional playoff game in the conference semifinals. Between now and then, all that stands in the way of the Lions is what can only be described as the most anticlimactic Decision Day in years.

What do you think, City fans, will the Lions take full advantage of the new changes to round one of the MLS playoffs this year? Do you think that OCSC will even need a third game to advance? Let us know your takes in the comments below, and as always, Vamos Orlando!