Lion Links
Lion Links: 10/23/23
Orlando City’s playoff schedule is set, Stajduhar’s good performance, two high-profile MLS strikers will hit the market this off-season, and more.
Merry Monday morning, Mane Landers! Orlando City finished out the regular season with a 2-0 win over Toronto in Canada. It’s been quite a season with the Lions finishing second overall, setting a club record for points and wins, and making the playoffs for the fourth time in four years. It’s been an unmitigated success with hopefully more to come. Let’s get to the links.
Lions’ First-Round Playoff Schedule Set
On Saturday, we learned that Orlando City’s first-round, best-of-three, playoff opponent is Nashville SC. Now we know the schedule. The first match will be on Monday, Oct. 30 at Exploria Stadium at 7 p.m. The second match will be on Tuesday, Nov. 7 at GEODIS Park in Nashville at 9 p.m. If a third match is necessary, it would be back in Exploria Stadium on Sunday, Nov. 12.
Elsewhere, the play-in wild card matches are scheduled for Wednesday, with the New York Red Bulls taking on Charlotte FC, and Sporting Kansas City playing the San Jose Earthquakes.
If you’re unfamiliar with the the playoff format for the first round, you can read more about it here. The playoffs resume a sense of normalcy in the second round. By virtue of their second-place overall finish to the regular season, Orlando City will host in every round unless playing FC Cincinnati. That includes the final if the Lions make it that far.
Stajduhar’s Very Good Day
Oscar Pareja heavily rotated the starting 11 for Orlando City Saturday night against Toronto FC, including giving Pedro Gallese a well-deserved rest as Mason Stajduhar got the start in goal for the Lions. All the young keeper did was keep a clean sheet and record an assist on Duncan McGuire’s first goal. Like Pareja, Stajduhar was happy with the performance of the team, and he said he was surprised to see the first goal from Duncan as he was preparing Orlando City’s prevent defense. It was a good team win for the Lions heading into the MLS playoffs.
A Pair of Veteran Strikers Available
Orlando City has an excellent striker in rookie Duncan McGuire. Although he has scored 13 goals this season, it’s unlikely he’ll win MLS Young Player of the Year, as Thiago Almada has 30 goal contributions. McGuire recently scored a goal for the U-23 USMNT. I mention this because there is a good chance McGuire will be called up to play in the Olympics next year and will miss a month of the season. After the departure of Ercan Kara, the Lions need another striker regardless of whether McGuire gets a call-up or not.
Two veteran MLS strikers will be available if Orlando City wants to take a chance on either. Josef Martinez will not be with Inter Miami next season. I think that signing Martinez is a long shot to be certain, and his price tag will need to come way down, but it would be nice for him to score goals for the Lions rather than against them. The same could be said about Kei Kamara, as he has stated that he is leaving the Chicago Fire, but not MLS. Either of these players might be just what Orlando City needs next season.
American-Filled Serie A Clash
History was made Sunday when four American players squared of in the AC Milan versus Juventus match. Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah started for Milan, while Tim Weah and Weston McKennie started for Juventus. Gregg Berhalter made the trip to watch his players, and was rewarded when Weah assisted on Manuel Locatelli’s goal as Juventus beat Milan, 1-0.
Free Kicks
- Orlando City supporters and Exploria Stadium made it to 12th best in this very unscientific list.
- As our Michael Citro noted in our recap of Saturday’s match, Orlando City dedicated the win over Toronto to club equipment manager Chafik Tounzit, who was diagnosed with cancer earlier in the week
- Florida State’s women’s team kept its number one ranking, defeating the No. 18 Pittsburgh Panthers 3-2 in Tallahassee.
- MLS has instituted a temporary ban on flags, tifos, banners, or signs that represent a country or nationality to keep anyone from referencing the conflict in the Middle East ( $ The Athletic) during MLS matches.
That will do it for today. Keep an eye out for our Orlando Pride Season in Review pieces starting this week. We’ll also bring you all the news on the men’s side as Orlando City prepares for the upcoming playoff best-of-three series with Nashville SC. Vamos Orlando!