Orlando City’s MLS Playoff History

The Audi 2023 Major League Soccer playoffs have finally arrived, and after a grueling season of squaring off against opponents from all over MLS, the Lions have a clear path ahead of them to achieve something never before done in club history. It all starts with a first-round matchup against a familiar foe in Nashville SC at home on Monday night at 7 p.m. Before the festivities of the best-of-three series kick off, we here at The Mane Land thought it might be time to take a walk down memory lane and recap OCSC playoff runs of years past.

The Breakthrough Season

After failing to qualify for the postseason in the first five years that Orlando City existed in MLS, the breakthrough season finally came in 2020. Coming on the heels of the hiring of Head Coach Oscar Pareja on Dec. 4, 2019, and including the COVID break and MLS is Back Tournament, the Lions enjoyed their best season at that point in club history and finished the year with 41 points — good enough for fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

The Lions faced fellow 2015 expansion side New York City FC in the first round of the MLS playoffs. The match ultimately evolved into team folklore as it advanced to penalties after ending regulation in a 1-1 draw. Everyone believed during the penalty kicks that OCSC had done well enough to advance, with NYCFC legend Maxi Moralez’s opening attempt hitting the crossbar and Orlando keeper Pedro Gallese appearing to stop Taty Castellanos on a diving save. Video review ruled that Gallese had come off his line early, earning a second yellow card and ejection from the remaining PKs. After plenty of chaos and confusion, Rodrigo Schlegel was ultimately substituted on and the phrase, “Papi, I can do that” was born. The unbelivable happened when Schlegel stopped a shot by Gudmundur Thorarinsson, allowing Benji Michel to slot home the ensuing penalty, propelling Orlando City into the second round.

The magic ran out on Orlando City in the second round as Orlando City was defeated by the New England Revolution 3-1 in a gut-wrenching loss which saw the Revs jump out to an early 2-0 lead on the backs of Carles Gil and Gustavo Bou. Junior Urso cut the deficit in half prior to halftime, but after a red card to Mauricio Pereyra forced Orlando City to play a man down and a Nani penalty attempt was saved, the bad guys found an insurance goal and the MLS Cup dreams of 2020 were extinguished.

Once is Good but Twice is Nice

It was clear coming into the 2021 season that a culture shift had taken place after the success of the previous season and that qualifying for the playoffs was now the expectation and not the goal. However, the Lions needed a win on Decision Day at CF Montreal to get into the postseason and Orlando took care of business with a 2-0 victory, courtesy of Sebas Mendez and Daryl Dike.

Orlando City entered the 2021 playoffs as the six seed and faced off against third seed Nashville SC in the first round on a cold November night in Music City. Orlando jumped out to an early lead thanks to a Dike strike, only to be outdone by a brace from Mukhtar and then an insurance goal from Cadiz once again late in stoppage time.

Postseason Threepeat

The culmination of the 2022 season saw Orlando City on the outside looking in entering Decision Day, as the Lions found themselves one point out of the final playoff spot behind the Columbus Crew. The Crew just happened to be the Lions’ Decision Day opponent, and therefore the task at hand was a simple one, win and you’re in. Win they did, as Orlando avenged a first-half, 1-0 deficit thanks to Derrick Etienne, who found the back of the net off of an assist from Lucas Zelarayan. Urso was responsible for bringing hope back into Exploria Stadium as he scored off of a quick turn in the 56th minute, and newcomer Facundo Torres converted a penalty in the 84th minute to send the Lions to their third straight playoff appearance.

Orlando faced a tall task in its first-round playoff matchup as the Lions went on the road to CF Montreal, which had enjoyed one of the best years in its recent history, claiming the second seed in the East. The game, largely forgettable if you ask me, ended in a 2-0 defeat for the Lions, who failed to put a shot on target in the match.

It sure was a luxury, but also slightly weird to have a playoff spot locked up before Decision Day this past year. The Lions’ first-round foe is familiar and you can check out our pre-match coverage for all things Orlando vs. Nashville in the lead-up to the game. Do you have a favorite memory from Decision Day or the playoffs of years past? Let us know in the comments below and as always, Vamos Orlando!