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Orlando City vs. Austin FC: Final Score 2-0 as Lynn and Lodeiro Lead Lions to Victory

Lions get their first win of the season in comfortable fashion despite missing several regular players.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City scored a goal in each half and limited Austin FC to just three shot attempts as the Lions won 2-0 in front of a crowd of 20,985 at Inter&Co Stadium. Jack Lynn and Nico Lodeiro scored the goals to lead the Lions to their first win of the season. Mason Stajduhar only had to make one easy save on a weak effort from distance to keep the clean sheet for Orlando (1-3-1, 4 points) in a comfortable victory over Austin (0-2-3, 3 points).

The win by Orlando was the first for either side in the series, with the Lions now 1-0-1 in two meetings with the Texas-based side. It was a much-needed victory for City, which was rarely threatened in the match by Austin’s attack.

“Today was much complete. We had a good performance,” Orlando City Head Coach Oscar Pareja said after the match. “We had players getting much closer to their best performance, but we had the result. We scored goals, we had volume, we had the initiative to play the way we are, and we controlled a team that has a lot of speed, especially on the flanks and we’re happy. Congratulations to the footballers and happy to see them enjoy the result.”

Pareja’s 4-4-2 starting lineup reflected the international window the team finds itself in, with Mason Stajduhar starting in goal behind a back line of Rafael Santos, Robin Jansson, Rodrigo Schlegel, Dagur Dan Thorhallsson. The midfield was made up of Ivan Angulo, Lodeiro, Kyle Smith, and Martin Ojeda, with Luis Muriel and Lynn — his first start with the senior team in any competition.

The game’s first 15 minutes went by without either side getting a look at goal. Both teams kept spells of possession but a heavy touch or a misplaced pass broke down the attack. Then each team suddenly got a good look at goal.

The first was a volley effort from the crescent above the box for Diego Rubio in the 17th minute. The Austin striker took a ball first time and sent it just wide of the left post.

Orlando then got forward for its first look at the net. Muriel sent Thorhallsson down the right channel and he laid off a pass for Ojeda. The Argentine sent a ball in that was intercepted, but Thorhallsson got to the ball first, then spun and fired a shot. The effort was well over the bar from the right side of the box.

The next half chance came in the 24th minute, when Muriel overcooked either a cross for Lynn or a back-post shot attempt. Thorhallsson won a corner a few minutes later when he nutmegged a defender and was taken down trying to get to the ball. Ojeda played the ball to the Icelandic fullback on the set piece, and he was wide open at the top of the area. But Thorhallsson made an absolute mess of his shot, which sailed high into The Wall behind Brad Stuver’s goal in the 31st minute.

Muriel was taken down 30 yards straight out from goal on Orlando’s next attack, giving the Lions a free kick. Ojeda took a shot from there with a hard drive toward the inside of the right post in the 34th minute. Stuver got over to make the save, but he fumbled the ball. He was saved embarrassment when the ball trickled wide of the post for a corner kick.

Austin’s best opportunity came in the 38th minute, as Orlando got caught in transition on a long diagonal ball. Schlegel got to a centering pass ahead of his opponent, but couldn’t clear it convincingly. Jader Obrian got to the loose ball with tons of room to shoot, but the Austin winger fired off target to the left of goal and high.

A minute later, Lynn should have opened the scoring. A ball placed out front found Lynn at the left post and all he had to do was direct it on frame, but the 2022 SuperDraft pick stabbed his shot wide to the left from point-blank range.

No matter, however, as Lynn made up for the miss in the 42nd minute. Thorhallsson and Lodeiro exchanged passes on the right wing and the Icelandic fired in a perfect ball to the back post. Lynn simply had to guide it on target. He hit his header at Stuver, but from that close in, the Austin keeper could do nothing to keep it out and the Lions broke the deadlock. It was Lynn’s first MLS goal.

“It was amazing,” Lynn said about scoring his first MLS goal. “I’ve been looking forward to that one for a long time, so it felt really good, especially right in front of our crowd. I don’t honestly remember the buildup too much. I just remember the ball kind of recirculating back to Dagur and trying to find an empty pocket of space in the box, and he put it right on my head, so it’s hard to miss that one.”

“(Jack) is a player who patiently has been waiting (for) his opportunity,” Pareja said. “I could say that maybe he should have more games at this point with the way he has performed in the second group and what he has achieved as an individual. He’s very lethal and he has goals. Today, he opened the game. Jack’s discipline and constant effort has paid off and we’re happy.”

Ojeda tried to double the lead two minutes after Lynn’s goal, firing a laser from 30 yards out. But the Argentine’s shot went straight into Stuver’s midsection. Neither side mustered any opportunities in the one minute of stoppage time and the Lions took their slim lead into the locker room.

The visitors held the halftime edge in possession (51.6%-48.4%) and passing accuracy (88%-86.7%), while Orlando had more shots (6-2), shots on target (3-0), and corners (2-0).

The Lions came out of the break the much stronger team, pushing the attack toward Stuver’s goal. Thorhallsson sent another outstanding cross through the box in the first minute of the second period, but multiple teammates made the same run and no one held up near the penalty spot. As a result, Austin was able to clear, but only as far as Santos, who took a big windup before firing a shot that the defense blocked. The ball then found its way to Muriel, who sent a shot just wide of the post. Lodeiro missed the right post by inches in the 47th minute.

Ojeda just missed a shot toward the right post in the 54th minute as the Lions kept pushing. IN the 56th minute, the ball ended up on Lodeiro’s foot at the top of the box but his shot hit Ojeda. The latter picked up the ball on the recycled attack and fired a shot that deflected just wide off of Austin defender Brendan Hines-Ike for a corner kick. The Lions were whistled for a foul on the set piece cross.

Two minutes later, the Lions turned Austin over in the visitors’ own end and Angulo smashed a shot on target. Stuver made a good diving save to his right to knock it out for a corner in the 58th minute. Lynn got his head to the ensuing set piece cross, but he couldn’t get any power on it and it was a comfortable save on one hop for Stuver.

Orlando continued to pour forward and Muriel sent a dangerous ball to the back post in the 60th minute, but none of his teammates made that back-post run, where they’d have had a similar situation to what Lynn had on the earlier goal.

Two minutes later, Lodeiro lined up a shot outside the box. Austin blocked the effort but it came off a hand, giving Orlando City a free kick from just outside the area. Lodeiro made the set piece pay off, delivering a lethal shot inside the top left corner of the goal. Stuver just managed to get a hand to the ball, but there was no keeping out a shot of that quality and the Lions led 2-0 in the 64th minute.

“When the goal is that size, Martin or myself, it’s our time,” Lodeiro said.

“I’m happy to see him scoring,” Pareja said. “It’s not just all the work that he does for the team internally in the game, but scoring is great for us.”

Austin sent on some reinforcements in Emiliano Rigoni and Owen Wolff after the goal, trying to chase the match, but aside from the visitors trying to attack down Orlando’s right flank more, not much changed.

Santos blasted a long-range shot in the 70th minute that forced Stuver to fight it off. There was a big rebound on the shot but the Austin keeper was able to dive on the loose ball.

Austin sent on Gyasi Zardes and Hector Jimenez, changing shape to try to pull a goal back, but not much was working for the visitors as the Lions stayed compact in the defensive end.

Orlando only went forward when numbers were advantageous for the rest of the match, keeping organized and behind the ball. This allowed Austin to keep possession but the visitors could only swing the ball from side to side, hardly able to free up enough room for a cross attempt.

A good cross through the box in the 84th minute was palmed away by Stuver but the rebound ended up splitting two attacking Orlando players. It was knocked out to Santos outside the box and the left back drove a shot over the bar. A minute later, Lodeiro got down the left side of the box but his shot was blocked by the defense. The ensuing corner was played short and ended up falling to Schlegel in the box, but the defender’s shot was also blocked.

Austin could manage nothing offensively in the four minutes of stoppage time, but did manage a weak dribbler of a shot on target that Stajduhar picked up. The full-time whistle blew seconds later and the Lions had their first victory of the 2024 regular season.

Austin finished with more possession (57.4%-42.6%) and slightly better passing accuracy (85.5%-85.4%), while the Lions held the final edge in shots (22-3), shots on target (8-1), and corners (6-0).

“It has been a challenge for us to train and have a complete roster, and this week was not an exception,” Pareja said. “We had many players outside for the FIFA date, but we had time to work. With the group that stayed, we had a couple of days when we could do the repetitions and just get back to the principles that make us feel more like us, knowing that we have to glue together these new players and have best chemistries. It helped a lot to have (time to) work this week.”


Orlando City will be back in action at home again next Saturday when the New York Red Bulls visit, fresh off their 4-0 win over Inter Miami earlier today.

Lion Links

Lion Links: 6/24/25

Orlando City’s upward aspirations, Tim Weah reportedly set for transfer, Club World Cup roundup, and more.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Happy Tuesday, everyone. We’ve got a busy week ahead of us with the Club World Cup approaching the end of the group stage, OCB at home on Wednesday, and Orlando City back in action with a pair of games. That means we have plenty to talk about, so let’s get straight into today’s links.

Orlando City’s Lofty Goals

Kyle Smith took some time after training on Monday to speak to the media and shed some light on where OCSC is at right now. The utility player was candid in saying he believes this year’s team is the best one he’s seen since he’s been with the club, and that’s saying something considering he’s the longest-tenured player on the team. Smith said the team is focused on climbing higher in the standings and that the two recent breaks will help the team do just that. He emphasized the importance of handling extra time off between games the right way by making sure the players are taking care of their bodies, getting in the gym, and recovering afterwards. That sort of professionalism paid off in the 1-0 win over the Colorado Rapids, so hopefully the same is true of Wednesday’s game against St. Louis City.

Tim Weah Reportedly on the Move

Nottingham Forest has reportedly agreed a deal with Juventus to sign Tim Weah and fellow Juve player Samuel Mbangula for roughly €22 million. That being said, personal terms have not yet been agreed upon with Weah, and that will likely take some time, since he’s playing for them at the Club World Cup, and the Italian side is probably keen to minimize outside distractions. Weah broke out with Lille during a four-season spell with the French side, earning a move to Juventus in 2023 as a result.

Club World Cup Roundup

The Club World Cup continues to roll on, as the tournament entered its final round of group stage games on Monday. Atletico Madrid became the first big name to exit the competition, as it beat Botafogo 1-0 to finish level with the Brazilians on six points but will be going home due to having worse goal difference. Atletico needed to win by at least three in order to overtake Botafogo in the standings and might have managed it if not for some poor finishing. In Group B’s other game, Paris Saint-Germain took down the Seattle Sounders 2-0 to finish top of the group. Seattle was given a brutal draw and accounted itself as well as can be expected, but ultimately, the Sounders exit the competition without picking up a point.

Club World Cup Takeaways

Speaking of the Club World Cup, what are some of the impressions so far of the expanded tournament? There have been plenty of good things, as teams have been taking it seriously with strong lineups, and barring the outlier that is Auckland City, no one team has been consistently getting shelled. On the other hand, making the jump from six teams to 32 simply feels like too much too soon, and that’s probably contributed to fluctuating levels of interest from local fans. High ticket prices and games starting in the heat of the day haven’t helped much either, as weather conditions have been a recurring concern among both fans and players. The competition is still a net positive overall, but there are certainly some things to learn from and improve upon next time around.

Free Kicks

  • Check out some of the scenes from the Lions’ training session on Monday.

That’s all I have for you this morning. Vamos Orlando!

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Lion Links

Lion Links: 6/23/25

Pride fall to Racing Louisville, Seb Hines and Giles Barnes share insight on path to success in Orlando, USMNT defeats Haiti, and more.

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Dan MacDonald, The Mane Land

Hello, Mane Landers! I hope all is well with you down in Florida. I’ve been busy working and catching up with friends over the past week. Before we get started, let’s wish a belated happy birthday to Orlando Pride Vice President of Soccer Operations and Sporting Director Haley Carter, who turned 41 on Saturday. The Pride was the lone team in action over the weekend, while the Lions and OCB were off. We’ve got plenty to cover today, so let’s get to the links.

Pride Fall at Racing Louisville

The Orlando Pride fell to Racing Louisville 2-0 Friday at Lynn Family Stadium. Arin Wright scored the opening goal in the first half, and former Pride midfielder Taylor Flint converted a penalty kick for Racing Louisville. The Pride struggled offensively and failed to capitalize on their scoring chances. Orlando’s struggles in Louisville continue, as the club is winless in five matches at Lynn Family Stadium. The Pride will be on a long break, and their next match will be Aug. 3, taking on the Utah Royals at Inter&Co Stadium.

Seb Hines, Giles Barnes Share Insight on Path to Success in Orlando

Orlando Pride Head Coach Seb Hines and Assistant Coach Giles Barnes were featured in an interview in The Guardian. Both Hines and Barnes shared insight into their longtime friendship, which began with playing in English youth international camps, their different paths to playing in Major League Soccer, and how they became involved in coaching. Hines discussed his time as interim manager of the Pride in 2022 and how he brought in Barnes to help change the club’s culture. Hines and Barnes helped change the perception of the club and led the Pride to winning both the NWSL Shield and NWSL Championship last season.

USMNT Defeats Haiti to Win Group D in Gold Cup

The U.S. Men’s National Team defeated Haiti 2-1 Sunday night at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX, in their final match in the group stage of the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup. The USMNT finished atop its group with three wins and nine points. Orlando City defender Alex Freeman made his third consecutive start and played 90 minutes.

Malik Tillman scored the opening goal 10 minutes into the match to give the USMNT the early lead. Haiti tied the match not long after Tillman’s goal. In the second half, Patrick Agyemang pulled the USMNT back in front. The USMNT advances to the quarterfinals as the group winner and will play its next match Sunday against the Group A runner-up which was the late game Sunday night and had yet to conclude as of this writing.

Club World Cup Weekend Recap

Another weekend of matches from the FIFA Club World Cup is in the books. On Friday, Benfica crushed Auckland City FC 6-0, while Flamengo beat Chelsea 3-1. LAFC was eliminated from advancing to the knockout round after a 1-0 defeat to ES Tunis. Bayern Munich edged Boca Juniors 2-1. On Saturday, Borussia Dortmund defeated Mamelodi Sundowns 4-3. Inter Milan needed a late stoppage-time winning goal from Valentin Carboni to edge Urawa Red Diamonds 2-1. Fluminense beat Ulsan HD 4-2, and River Plate and Monterrey ended in a scoreless draw. On Sunday, Juventus cruised to a 4-1 win over Wydad Casablanca. Xabi Alonso secured his first win as manager of Real Madrid with a 3-1 victory against Pachuca. Red Bull Salzburg and Al-Hilal played to a scoreless draw, with Manchester City playing Al-Ain in the late match Sunday. Today’s matches feature Atletico Madrid facing Botafogo, the Seattle Sounders hosting Paris Saint-Germain, FC Porto vs. Al Ahly, and Inter Miami taking on Palmeiras.

Free Kicks

  • Orlando Pride midfielder Ally Lemos and forward Simone Jackson have been called-up to the U-23 U.S. Women’s National Team. The U-23 camp will be led by Orlando Pride Assistant Coach Yolanda Thomas.

USL Championship side San Antonio FC has signed former Orlando City defender Abdi Salim to a 25-day contract.

San Diego Wave winger Maria Sanchez has reportedly reach an agreement to return to her former club, Tigres of Liga MX Femenil, on a four-year contract.

Paul Pogba is reportedly set to return to playing soccer and has signed a two-year contract with Ligue 1 side AS Monaco.


That will do it for me today, Mane Landers. Enjoy your Monday, and I’ll see you next time.

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Opinion

Orlando City Has Been Better than Expected Halfway Through the Season

While there was plenty to worry about at the start of the season, Orlando has had a good first half of 2025.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

With 18 matches in the books, we’ve moved just past the halfway point of the 2025 Major League Soccer season, and based off my feelings before Orlando City played its opening game of the season, the Lions have performed above expectations so far. There were plenty of valid reasons to be concerned heading into the year. Orlando had sold its all-time leading goal scorer, and there were questions about whether he’d been adequately replaced. There were worries about depth at multiple positions, and the defense was coming off an uncharacteristically poor year. Here we are though, with the Lions sitting fifth in the Eastern Conference, just three points out of second place and seven points out of first. So how did we get to this point?

For one thing, Marco Pasalic has been much better than I (and I think a lot of other people) expected him to be. The Croatian has six goals and four assists across 18 matches, and is second on the team in both categories. He scored 10 goals in 49 appearances in the Croatian first division before coming to Orlando and was extremely one-footed, which was enough evidence to sow real doubt about whether he could adequately replace the impact of Facundo Torres.

So far, it’s mostly been so good. His direct style of play is a good complement to the styles of Martin Ojeda and Luis Muriel, and he’s largely hit the ground running in a league that can be difficult to adapt to. It hasn’t been perfect, as he’s still very one-footed, and can sometimes disappear if he’s stringently man marked, but on the whole there’s been much more good than bad.

Speaking of Ojeda and Muriel, they’ve also had strong years. Ojeda in particular has continued his great second half of the 2024 season and has nine goals and five assists in 18 games to show for it. He looks fast, confident, and decisive and is a far cry from the player who struggled frequently during his first year as a Lion. Muriel has cooled off a little after a scorching start to 2025, but he still has six goals and three assists in 18 matches. He looks vastly improved from last year, when he looked a little off the pace of play and quickly lost the starting striker role. He still has a tendency to not be as selfish as he needs to be in front of goal, but he’s been much better than 2024.

I mentioned depth being a big concern, and not just at one position. At the beginning of the season Orlando City was, and arguably still is, thin at striker, center back, defensive midfield, and fullback. Duncan McGuire was injured to start the year and is now injured again, leaving Orlando with two true strikers in Muriel and Ramiro Enrique. There was no true backup left back, only one reliable backup center back, and Dagur Dan Thorhallsson starting at right back meant that defensive midfield depth consisted of rookie Joran Gerbet and the Swiss army knife that is Kyle Smith.

Things have mostly worked out though. David Brekalo has supplanted Rafael Santos, meaning the Brazilian is now a proven backup option at the position, and Smith has filled in there as well. That means that in games in which Rodrigo Schlegel or Robin Jansson are unavailable, Brekalo fills in at center back, Santos starts at left back, and Smith is the backup for both positions, so it isn’t a flawless system. Gerbet has been playing better and better and got some valuable minutes when Eduard Atuesta and Cesar Araujo were unavailable. His emergence has been a crucial piece of the puzzle this year. So too has the rise of Alex Freeman, as his locking down the right back role has allowed Thorhallsson to fill in at defensive midfield, attacking midfield, and right back. The situation isn’t perfect, as a couple untimely injuries to the wrong guys would leave the Lions looking pretty threadbare, but so far it’s just about worked.

Another big concern was the defense. The Lions conceded 50 goals in the regular season last year, which was tied for the second-most of any Eastern Conference playoff team and fourth-most of any playoff team. With no defensive signings and the aforementioned depth concerns, there were plenty of reasons to worry about Orlando’s ability to keep the ball out of the back of the net.

Things have looked much better in 2025, though. The 22 goals OCSC has conceded are the fifth-fewest in the league, and Pedro Gallese’s eight clean sheets are tied for most in the league. Aside from a few egregious defensive performances against the Philadelphia Union, Atlanta United, and the Chicago Fire, things have mostly been tidy at the back, and when they haven’t been, El Pulpo has been around to pick up the slack. Again, things haven’t been perfect, as there have been moments where individual and collective errors have hurt the team, but it’s been better.


I thought the Lions would struggle this year. Going into the start of the season, we were talking about a team that lost Torres, arguably didn’t do enough to strengthen the team across the board, was facing depth issues, and was dealing with a leaky defense — all while pretty much every other contender in the East got stronger on paper. Instead, OCSC tied a club-best unbeaten streak and is just three points out of second place.

That being said, the East is so tight that Orlando is only five points above the playoff line, and injuries to the wrong guys could easily topple the fragile ecosystem that is the depth chart, but so far things are going better than I thought they would be. There are still a lot of matches to play, but this isn’t a bad position to be in at the halfway mark.

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