Orlando City took a break from scoreless draws in the MLS regular season to pound a hole in the Tampa Bay Rowdies on Wednesday night at Al Lang Stadium. A 16-year-old kid served as Orlando’s baby-faced assassin, as Gustavo Caraballo took advantage of a first-team start in a competitive match by scoring his first two first-team goals. Caraballo became the youngest player in club history to score for the first team when he converted off a Martin Ojeda pass in the first half. He then became the second-youngest Orlando City player to score a goal for the first team two minutes later off an equally nice pass from Dagur Dan Thorhallsson.

The Lions added three more to win comfortably on the road. We break down the blowout, look back at our score predictions from earlier this week, and unanimously select our Man of the Match.

Whether Orlando City can carry this offensive outburst into the weekend against the stifling New England defense remains to be seen.

The mailbagbox gathered up its strength despite the short week and hit us with questions about our most hated rivals, the order the Lions’ Designated Players will finish in goal contributions, whether OCB could beat Tampa Bay, 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.

Finally, we previewed the New England Revolution’s upcoming visit to Inter&Co Stadium Saturday night. The Lions’ recent offensive struggles are problematic, considering the league’s best defensive team is on its way to Central Florida. Orlando City will also need to try to contain the always-dangerous Carles Gil and his teammates, so it’s a big task ahead of the Lions this weekend. We break down the series history, provide our key matchups, and make our final score predictions.

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Here’s how No. 477 went down:

0:15 – The Lions start their 2025 U.S. Open Cup run on the right foot in St. Pete by walloping the Rowdies.

23:42– The mailbagbox is strong, even on short rest.

41:05 – The Lions are unbeaten in eight, but the New England Revolution are on fire right now.

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.

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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!

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.