Lion Links: 8/26/24

Hello, Mane Landers! I hope all is well with you down in Florida. I’ve been busy at Under Armour all weekend and will work the Pearl Jam concert at Wrigley Field later this week. There’s plenty to cover today after a week filled with soccer, so let’s get to the links.

Orlando City Falls at Sporting Kansas City

Orlando City lost 3-0 to Sporting Kansas City at Children’s Mercy Park on Saturday and saw its eight-game unbeaten run across all competitions come to an end. The Lions were unable to find any offensive rhythm throughout the entire match. Even though Sporting Kansas City went down to 10 men late in the second half and the match had 12 minutes of stoppage time, the Lions couldn’t capitalize by creating opportunities to get back into the match. Orlando is in seventh place in the Eastern Conference with 34 points. The Lions’ next match will be at Inter&Co Stadium Saturday against Nashville SC.

Orlando Pride Defeat the Houston Dash

The Orlando Pride returned to NWSL action Friday night with a 1-0 victory against the Houston Dash at Shell Energy Stadium. Summer Yates scored the lone goal in the match, and the victory set a new NWSL regular-season record as the Pride reached 18 consecutive games unbeaten in the league. The win keeps Orlando at the top of the NWSL table with 41 points. The Pride will return to Inter&Co Stadium for their first league home game since June 21 to take on NJ/NY Gotham FC on Sunday.

OCB Beats Atlanta United 2 On the Road

Orlando City B cruised to a 4-1 win Friday against Atlanta United 2 at Fifth Third Bank Stadium, securing its second consecutive win. There were four different goal scorers for the Young Lions, as Yutaro Tsukada, Imanol Almaguer, Luca Petrasso, and Shak Mohammed all found the back of the net. OCB has now scored seven goals across its last two matches and is in ninth in the Eastern Conference with 34 points, sitting just one point behind Chattanooga FC for the last playoff spot with a match in hand. There’s a quick turnaround before OCB’s next game, with a road match set for Wednesday against New York City FC II.

Columbus Crew Win Leagues Cup

The 2024 Leagues Cup concluded Sunday as the Columbus Crew defeated LAFC 3-1 in a rematch of last year’s MLS Cup final. Cucho Hernandez scored the opening goal for the Crew just before halftime. In the second half, Olivier Giroud scored his first goal for LAFC to equalize. The Crew then scored two late goals in stoppage time, as Hernandez added another goal and followed up with an assist minutes later on Jacen Russell-Rowe’s goal to seal the win and lift the trophy. Both teams have qualified for the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup.

Free Kicks

• Orlando Pride goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse broke her record and secured her eighth clean sheet of the season after Friday’s win over the Houston Dash.

• Orlando Pride Vice President and General Manager Haley Carter’s soccer journey was highlighted, sharing how she got to the Pride and providing insight into the club’s success this season.

• The Colorado Rapids qualified for the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup after winning a penalty shootout against the Philadelphia Union after a 2-2 draw in the Leagues Cup third-place match.
• Christian Pulisic scored the equalizer for AC Milan in the second half, but his side lost 2-1 to Parma over the weekend.

• Josh Sargent scored for the second straight week for Norwich City as his side fought to a 1-1 draw against Sheffield United. Sargent has two goals and an assist in three EFL Championship matches.
• Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham will be sidelined until mid-September after he suffered a muscular injury in his right leg while training on Friday.

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