Orlando City’s 2024 season is over. It was a weird one, with the Lions underachieving until July before becoming one of the league’s best teams. The dominos seemed to fall into place for a run to MLS Cup, with the top three seeds being eliminated and a defense that allowed almost nothing the last few games, but the only shot on target across two matches ultimately was one too many. It was a great defensive postseason for the Lions, although the team still has to learn to score goals when the games matter most.

We looked back at the match, checked in on our score predictions, and made our selections for Man of the Match.

This week’s mailbagbox asked about New York’s tactics, and it also had a whole lot of trivia questions for us. We did pretty well overall, I think, but trivia isn’t out forte. Still, it was a lot of fun to try to figure things out with logic, sometimes successfully and often less so. 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.

That is a wrap on the “normal” season schedule for the PawedCast, but we’ll be back next week to weigh in on any OCSC news and take our annual stays/goes walk through the roster. After next week, we’ll be playing it by ear, but you’ll get at least one show a month in the off-season (Who are we kidding? It’ll probably be more than that.) Keep sending us your questions and we look forward to maybe getting a little more rest for the next few weeks.

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. 458 went down:

0:15 – We hates John Tolkin forever! Also, hey…cover the back post, you guys.

18:54 – Our mailbagbox asks us about kicking the ball out of play and tests our knowledge of the 2024 Lions and MLS as a whole. Spoiler: We knew more about the Lions.

Wow. As we get ready to enjoy a holiday weekend with our loved ones, the Orlando Pride have given us so much more to be thankful for this year. The Pride went to Kansas City, withstood a furious challenge from the Washington Spirit, played their usual solid defense, and captured a 1-0 win in the 2024 NWSL Championship. If the Kansas City Current and their fans thought the Pride celebrated on their field back in July, they hadn’t seen anything yet.

We discuss the Pride’s win over Washington, the valiant fight the other team showed, the controversy before the game’s only goal, some of the remarks the Spirit made in the aftermath, and much more. We checked back on our score predictions and made our selections for Player of the Match.

After our match rewind, we opened up our mailbagbox, which was busting at the seams. Much of that came from one extremely enthusiastic listener, but we’re not mad about it. We may have to break up a block of questions that big across multiple episodes in the future, but we were in a celebratory mood and answered each one. Remember, you can ask us anything by hitting us up on Twitter at either @TheManeLand or @SkoPurpSoccer and using the hashtag #AskSkoPurp. 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.

After the mailbagbox, we discussed Megan Montefusco and Celia closing their careers as champions, got a quick word from Mark Wilf, the Pride’s owner and chairman, and hit the high points of the team’s celebration in front of City Hall in downtown Orlando on Monday.

This episode is a long one, so buckle up. Listen to it in smaller chunks if it helps.

Here’s how Episode 71 went down:

0:45 – Orlando didn’t play its best (and credit much of that to Washington), but the Pride got their moment of Barbra Banda brilliance and won their first NWSL Championship.

29:39 – The mailbagbox is ridiculously full this week.

1:19:09 – Pride retirements, highlights from the Pride’s victory parade and celebration, a word from owner/chairman Mark Wilf, and more.

Orlando City has finally reached a conference final. The Lions struggled offensively against Atlanta United’s defensive setup, but they managed to score one goal without conceding, and that’s good enough for a 1-0 win over their rivals to the north. It was easily Orlando’s most meaningful win in the rivalry to date — not that there have been many — and should spice up the series a bit moving forward. We look back at what was not the best game from a spectator’s perspective, but finished in a way that Orlando City fans can at least be happy about, as it results in the Lions facing the New York Red Bulls in the conference final on Saturday.

We looked back at our score predictions, which Dave got exactly right, and made our selections for Man of the Match. In a defensive battle, we both went with defenders.

This week’s mailbagbox, asks us whether soccer teams will adopt a revolutionary new substitution pattern, how much possession the New York Red Bulls will have on Saturday, 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.

After we finished answering the mail we looked ahead to the Lions’ upcoming battle with the New York Red Bulls, presenting the series history, looking at the players to watch, and making our picks for the game’s key matchups, before finally trying to predict the final score.

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. 457 went down:

0:15 – It wasn’t a pretty game to watch, but the outcome was beautiful as Orlando City ousted Atlanta United in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

18:54 – Our mailbagbox consists of questions that are easy to answer and ones that are not as easy.

40:15 – Orlando’s reward for beating a team it failed to beat in the regular season was a conference final matchup with another team it failed to beat in the regular season.