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PawedCast Episode 467: Toronto Rewind, OCB to Open 2025 Season, NYCFC Preview, and More

Lions get into the win column against Toronto and must travel to the baseball stadium as OCB’s season opener approaches.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City rebounded from its opening day loss with a comprehensive 4-2 win over Toronto FC that wasn’t necessarily as close as the final score indicates. Sure, there are still a few worrying defensive lapses, but that’s bound to happen when continuously shuffling the back line out of necessity, which is what the Lions had to do with both Robin Jansson and David Brekalo out this week.

We look back on a night of goal scoring by committee that featured big contributions on the offensive end from players who primarily defend. We check back on last week’s score predictions, discuss the key plays in the match, and make our selections for Man of the Match. Oh, and two Lions ended up on the MLS Team of the Matchday.

The mailbagbox wants us to guess which jersey numbers one of our colleagues did not see in the stands on Saturday, if we saw this performance from Alex Freeman coming, whether the Lions are too complacent in the transfer market, 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 kicks off its 2025 MLS NEXT Pro season this weekend, and we discussed how little we know about the roster at this point. However, we tell you who will likely play more (and fewer) minutes with OCB this year as opposed to in 2024.

Finally, we looked ahead to Saturday night’s trip to Yankee Stadium to play New York City FC. The Pigeons lost their best player (much like Orlando City) this off-season, and they’re off to a poor start to the season, but they are always dangerous on the smaller field at home, where the Lions have rarely taken points. We look at the series history, provide our key matchups, and make our score predictions.

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. 467 went down:

0:15 – The Lions bounced back from the Philly loss by putting four on the board in a win against Toronto.

26:33 – The mailbagbox is full this week with both regular questions and requests for blind guesses.

56:43 – OCB prepares for the season opener and our key matchups and score predictions for Orlando City at NYCFC on Saturday.

Podcasts

PawedCast Episode 492: Revolution Rewind, OCB, Crew Preview, and More

The Lions win at Gillette Stadium, OCB falls flat, and the Crew await the Lions next.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City entered Saturday night having won just once at Gillette Stadium. That happened a year ago when the Lions swept the New England Revolution for the first time in club history. Both teams entered the match on winless streaks, and the Lions snapped theirs thanks to Martin Ojeda’s brace in a 2-1 win, capturing their second consecutive victory in a stadium where they’d never won before 2024. It wasn’t a perfect performance, but it was an important road win and three more points added to the team’s total.

We check in with our score predictions from last week, break down the game’s vital plays, and make our selections for Man of the Match.

The mailbagbox gave us a break from bread questions to ask us about our own forays into youth soccer, how we watch the games, who we would start in the next match if we were in charge, 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.

Following the mailbagbox segment, we discussed this week’s MLS All-Star festivities and which OCSC players are involved in each one. We then moved on to our OCB Minute, which was probably longer than a minute and definitely longer than the Young Lions’ game on Sunday deserved. It was not a good performance on the road by OCB.

Finally, we previewed the Lions’ trip to Columbus to play the Crew on Friday night. We looked back at the series history, compare where the teams are in the table, discussed the Crew’s major players, provided our key matchups, and made our score predictions.

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.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.


Here’s how No. 492 went down:

0:15 – The Lions went to New England and brought home all three points. That is something we were in favor of them doing.

18:12– The mailbagbox wants us to pick lineups and put different items in chronological order. We feel like this is the precursor to an audio crossword puzzle or something.

36:28 – MLS All-Star stuff, OCB was not good whatsoever at New England Revolution II on Sunday, and the Lions head north to face the Crew.

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Podcasts

PawedCast 491: New York City FC Rewind, New England Preview, and More

The Lions melt down late at home against NYCFC and now head to their house of horrors in Foxborough.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City wasn’t content to throw away two points on Saturday. The Lions threw away all three on Wednesday just for funsies. Leading in the 87th minute — by just one goal on more than 20 shot attempts — the Lions did New York City FC a solid and scored a goal for them. Not content with a draw, Orlando City then gave up a 2-on-nobody break off its own corner kick opportunity four minutes later, lighting three points on fire and flushing them down the toilet.

Did we find the game irritating? Annoying? Depressing? Maddening? Yes, yes, yes, and yes! Still, we look back at our score predictions, discuss the important moments of the game, and make our selections for Man of the Match.

The mailbagbox has more questions about bread (for some reason), and asks us about serving in the military, strengthening weak feet, 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.

Following the mailbagbox segment, we remind you that OCB is on the road at New England on Sunday.

Finally, we previewed the Lions at the Revolution Saturday at Gillette Stadium — Orlando’s historic house of horrors — breaking down the history of the series, checking out the teams’ relative spots in the standings, providing our key matchups, and making our score predictions.

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.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.


Here’s how No. 491 went down:

0:15 – The Lions dominated, led the game late, and still managed to lose at home.

22:16– The mailbagbox has even more bread questions, and it’s a good thing we don’t have gluten allergies.

43:52 – Orlando City has to visit New England because the teams are in the same conference and that’s how it works. But we would rather…not.

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Podcasts

PawedCast Episode 490: Montreal Rewind, OCB-Carolina Core, New York City FC Preview, and More

The Lions drop more points at home, the Young Lions win, and NYCFC looms in the midweek.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City played CF Montreal and it wasn’t a memorable match. Martin Ojeda’s goal was memorable, but other than that, it was a night to forget, as the Lions could never put the game away and then had an unnecessary Rodri Schlegel moment late in the match to drop two precious points at home. The visitors created nothing all night but a few off-target shots from distance, but putting Prince Owusu on the penalty spot in the final minutes of the game turned out to be a bad idea.

For the second match in a row, one of us nailed our score prediction. Even a blind squirrel…something, something. Anyway, we broke down the key moments and actions in the game and selected our Man of the Match.

The mailbagbox is overflowing this week, with many questions about various bread products, which young Lion we think could see first-team minutes, the Lord of the Rings, Orlando City cult heroes, 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.

Following the mailbagbox segment, we look back at OCB’s 3-1 home win over Carolina Core FC. It’s way more than an “OCB Minute,” because the Young Lions deserved it. Justin Ellis is on fire, Thalles scored his first OCB goal, and Carlos Mercado stood on his head.

Finally, we looked ahead to Wednesday night’s match against New York City FC. The Lions will need to find a higher offensive gear while maintaining the defensive effort we saw against Montreal in order to win this six-pointer against their 2015 expansion rivals. We provide our key matchups and score predictions.

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.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.


Here’s how No. 490 went down:

0:15 – The Lions struggled to create against one of the league’s worst teams. It wasn’t fun.

22:22– The mailbagbox has an unusually high number of bread questions.

49:45 – OCB wins at home and City gets set to host the Pigeons.

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