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PawedCast Episode 468: New York City FC Rewind, Red Bulls Preview, OCB-Crew 2, and More

Lions fall on the road in New York and now must head to New Jersey, and the Young Lions beat Columbus.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City B / Mark Thor

Orlando City couldn’t keep the momentum going from its win over Toronto FC as the Lions opened their road schedule with a 2-1 loss to New York City FC at Yankee Stadium. It was a poor start to each half by Orlando and the continuation of too many individual errors at the back that prevented a result, while the offense generated chances but wasn’t as clinical as in the first couple of matches. At least Robin Jansson returned to the lineup and Luis Muriel found the net.

We look back at the first road loss of the season, check back on our score predictions, and make our selections for Man of the Match.

The mailbagbox has us naming and guessing favorite players, predicting an over/under on how many Lions will play at least five minutes in 2025, 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 opened the season by salvaging the weekend for the organization with a 2-1 win over Columbus Crew 2 at home. Dyson Clapier and Zakaria Taifi were the offensive stars, and Carlos Mercado made several good saves to protect the lead as the Young Lions held on at the end. We look back at the win and look forward to OCB’s meeting with Atlanta on Sunday.

Finally, we looked ahead to Saturday afternoon, as the Lions return to the New York metropolitan area to face the Red Bulls in New Jersey. Orlando City will have to be sharp defensively against a team that leaves small margins with one of the best defenses in MLS. The Lions haven’t scored a lot of goals against New York recently, so fixing the mistakes at the back is more vital than ever. We make our predictions and discuss our key matchups.

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. 468 went down:

0:15 – The Lions did not continue scoring lots of goals but did continue to concede them.

18:37 – The mailbagbox is full this week with both regular questions and requests for blind guesses.

34:42 – OCB opened the season with a victory over Crew 2 and our key matchups and score predictions for Orlando City at the New York Red Bulls.

Podcasts

PawedCast Episode 476: Chicago Rewind, OCB at Fire II, Tampa Bay Rowdies Preview, and More

The Lions are stuck with another 0-0 draw, OCB gets drilled in Chicago, and Orlando heads to Tampa Bay.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

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.

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Podcasts

SkoPurp Soccer Episode 84: Angel City Rewind, Portland Preview, and More

The Pride came from behind to beat Angel City and will head northwest to Portland.

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

The Orlando Pride looked for all the world like they were about to sustain a two-game home losing streak. Down two goals to Angel City — a team the Pride had never beaten at Inter&Co Stadium — and looking hardly in the mood for the first half, the Pride came out of the locker room rejuvenated. Still, it took a while to break through and climb back into the match. Once that happened, Orlando always looked capable of going on and picking up all three points, which is what transpired. It was not only the Pride’s first home win over Angel City (and the first win by the home team in the all-time series), but it was also the club’s first multi-goal comeback victory.

We discuss the game’s talking points and big moments, check our score predictions from last week, and make our selections for Player of the Match in the Pride’s 3-2 home win over Angel City.

This week’s mailbagbox wants to know about expected goals, NWSL parity, the Pride’s choice of starters, underrated moments in the match, a second division in the women’s game in North America, and more. 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 break down Orlando’s upcoming trip to Portland. The Pride have a terrible record at Providence Park (as most teams other than the Thorns do), but can Orlando exact some revenge for the Thorns ruining their unbeaten record late last season? We dive into the series history and the tale of the tape, provide our key matchups for Saturday night, and make our predictions for the final score. We’re coming to the realization that we normally predict pretty much the same few scores over and over. Soccer!

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 Episode 84 went down:

0:15 – The Pride looked like they were about to take a second straight loss, but in the second half, they decided to win instead.

18:21 – Our listeners must know things. And we’re here to help with that need to know in our mailbagbox segment.

41:30 – The Pride head to a difficult place to get results with a trip to Portland coming up this weekend.

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Podcasts

PawedCast Episode 475: Atlanta Rewind, OCB-NYRB II, Chicago Preview, and More

The Lions maintained their recent defensive form while adding something called “goals” at the other end, but OCB’s defense was not as crisp.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Jeremy Reper

Orlando City finally found its scoring boots late in the first half on Saturday. After a cagey, cautious opening half hour, the Lions started creating chances — one of which led to a penalty kick, which Luis Muriel buried. From there, the Lions went on to score twice after halftime (and it could have been more) in a thorough 3-0 win over rival Atlanta United. The Five Stripes rarely threatened Pedro Gallese’s penalty area, let alone his goal.

We looked back at the key moments in the match, check in our score predictions from last week, and make our selections for Man of the Match. We’re just happy Orlando City finished the game with all 11 players on the field and that it wasn’t another scoreless draw, but a win over a rival is a serious amount of icing on the cake.

The mailbagbox asks about young players scoring for Orlando City, what’s changed for the team in recent weeks, the USMNT, 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 got a lot of regular players back but the defense was even more leaky against New York Red Bulls II than it was against Inter Miami II last week. The Young Lions are not communicating or executing effectively in their own end, although they continue to put the ball in the net. They missed a couple of chances to get more out of what ultimately became a 4-2 loss, but some of the finishing was missing and the defense was a problem all night.

Finally, we looked ahead to Orlando City’s visit to Chicago to play the Fire on Saturday. We dissect the series history between the two clubs, provide our key matchups that we think will decide the game, and try to predict the final score of the match. We’ll check on how we did early next week, as we look to move into our first two-episode week of the 2025 season.

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. 475 went down:

0:15 – The Lions managed to keep their fourth consecutive clean sheet and this time there was no sacrifice at the offensive end, with Orlando City ultimately dominating Atlanta.

20:34– The mailbagbox is interested in the changes in Orlando City’s fortunes.

41:23 – OCB spent most of Sunday night getting caught in NYRB II traps, and the Lions head to the Windy City.

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