Orlando City welcomed CF Montreal to Inter&Co Stadium Saturday and was maybe a little too welcoming. After a slow start, the Lions built themselves into the game and took the lead. As has been a home trend of late, they couldn’t find a second goal and let Montreal hang around, and a late penalty allowed the visitors to steal a point with their only shot on goal of the entire match in a 1-1 draw.

Montreal started the match on the front foot, holding over 60% possession over the first 15 minutes, but couldn’t generate any chances. Orlando grew into the match after that, with Martín Ojeda putting a flashy but unchallenged full volley over the net. Other threats developed after that but fell apart before any shots could be fired. One one of these builds eventually enabled Marco Pašalić to draw a foul at a dangerous spot outside the 18-yard box. Despite the close range, Ojeda played the restart short to Muriel, who teed it up for Ojeda just outside the width of Montreal’s defensive wall. Ojeda buried the resulting shot in the 28th minute for the first goal.

The Lions got out on the run a few minutes later and a lovely combination between Ramiro Enrique and Ojeda also found the net, but Ojeda was offside by half a step. Montreal returned the favor shortly after that — also in transition — but this time Prince Owusu was clearly offside before receiving a through ball and finding the net.

The second half was pretty flat by both teams. Orlando again started slowly, but neither team really generated chances of significance. Montreal finally broke Owusu into the box in the 82nd minute and the striker managed to sell his way into a penalty, which he himself converted.

After the penalty, Orlando managed to keep some pressure, but again could not generate much in the way of actual chances. Alex Freeman had a shot blocked by the defense in stoppage time, followed by a Nico Rodriguez deflected shot to Montreal goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois. Shortly after that, the full time whistle blew for more frustratingly dropped home points.

Hopefully the photos from the game will provide more enjoyment than the game result. Orlando will try again at home on Wednesday against New York City FC.

With key players returning from the international break, a different Orlando Pride starting lineup was called to action Saturday, and the Pride did just enough to slip by the Houston Dash at the death. After a sleepy first half, Orlando dominated the second period, but still somehow let it go to the last second, when Summer Yates and Cori Dyke found a way to combine to put the last kick of the game past Houston goalkeeper Abby Smith, sealing all three points at Inter&Co Stadium.

Head Coach Seb Hines kept a lot in reserve off the start, resting Marta, Barba Banda, Angelina, and others. Julie Doyle returned to the starting lineup up top with Ally Watt. Both teams spent a lot of time shuttling the ball across the midfield, but neither could create many clear-cut chances.

Once Hines started making substitutions after the intermission the Pride largely controlled the game however. Banda and Dyke came on at halftime, and immediately the Pride became the more assertive team. Banda herself attempted five shots, and most of them were dangerous looks, although only two were on target. Dyke provided six shot-creating actions. As Hines proceeded to send on Marta and Prisca Chilufya down the stretch, the field continued to tilt further in the Pride’s favor, and Houston seemed prepared to bunker in an try for the scoreless draw.

The hot and heavy atmosphere (even by Orlando standards) created a lot of stoppage time, and when the fourth official put eight minutes up for the second half, the team seemed to find just a bit more. Eventually, Yates recognized that Houston had left her enough space to get to the endline and pulled back one of her trademark crosses. The Houston defense got a foot to it — not enough to keep it from Dyke, but enough to make it hard to handle. Dyke took a difficult touch and smashed it off a Dash player and into net for her first goal with the Pride. After the celebratory smoke cleared, the referee allowed only a kickoff to occur, ending the game immediately.

We hope you enjoy these images from a dramatic and hard-fought victory. The Pride are on the road for the next two weekends, followed by the extended summer break, so it will be August before our next opportunity to get out and take photos at a Pride game again.

Orlando City played two matches Saturday against the Chicago Fire and the first one was the problematic one. The Lions saw goalkeeper Pedro Gallese give up an uncharacteristic howler to end all howlers just five minutes in, then fell apart for a span of less than two minutes just past the half-hour mark to dig a 3-0 hole. It was a brutal way to start the match.

From there, the Lions dominated play. While it’s true Chicago had a comfortable lead and didn’t need to take any chances, Orlando City pressed the issue, and it’s doubtful the visitors felt comfortable facing nearly 30 shots the rest of the way. Alex Freeman found the net to put Orlando on the scoreboard, and another would have put more pressure on the Fire.

That second goal never happened, but the Lions came tantalizingly close several times — most notably when Luis Muriel blasted a shot off the crossbar in the 65th minute. Marco Pasalic’s threaded ball through traffic skipped just wide in the 52nd minute, and Ramiro Enrique came close in the 62nd and 75th minutes, only to see Chris Brady make a pair of excellent saves to prevent an Orlando City comeback. Sometimes, regardless of the sour taste it leaves in your mouth, you’ve got to tip your cap to a great performance by the opposition, and Brady was the star of the match.

Without that second goal, Orlando was never in position to pressure Chicago down the stretch and possibly take something from the game. The month of May gave fans plenty to cheer about, even if it ended with a thud. We now look forward to a June slate of matches that sees the Lions at home just once and gives everyone a chance to take a breath.

Despite the outcome Saturday, we hope you enjoy these images from another hot night at Inter&Co Stadium.

Images: Dan MacDonald
Words: Michael Citro