PawedCast Episode 481: Nashville Rewind, OCB Set for Atlanta, Portland Preview, and More

After beating Lionel Messi and Inter Miami on Sunday, what did the Lions do for an encore? Well, they got knocked out of the U.S. Open Cup by a heavily rotated Nashville SC team that not only didn’t start its star players; they weren’t even available off the bench. No Hany Mukhtar. No Sam Surridge. No Joe Willis. No Daniel Lovitz. No problem. There were multiple visibly tired Lions in Wednesday’s match at Inter&Co Stadium, but it truly showed up on the defensive end, where mistakes allowed Nashville to erase a 1-0 deficit and take a 2-1 lead before the break. Orlando fought back to pull level, but then what seemed like a sure handball call against Nashville wasn’t made, and the visitors scored the winner a few minutes later.

We broke down a frustrating home knockout loss, looked back at our predictions, and selected our Man of the Match. We also discussed Alex Freeman’s USMNT call-up for June’s camp.

The mailbagbox asked about Leagues Cup, theme park rides, how the Lions can refresh their legs, 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 OCB’s match against Atlanta United 2, which was supposed to take place in Atlanta tonight at 7:30. That game has moved to Osceola County Stadium on Sunday at 7 p.m., but since the venue changed to OCB’s home field, the match will be played behind closed doors. We preview the Young Lions and the…2-1/2 Stripes?

Finally, we previewed Orlando City’s home match against the Portland Timbers. The Lions and Timbers don’t always play, but when they do, it’s generally entertaining. We discussed the series history, provided our key matchups, and made our predictions for the final score as both teams look to bounce back from tough U.S. Open Cup exits.

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Here’s how No. 481 went down:

0:15 – Orlando City looked tired and played tired, departing the U.S. Open Cup with the feeling that a potential chance to win was ignored by the match official.

32:00– The mailbagbox is a salve on our Open Cup wounds, and OCB’s game against Atlanta changes location and moves to Sunday.

1:01:15 – The Lions will host the Portland Timbers in a matchup of two teams that have played a lot of soccer this month.