Lion Links: 3/12/26

Orlando City’s season continues to be something out of a fever dream, but at least Orlando City B won this weekend and we have the Orlando Pride to look forward to. This weekend will be the first time all three of Orlando’s soccer teams are in action for competitive matches in quite some time, so hopefully it won’t be all be doom and gloom. That’s just how probability works, right? Let’s get to the links.

Orlando City and Oscar Pareja Part Ways

Oscar Pareja’s time as Orlando City’s head coach has come to an end after a mutual agreement between the two to part ways after six seasons with him at the helm. The decision comes amid three consecutive losses to start the season, including a 5-0 defeat to New York City FC on Saturday. The Lions won the 2022 U.S. Open Cup and also made the playoffs in all six years of Pareja’s tenure, which is the longest active streak in the league.

Martin Perelman will take over as head coach in an interim capacity, with OCB Head Coach Manuel Goldberg becoming an interim assistant coach and Julian Vergara now serving as OCB’s head coach. Given Wilfried Nancy’s availability, Orlando fans may need to keep fingers crossed for a Frenchman other than just Antoine Griezmann.

Kay Rawlins Announces Retirement

Orlando City SC Founder and Senior Vice President of Community and Social Impact Kay Rawlins stated that she will retire from her role on Friday. She co-founded the club alongside Phil Rawlins and has been with the club through it all, including the creation of the Orlando Pride and the opening of the club’s very own stadium. Along with her role in the front office, Rawlins has made a strong impact in the community through the Orlando City Foundation as well. We wish her nothing but the best in retirement!

Orlando Pride 2026 Roster Revealed

The Orlando Pride released their start-of-season roster for the 2026 NWSL campaign Wednesday, and there’s a decent mix of veteran starters and young depth players. Defender Hailie Mace is the most notable addition to the roster from this off-season and other new faces include rookie forwards Solai Washington and Seven Castain. Center back Emily Sams is gone after her trade to Angel City FC and forward Ally Watt is with Denver Summit FC, so we’ll see how well the Pride do at filling the voids left by their departures. Hopefully the triumvirate of Marta, Barbra Banda, and Jacquie Ovalle can have the offense firing on all cylinders.

Concacaf Champions Cup Roundup

The round of 16 of this year’s Concacaf Champions Cup is underway and the competition has been stiff over the course of the first legs. Nashville SC and Inter Miami battled to a scoreless draw and will settle things in the second leg in Miami on March 18. LAFC was held to a 1-1 draw against Costa Rican club Alajuelense, with goalkeeper Washington Ortega making 10 saves. The Philadelphia Union have a tough game ahead of them after falling 1-0 to Club America at Subaru Park. In the only matchup of this round that pits two Mexican clubs against each other, Cruz Azul beat Monterrey 3-2 thanks to a late goal from Nicolas Ibanez. The late games Wednesday on the west coast featured the LA Galaxy hosting Jamaican side Mount Pleasant FA and San Diego FC hosting Liga MX side Toluca.

Free Kicks

• Orlando City Academy players Zorion Civil and Maxi Alvarez were called up for the United States U-15 National Team’s training camp in West Palm Beach this month.
• American midfielder Gianluca Busio signed a contract extension with Venezia that will last through June of 2028.
• Bay FC traded forward Penelope Hocking to the Kansas City Current for a sum of $350,000 in intra-league funds. The 26-year-old scored six goals with Bay FC last season.
• Iran’s sports minister, Ahmad Donyamali, stated that the nation cannot take part in this summer’s World Cup. Iran is scheduled to play its group games in the U.S. in a group with Belgium, New Zealand, and Egypt.
• The LA Galaxy signed center back Jakob Glesnes to a contract extension through the 2028-2029 season.
• Federico Valverde scored a hat trick in the first half of Real Madrid’s 3-0 victory over Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League. Elsewhere in the tournament, Bodo/Glimt beat Sporting CP 3-0 in Norway and Paris Saint-Germain crushed Chelsea 5-2.

That’s all I have for you this time around. I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday and rest of your week!