Well that was… costly. The Force was not with Orlando City (2-5-3, 9 points) on Star Wars night, as the Lions fell to FC Cincinnati (6-2-3, 21 points) 1-0. The loss was painful enough, but the Lions also lost center back Rodrigo Schlegel to an early red card, and fullbacks Dagur Dan Thórhallson and Rafael Santos to a concussion and dislocated shoulder, respectively, on each side of the halftime break.

The Lions’ baffling trend of early defensive disorganization continued, conceding the game’s only goal in the first half minute on a ball over the top. Schlegel was behind his linemates, keeping the play onside, the sudden movement of Acosta put him in behind Robin Jansson and Rafael Santos, and Wilder Cartagena overcommitted to stopping the cross/shot near the end line, allowing Acosta to cut back inside the defense and score.

Despite the constant stream of adversity, the Lions continued battling, looking the more dangerous side until Schlegel’s early shower. Despite that, the team kept getting dangerous looks at the net even down a player. Unfortunately, Orlando’s inability to find the net continued, with high-probability chances rattling the woodwork, cleared off the line, missed in the six-yard box (and a couple great saves as time wound down for good measure).

Orlando will try again on the road at Philadelphia next weekend.

We hope you enjoy these images from a hard-fought contest at Inter&Co Stadium between the teams that finished first and second in the Supporters’ Shield race last season.

The annual rock fight between Orlando and the “New York” team that actually plays in New Jersey produced slightly more elegant soccer than recent years, but the Lions continued to have difficulty connecting the final pass and making good on it. In the most Lions-Red Bulls way possible, a Lewis Morgan penalty was negated by a late Noah Eile own goal forced by Jack Lynn and the teams split the points.

The announced crowd of 23,859 provided the usual raucousness that Orlando is known for. The match also saw the return of PRO referees, greeted in the warmest and most appreciative way by the crowd. Since it was “Kids Night,” with kids participating as announcers, among other things, the young voices interjected to attempt tamp down some of the less child-friendly cheers to create an unusually surreal environment.

We hope you enjoy the pictures from Saturday’s game. The Lions now enjoy a much-needed week off, returning to play April 13 at D.C. United.

The Orlando Pride (0-0-3, 3 points) benefited from an own goal to take a lead into the second half, but could not hold their first lead of the season, allowing the Chicago Red Stars (2-0-1, 7 points) to steal a point. Overall, the Pride showed continued growth and cohesiveness, generally controlling most of the game except for a spell at the start of the second half. The trouble continues to be scoring goals, but Barbra Banda’s arrival is approaching.

Adriana continually rampaged the right channel, and she, Marta, and Angelina all showed signs of chemistry, but the team is still not connecting quite precisely enough to create sustained danger, and failed to finish its chances against the opposition from the Windy City. Summer Yates came on in the 71st minute and lived up to the ‘game changer’ moniker that is trendy around the league this year, creating several dangerous chances, including a potential red card that was not given even after a lengthy video review by both the video assistant referee and the match referee.

Overall, the Pride are showing more talent and promise early in the season so far this year than they have for several years, and will try again for their first win of the season when they visit the Utah Royals in two weeks.

We hope you enjoy the photos from the game and please let me know if there is something more or less that you want to see in these galleries (like more or fewer crowd shots or warmups). The Pride will return home against San Diego on April 19.