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Top 10 Moments of 2024: Orlando City Wins Tight Best-of-Three Playoff Series against Charlotte FC

In our No. 6 moment of the year, Orlando City made the fans sweat it out but eventually advanced past Charlotte in the best-of-three series.

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1 year ago

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

As we count down to the new year of 2025 — which will be Orlando City’s 11th in MLS, the Orlando Pride’s 10th in the NWSL, and OCB’s third in MLS NEXT Pro — and say goodbye to 2024, it’s time to look back at the club’s 10 best moments of the year as selected by The Mane Land staff via vote.

I believe Major League Soccer is unique among the world’s leagues in using a best-of-three series to determine a winner in the knockout round of a tournament, and while I do not like it, I did like the result from Orlando City’s three-game series against Charlotte FC during the opening round of the 2024 MLS playoffs, because the Lions advanced by winning games one and three, eliminating Charlotte and moving on to the conference semifinals.

Orlando City entered the playoffs as one of the hottest teams in MLS, having won 10 of its last 14 games and vaulting all the way up to fourth place in the Eastern Conference. Charlotte had been hot as well, but not for as long, as the North Carolina-based club had only won five of its last 14 games, but four of those wins were in the team’s most recent five games. However, Charlotte had scored an impressive 13 goals during those four wins. On the season, the teams ended up separated by only one point, as Orlando City ended with 52 and Charlotte finished with 51. The teams met twice during the regular season, drawing 2-2 on June 19 in Charlotte and Orlando City winning 2-0 at home on Sept. 18.

As with any series between the two teams closest in seed, analysts were split on who they thought would advance, but with home field advantage in two of the three games, including the tone-setting game one, the Lions held the advantage in the betting markets, with better odds to advance than their opponents from North Carolina.

Those in favor of Orlando City pointed to the recent hot form, the consistent starting lineup with players who knew their roles coming in off the bench, the recent win head-to-head, the advantage in goals scored (+13 for the season), and the aforementioned home-field advantage. Those who favored Charlotte pointed to the even more recent hot form; the team’s stingy defense, which had conceded the second-fewest goals in MLS; its counterattacking style that was a good antidote to Orlando City’s penchant for winning the possession battle; and a recent 1-1 draw against MLS Shield winners Inter Miami, showing that Charlotte could hold even the best offenses to very little.

As a fan of several other sports that employ best-of-[insert odd number here] playoff rules, I felt confident in Orlando City advancing, because the history of playoff series’ is that the team with the better seed, and therefore the team that has home-field advantage, wins most often. There is a reason the Lions had the better seed, and it is that they had a better regular season. As is seen in college basketball every March, in one game, anything can happen, but over time in a series, the better team usually wins, and I thought that Orlando City was a much better team.

The opening game of the series went much as I had expected it to, and I felt even more confident in my thought that Orlando City would advance. The Lions came out and really took it to Charlotte from the opening whistle, dominating possession, peppering the Charlotte goal with shots, and only allowing two shots on goal all game long for Pedro Gallese to save, earning a comfortable 2-0 victory and placing themselves one win from advancing to the conference semifinals.

Facundo Torres opened the scoring in the first half with a spectacular volley in the 32nd minute, and that early goal forced Charlotte to have to play differently for the final two-thirds of the game, because now the visitors had to engage and could not just sit back and hope for a smash-and-grab win.

Fellow Designated Player Martín Ojeda put the game to bed with his goal nearly 32 minutes into the second half, almost perfect symmetry with the first goal in terms of minutes after the beginning of the half.

Orlando City’s performance looked a lot like we had seen during the final few months of the season, and while any game on the road is always difficult, it seemed like the Lions had found an excellent game plan to defeat Charlotte and should go with something similar on the road for game two.

They most certainly did not do this.

Orlando City’s offensive performance on Nov. 1 was one of the worst I have ever seen by the club, and the data backs it up. I am not a member of the cult of xG (expected goals), who thinks it is the be-all, end-all of statistics, but I do think xG is a good indicator of the health of a team’s offense and whether it was getting shots in good locations. Orlando City’s xG in Game 2 was 0.3, the team’s worst of the season and tied for eighth worst since Opta started tracking xG in MLS games in 2018. For context, Orlando City has played more than 230 MLS games since the beginning of the 2018 season, so Game 2’s xG is in the bottom 4%.

(For the masochists out there, April 24, 2022 and July 18, 2019 are the club’s two worst offensive performances in the xG tracking era, both with 0.1 xG. The less said about those games the better. I have already said too much.)

Back to Game 2, Orlando City just did not seem to bring any energy to the game, even knowing that a win would push the team through to the next round, and earn a bye week with no need to play a Game 3. With the huge safety net of a guaranteed home game if they lost, the Lions should have played freely and openly, but instead they played defensively, almost as if they were playing more so to keep Charlotte from scoring than to actually go out and win the game themselves.

Even the team’s substitution patterns seemed off, as while the usual Duncan McGuire-for-Ramiro Enrique swap took place around the normal time of 60 minutes (specifically the 56th minute in this game), Oscar Pareja subbed Nico Lodeiro, and not Luis Muriel, for Ojeda in the 74th minute, and he brought Muriel in for Iván Angulo in the 88th minute. Muriel had been one of the team’s most dangerous players in recent months, a supersub off the bench who unlocked defenses with his vision and passing ability, but Pareja only gave him three minutes and stoppage time in this game, despite knowing that Charlotte was not much of a threat offensively and that one goal would likely be too much for hosts to overcome.

Even with their seemingly defensive focused performance, Orlando City almost managed to get a late winner anyway, but a tight offside call nullified a brilliant strike by Torres in second half stoppage time, wiping out what likely would have been the series-deciding goal. On replay review it looked incredibly tight, so the call on the field would likely have stood had they called it a goal, but they called it offside, and with that, it was wiped off the board, and the game went to penalties.

Historically Orlando City had been great in penalty shootouts, but the same team that showed up disinterested in scoring goals during open play also showed up during the penalty kicks, with Lodeiro getting his shot saved, Robin Jansson missing his kick over the bar, Muriel scoring (maybe should have brought him in sooner, just saying), but then McGuire getting saved, and since Charlotte did not miss any kicks, that was that, and the Lions lost 0-0 (3-1 on penalties). The loss wiped out the second straight shutout by the defense, including several outstanding saves by Gallese, as the Lions demonstrated that in MLS the old axiom of you can’t lose if they don’t score does not always apply.

Orlando City returned home for the winner-take-all Game 3, but although the Lions were far more lively on offense (19 shots, much better than that putrid three from the prior game) they could not get anything past Charlotte’s Kristijan Kahlina. An unexpectedly high bounce on a clearance by Charlotte went over Jansson’s head, and Charlotte took advantage with a quick counter, ending with a cross and a goal by Karol Swiderski on a shot that deflected in off of Rodrigo Schlegel. It is hard to tell if Gallese would have been able to save the ball if not for the deflection. He did seem to be well-placed to at least have a chance, but that did not matter as the deflection went away from where he was and went into the back of the net.

The Lions then started getting even more aggressive and pushing everyone forward, but to no avail. They used their final substitution to bring on David Brekalo for Schlegel, seemingly a like-for-like substitution instead of offense-for-defenese, but with Brekalo’s technical ability and ability to win aerial duels, he was probably the best option to try to get a goal, despite being a central defender given the bench options available.

As the game went to the dying minutes, Cesar Araujo just missed with a rocket from 28 yards, but then the offensive push paid off, as Wilder Cartagena put a cross into the danger zone right in the center of the box, and Charlotte defender Djibril Diani pulled McGuire down as he went to try to win the cross, earning Orlando City a penalty after an excruciatingly long video review delay and due to the fact that McGuire dislocated his shoulder on the foul.

The penalty was (finally) given, but after the poor performance in the shootout the game prior, there was a sense of excitement but concern, and it was warranted as Kahlina made yet another huge save, diving low to his right to block Torres’ penalty. Thankfully for the good guys in purple, the rebound went right back to Torres, and he made no mistake on his second shot, tying the game at 1-1 and sending it to another penalty shootout moments later when the full time whistle blew.

Both teams probably felt good going into the penalty shootout — Charlotte due to its dominant penalty performance in Game 2 and Orlando City due to the momentum of having found an equalizing lifeline just moments earlier. History does not always repeat itself, but it does often rhyme, and just as Kahlina was on fire with two saves in the previous shootout, Gallese was up to the task in Game 3, saving penalties one and two in front of The Wall.

His offensive partners also delivered, as Muriel was again unflappable scoring the first, and then unexpectedly it was Kyle Smith who stepped up for the second. If he shoots all his penalties as he did the one he took in this game, he should be in contention to take them all the time, because he put that ball in an unstoppable location at pace. Torres made up for his miss during regulation by making his shot in the shootout, but Charlotte answered, though Gallese again went the correct direction and nearly made it three straight saves.

Up 3-1 and with the ability to win the game and move Orlando City to the conference semifinals, it was another defender, Rafael Santos, who stepped up to the ball. After a routine that involved moving backwards, sideways, jumping and nearly stopping, Santos ripped a shot to the lower corner, and though Kahlina went the correct way, the ball was hit with too much pace, and Orlando City had won and advanced to the next round.

This series will not be one that is fondly recalled as the years go by, especially the strangely poor performance in Game 2, but there were moments of greatness that will go down in Orlando City lore. The dominant Game 1 victory, McGuire suffering a dislocated shoulder to earn a penalty (and then getting it popped back in in the locker room and sprinting to try to get back onto the field during the shootout), the last-gasp goal to put Game 3 into a shootout in the most Cardiac Cats way possible, Gallese’s shootout heroics, Muriel’s unflappability, and the left back and right back hitting perhaps the best penalties of the season are all moments I will definitely remember from this series. It’s also a big part of why winning that playoff series finished at No. 6 on our list of top 10 moments of 2024.

Come back through New Year’s Eve as we count down the remainder of the top 10 moments of 2024 for Orlando City, the Orlando Pride, and OCB.

Previous Top Moments of 2024

10. Orlando City’s massive second-half surge clinches top-four spot in Eastern Conference.

9. The Orlando Pride sign Zambian international striker Barbra Banda ahead of the 2024 season.

8. Facundo Torres scores his 47th goal for Orlando City, breaking the Lions’ all-time goal record.

7. Marta’s magical goal pushes the Orlando Pride past Kansas City and into the NWSL Championship.

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    Flashback Friday: June 10, 2023 vs. Colorado Rapids

    Let’s take a trip down memory lane to a booking-laden match at home that took place a little less than three years ago.

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    4 hours ago

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    June 12, 2026

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    Dan MacDonald, The Mane Land

    The World Cup is now officially underway, and while that means Orlando City is on break, we can’t have you forgetting about the Lions while all the international action is taking place. That means its time for another edition of Flashback Friday, where we hop in the trusty time machine and reminisce on OCSC matches of yesteryear.

    Last week we relived a rousing road win over the New York Red Bulls from June, 3 2023, and this week, we actually pick up right where we left off, on June 10, 2023 as the Lions returned home to take on the Colorado Rapids.

    Coming off a 3-0 win over the Red Bulls in the previous match, Oscar Pareja decided to not mess with a good thing, and kept Orlando City’s same starting XI from that victory. Pedro Gallese was in net behind a back line of Rafael Santos, Robin Jansson, Antonio Carlos, and Kyle Smith. Wilder Cartagena and Cesar Araujo played the double pivot; Ivan Angulo, Mauricio Pereyra, and Facundo Torres were the attacking midfielders, and Ercan Kara was deployed as the striker.

    In typical June fashion for the City Beautiful, kickoff was delayed by just under an hour as the stadium was pounded by storms, and the delay did not look to have done any favors for Orlando’s sharpness. That said, OCSC did win a corner kick less than a minute into the game, and Torres had a tame shot saved in the eighth minute, but the Lions weren’t consistently sharp with their passing in the early moments of the contest.

    The teams traded chances just before the 15-minute mark, with Kara sending a header too high before Cole Bassett sent a shot straight to Gallese. Carlos then picked up a yellow card in the 24th minute, which evened things out between the two teams after Lalas Abubakar was cautioned for the Rapids after just six minutes. Those two bookings proved to be a harbinger of things to come, because Colorado went down to 10 men in the 39th minute after midfielder Braian Galvan caught Angulo with a high boot while his studs were showing.

    Pereyra had Orlando’s best chance of the opening 45 minutes in stoppage time but could only send his effort right at goalkeeper Marko Ilic, and that was the last significant action of the half. The Lions ended the half with an edge in possession (59.7%-40.3%), shots (7-2), shots on target (2-1), and passing accuracy (85.3%-79.4%), while both teams won two corners.

    Pareja made two moves at halftime, bringing on Rodrigo Schlegel for the once-booked Carlos, and Martin Ojeda for Cartagena in an effort to go more offensive against a shorthanded Rapids side. The Lions certainly looked brighter going forward as the second half got underway and had a few dangerous moments before finally breaking the deadlock in the 55th minute.

    Pereyra played a ball across the top of the box for Torres, who took a couple of touches before sending a ball to the net that took a wicked deflection off Andreas Maxsø that carried it past Ilic.

    It wasn’t the prettiest goal the Lions have ever scored, but for a team that was guilty at times of passing up good shots in favor of the perfect look at goal, it was proof that sometimes you just need to take shots in dangerous areas.

    Fortunately, Orlando seemed to take that lesson to heart. Kara went close in the 65th minute despite shooting through traffic, Angulo had a shot deflected by Abubakar three minutes later, and Torres had another deflected effort go just wide of the post four minutes after that.

    The game changed again in the 75th minute, when the Rapids had another player sent off. Abubakar lasted for 69 minutes on a yellow card but got burned by Angulo in midfield and hauled him down in order to prevent the Lions from potentially working a transition opportunity. He had some teammates behind him, but the referee showed him a second yellow card. Pareja smelled blood in the water and just three minutes later he brought on Ramiro Enrique for Smith, who had been given a yellow card in the 52nd minute.

    Ilic made a great save on Pereyra in the 81st minute to keep the score at 1-0 and keep the Rapids in the game, but Orlando got its second goal just two minutes later. Torres had the ball on the right side of the box with a Colorado player backing off him, and that gave him ample time to get his head up and pick out a man. He played a ball to Enrique at the top of the box, who had plenty of time to take a couple of touches and send a low shot into the bottom corner past a diving Ilic for his first goal as an Orlando City player.

    Somewhat surprisingly, the game started to get a little stretched after the Lions doubled their advantage. Colorado had a shot blocked in the 81st minute, Kara sent a shot very close to the post six minutes after that, and Gallese saved a Darren Yapi attempt in the 88th minute to keep his clean sheet alive. Aside from Pareja handing Alejandro Granados his MLS debut, that was the last significant action of the match, which finished 2-0 to the good guys.

    Unsurprisingly, considering Colorado’s deficit in players, the Lions dominated all of the game’s most important statistics. OCSC finished with the advantage in possession (65%-35%), shots (15-4), shots on goal (6-2), corners (5-3), and passing accuracy (89.4%-81.5%).

    The victory made it back-to-back wins for the first time in 2023, stretched Orlando’s unbeaten run to six, and gave El Pulpo his 100th clean sheet for the team in all competitions.

    Marcus Mitchell had the helm for Player Grades in this one, and Torres got his nod for Man of the Match with a goal, an assist, and a grade of 7.5 out of 10. Several other Lions graded out at 7 out of 10, with only one player grading below a 6.

    While it was a weird win, it unfortunately was the final game of the unbeaten streak, as the Lions fell to a familiar defeat at Gillette Stadium the following week, although things got back on track soon afterward. I’ll see you back here in a week for another trip down memory lane. Vamos Orlando!

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    Lion Links: 6/12/26

    USMNT plays Paraguay tonight, red cards rain down in World Cup opener, Sporting Kansas City linked with Yann Gboho, and more.

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    June 12, 2026

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    Image of Alex Freeman sliding in celebration of a goal.
    Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

    Happy Friday, Mane Landers! The World Cup is in full swing and the U.S. will play today, so it’s a pretty exciting Friday to say the least. I’m a bit of a bundle of nerves about how the team will do, but I’m still looking forward to catching the game. If you have any gameday rituals, be sure to share, so that we can conjure up enough luck and support for the team tonight. Let’s get to the links!

    USMNT’s World Cup Campaign Begins Today

    The United States Men’s National Team will take on Paraguay at 9 p.m. tonight in its first match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. There’s plenty of pressure on the U.S. to perform well as one of the host nations, and this will also be Head Coach Mauricio Pochettino’s first time coaching at a World Cup. Pochettino stated that all 26 players are available for selection, including center back Chris Richards, although he may not necessarily start. Former Orlando City defender Alex Freeman, who is the youngest player on the U.S. roster, could make his World Cup debut tonight, so be sure to root for our hometown hero should he take the field. Hopefully, the Yanks can start this tournament off on the right foot with a big win in California.

    World Cup Opener Features Three Red Cards

    This year’s World Cup began in Mexico City, with Mexico beating South Africa 2-0 in a match that included three red cards. All three were straight red cards given in the second half in separate incidents, as Sphephelo Sithole and Themba Zwane were sent off for South Africa before Mexico’s Cesar Montes was shown red in stoppage time. There hasn’t been a World Cup match with that many red cards since the record of four was set in 2006 in a match between Portugal and the Netherlands. As for the game’s goals, Julian Quinones pounced on a mistake by South Africa to give Mexico an early lead and Raul Jimenez doubled that lead while South Africa was reduced to 10 men.

    Sporting Kansas City Linked With Yann Gboho

    While the World Cup roars on, the rumor mill is in full force as clubs make plans for summer reinforcements. Sporting Kansas City is reportedly pushing to sign Toulouse winger Yann Gboho, who recorded 10 goals and three assists across all competitions this past season. The surprising aspect of this pursuit would be that Toulouse values Gboho at an eye-watering $20 million transfer fee, which would be a club record by a country mile. Kansas City needs all the help it can get on offense, as it has scored just 14 goals in 14 games so far this season.

    Jose Mourinho Officially Returns to Real Madrid

    It’s been a bit of an open secret over the past few weeks that Jose Mourinho would become Real Madrid’s next manager and it’s now official, with the 63-year-old signing a three-year contract with the Spanish club. Mourinho helped Real Madrid win a La Liga title and the Copa del Rey over a decade ago before his departure in 2013 after three seasons with the club. Now, he joins a Real Madrid side that has finished second in the league standings and been eliminated in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League the past two seasons. I, for one, can’t wait to see how one of the biggest personalities in soccer works alongside a locker room of star players that seemed in disarray this past season.

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    That’s all I have for you this time around. I hope you all have a fantastic Friday and rest of your weekend!

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    Lion Links: 6/11/26

    Wilder Cartagena linked with move to Sporting Cristal, Orlando Pride hire Dr. Nicole Surdyka, Barbra Banda injury update, and more.

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    June 11, 2026

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    Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Jermey Reper

    The World Cup is finally here! Today starts what should be an exciting month of international soccer featuring more teams than ever before. While I wasn’t able to part with the arm and leg necessary to afford a ticket to one of the games, I’m still looking forward to watching along when I can with the rest of the world. Let’s get to the links!

    Wilder Cartagena Linked With Move to Peruvian Club

    You’ll need a translation tool to check out the full details unless you are fluent in Spanish, but Sporting Cristal of Peru’s top flight is reportedly interested in signing Orlando City midfielder Wilder Cartagena. The 31-year-old is currently under contract with Orlando through 2026, with the contact also including a club option for 2027. He was a crucial part to Orlando’s success in 2024, but he missed all of last year and has only started one game so far this season due to injuries. It’s not much more than a rumor as of now, but it’ll be something to keep an eye on during this break in the league schedule.

    Barbra Banda Sustained a Hamstring Injury

    Zambia Head Coach Nora Hauptle stated that Orlando Pride forward Barbra Banda is dealing with a hamstring strain. Banda didn’t play in either of Zambia’s matches during this international break, but Hauptle also noted that she should recover in the next week or two and will be fine for the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations at the end of July. Banda was injured late in the Pride’s 3-1 win against Bay FC on May 29 and it was unclear how severe the injury was. Hopefully she’ll be good to go before the Pride’s match against Angel City FC on July 3.

    Dr. Nicole Surdyka Named Orlando Pride Director of Medical & Performance

    The Orlando Pride have hired Dr. Nicole Surdyka as their new director of medical and performance. She’ll oversee the Pride’s medical operations, nutrition, and more while also working with Orlando Health. Dr. Surdyka has over a decade of experience that included leadership roles with OL Reign and the LA Galaxy and has studied extensively into developing frameworks for health and performance in women’s soccer.

    “Nicole is one of the most respected practitioners in our field, and her expertise in women’s football, return‑to‑play, and high‑performance systems will elevate every aspect of our medical and performance environment,” said Caitlin Carducci, Orlando Pride VP of Soccer Operations & General Manager. “Her leadership, her commitment to evidence‑based practice and her passion for supporting athletes make her an exceptional addition to the Pride.”

    Analyzing Paraguay Ahead of USMNT World Cup Match

    The United States Men’s National Team will play its World Cup opener on Friday when it hosts Paraguay at SoFi Stadium. It will be the 10th match between the two nations, with the USMNT most recently winning 2-1 against Paraguay in November of last year. There’s a familiar face on Paraguay’s roster in Orlando City midfielder Braian Ojeda, with Miguel Almiron and Andres Cubas as other MLS midfielders called up. Paraguay’s defense is anchored by center back Gustavo Gomez, who you may remember as the player who put former Lion Alex Freeman in a headlock during that aforementioned November friendly. As for Paraguay’s attack, the Yanks will need to keep Julio Enciso and Antonio Sanabria from wreaking havoc. Paraguay is a physical team that’s also strong in the air, so we’ll see how the USMNT deals with that on Friday.

    England Beats Costa Rica 3-0 at Inter&Co Stadium

    Orlando City’s Inter&Co Stadium hosted a friendly between England and Costa Rica on Wednesday, with England winning 3-0. Declan Rice gave England an early lead, but Costa Rica kept the Three Lions off the scoresheet until the substitutes came on for England in the second half, with Anthony Gordon and Ollie Watkins both scoring. England got the full Orlando experience due to a heavy storm that delayed kickoff, but Inter&Co Stadium earned praise for its drainage system that had the pitch ready to roll in no time. Enjoy this satisfying time-lapse video of the transformation provided by the stadium.

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

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