Welcome back, everybody. We hope your weekend was a little bit more entertaining than the pair of low-scoring and scoreless draws that Orlando City and Orlando Pride played to on Sunday (I put together Target furniture after the City game, so consider yourself lucky if you had more fun!).
Anywho, let’s take a look at what Orlando’s trio of professional soccer clubs are up to this week:
Orlando City
The Lions are back at home in the not-so-friendly confines of Epxloria Stadium this week for a pair of matches, one real and one meaningless. Coming off this recent road swing that saw City playing two games in five days, the squad will have a couple of down days before hosting Premier League giants Arsenal FC in an FC Series friendly on Wednesday night.
Regardless of how you feel about midseason friendlies against European opponents (they’re useless, unnecessary, and should be avoided by the plague by all teams, especially during summer months when teams like Orlando already tend to struggle with their normal calendar), it’s happening and the best we can hope for is a clean, fun game.
Following this one, the Lions will return to league play three days later when they host the conference-leading Philadelphia Union on Saturday night in a crucial showdown in the Eastern Conference.
Schedule:
- Wednesday, July 20: Orlando City vs. Arsenal FC (FC Series) – 7:30pm ET, ESPN+
- Saturday, July 23: Orlando City vs. Philadelphia Union – 7:30pm ET, Fox35 PLUS, LionNation TV
Orlando Pride
The Pride capped off another relatively successful weekend, notching their straight consecutive result under interim head coach Seb Hines with a scoreless draw in D.C. against the defending league champions, Washington Spirit on Sunday afternoon.
The Pride is 1-0-2 in the month of July since losing all three contests in June, and now they’ll get a week of rest before returning to action on the road at Kansas City at the end of the month. Orlando still holds the worst goal difference in the league at -14, but what matters most is that 8th place spot in the standings, ahead of four other clubs as we near the halfway point in the NWSL regular season.
Schedule:
- No Pride games this week
Orlando City B
It’s been a tumultuous season for OCB, but the Lions’ youth side pulled off an impressive come-from-behind win at Chicago Fire II on Sunday night, earning their second road victory of the season.
Jack Lynn bagged a goal and assist, with Favian Loyola scoring a brace, including the game-tying goal, and Necier Acosta hitting the game-winner in the 90th minute.
Lynn’s first score of the night for OCB was his 12th of the season (10th in his last nine games), making him the second-highest goal scorer in MLS NEXT Pro this season.
OCB returns home this week to host Union II on Sunday.
Schedule:
- Sunday, July 24: Orlando City B vs. Philadelphia Union II – 7pm ET