MLS Orlando City SC

Preview: Lions Begin 4-Game Road Trip at NYCFC

Published on May 31, 2018 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
Orlando City SC News Release


ORLANDO, Fla. - Orlando City SC (6-5-1, 19 points) begins a stretch of four consecutive road matches when it travels to face 2015 expansion rival New York City FC (7-3-3, 24 points) on Saturday, June 2. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET at Yankee Stadium.

The match will be locally televised on WRDQ TV27 and YouTube TV. It will also be transmitted on FM 96.9 The Game in English and La Nueva 990 AM in Spanish.

"[New York City] is obviously a very, very good team and we have confidence in what we do. We have confidence that we are an improving team right now," Lions head coach Jason Kreis said. "We feel like we are a much better team then we were in that game that we played them prior in the season. And we also should draw some confidence in some things that happened in that game. We went 60-some odd minutes without allowing a goal against us. In fact, we gave them the goals against us. So we have some confidence to draw from as well."

Saturday's match will be the first of four straight on the road for the Lions. City will travel to face National Premier Soccer League side Miami United FC in U.S. Open Cup play on June 6 and then head to Canada for MLS matches at Vancouver on June 9 and Montreal on June 13.

The Lions will be looking to bounce back from a 2-1 loss to Chicago on Saturday. The Fire jumped out to an early lead in the 13th minute off a free kick from Aleksandar Katai, but City answered 15 minutes later with Cristian Higuita scoring his second goal in as many games. Alan Gordon scored the game-winner in the 82nd minute.

Dom Dwyer leads the Lions and is tied for third in the league with six goals. With his goal on Saturday, Higuita increased his career-high with three goals on the season, tying him for second on the team with Yoshimar Yotún and Chris Mueller.

NYCFC is coming off a 3-1 loss at Houston on Friday. David Villa opened up the scoring in the sixth minute to put New York City ahead, but the Dynamo answered with three goals from Alejandro Fuenmayor, Tomas Martinez and Alberth Ellis to secure the victory.

Villa leads New York City and is tied for the league lead with eight goals this season. Goalkeeper Sean Johnson currently sits at second in saves in MLS with 48 and is tied for third with four shutouts.

This is the second of three matches between the 2015 expansion rivals. The Lions lost 2-0 at Yankee Stadium on March 17. NYCFC visits Orlando City Stadium on July 26.

Both teams will wear Soccer For All t-shirts during the pregame procession in support of the league's commitment to ending discrimination and fostering inclusive communities. New York City FC will be celebrating its annual Pride Day.

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