Orlando City notes: Road trip recap; Ceren’s absence; unstoppable Molino; and more

Photo: Valencia Voice

By Mike Gramajo

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — After starting their 2014 USL PRO season on the road, which saw Orlando City SC leave with only one point, the Lions are riding high on confidence after their latest road stretch which saw them exit with a perfect six points. 

The last time OCSC went perfect on a road stretch? August of 2012, which was the last time Orlando exited a two-game road trip with six points after victories at Harrisburg City Islanders and Rochester Rhinos. 

“Six points on the road is never easy,” Orlando head coach Adrian Heath told the OSJ on Saturday. “I thought we had good play on the counter-attack in Dallas, and tonight it was just a case in playing the conditions. We have to play the opponent and sometimes you also have to play the conditions.” 

Heath, who is rarely or never keen the performance of the team, had high praise for his men despite the 25 MPH wind gusts that played a heavy factor during their 2-1 win at Oklahoma City. 

Here’s more on what Heath told the OSJ on their previous and upcoming matches: 

Darwin Ceren’s absence and return to Orlando City 

There was one notable player missing on Saturday and though the Lions cracked up a win, his alive energy that moves the midfield brought questions on whether the scoreline would of had more than two numbers. 

Orlando’s third Major League Soccer signee Darwin Ceren missed out on Saturday’s match at Oklahoma, and Heath told the OSJ that it was because of a family illness. 

“He’s had a family illness and he had to take care of that,” said Heath. “Everything is okay, and should be in practice on Monday morning and back in the lineup.” 

Unstoppable Molino getting paves the way in road games

It’s no secret that midfielder Kevin Molino is Heath’s favorite player. After all, he’s Orlando’s first-ever MLS signing, and his performance in the last two road games displayed why has potential to be the club’s first-ever captain once the Lions jump into MLS. 

Three goals in two games may seem like just a statistic, an emphatic one, but it was the timing in which they came played a serious factor on the result. The 2012 USL PRO Most Valuable Player made his presence known on Saturday at OKC, pulling the strings after feeding the ball forward Dennis Chin and wingers Brian Span and Adama Mbengue.

Molino also played a role into orchestrating the opening goal. Perhaps the match at FC Dallas last week gave him the momentum going into Saturday’s match, but his form, which is rapidly moving forward, is something that could transform into a threat league-wide.