Lions and Crew battle in score-fest draw

Photo | Joe Petro / OCSC 

By Danny Morales

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Orlando City SC and the Columbus Crew played to a 4-4 draw on Wednesday night in the Disney Pro Soccer Classic, in what was a back-and-forth game from start to finish. 

Dennis Chin scored his first goal of the preseason in the 88th minute, giving Orlando City what looked like the game-winning goal, but Columbus’ Ethan Finlay came and scored the game-tying goal in the 90th minute.

“I was overdue,” said Chin about his goal. “Preseason's all about getting sharp and just trying to get as many as your chances in as possible. It’s good to get my first one in, hopefully it’s more.”

Both teams scored a combined five goals during the final 14 minutes of the game, including one from newly re-signed midfielder Adama Mbengue.

All-in-all, OCSC got three goals from three different midfielders, showing that the chemistry is starting to improve in the middle.

“We’re starting to get some chemistry within the group,” said Orlando City head coach Adrian Heath. “The combination play within the mid-third of the field is becoming very, very good.

“We’re still growing and trying to put this next group of players together, there’s six or seven news players and everybody’s still not completely on the same page with their roles and responsibilities.”

Darwin Ceren was one of the Lions’ midfielders to put the ball in the back of the net on Wednesday, giving him his first goal for the Purple Kits. 

The preseason is still young for Orlando City, as this was only their fourth game all year. The Lions will return to Disney on Saturday to face the New York Red Bulls for the third place spot in the preseason tournament on Saturday, kickoff set for 6:00 p.m. 

“We’ve still got a lot of work to do , we know that, still got a lot of stuff to nail down,” said Heath. “There’s certain things that please me and there’s stuff that doesn’t, but that’s what preseason's about.”

Orlando City '14 USL Pro squad (February)

Photo: OSJ Staff

By Mike Gramajo

With less than a month away for Orlando City SC's season opener at Charleston, head coach Adrian Heath indicated that more additions to the roster will be made in the coming weeks. 

The OSJ will continue to be on the latest track of new players that will be sporting the purple kit. 

Although midfielder Adama Mbengue isn't listed in Orlando City's website as a member of the team, a team source told the OSJ that he will rejoin the squad this week, adding more depth to Heath's midfield, and making a stronger argument in having once again a possessive style team. 

Below is the latest update on the Lions 2014 roster: 

Heath looking to add former MLS players to 2014 squad

By Valencia Voice

By Mike Gramajo

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — If you have followed Orlando City SC’s run in the Disney Pro Soccer Classic, then you may have noticed how their roster stacks up against the other squads playing in the preseason tournament. 

Not physically, but in size of depth. 

“We’re going to wait and see which players maybe drop out of the MLS over the next few weeks, and they gotta be roster compliant, so we’ll see where we are,” OCSC head coach Adrian Heath told reporters after Saturday’s 1-1 draw vs. Toronto FC. “We are a little bit thin, we gotta bring one or two players in.”

The Lions active roster for Saturday’s preseason tournament featured 12 players, four of which were on trial; Mason Trafford, Mark Howard and Jordan Cyrus

Although defender Bryan Burke was present, he was missing on the game day roster, mostly because he’s still trying to get on form from a broken leg he suffered last season. While Adama Mbengue will report to training on Monday. 

While Heath’s pursuit for more former MLS players continues, he has told the OSJ most recently that he plans to continue on bringing players up to the pro team from the academy. 

With the 2014 USL Pro regular season bound to kick off in less than a month, Heath hinted that more signings are on its way, which also include the arrival of two players on-loan from Sporting Kansas City (per USL Pro-MLS affiliation). 

Heath: We got a big MLS signing coming this week

By Valencia Voice

By Mike Gramajo

ORLANDO, Fla. — Preseason camp kicks off on Monday, and it looks like more players are expected to join the team according to Orlando City SC head coach Adrian Heath. 

The former Everton man told the reporters that a third Major League Soccer signing is expected this week, hinting the Orlando-bound player is a captain of his national team in South America. 

“We got a big signing this week. We got an international player signing, he’s the captain of his national team in South America, we’re really excited about him coming in,” Heath told reporters. “Probably in the middle of the week, along with two other players signing.” 

The contract is expected to be a multi-year deal, which will run from the upcoming USL Pro season to the end of Orlando’s inaugural MLS campaign in 2015. 

The Lions currently have two players with MLS contracts, Kevin Molino and Yordany Alvarez will take part of Orlando’s MLS journey after they agreed to join the club for the final USL Pro before making the jump with Heath, who will head the Lions in 2015. 

While no new reports on Kaka joining OCSC have erupted, Heath did tell the OSJ that a Designated Player for 2015 is still in the top of their agenda. 

Orlando City 2014 USL Pro schedule

By Mike Gramajo 

After months of waiting, USL Pro released their 2014 schedule. 

Orlando City SC will open up their final season in the USL Pro, when they face off against the Charleston Battery at Blackbaud Stadium (March 22 at 7:30 p.m.) 

While the Lions open their season on the road, they will play a total of 14 home games at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex after the Florida Citrus Bowl, their previous home venue, will be under renovation for much of 2014. 

OCSC's home opener is set for March 29, when they welcome the Pittsburgh Riverhounds to the WWOS.

Some marquee matchups include their rematch of the 2013 USL Pro Final vs. the Charlotte Eagles on May 21. Meanwhile, their trips to new USL Pro franchise’s Oklahoma City Energy and Sacramento Republic are on April 26 and July 17. 

Here’s the full schedule: