Span summoned to FC Dallas Reserves squad

By Mike Gramajo

Orlando City SC midfielder Brian “Cobi” Span has been recalled to FC Dallas’ Reserve squad ahead of Tuesday’s USL Pro inter-league match vs. Oklahoma City Energy FC. 

The on-loan midfielder scored the game winner in last Saturday’s 1-0 victory for Orlando City SC, and received plenty of praise from head coach Adrian Heath after the match, telling reporters that his performance on Saturday made his selection a lot more easier.  

The OSJ reached out to Orlando City team officials, and were told that Span will return to the Central Florida outfit ‘tomorrow’ ahead of their road trip next week at FC Dallas Reserves, which Heath said he feels confident that Span will gear up for the Purple Kits despite Dallas being his parent club.

The Lions currently sit in first place in the USL Pro standings with eight points.

Span’s winner lifts Orlando City to victory

By Mike Gramajo 

KISSIMMEE, Fla. — All it took was a dream debut to prevent a nightmare night. 

Brian Span’s late-game winner proved to be the difference, as Orlando City SC (2-2-0) defeated Charleston Battery 1-0 on Saturday night at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, in front of 4,826 fans. 

“It would of been a travesty if we hadn’t won the game with the chances we created,” Orlando City head coach Adrian Heath told reporters on the result. “Overall, I’m pleased with the win because I thought we deserved it. I think the stuff we were disappointed last week was the general work ethic, but I thought we were very good at that tonight.” 

Span, who came in as a second-half substitute for midfielder Aodhan Quinn in the 56th minute, found the back of the net after midfielder Adama Mbengue sent in a low cross, which found Span unmarked in the box as he slotted the ball past Charleston Battery goalkeeper Odisnel Cooper in the 74th minute. 

“It felt great, I was really preparing myself for any time my moment was,” Span said on his game-winning goal. “Coach was telling us to get into the box, and he wanted us to get many numbers in the box, and I was in the right place, right time.” 

Heath made three substitution throughout the game, all of which came early in the second half. Dennis Chin and Adama Mbengue entered the match in the 58th minute for Austin da Luz and Corey Hertzog. 

OCSC goalkeeper Miguel Gallardo earned his first clean sheet of the season despite making only one save, with much of the credit paid to Orlando’s back line that stopped the Battery from scoring. 

A strong second-half surge from Orlando proved to pay a huge factor in the victory, outshooting the Battery 8-1 as they finished with a total of 14 shoots for the total tally mark. 

In the first half, possession was evenly shared, but it was the Battery that had the upper hand after they came a lot closer to opening the scoreboard. Charleston outshot Orlando 7-5, much of the action came from the flanks when Battery midfielder Zach Prince tried taking advantage of 17-year old left back Tyler Turner.  

Corey Hertzog nearly came to scoring twice for the Lions before the halftime whistle after Turner found him in a low cross, only for Hertzog to send the ball wide of the post. 

The second chance arrived moments later when the midfielder Austin da Luz found Hertzog in a through ball, leaving Hertzog in a one-on-one scenario with Battery goalkeeper Odisnel Cooper which resulted into the ball being sent high over the cross bar. 

City’s second-consecutive victory will follow with a road trip on Tuesday, April 22, when they take on the FC Dallas Reserves. In the meantime, they sit provisionally atop the USL Pro standings with eight points. 

Photo: OCSC 

OCSC 2014 USL Pro roster (April edition)

Photo: OCSC 

By Mike Gramajo

After winning their first match of the season last week, Orlando City returns to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex as they seek unfinished business with Charleston Battery, who they drew 1-1 during opening weekend at Blackbaud Stadium.

The Lions roster tweaked a little bit after defender Joseph Toby was sent on transfer to Arizona United SC on Wednesday.

While the change won't really impact OCSC's starting lineup, which has an extreme amount of depth in the defense and midfield, it will pave way for more playing time for midfielder Mikey Lopez (on-loan from Sporting Kansas City) and Brian Span, who joined Orlando most recently from FC Dallas on a season-long loan basis.

If you can't make the trek down to Disney World, you can always watch via live stream on Youtube, kick off is set for 7:30 p.m. ET (WATCH HERE).

Below is the latest update on the Lions 2014 roster: 

International: Orlando City to host AS Roma

Photo: OCSC

By Mike Gramajo

Orlando City SC will welcome Italian giants AS Roma for the second time, when both sides collide at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex on May 23 in an international friendly at 7:30 p.m.. 

Both sides met in January 2013 at Rollins College, which resulted into a 4-0 victory for the Italian side against an Orlando City side not having a solid preseason yet. 

“AS Roma are one of the top clubs in the world and we are delighted to have them back in Florida again,” Orlando City President Phil Rawlins said in a statement on Thursday. “I know our fans will enjoy seeing The Lions take on a world class team like Roma.”

Despite having lost their last encounter against Roma, the Lions will look to have a slight advantage in regards to form, since they will be in midseason form while the Italian side will be arriving toward the end of the Serie A season. 

Valentino: Our focus is USL Pro, not MLS

Photo: Joe Petro / OCSC

By Mike Gramajo

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Orlando City’s 3-1 victory over the Rochester Rhinos not only displayed a winning result, their first winning result, but for defender Rob Valentino it was a performance that served as a wake up call. 

“I think it’s important to set the tone for the club, ourselves and not necessarily about MLS,” Valentino told reporters after the result. “We’re going to hear from every single player, we’re not focus on MLS, we’re focus on this season, and the tone in that locker room is what matters this year, not next year.

“We have to focus on every single game, every single Saturday not letting the level drop. Like I said, we set our own standards and we need to know that stays the same. We have the same goal every year, and we want to win both trophies.” 

Valentino, who scored OCSC’s second goal, has been a vital player to the club since their arrival to the minor leagues in 2011. 

Despite the victory, both head coach Adrian Heath and defender Rob Valentino told reporters that the result and performance were two halves, with one outweighing the other. 

“Everything you saw today, it wasn’t them outclassing us, it was us giving them everything,” said Valentino. “It’s their first game, so if we think that performance was good enough, we won’t have a performance like that all through the year.” 

After Orlando City’s ability to score multiple goals came to question during week one and two of the USL Pro, Saturday’s performance did answer those questions. However, it was self-evident that OCSC were lacking in another department, foolish defensive errors, if not the first two weeks then tonight. 

Despite Heath and Valentino criticizing their performance, Valentino did mention that the chemistry in the back line is doing well, it’s just the blinded mistakes that tend to gift the opponents the chance to score. 

“I think Brad (Rusin) and myself have a good communication between the two of us. Bods (Luke Boden) has been with us for the last four years, him and I have a good understanding, and we’re trying to mix Tyler (Turner) in, it’s his third game professionally. He’s still learning, understanding this is the real deal.” 

Orlando City claim first win over Rochester

By Mike Gramajo 

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — After three weeks of USL Pro action, Orlando City SC finally earned their first victory of the 2014 campaign. 

Goals from Kevin Molino, Rob Valentino and Dennis Chin helped pave the way for Orlando as they went on to claim a 3-1 win over the Rochester Rhinos on Saturday night at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, in front of 4,776 spectators. 

“I’m pleased that we won the game, I’m pleased that we scored three goals. I’m not pleased with the way we played,” Orlando City head coach Adrian Heath told reporters after the game. “Collectively we were poor, I’m really disappointed in our decision making and if we play like that, we will get beat, I guarantee that. 

“We did deserve to win the game last week, tonight I’m not so sure. It’s their (Rochester) first game, if they had been in three or four games into the season, they would of scored more. I stickup for my players all the time, but it’s too difficult to do so tonight.” 

The Lions took the lead in the opening minutes after Defender Tyler Turner founds Kevin Molino in a low-cross, who then capitalized on the pass for the 1-0 lead in the second minute. 

Adrian Heath’s men continued their dominance in possession in the first half, but it was their set pieces that helped double the lead for the Lions. Midfielder Austin da Luz played a corner kick, which resulted into Yordany Alvarez firing a shot, which hit off a wall of Rochester defenders. Defender Rob Valentino was able to execute on the rebound and double City’s lead 2-0 in the 35th minute. 

Miguel Gallardo’s chance for a clean-sheet was soon spoiled after a bad giveaway from midfielder Aodhan Quinn gave Rhinos forward JC Banks the clear-cut chance to slide the ball past Gallardo from close range in the 54th minute. 

With Rochester playing more of an aggressive second-half, Heath made several changes to the midfield, bringing forward Dennis Chin, and midfielders Adama Mbengue, Mikey Lopez to help a depleted Orlando forward line. 

Dennis Chin, who was subbed in the 71st minute for Corey Hertzog, wasted no time in giving Orlando the insurance goal after he was able to execute on a rebound from a low-cross from Kevin Molino for the 3-1 lead. 

OCSC got the best of the Rhinos when it came to shots, outshooting the Rochester side 8-4 in the first half, finishing 14-9 for the game in favor of Orlando. 

Defender Luke Boden, who has been the catalyst for Orlando in the last two matches, was more quiet in the left flanks after being heavily guarded by Rochester’s line of midfielders and defenders. Meanwhile, defender Tyler Turner had some difficulties in challenging for the 50/50 ball. 

With the victory, Orlando City sit provisionally in first place of the USL Pro standings with five points, and they return to Disney World when they take on Charleston Battery on Saturday, April 12 with a 7:30 kickoff. 

Orlando City SC 2014 USL Pro roster

Photo: Mark Thor / OCSC 

By Mike Gramajo

With Orlando City already in USL Pro action, the Lions made some more moves this past week which include bolstering their midfield.

OCSC announced the arrival of Brian "Cobi" Span on Wednesday, after agreeing with MLS side FC Dallas to loan the midfielder for the 2014 USL Pro season.

With the addition of Span, Orlando's midfield now jumps to 10 players filling that position. City head coach Adrian Heath did tell the OSJ that the formation won't change, but did add after last Saturday's home-opener that another player will be added to increase bodies in the final third.

Midfielder Kevin Molino was moved up top alongside forward Corey Hertzog last week, signaling that Heath is utilizing Molino as a false No. 9.

Orlando City return to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex on Saturday when they welcome the Rochester Rhinos at 7:30 p.m. (WATCH HERE).

Below is the latest update on the Lions 2014 roster: