Orlando City SC (4-4-4, 16 points) at Inter Miami CF (5-7-0, 15 points)
When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: DRV PNK Stadium, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
TV: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV (subscription required)
Radio: Real Radio 104.1 (English), Acción 97.9 FM (Spanish)
Official Watch Party presented by Heineken Silver: Game Room Social Club (55 N Orange Ave, Orlando, FL 32801)
Team of the Matchday
Orlando City goalkeeper Pedro Gallese matched his season-high in saves on Wednesday night, tallying five stops to help the Lions to a draw against the visiting Pigeons from New York City.
“El Pulpo’s” performance in between the sticks earned him MLS Team of the Matchday honors, his second of the campaign and his first in the first XI. Gallese has earned a dozen MLS Team of the Week/Matchday honors in his MLS career, joining the league ahead of the 2020 campaign.
Third on the Board
Lions forward Ercan Kara scored his third goal in league play at the midweek, all of which have come in the side’s last four contests in MLS.
Kara sits tied for the team lead in finishes this campaign across all competitions with Duncan McGuire, having found the back of the net in Concacaf Champions League play to add to his trio of goals in the league this season.
Twice as Nice
Facundo Torres tallied an assist for the second time in as many matches on Wednesday night, finding teammate Gastón González on the left wing who whipped in a cross that eventually found the head of Kara for the Lions’ lone goal of the night.
Torres has now tallied a goal contribution in three of the Lions’ last four matches in league play, with a finish against the LA Galaxy to add to his pair of assists, both of which have been to Kara.
Answering the Call
The Lions will be without Homegrown defender Mikey Halliday over the weekend, as it was announced that Halliday is set to join the U.S. U-20s for the U-20 World Cup in Argentina, replacing LA Galaxy defender Mauricio Cuevas due to injury.
Halliday was a member of the U.S. team that won the 2022 Concacaf U-20 Championship in Honduras last summer, playing in six of seven matches during the title run and was most recently called into camp in Spain back in March.
Consistent in the Crest
Defender Kyle Smith made Club history on Wednesday night, becoming the third Lion in the MLS era to reach 120 appearances in all competitions in purple.
Smith joins current City teammate Robin Jansson and former Lion Chris Mueller as just the third member to reach that mark for the side. The evening also saw Smith tally his 75th start in purple in all competitions, having joined the Club ahead of the 2019 campaign.
Milestone Tracker
- Defender Rodrigo Schlegel is 10 minutes away from crossing 6,000 minutes played in an Orlando City shirt.
- Goalkeeper Pedro Gallese is four appearances away from 100 in all competitions in purple.
- Defender Antonio Carlos’ next appearance will be his 90th in all competitions for the Lions.
- Defender Robin Jansson is one appearance away from passing Chris Mueller (112) as the Club’s all-time leader in regular season appearances.
- Midfielder Mauricio Pereyra is two starts away from 100 in all competitions.
- Head Coach Oscar Pareja is two wins away from 50 wins across all competitions at the helm of the Lions.
