ORLANDO, Fla. (July 29, 2016) – Orlando City SC (4-5-11, 23 points) begins a new era on Sunday, July 31, when Jason Kreis leads the Lions for the first time as head coach against the New England Revolution (6-7-8, 26 points). Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET at Camping World Stadium.
Sunday’s fixture will be locally televised on WRDQ TV27 as well as transmitted on Real Radio 104.1 FM in English and on La Grande 1030 AM in Spanish.
“[The team’s work ethic has been] Fantastic. I couldn’t be more happy with the guys. I think they look to be together right now,” Head Coach Jason Kreis said. “We’ve taken a long hard look at New England. They have very, very creative, gifted attacking players. [Kei] Kamara is extremely dangerous in the box. Kelyn Rowe, Lee Nguyen, [Diego] Fagúndez, [Teal] Bunbury - these are all extremely gifted attacking players, so we need to be prepared for that. The focus is going to be 80 percent on us and what we’re doing, making sure we do all of our things right.”
This is Kreis’ first game at the helm for the Lions. Kreis, who coached Real Salt Lake to its only MLS Cup title in 2009, was hired as the Club’s second head coach last Wednesday and brings with him assistant coaches Miles Joseph and CJ Brown.
The match holds huge Eastern Conference playoff implications. With 14 games to go, Orlando City sits just three points behind New England for the final playoff spot in the East with a game in hand. The Lions will look to capitalize on home field advantage and extend their 16-game home-unbeaten run against a Revs team that has just one road win this season.
City is coming off a three-game road trip. The Lions scored two goals in the second half to earn a point in Vancouver on Saturday, July 16, before drawing Columbus 2-2 on Saturday.
All-Star striker Cyle Larin scored in both those games, climbing to fifth in MLS and leading the Lions with 10 goals this season. Kevin Molino tied the franchise single season MLS record with his seventh assist of 2016 in Columbus and is second on the team with seven goals. Goalkeeper Joe Bendik ranks second in MLS with 74 saves.
New England defeated the Chicago Fire 1-0 on Saturday, July 23. Je-Vaughn Watson scored his first goal of the season in the 85th minute to take all three points at Gillette Stadium.
Lee Nguyen leads the Revs with five goals and seven assists while Juan Agudelo has three goals and two assists.
This is the third and final meeting of the season between these teams. Molino appeared to steal the game for the Lions in stoppage time on April 17, but Nguyen converted on a penalty kick four minutes later. It was the Lions who stole a draw two weeks later, though, when Carlos Rivas scored his first career MLS goal in the 90th minute to secure a 2-2 draw.
City returns to Camping World Stadium on Sunday, Aug. 7, to host the Seattle Sounders. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and will be nationally televised on FS1.
