ORLANDO, Fla. (Nov. 30, 2024) – No. 4 Orlando City SC were defeated by No. 7 New York Red Bulls at Inter&Co Stadium on Saturday night by a 1-0 scoreline. The Lions finished the 2024 season appearing in their first-ever Eastern Conference Final.
The Lions had a plethora of chances on the night but just weren’t able to find the back of the net. Facundo Torres had a chance in the 32nd minute when he found himself one-on-one with the Red Bull goalkeeper, but had his opportunity denied.
Just a few minutes later Ramiro Enrique earned himself a chance off a Lions’ goal kick but couldn’t get a shot off due to some last-ditch defending from the Red Bulls’ backline. The Lions attack continued into the second half, but they were unable to find an equalizer.
The Lions finish the 2024 season with the most goals scored in a single regular season in Club history with 59. Facundo Torres became Orlando City’s all-time leading goal scorer across all competitions, passing Cyle Larin and currently sits atop the list with 47 goals. City also appeared in its fifth consecutive MLS Cup Playoffs, all of which have come under Head Coach Oscar Pareja, only one of two active teams to do so.
Scoring Summary:
47’ Andrés Reyes (John Tolkin) – RBNY 1, ORL 0
Just two minutes after the start of the second half, New York broke through on the scoreboard first. After drawing a foul outside the Orlando box, midfielder John Tolkin took the ensuing free kick. Tolkin crossed the ball to the far post to Andrés Reyes who headed in the match’s lone goal.
Head Coach Oscar Pareja:
“Obviously, a few words will not tell the whole story about how we feel tonight after not getting this result. We want to still be grateful for our fans and the people who were here pushing us and present in the stadium and the energy that we felt from all these people that deserved much more than this. We had a good season and had a bunch of things to be proud of, but it is very painful at this moment to accept that we are not achieving the objective. That tells us that we have grown. From the bottom of my heart, I am very grateful for the players and all the effort they put in during the season. Now to the game today, it was a playoff game. I thought New York had a few shots and we knew it was a very rocky game for both. In those options, they took it, and we let it go and did not take them. We didn’t take ours when we had the chance and that is what happened.”
Match Notes:
- Since June 22, the Lions held a 9-2-4 record with a +21-goal difference in their last 15 home matches.
- Midfielder Dagur Dan Thórhallsson made his 80th appearance for Orlando City across all competitions.
- Midfielder Wilder Cartagena earned his 80th appearance for the Lions across all competitions.
- Head Coach Oscar Pareja made no changes to his starting XI from his side’s last match against Atlanta United FC.
