VAUGHAN, Ont. (September 11, 2016) – In the second match of a four-game road trip, Orlando City B (8-12-8, 32 points) fell 2-1 to Toronto FC II (7-17-5, 26 points) Sunday at Ontario Soccer Centre. Michael Cox scored his team-leading 11th goal of the season and Pedro Ribeiro earned his first minutes since recovering from injury.
“The character and the spirit and the fight that the guys showed tonight was fantastic. I was really proud of the fact that they never gave up and they kept going right until the final whistle. I don’t think we deserved to lose tonight,” OCB Head Coach Anthony Pulis said. “As I said to [the players] after, there’s two options we can take now: we can either pack it and throw the towel in or roll our sleeves up, get our heads up and go again. I’ll be making sure they get their heads up. We’ll be looking forward to what’s going to be a fantastic occasion next week at Cincinnati. It’s still in our hands. We still have two games left and points to fight for and we’re still above that red line.”
The Lions struck quickly in the fifth minute when Zach Hayden was able to hit Cox from a throw-in on the left side. Cox let the ball roll past him, turned and split two defenders in a darting run towards goal. The forward hit a low shot past TFC II goalkeeper Quillan Roberts that struck the far post before rolling in.
OCB had a chance to double its lead in the 10th minute after Cox drew a foul about 25 yards from goal, but Alejandro Garcia’s free kick flew just over the crossbar.
The OCB back line displayed vigorous effort in the first half, as center backs Craig Nitti and Kyle McFadden dealt with a flurry of crosses and through balls as TFC II pushed for the equalizer. Nitti headed away a dangerous cross whipped in from the right side in the 16th minute and the Lions blocked several shots to preserve the lead.
TFC II leveled the match in the 28th minute when midfielder Liam Fraser curled in a cross from the right side to find Sean Hundal in front of goal. OCB goalkeeper Mark Ridgers made a terrific reaction save on Hundal’s header from point-blank range but was unable to stop the rebound.
The game went back and forth until the 71st minute when substitute Raheem Edwards found forward Ricardo John’s head on the near post to give Toronto the lead.
Hayden made an attacking run down the left wing in the 82nd minute to win a corner. The Lions almost found the equalizer on the direct corner kick and then again on a follow-up shot from the top of the box but Roberts denied both efforts.
In addition to Ribeiro’s return from back surgery, the match featured MLS players Conor Donovan, Hadji Barry, Tyler Turner and Devron García.
Orlando City B holds a two-point lead on the Wilmington Hammerheads for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with two games remaining. The Lions will head to Cincinnati on Saturday, Sept. 17, for a 7 p.m. ET kickoff before closing out the regular season on Sunday, Sept. 25, at Bethlehem.
Scoring Summary:
OCB - Michael Cox (Zach Hayden) 5’
TFC- Shaan Hundal 28’
TFC- Ricardo John (Raheem Edwards) 71’
Misconduct Summary:
OCB- Tyler Turner (Yellow Card) 66’
TFC - Anthony Osorio (Yellow Card) 67’
OCB- Michael Cox (Yellow Card) 75’
OCB- Pedro Ribeiro (Yellow Card) 84’
TFC- Raheem Edwards (Yellow Card) 84’
OCB- Zach Hayden (Yellow Card) 90’
Lineups/Substitutions:
Orlando City B - GK Mark Ridgers, D Tyler Turner, Kyle McFadden, Craig Nitti (Conor Donovan 73’), Zach Hayden, M Hadji Barry (Keegan Smith 48’) , Devron García (Pedro Ribeiro 61’), Andrew Ribeiro, Alejandro Garcia (Johnny Mendoza 46’), Pierre Da Silva, F Michael Cox
Substitutes: GK Jake Fenlason
Toronto FC II - GK Quillan Roberts, D Wesley Charpie, Skylar Thomas, Clement Simonin, Triston Hodge (Anthony Osorio 46’), M Liam Fraser, Luca Uccello, Brian James (Raheem Edwards 65’), Malik Johnson, F Shaan Hundal (Ben Spencer 76’), Ricardo John
Substitutes: GK Angelo Cavalluzzo, Klaidi Cela, M Martin Davis, Aidan Daniels
Details of the Game
Time: 7 30 p.m. ET
Weather: Clear
September 11, 2016
