Following a three-game road trip, Orlando City B (5-6-4, 19 points) begins a three-game homestand when it hosts FC Cincinnati (5-5-5, 20 points) on Saturday, July 1. Kickoff is set for 8:30 p.m. ET at Orlando City Stadium. The match will follow the National Women’s Soccer League match between Orlando Pride and Chicago, which kicks off at 5 p.m. ET, in the first doubleheader in Orlando City Stadium history.
“Cincinnati are riding the crest of the wave at the moment. They’re in a really good run of form. They’ve been winning games in Open Cup, they’ve been winning games in the league,” OCB head coach Anthony Pulis said. “I think we can definitely take confidence from when we went there a month or so ago, put in a good performance and got a victory. Obviously we come in off the back of a good victory at Rochester so the guys are in a good mood at the moment but we know it’s going to be a very difficult game.”
This is the second meeting between the two clubs this season. On May 13, OCB struck twice through Pierre Da Silva and Richie Laryea to give FC Cincinnati their first home loss of the season. Earl Edwards, Jr. made three saves to post his third consecutive clean sheet and lead the Lions to their second of three straight road wins.
OCB returns home following a 1-0 victory over the Rochester Rhinos last Friday to close out a three-game road trip. Da Silva set up Timbo’s game-winning goal with some clever footwork up the left wing and into the box. The tap-in was Timbo’s first goal as a Lion and gave Da Silva his sixth assist of the season, a career-high for the second-year pro.
Edwards is third in the USL with 40 saves. Da Silva’s six assists are second in the league. 2016 MLS SuperDraft first-round picks Laryea and Hadji Barry are tied with rookie Albert Dikwa for the team lead with three goals apiece.
Cincinnati is coming off a thrilling win over the Chicago Fire in the U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 on Wednesday night. Goalkeeper Mitch Hildebrandt made 10 saves through 120 minutes as the Fire held over 70 percent possession. Hildebrandt then came up huge with three saves in the shootout as FCC took down its second Major League Soccer club of the tournament.
Djiby Fall leads Cincinnati with seven goals in nine appearances and six players are tied for the team lead with two assists.
