Team 1 2 Final
Orlando City U23s 0 0 0
Floridians FC 1 1 2
Scoring Summary:
FLO- Miguel Benito (Deniz Bozkurt) 31’
FLO- Brian James (Unassisted) 88’
Lineups/Substitutions:
Orlando City SC- G Tomas Gomez, D Javier Clavijo, Ian Svantesson (Eirik Bjoernoe 23), Daan Brinkman (Allan Sexius 60), Skyler Russell (Alex Morrell 78), M Paul Clowes, Andrew Brody, Victor Souto (Daniel Johnson 46), F Tosan Popo (Lucas Diniz 46), Nico Rittmeyer (Noah Frank 46), Romario Williams
Floridians FC- G Jeremy Crumpton, D Shaunovan Wilson, Christian Morales, Michael Quinn (TJ Merrigan 78), Ronald Caicedo, M Manu Kante, Juan Gonzalez, Ryan Price, Deniz Bozkurt (Brian James 85), F Miguel Benito (Will Henderson 85), Daniel Marrugo (Xavier Silva 66)
Penalty Summary:
ORL: Paul Clowes (Yellow Card) 12’
ORL: Paul Clowes (Red Card) 47’
Match Facts:
Time of Match: 7:00 p.m. EST
Weather: -- Clear
U23s Suffer First Loss of the Season
Floridians FC defeat City 2-0 behind a pair of goals
Sanford, Fla. – After defeating the same Floridian F.C. (2-4-0, 6 points) side 3-0 less than a week ago, the Orlando City U23s (2-1-2, 8 points) suffered their first defeat of the season on Friday night when they lost at home to the visitors 2-0 at the Seminole Soccer Complex.
The U23s started the season much like the senior professional team, remaining unbeaten through the first four games of the season before the match on Friday evening against Floridians F.C.
The visitors nearly scored in the first five minutes of the match when Forward Daniel Marrugo got inside the 18-yard box and fired off a shot, luckily for the City ‘keeper Tomas Gomez, towering defender Ian Svantesson was there to deflect the shot back out into the field of play.
Midfielder Paul Clowes was issued a yellow card for a challenge in the 12th minute of the match which would prove to be costly early into the second half where the Englishman was issued his second yellow on only his second foul of the night, forcing the young Lions to play a man down for almost the entire second 45 minutes.
The situation would continue to get worse for Head Coach Paul Shaw’s squad in the 23rd minute when Svantesson would have to leave the match due to injury as the opposing striker, Marrugo, would continue to apply pressure on Orlando’s defense, but he failed to connect on two more shot attempts.
In the 28th minute, City would have their best opportunity when Clowes was taken down outside the area and Forward Romario Williams lined up a chance from a free kick. Williams has shown he could be dangerous when he scored off a free kick earlier in the season, but this attempt would smash right into a Floridian defender.
Floridians’ Forward Miguel Benito gave the visitors the lead four minutes later when he was left all alone in the penalty area in a one on one situation against Gomez after Midfielder Deniz Bozkurt lofted a through ball over Orlando’s backline to the striker who simply slotted it past the man between the pipes.
The gaffer made three second-half substitutions to try and get the young Lions back into the match, but it wasn’t enough as Clowes was sent off in the first two minutes after the whistle blew.
Neither team could maintain possession long enough to get a decent chance until less then 10 minutes remaining, second-half substitute, Forward Alex Morrell, was taken down on the edge of the box, giving Williams one more chance to knot the game up, but couldn’t convert.
The visitors would cap off the night in the 88th minute when the Floridians were able to go on a counter, outnumbering the City defense. Brian James was barely on the field for three minutes before the midfielder got in behind the host’s backline and was able to slip it past Gomez to give the Floridians the 2-0 victory on the road.
City will continue its weekend home stand on Sunday, June 15, when they welcome Panama City Beach to the Seminole Soccer Complex. Kick-off is scheduled for 5:00 p.m.
