ORLANDO, Fla. (August 5, 2016) – Following Sunday's impressive 3-1 victory over the New England Revolution, Orlando City SC (5-5-11, 26 points) looks to build momentum when it hosts Western Conference side Seattle Sounders FC (6-12-3, 21 points) on Sunday, Aug. 7, in a nationally televised match on Fox Sports 1. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. ET at Camping World Stadium.
The Lions’ 11th nationally televised fixture of the season will also be transmitted on Real Radio 104.1 FM in English and on La Grande 1030 AM in Spanish.
“The objective at home is always going to be three points, but more important than that is the performance. Can we improve over the performance we had last week?” Head Coach Jason Kreis said. “Seattle has very gifted attacking players with the addition of their No. 10 [Nicolás] Lodeiro. We know Clint Dempsey, he’s dangerous every time he’s on the ball. Then you’ve got a player like Jordan Morris who is looking to stretch the field. There are very, very dangerous attacking players and very, very hungry team with the removal of their head coach.”
City enters the game after storming back from a 1-0 deficit to defeat the Revs 3-1 in Kreis’ debut as the Lions’ head coach. MLS All-Star Cyle Larin equalized one minute into the second half before Kevin Molino’s brace secured all three points, earning the Trinidadian a spot on the MLS Team of the Week. All-Star and Lions captain Kaká had one assist in his first start and second appearance since returning from injury.
Tickets | Orlando City vs. Seattle Sounders - Sunday 7:00pm
Larin is fifth in MLS with 11 goals and has scored in three consecutive games. Molino has points in three straight, bringing his total to nine goals and a team high seven assists. Goalkeeper Joe Bendik is second in the league with 79 saves and has won MLS Save of the Week four of the last five weeks.
The Lions enter the match on a 17-game home-unbeaten streak against a Seattle team that has just one win in 10 road games this season. City’s 22 goals in 11 games is the fifth-best home output in MLS, while the Sounders’ eight road goals are the fifth-fewest.
In their last match, Seattle’s Cristian Roldan opened the scoring in the 49th minute before Sebastian Lletget equalized for the Galaxy in the 78th. It was Uruguayan Designated Player Nicolás Lodeiro’s Sounders debut and Brian Schmetzer’s first game as interim head coach.
Sunday will be the Sounders’ first visit to the Soccer Capital of the South. Seattle earned a 4-0 victory on Aug. 16, 2015, against a 10-man Orlando City side.
City begins a two-game road trip on Sunday, Aug. 14, in Chicago. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. ET and will be nationally televised on UniMás. The Lions visit the Colorado Rapids on Saturday, Aug. 20, before returning to Camping World Stadium on Wednesday, Aug. 24, to host Toronto FC. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.
