KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Orlando City SC and Atlanta United have unfinished business to settle at Inter&Co Stadium.
Saturday, these two teams played to a 1-1 draw in MLS action, but on Tuesday night, the Lions and the Five Stripes meet again at Inter&Co Stadium, this time with more on the line. A win will send one team to the U.S. Open Cup Semifinals. Lose, and the cup run is over.
"If we lose that, we're out," forward Justin Ellis said at Orlando Health Training Ground at Osceola Heritage Park on Monday. "We have to go in there and just make sure we don't lose. We have to win. I think we're gonna play with that mentality, just do anything to win."
The road to Tuesday's quarterfinal has been all on the road to this point for Orlando. The Lions opened their cup run with a first-round road trip to USL League One FC Naples, grinding out a 1-0 win thanks to Tyrese Spicer's golazo. From there, they traveled to Pawtucket, Rhode Island, to face the New England Revolution, which resulted in a back-and-forth match that saw Zakaria Taifi score a stoppage-time winner. Now, for the first time in this year's cup run, Inter&Co Stadium will play host to the Quarterfinals.
"The calendar was hard for us in the first 11 games. We played eight away, two blocks of four games away in a row," Interim Head Coach Martín Perelman said. "It wasn't easy for us, not only because we miss home and our stadium, but also because we travel a lot. Now we are playing a little bit more at home. We enjoy it."
Ellis, who got his first start with the Lions in Naples and scored against the Revolution in the Open Cup, has seen his playing time rise and his role within the team grow since that Round of 32 match. He had a solid 68-minute run against Atlanta on Saturday and now, heading into tomorrow's match, learned what the team needs to do this time around against the Five Stripes.
"I think we controlled the game for the most part, but instead of just controlling it for maybe 60-65 minutes, controlling it throughout the whole game," he said. "Not just scoring and then laying back a little bit, but keep putting goals away. We kind of lost momentum coming into the second half, and I think that's just what the game is about, momentum. We have to learn from it and apply it tomorrow."
The fact that Orlando is playing Atlanta twice in such a short span is also unique. The Lions aren't strangers to playing the same team in quick succession; they've done it in multiple playoff series over the past four seasons. Perelman was an assistant during that 2024 playoff series against Charlotte FC and was able to take that experience and apply it to now.
"There's always information. It's useful, and some things probably are going to change from their side," Perelman said. "We had previous experience in situations like this in the playoffs. I remember when we faced Charlotte in those three games in a row with quick turnarounds. Their team is not going to change in terms of roster composition, ours neither. They might change some things; every game is different, but again, we're going to be ready."
Kickoff at Inter&Co Stadium is set for Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. ET, with the match streaming live on Paramount+ and CBS Sports Golazo Network.
