Saturday’s match against Atlanta United was a memorable one. Six goals between the two teams, 70,425 fans in attendance and two goals from Dom Dwyer built up all the drama and excitement for a nationally televised match. The two goals from the Lions forward were both incredibly similar in design. Cross into the box towards the back post, and a header into goal the opposite way. For the setup of those goals, both Orlando fullbacks Donny Toia and Scott Sutter were the catalysts to making them happen.
For both Sutter and Toia, pushing up into the attack and putting balls into dangerous areas has been huge for different matchups. 23% of Orlando’s assists as a team has come from the fullback position. In fact, every time a fullback has had an assist, the team has scored multiple goals in a game. The interesting note about that stat is that every time Toia has notched an assist in a match, Sutter has as well. Sutter does have one more assist than Toia overall, which came against the LA Galaxy back in April.
For Dwyer in the last match, he made sure to point out the quality of both Sutter and Toia and their effectiveness in the offense.
“I just like to drift off the backline,” Dwyer said, “We get quality deliveries from our fullbacks. They put it in the right spots. You’ve just got to go in there and take it.”
With their effectiveness on the offense during the match, it’s also worth mentioning the rigorous job they had on the defensive end of the field. Having to mark Atlanta’s dangerous attacking players, while also working as a big part of the attack is a massive undertaking. If both Lions’ fullbacks can continue this run of form on both ends of the pitch, Orlando could get an added dimension to their team.
