Dom the Centurion
F Dom Dwyer is 2 goals away from his 100th career professional goal. Dwyer scored 67 goals across all competitions with Sporting Kansas City, 22 with Orlando City in the USL Pro, 7 with City in MLS and 2 with the U.S. national team.
Dwyer has 7 goals and 4 assists in 14 games since joining Orlando City on July 25, 2016.
Off the bench
Substitutes have scored or assisted 4 of City’s 9 goals this season, including all 3 of its point-securing goals. F Stéfano Pinho came on in the 58th minute against D.C. and equalized in stoppage time. Against the Red Bulls, halftime substitute M Josué Colmán deflected D Scott Sutter’s long-range blast into the net. Then on Sunday, F Chris Mueller started City’s rally when he scored his first professional goal 13 minutes after coming on and D RJ Allen found F Dom Dwyer for the game-winner 30 minutes after entering the match.
Milestones
Orlando City’s next goal will be its 150th in MLS since joining the league in 2015. M Sacha Kljestan’s next regular-season assist will tie him with Andy Williams, who played for Jason Kreis at RSL from 2007 to 2011, for 9th-most all-time with 86. Kljestan is MLS’ active all-time leader.
Not How You Start
Orlando City’s 1-0-1 record when trailing at halftime is tied for the best in the league (NYC). City is 1 of 5 teams in MLS (NYC, LAFC, LA, VAN) to win a game after conceding the first goal. The Lions are the only team to win 2 games after conceding first in 2018.
How you Finish
Saturday vs. Portland marked Orlando City’s first 2-goal comeback to win in Club history. It was also the first time the Lions came from behind to win in two consecutive games, following their 4-3 win over New York on March 31. Before that, City’s last comeback victory came on Sept. 7, 2016, when the Lions overcame Didier Drogba’s early strike to defeat Montreal 4-1.
The Cardiac Cats’ 5 goals scored in the final 15 minutes of games are tied for the most in the league (RBNY).
Orlando City’s record for most come-from-behind wins in a season is 4 from 2015 (June 6 vs. CHI; June 17 vs. Charleston in Open Cup; Aug. 1 vs. CLB; Oct. 16 vs. NYC)
Former Teammates
-M Sacha Kljestan played 13 matches with Union M Alejandro Bedoya with the U.S. national team from 2010 to 2017.
-GK Joe Bendik was teammates with Union M Warren Creavalle at Toronto FC in 2014 and 2015.
-M Richie Laryea was teammates with Union M Adam Najem at the University of Akron in 2014 and 2015. Akron fell to eventual champion Stanford in penalties in the College Cup semifinal.
-Union F CJ Sapong was teammates with F Dom Dwyer and M Uri Rosell at Sporting KC from 2012 to 2014. Sporting won MLS Cup 2013 over Jason Kreis’ Real Salt Lake in penalties. Sapong played 2 U.S. Open Cup and 5 USL Pro matches with Orlando City in 2013.
Last Time Out
On Sunday against Portland…
-F Chris Mueller scored his first professional goal and became the second Lions SuperDraft pick to score an MLS goal for City (F Cyle Larin).
-M Sacha Kljestan tied City’s individual single-game record with 4 shots on goal. Before Kljestan, F Dom Dwyer was the last Lion to take 4 shots on goal in a single game on Oct. 22, 2016 at Philadelphia. M Kaká and Larin (twice) also recorded 4 shots on goal in a single game.
-Orlando City set season-highs with 24 shots and 12 corner kicks.
Coincidence?
Both of Orlando City’s penalty kicks conceded in 2018 have been taken in the 20th minute on the North End goal at Orlando City Stadium. GK Joe Bendik guessed correctly on both of them - to his left against Darren Mattocks of D.C. on March 3 and to his right against Diego Valeri of Portland on April 8 - and managed to keep Mattocks’ out of the net.
