The Audi 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs are here and the Lions’ matchup is set, slated to take on New York City FC in their first postseason match in Club history on Saturday, Nov. 21 at Exploria Stadium.
With that, we’re looking back at some of our most memorable matches against the Pigeons as the Lions prepare to face off against their 2015 expansion rivals in what is already another historic match in Club history.
March 8, 2015 - Orlando City 1, NYCFC 1
Let’s begin with the one that started it all.
In what served as the culmination of over five years of efforts to bring professional soccer to The City Beautiful, Orlando City SC took the field for its inaugural match against its expansion counterparts in front of a sellout crowd of 62,510 fans at the Orlando Citrus Bowl on March 8, 2015.
That number of patrons still stands as the largest ever for a soccer game at the now Camping World Stadium, surpassing attendance marks set during the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
As one of the over 62,000 fans that attended that match, I can attest that it was a day that I, and all those who were lucky enough to be there, will never forget.
The on-field action aside, the spectacle in and of itself is the image etched in my mind from that afternoon. The picture of a sold out crowd, all dawned in purple, with the atmosphere led by the chants coming from the south end of the stadium thanks to the Ruckus and Iron Lion Firm, was unlike anything I had seen before.
On that day, I saw what those sights meant to those in attendance, most notably from my own father, who was in tears at the start of the procession. He and many others, completely in awe of the sight of this raucous and historic crowd welcoming soccer to the City of Orlando.
“It was truly unique in terms of MLS games and everything around it and building up to it,” Adrian Healy, who called the game for ESPN, had to say of the scenes. “I’ve not seen anywhere before or since a city be as overtaken behind the support of an MLS team as I saw from Orlando from the moment we touched down.
“I didn’t know what to expect from the fanbase, the Ruckus and the Iron Lion Firm. It was wild and untamed and unchoreographed, it was the real deal. Unlike any sort of fanbase you’ve ever seen around the world and the noise they made was just bedlam from start to finish.”
Shifting gears to what took place on the field, it was a match that saw the Lions control the majority of the possession in the first half, but unable to find the back of the net heading into the break. After halftime, City would continue to have the better chances in the second 45, but it was NYCFC who opened the scoring behind a goal from Mix Diskerud in the 76th minute.
Six minutes later, the Lions were reduced to 10 men after defender Aurélien Collin was sent off, yet kept the pressure on the Pigeons in their push for an equalizer. And then it happened.
In the 91st minute, City captain Kaká stepped up outside the area before striking his free kick into the bottom left corner of the net. Then, madness ensued.
62,510 erupted in celebration with it serving as almost poetic justice that the finish by the captain came right in front of that rowdy crowd at the south end that had led the chants and cheers all afternoon.
It was a match with over five years of anticipation and it certainly did not disappoint, the first of many memorable moments to come in our Club’s history.
