Scott Sutter quickly dispelled the notion that his cracker of an assist on Saturday was merely a shot gone wrong.
“I saw the goalie was diving that way and I knew I had to play it off someone,” City’s right back said of his game-winning assist. “I looked for Josué [Colmán] and he managed to deflect it in. It was well worked out. Exactly how I drew it up.”
But with a laugh, the truth came out.
“No, it was a lot of luck involved,” Sutter admitted, stating the obvious. Sutter’s shot from 25 yards out glanced off Colmán’s back and past a helpless Luis Robles, who had already dove the other way.
“I’m just happy we got the win.”
That’s been the mood in camp since City’s thrilling 4-3 come-from-behind win over New York. Twice the Lions went down to the visitors, but twice they came back. And minutes after the Red Bulls found an equalizer of their own, Sutter and Colmán opened up the playbook and let ‘er rip.
Three points for the purple to close out March.
“It’s really important for the group to get out to a positive feeling about each other,” head coach Jason Kreis said. “But I don’t think it’s the only thing that’s important. It’s important that you continue to improve and you continue to grow as a team.”
But the validation earned Saturday won’t last long without another win on Sunday when the Lions host the Portland Timbers.
“We know that we need a result. We need to start going here,” Kreis said. “We need to be able to win matches in a row. We need to get on winning streaks in order to do anything in this league. That’s our intent.”
Forwards Moving
Star striker Dom Dwyer’s 2018 debut couldn’t have gone much better. With all three Designated Players on the pitch for the first time this season, City took the lead early in the second half on Dwyer’s second goal of the game.
Jason Kreis was asked on Wednesday if he was more encouraged with Dwyer’s goals or his sacrificial run into the box that left Will Johnson wide open for a tap-in.
“Going on top of that, he had several runs defensively for us where guys were caught out of position and he’s sprinting back to help in the midfield,” Kreis added. “As a coach I would say, honestly, it’s the sacrificial stuff. Those are the things that are really appreciated.”
Dwyer came off in the 64th minute for Chris Mueller, and the rookie would have had his first professional goal if not for some excellent work by Red Bulls ‘keeper Luis Robles.
“He just continues to work no matter what. I don’t think he was feeling down in the dumps about not taking those opportunities,” Kreis said of Mueller. “I do think he could’ve done better - probably with the second one he had enough time to bring it down and finish. But some of that stuff comes with maturity and repetitions and experience.
“He’s also just working so hard. He’s created a couple good moments for us just through his sheer determination.”
And in his brief spell, Josué Colmán flashed, too.
“Created some real dangerous opportunities for us,” Kreis said. “Pretty fortuitous goal, but he is there in a dangerous spot to collect it.”
Colmán’s good fortune came off the foot of Scott Sutter in the 86th minute.
“He’s a young player with buckets of talent,” Sutter said. “I mean, he’s so quick on the turn and he’s so good at 1 against 1.
“He’s going to strike fear into the opposition. He’s going to give Orlando City fans a lot of joy. Keep an eye out.
