ORLANDO, Fla. (September 29, 2017) - Following its largest victory in its MLS era, Orlando City SC (10-13-8, 35 points) will host FC Dallas (10-9-11, 41 points) in its 100th MLS match on Saturday, Sept. 30. Kickoff is set for 4:00 p.m. ET at Orlando City Stadium.
The match will be nationally televised on Univision, and transmitted in English on Real Radio 104.1 FM and in Spanish on La Nueva 990 AM.
Orlando City Stadium gates for general public will open at 3 p.m. ET.
“It’s a very dangerous team. I think they’ve gone through a really difficult patch but in my mind it’s a really high quality team with a lot of high quality players. We need to be prepared for their best,” Lions Head Coach Jason Kreis said. “We feel the same way. We just caught a little bit of confidence in this last game and I think you’re going to see two teams going after things tomorrow and two teams that have a new fresh sense of energy and belief.”
Orlando City is coming off a dominant 6-1 victory over the shorthanded New England Revolution on Wednesday. Five different Lions scored, with Yoshimar Yotún and Antonio Nocerino scoring their first goals in purple. Seb Hines powered Yotún’s corner delivery into the back of the net in the 32nd minute. Kaká curled a sweet strike in the 43th minute and added another one in the 77th. Dom Dwyer nailed a left-footed shot into the top right corner of the net in the 84th minute, clinching his first goal scored in Orlando City Stadium. The Lions’ six goals marked the most they’ve ever scored in a single game in MLS.
Cyle Larin leads the Lions with 12 goals in 27 appearances and has three goals and an assist in his last five matches. Kaká, who earned his first brace of 2017 on Wednesday, and Carlos Rivas both lead the team with five assists. Joe Bendik’s 110 saves are the most in the league.
In its last match, FC Dallas defeated the Colorado Rapids 2-0 on Wednesday. Maynor Figueroa opened the scoring in the sixth minute and Roland Lamah tacked another in the ninth minute. Hernán Grana and Mauro Díaz assisted both goals.
Maximiliano Urruti leads FC Dallas with 12 goals in 28 appearances. Michael Barrios leads Dallas with 14 assists in 30 appearances.
This is the the third all-time meeting between these two teams. Dallas took a 2-0 victory in Orlando in 2015 before winning 4-0 in Texas in 2016.
The match will see Jason Kreis face his former club. Kreis scored the first goal in Dallas history in 1996 and remains the franchise all-time leader in games played (247), goals (91) and assists (65).
Orlando City is currently in ninth place in the Eastern Conference, five points behind sixth-place New York Red Bulls. Dallas is in sixth in the West.
The Lions will take a two week hiatus before they host Columbus Crew on Sunday, Oct. 15 at Orlando City Stadium for their final home game of the season. Kickoff is set for 5:00 p.m. ET.
