ORLANDO, Fla. (October 20, 2017) - In its last match of the regular season, Orlando City SC (10-14-9, 39 points) will visit the Philadelphia Union (10-14-9, 39 points) on Sunday, Oct. 22. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. at Talen Energy Stadium.
The match will be locally televised on WRDQ TV 27 and transmitted in English on Real Radio 104.1 FM and in Spanish on La Nueva 990 AM. The pregame, halftime and postgame shows will be streamed on the LionNation app and Facebook Live.
“For me it’s about ending well. Everything that we do, we should want to do well at the end. That’s why we’re competitors, that’s why we’re professional athletes, professional coaches,” Lions Head Coach Jason Kreis said. “We want to finish well. We want to be able to walk out of this season with our heads held high and our chests out and say, ‘We gave everything we had.’”
This is the second meeting of the season between these two teams. On March 18, Cyle Larin earned his first brace of the season to lead City to a 2-1 win over Philadelphia. The win was the second of five consecutive victories to open Orlando City Stadium - an MLS record.
Orlando City will be without captain Kaká, who played his last MLS match on Sunday, Oct. 15 against Columbus Crew SC at Orlando City Stadium. Ola Kamara scored the game’s only goal. Kaká will play one final match as a Lion on Saturday, Nov. 4, in the Fuerza Puerto Rico Friendly. Tickets can be purchased by visiting www.OrlandoCitySC.com/4pr.
Kaká finished his MLS career as the Club’s all-time leader in assists (22) and second in goals (24). Larin leads the Lions with 12 goals and his five game-winners are tied for third in MLS. Goalkeeper Joe Bendik leads the league with 118 saves and has played every MLS minute in goal for City since 2016.
Philadelphia enters the match coming off a 3-2 loss to Chicago on Oct. 15. Alejandro Bedoya gave the Union a 2-1 lead going into halftime but Nemanja Nikolic earned his first MLS hat-trick to take three points.
Former USL Pro Lion CJ Sapong leads Philadelphia with 14 goals, while Haris Medunjanin leads the Union with 11 assists.
Both teams enter the match eliminated from playoff contention.
The Lions will return to Orlando City Stadium once more in 2017 for the Fuerza Puerto Rico Friendly on Saturday, Nov. 4, at 7:30 p.m. ET. Tickets are available via www.OrlandoCitySC.com/4pr or by calling (855) ORL-CITY.
