MELBOURNE, Fla. (September 23, 2016) – With a playoff spot on the line, Orlando City B (8-13-8, 32 points) finishes its regular season-ending four-game road trip when it travels to Bethlehem Steel FC (6-13-10, 28 points) on Sunday, Sept. 25. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. ET at Goodman Stadium. The match will be streamed live at www.OrlandoCitySC.com/Live.
“It’s crunch time. It’s obviously a big weekend for us. This week has been about trying to get the players to concentrate on the process rather than the outcome because you can worry too much about the outcome without actually focusing on what we need to do to get the positive result,” OCB Head Coach Anthony Pulis said. “We’ve obviously looked at Bethlehem and looked at what their strengths and weaknesses are and how we can exploit them. Hopefully we can execute the gameplan well and get a positive result and it’ll be a good weekend for us.”
OCB enters its season finale with a one-point lead over ninth-place Wilmington for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Lions can clinch a playoff spot on Saturday before they play their match if Wilmington loses or draws against Richmond. OCB must beat Bethlehem if the Hammerheads win on Saturday.
This is the second meeting of the season against Bethlehem. On May 7, OCB rallied from two goals down to draw the Steel 2-2. Bethlehem jumped out to an early two-goal lead but defender Tyler Turner’s long-range blast into the top corner split the deficit in the 17th minute. Michael Cox later found the back of the net in the 54th minute.
Cox leads the team with 11 goals and two assists. Turner and Hadji Barry have four goals each while goalkeeper Mark Ridgers leads the USL with 101 saves.
OCB looks to rebound after a tough 1-0 loss to FC Cincinnati. The Lions created plenty of chances and nearly opened the scoring in the first half when Cox struck a volley after a poor Cincinnati clearance. Riding another stellar five-save performance from Ridgers, the Lions kept Cincinnati scoreless until the 81st minute when Casey Townsend flicked in a game-winning header.
Bethlehem Steel FC is coming off of a 1-1 draw against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds. Pittsburgh’s Corey Hertzog opened the scoring in the ninth minute from the penalty spot before Bethlehem’s James Chambers equalized in the 68th minute.
Bethlehem midfielder Derrick Jones leads the team with five goals and three assists while Chambers has three goals and four assists. Goalkeeper John McCarthy has 48 saves in 11 games; Samir Badr has 35 saves in 10 games.
