ORLANDO, Fla. (May 27, 2017) – Orlando City B (3-4-3, 12 points) played at home against Charlotte Independence (3-2-2, 11 points) Saturday evening and fell 3-1. Albert Dikwa scored his third goal of the season and Pierre Da Silva earned his fifth assist to tie for the league lead.
“I felt like, for the first 40 minutes, it was probably the best we’ve played since I started coaching OCB. To be honest, the football was sharp, we moved it really well. [The] passing was crisp, [we] got plays in good spaces in between lines and lots of effort to go,” Head Coach Anthony Pulis said. “It’s always going to be an uphill struggle and we changed the shape a couple of times to try and chase the game. A couple of half chances on another night, maybe you get one and it goes 3-2 and they get a little nervy but it wasn’t meant to be.”
The first half started strong for City as it controlled most of the possession and led the attack. Richie Laryea, Da Silva and Dikwa often paired up going forward and found space between the Independence backline.
OCB struck first in the 20th minute. Da Silva slid a lovely ball into Dikwa who curled it past Independence goalkeeper Cody Mizell for the 1-0 lead. Opportunities continued to come through Da Silva as he created chances and completed over 88 percent of his passes.
The Lions forced two saves out of Mizell, one in the 24th minute as Danny Deakin took a rocket of a shot from 20 yards out. The second came from First Team defender Rafael Ramos as he curled one on frame that forced Mizell to parry it away.
David Estrada equalized in the 40th minute before Enzo Martinez scored seconds before the half. Joel Johnson converted a header in the 51st minute.
Orlando City B is back in action on Saturday, June 3 at Highmark Stadium against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET. The Lions return home on Wednesday June 7, against the Rochester Rhinos for a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff.
Tickets can be purchased for Wednesday’s match against Rochester at orlandocityb.com/tickets or by calling 855-ORL-CITY.
Scoring Summary:
OCB - Albert Dikwa (Pierre Da Silva) 20’
CLT - David Estrada (Alex Martinez) 40’
CLT - Enzo Martinez (Jorge Herrera) 45’
CLT - Jorge Herrera (Joel Johnson) 51’
Misconduct Summary:
CLT - Donald Smith (Yellow Card) 14’
CLT - Alex Martinez (Yellow Card) 28’
CLT - Callum Ross (Yellow Card) 42’
ORL - Richie Laryea (Yellow Card) 53’
CLT - Joel Johnson (Yellow Card) 69’
Lineups/Substitutions:
Orlando City B - GK Earl Edwards, Jr., D Kevin Alston (Zach Ellis-Hayden 45’), Conor Donovan, Zach Carroll, Rafael Ramos, M Danny Deakin (David Loera, 81’), Tony Rocha, ⓒ Lewis Neal, Pierre Da Silva, F Richie Laryea (Michael Cox 57’), Albert Dikwa
Substitutes: GK Jake Fenlason, M Jordan Schweitzer, Moussa Sane, Austin Martz, David Loera, F Michael Cox
Charlotte Independence - GK Cody Mizell, D Luke Waechter, Joel Johnson, Henry Kalungi, Donnie Smith, M Callum Ross, Jun Marques Davidson, David Estrada (David Spies, 77’), Alex Martinez (Yann Ekra, 71’), F Jorge Herrera (Lewis Hilton, 83’), Enzo Martinez
Substitutes: GK Kyle Renfro, D Dennis Castillo, M David Spies, Yann Ekra, F Casey Townsend
Details of the Game
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Weather: Clear
May 27, 2017
Attendance: 1,098
Stats:
Possession:
OCB - 57.1%
CLT - 42.9%
Shots:
OCB - 8
CLT - 9
Saves:
OCB - 2
CLT - 1
Corners:
OCB - 11
CLT - 3
Fouls:
OCB - 12
CLT - 13
