ORLANDO, Fla. (Nov. 20, 2020) - Orlando City SC begins its first-ever postseason campaign on Saturday, Nov. 21 at Exploria Stadium, set to host 2015 expansion rivals New York City FC in Round One of the Audi 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs. Kickoff for the historic match, celebrated by Orlando Health is set for 12 p.m. ET with a limited number of tickets available to purchase here.
Saturday’s fixture will be broadcast locally on Fox 35 Plus in English with the Orlando City Playoff Gameday celebrated by Orlando Health, a special, one-hour pregame show, set to begin at 11 a.m. ET. The match will also be televised nationally on UniMás/TUDN in Spanish, while being transmitted on Real Radio 104.1 in English and Acción 97.9FM, 810AM in Spanish.
“We’re very proud to play our first [playoff] game in team history. The boys have done a terrific effort on taking the team to this stage and we want more. I think we’re capable, I think we have a team who has proved themselves, that we have the players and the idea of the game to compete with anyone in the league,” Head Coach Oscar Pareja said. “Now it’s a new story, it’s a new tournament, it’s everybody playing for that one game and we will try to do as much as we can at our training ground just to prepare ourselves to do that.”
The match marks the third time the Lions will face off against the Pigeons this season, after taking a 3-1 victory at the MLS is Back Tournament before battling to a 1-1 draw with their expansion counterparts on Oct. 14 at Exploria Stadium.
The Lions enter their first postseason after finishing out the year at fourth in the Eastern Conference, with a record of 11-4-8 in Pareja’s first season at the helm, including a run of 12 matches unbeaten from Aug. 26 to Oct. 24. Through 23 matches played, City set new Club records in both goals per game (1.74) and goals allowed (1.09) on its way to earning its historic first playoff berth in Club history.
Chris Mueller finished out the regular season as the Lions’ leading goal scorer with 10, followed by rookie forward Daryl Dike at eight. Midfielder Mauricio Pereyra led the side in assists in 2020 with eight to his credit followed by Mueller with seven.
The Pigeons from New York City rounded out the year at 12-8-3 to finish fifth in the East, including four-consecutive victories to close out the regular season. Valentín Castellanos finished out the year as the leading scorer for NYCFC with six goals, followed by Jesús Medina with five. Maxi Moralez, Anton Tinnerholm and Alexander Ring sit tied atop the squad for the lead in assists at four apiece.
The winner of Saturday’s match will move on to play in the Eastern Conference Semifinals on Sunday, Nov. 29.
