Orlando City SC had an extremely successful inaugural season in MLS — and they have the stats to back it up. Let’s take a look at a few key numbers that stood out for the Lions this season.
Pass it On
Orlando City maintained the best passing success rate in the league with a staggering 81.7 percent, as shown on whoscored.com. This helped their possession numbers as well, placing them seventh in the league with a 51.2 percent mark.
Kaká led the team with seven assists, but Carlos Rivas, Brek Shea and Luke Boden all held second place with four, displaying the team’s consistency all around. It is interesting to note that all four of Rivas’ assists were on Cyle Larin goals.
Cyle Larin in Good Company
Orlando City SC rookie, Cyle Larin, impressed soccer fans from coast to coast in his first professional season. With 17 goals, scored he was tied as the fifth leading goal-scorer in the league on his way to breaking the all-time MLS Rookie Leading Goal-scorer record. At 20 years old, the young Canadian kept up with the likes of Robbie Keane and David Villa, both been playing for almost as long as Larin has been alive.
With 17 goals in just 64 shots, Larin’s percentage of goals per shot ended up at a staggering 26.6, finishing second in the top six goal scorers only behind Robbie Keane. Larin was also tied for first in hat tricks with a total of two alongside Robbie Keane and Sebastian Giovinco. That’s some pretty good company.
Higuita Makes Massive Impact
Cristian Higuita had a massively successful first season in purple and his name jumps off the stat sheet wherever you look.
Playing in the defensive midfield, Higuita racked up 4.3 tackles per game — the second highest in MLS.
But Higuita’s defensive work rate wasn’t his only bright spot. His passing success rate finished at 87.1 percent for the season, placing him eighth best in the entire league. Darwin Cerén was close behind with 86.5 percent, making Higuita and Cerén the third best defensive-midfield pair in passing percentage.
Lethal Off The Bench
Goals off the bench are a coach’s best friend.
Pedro Ribeiro and Bryan Róchez were both impact subs for Orlando City in 2015. Ribeiro made 18 appearances with two goals from 19 shots. Róchez had 16 appearances, scoring three times from just 11 total shots to earn an outstanding 27.3 goals per shot percentage in his first MLS season.
