Orlando City (4-8-5, 17 points) at Charlotte FC (8-6-4, 28 points)
When: Wednesday, 7:30 p.m
Where: Bank of America Stadium
Radio: 96.9 the Game FM, (English), Mega 97.1 (Spanish)
Everything you need to know for the Lions' midweek match at Charlotte FC in "The Road Ahead" driven by Audi:
Milestones
- Iván Angulo’s next appearance will be his 75th for Orlando City in all competitions.
- Facundo Torres is two appearances away from 100 in his Orlando City career in all competitions. César Araújo is three games away from 100.
- Duncan McGuire’s next goal will see him tie Chris Mueller for sixth on the Lions’ all-time scoring charts.
International Update
- David Brekalo made his UEFA Euro debut on Sunday for Slovenia, appearing for the final 24 seconds of his country’s 1-1 draw with Denmark. Slovenia’s next group game is against Serbia at 9 a.m. ET on Thursday, June 20.
- Peru wrapped up their Copa America preparations with a 1-0 win over El Salvador at Subaru Park in Chester, PA on Friday. Pedro Gallese earned his second consecutive clean sheet for Los Incas while Wilder Cartagena played all 90 minutes at the base of midfield. Peru opens their Copa America campaign on Friday, June 21 at 8 p.m. ET against Chile at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX.
Stats & Storylines
- Despite a relatively strong attacking performance in which it produces 2.10 expected goals, its second-highest in an MLS match this year, Orlando City fell 3-1 at home to LAFC on Saturday, extending the club’s winless run to a season-high four straight matches. The Lions are winless in six at Inter&Co Stadium.
- Facundo Torres’ missed penalty in the first half against LAFC was the first of his career at any level, youth or professional. Torres had made all nine of his prior spot kicks for Orlando City prior to Saturday.
- The Lions are back on the road this week, battling Charlotte FC at Bank of America Stadium on Wednesday night. Orlando City has the best away record of any current non-playoff team, sitting a 3-3-2 on the road in 2024. The Lions had the best away record in all of MLS last year and are 12-7-6 on the road since the start of 2023.
- Martín Ojeda scored his first MLS regular season goal of 2024 on Saturday night. Ojeda has 8 G/14 A in 3176 minutes in his Orlando City career in all competitions.
Series History
All-time vs. Charlotte FC - 2-2-1, 0 GD (1-1-1, 0 GD away)
MLS only vs. Charlotte FC - 2-1-1, +1 GD (1-0-1, +1 GD away)
2022 - W 2-1 (H), W 1-2 (A)
2023 - L 1-2 (H), L 1-0 (A/USOC), D 1-1 (H)
Meet the opponent: Charlotte FC
- After sweeping Charlotte FC in 2022, Orlando City managed just one point against the Crown last year, stealing it late at Bank of America Stadium on August 30. Martín Ojeda sent a free kick into the box that eluded both teams and snuck into the bottom corner in the 88th minute to salvage a midweek draw on the road.
- Two of Ojeda’s eight career goals for Orlando have come against Charlotte – he scored against them in last year’s home game in March, a 2-1 Charlotte victory.
- Only two players on Charlotte’s roster have ever scored against Orlando. One is Kerwin Vargas, who had the second goal in that March 2023 match, and the other is veteran reserve center back Bill Tuiloma, who scored his first career MLS goal against the Lions while playing for the Portland Timbers on April 8, 2018. Trailing 2-0 in the 80th minute, Orlando would come back to win that match 3-2 behind goals from Chris Mueller, Sacha Kljestan, and Dom Dwyer.
- Goalkeeper Mason Stajduhar received a start against Charlotte in last year’s Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, saving three shots but falling 1-0 as the Lions failed to manage a shot on target.
- Charlotte missed the playoffs in its inaugural 2022 season and fell to the New York Red Bulls in last year’s Wild Card round. This season, though, first year head coach Dean Smith has the Crown in fifth place in the Eastern Conference thanks to a stalwart defense that has conceded the second-fewest goals in MLS this year.
- Charlotte goalkeeper Kristijan Kahlina leads the league with eight clean sheets in 18 matches this season. Despite barely being halfway through the current campaign, Kahlina has more clean sheets this year than he did in either of the past two seasons.
- The Crown have been winning with defense – Charlotte is 27th in MLS with just 19 goals scored. 2023 SuperDraft pick Patrick Agyemang leads the team with five goal contributions (3 G/2 A), while new DP Liel Abada is off to a decent start with three goals in 584 MLS minutes. Vargas has added 3 G/1 A and central midfielder Ashley Westwood has 2 G/2 A while playing every minute of the campaign.
