Sunday, April 15, 2012
ORLANDO, Fla. -- John Rooney’s two first-half goals led Orlando City to a 4-1 victory against the Wilmington Hammerheads in front of 8,421 raucous fans at the Florida Citrus Bowl on Sunday evening, a new regular-season record for the Lions. The result gave the Lions (2-0-0) their second win in as many matches and sent the Hammerheads (0-1-0) to defeat in their opening game of the USL PRO season.
Orlando opened the match on the offensive, as Jamie Watson went on a run down the left and attempted a low cross to Kevin Molino. Wilmington's Tom Parratt slid to try and block, but the ball hit his arm, giving Orlando a penalty kick. Rooney coolly stepped up, forced Hammerheads keeper Alex Horwath to make the first move, and then slotted his shot home to the right corner of the net.
City remained on the attack, with Rooney notching his second goal for the Lions in the 41st minute. Molino made a charge on the right flank, crossing to Rooney who had an open lane to the goal. The Englishmen rocketed in a volley from 12 yards out to double City’s lead going into halftime.
“My confidence went up after scoring the first goal and having the second was a big boost to the team,” said Rooney. “The main thing is that we got the three points and the win.”
The Lions extended their lead further in the 54th minute, as 6-foot-3 center back Rob Valentino out-jumped the Wilmington defense from Rooney's inswinging corner kick from the left to give City the 3-0 lead.
The Hammerheads responded with a nearly identical play to score their only goal of the match two minutes later. Hagop Chirishian found Bryce Taylor from a corner kick to cut their deficit to two. But Orlando kept their foot on the pedal, and added an insurance goal in the 65th minute as Kevin Molino found second-half substitute Dennis Chin with an fine pass that split the Hammerheads' defense, allowing Chin to strike home first time for his second goal of the season and Molino’s second assist of the night. The total of four goals by Orlando ties a regular season record for most goals scored in a match in franchise history.
Orlando City remained on top the rest of the match, taking three points and the win. The club sits alone on top of the USL PRO table with six points.
“We set our own standards here,” said City coach Adrian Heath. “We scored goals in important times during the match and had pockets of good play. I expect that. We have a lot of good players and when we play to our best we are very, very difficult to contain.”
Orlando continues the early portion of the USL PRO season as the Lions travel to Richmond to face the Kickers next Saturday at 7 p.m. The Lions hold a 2-1-0 record against the Kickers all-time, with the last match ending in a 3-0 victory for Orlando in the second round of the 2011 USL PRO playoffs.