Tuesday, July 10, 2012
ORLANDO, Fla. – In an important match between two playoff hopefuls, the Orlando City U23s fell to visiting IMG Bradenton Academics 3-1 at the Seminole Soccer Complex in Sanford, Fla., on Tuesday night. The loss puts the U23s in the third spot in the Southeast Division with two games to go in the regular season. Orlando can still secure a spot in the playoffs by winning their remaining two matches on Friday and Sunday. 
Orlando (7-3-4, 25 points) caught IMG (7-5-2, 26 points) on their back foot early on after a breakaway from Sam Fairhurst and McKauley Tulloch. Fairhurst found Tulloch streaking down the middle of the pitch, beating the Academics backline. Right before he made a hard collision with IMG goalkeeper Ryan Thompson, Tulloch floated a shot up and over the oncoming keeper, with the ball slowly rolling into the net to give Orlando an early 1-0 lead.
IMG responded to the U23s early goal with two scores of their own in the 22nd and 25th minutes. The equalizer came after Lions defender Will Fransden took down an IMG forward just outside the penalty area, resulting in a free kick. Academics midfielder Jarod Stigall found a leaping Milo Kapor, who found the back of the net with a header to level the match at 1-1.
Three minutes later, Bradenton added to their lead. Kapor again scored for IMG, but with the assist this time coming from forward Lister Warren, who found an unmarked Kapor outside the six-yard-area, allowing IMG's leading scorer to blast in a shot past Orlando goalkeeper Brendan Moore.
IMG continued to build their lead in the second half as Kapor completed his hat trick in the 69th minute. Despite defending well near goal, poor set piece play once again led to a Bradenton score. The Stigall-Kapor connection struck again, with Kapor heading in the corner to give his club the 3-1 advantage and victory.
The loss puts the U23s in third place in the Southeast Division with two games left in the regular season. Even though IMG is currently ahead, Orlando has one match in hand and is still in control of their own destiny. If the U23s win-out their remaining two matches, they’ll secure a playoff spot as the second seed in the Southeast Division.
City’s next match is this Friday, July 13th against the VSI Tampa Flames at the Seminole Soccer Complex. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. The visiting Flames are currently positioned in fourth place in the Southeast with a record of 6-5-3 and 21 points. Admission to the match is free as the U23s celebrate fan appreciation day during their last home match of the regular season.
For more information on Friday’s match against VSI Tampa, visit Orlandocitysoccer.com. Be sure to also follow the U23s Twitter account @OrlandoCityU23s for all your up to the minutes updates regarding Orlando City’s PDL club.