Orlando City News Release -- www.orlandocitysoccer.com
Thursday, April 18, 2013
ORLANDO, Fla. — Orlando City continues its home stand this Friday night against the LA Blues at Fifth Third Bank Field at the Florida Citrus Bowl with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. The two met last week in California, with the Lions upended 1-0 by the upstart Blues on their second road match in three days to begin the regular season.
“We haven’t strung a full 90 together that we’ve all been proud of, but we’re improving,” said Orlando City Head Coach Adrian Heath. “I feel that we’re getting into some sort of rhythm and we’re looking forward to the game on Friday.”
The Lions (2-1-0, 6 points) most recently topped Rochester 3-1 at their home opener on Sunday night. Inclement weather caused the game to be delayed nearly two hours, with Dom Dwyer, Long Tan and Jamie Watson scoring for Orlando after the long delay for the win.
LA (3-1-0, 9 points) stands at the top of the table through the early 2013 USL PRO season. Orlando fell to the Blues last week 1-0 at Cal State Fullerton Titan Stadium in Fullerton, Calif. A goal in the 80th minute from former Orlando striker George Davis IV put LA on top, giving them their first-ever victory over the Lions in franchise history.
Orlando is 2-1-1 all-time against LA, with Heath stating this year's Blues squad is much improved over last season’s team.
“I told the guys before we played LA the first time that the Blues are going to be a lot better than last year,” Heath added. “The coach and GM are serious football people over there and we expect them to be strong.”
Gates open at 6:30 p.m. Friday, with pregame festivities including a concert by local band The Crazy Carls. Friday night’s game will be live streamed on USLNation.com. For more information on Friday’s match, visit Orlandocitysoccer.com.