Saturday, August 24, 2013
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Orlando City SC (No. 2 seed) defeated the Pittsburgh Riverhounds (No.7 seed) 5-0 on Saturday night in the quarterfinals of the USL PRO Playoffs in front of 8,486 fans Fifth Third Bank Field at the Florida Citrus Bowl. Orlando is now set to host the Charleston Battery on Friday, August 30, for a place in the 2013 USL PRO Championship Game.
“I think the work rate that (Long) Tan and (Dennis) Chin produced set the tone for the entire night,” said Orlando City Head Coach Adrian Heath. “My favorite quote to the players is ‘The supporters want to see you play like they would play if they had a chance.’ I think they did that tonight.”
The Lions got off to a hot start, with a goal occurring in just the third minute. A well-placed corner by Luke Boden found the head of Tan, who whipped his attempt past Pittsburgh goalkeeper Hunter Gilstrap for the 1-0 lead.
Immediately following, Pittsburgh went on the attack- with Riverhounds’ Midfielder Rob Vincent finding himself with open space behind the Orlando backline in the fourth minute. Vincent slid his attempt past Orlando goalkeeper Miguel Gallardo, only for defender Rob Valentino to make a sliding clearance inside the box, sending the chance out of danger.
Just a minute later, the Lions doubled their advantage with Renan Boufleur cleaning up a loose ball inside the six-yard box for a 2-0 lead. Tan flicked on an Anthony Pulis corner for Boufleur in open space inside the penalty area, and the Phoenix FC loanee blasted his finish home.
Orlando didn’t let up for the remainder of the first 45 minutes, with Pittsburgh having few chances against a solid backline that included Valentino, Erik Ustruck, Boden and Boufleur.
The second half started off much like the first, with a quick goal by Orlando giving the Lions a comfortable 3-0 lead. After getting behind the Pittsburgh defense, Chin played a brilliant back heel pass to Tan, which allowed the Chinese striker to put his shot past Gilstrap for his second goal of the night. The two goals in one game by Tan was the first time the striker notched a brace since joining the team in the 2012-13 offseason.
Orlando tacked on two more goals to seal the victory, with Chin converting in the 68th minute while Anthony Pulis drove home a penalty kick in the 79th minute for a 5-0 advantage and convincing victory.
The Lions will face defending USL PRO champions the Charleston Battery in the semifinals of the USL PRO Playoffs on Friday, August 30, at Fifth Third Bank Field at the Florida Citrus Bowl. Orlando holds a 7-1-2 advantage (W-L-T) against the Battery, with the most recent meeting on July 11 resulting in a Lions win.
Tickets are available for Friday night’s semifinal by calling (855) ORL-CITY or by visiting OrlandoCitySoccer.com. The ticket office will have extended office hours leading up to the match: Sun 10am-2pm; Mon-Thu 9am-7pm; Fri 9am-2pm. Tickets will also be available on Friday at the Florida Citrus Bowl box office after 2p. For more information on the upcoming playoff game and more, please visit OrlandoCitySoccer.com.