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Match Preview: Orlando City SC vs. New York City FC

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ORLANDO ā€“ March 6, 2015 ā€“ Orlando City SC will open its inaugural Major League Soccer (MLS) season at home against New York City FC (NYCFC) on Sunday, March 8, with 62,000 fans expected to be in attendance at the Orlando Citrus Bowl. The Clubā€™s historic fixture is scheduled to kick-off at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN2.


Due to popular demand, single-game tickets for the match are no longer available, however, a very limited number of season tickets remain for the game on Sunday. Fans interested in purchasing season tickets can visit www.OrlandoCitySC.com or call 855-ORL-CITY.


In addition, Cityā€™s first league game as an MLS Club will be broadcast worldwide in over 30 languages, and in over 100 countries. The match also marks the first of 16 nationally televised games scheduled for Orlando in 2015.


ā€œSunday evening will certainly be an emotional night for everyone involved with the Club, including myself,ā€ said Orlando City Head Coach Adrian Heath. ā€œWeā€™ve worked extremely hard for this day, and weā€™re delighted to open our first MLS season in front of 62,000 fans. Our supporters have been fantastic since day one, and Sundayā€™s game will be another great opportunity to showcase the strong passion here in the ā€˜Soccer Capital of the Southā€™.ā€


Orlando City enters the match against fellow expansion side NYCFC after only suffering one loss in seven preseason matches (1-1-5, 8 points) against D.C. United, F.C. Dallas, Toronto FC, BK HƤcken, Charleston Battery, Houston Dynamo and NYCFC.


Both Orlando and New York previously met during the 12th annual Carolina Challenge Cup, drawing 1-1. KakĆ” opened the scoring for the Lions ā€“ finishing from the edge of the area to notch his second preseason goal for Orlando.


However, David Villa responded for New York, setting up Khiry Sheltonā€™s equalizer 10 minutes into the second half.


The Lionsā€™ only win during the 2015 preseason came in convincing fashion, as City defeated FC Dallas 4-0. During the match, team captain KakĆ” scored his first goal as a Lion, finishing from the penalty spot after Martin Paterson was brought down in the box.


Midfielder Kevin Molino has also been in fine form, displaying a growing relationship with KakĆ”. Both players combined to set-up Patersonā€™s first goal against Dallas, and the Brazilian provided the assist for Molinoā€™s finish in the teamā€™s friendly against Swedish first-division side BK HƤcken.


New York has played five preseason matches, leading up to their MLS opener. NYCFC began their friendlies with a strong 2-0 victory over St. Mirren, but suffered a 2-0 defeat in their ensuing fixture against Brondby.


NYCFC finished in third place in the Carolina Challenge Cup (1-1-1, 4 points), after defeating the Charleston Battery 3-0 in their final match of the tournament.