CHARLOTTE, N.C. (August 17, 2016) – In the second match of a two-game road trip, Orlando City B (8-8-7, 31 points) fell to the Charlotte Independence (11-6-6, 39 points) 4-0 Wednesday at Ramblewood Soccer Complex. Orlando City Pro Academy product Isaque Couto made his professional debut.
“Obviously it’s another disappointing result and performance. You can’t keep starting games slowly like we’re starting at the moment. We gave ourselves a huge mountain to climb after eight minutes being two goals down,” OCB Head Coach Anthony Pulis said. “Again, a big learning curve for a lot of the younger players. I’m concerned about our level of performance getting better. Once our level of performance gets better then hopefully results will follow.”
The Independence put two on the board just four minutes into the match when Patrick Slagic headed in Lewis Hilton’s service. Two minutes later, Brian Brown ripped a sharp angle shot that snuck past Ridgers at the near post.
OCB nearly responded just two minutes later when Michael Cox caught up to a long ball from Harrison Heath. Cox made a clever move to speed past his defender and into the box before slipping it past oncoming Charlotte goalkeeper John Berner, but defender Bilal Duckett cleared it off the line. Heath found Cox again in the 32nd minute, this time on a corner kick that the Canadian headed just wide.
Mark Ridgers made a strong diving save to his left on a Lewis Hilton shot from 10 yards in the second half. Defender Craig Nitti, in his ninth appearance of the season, made an incredible block in the 60th minute, heading away a shot from six yards out. Ridgers finished with four saves.
Couto came into the game in the 85th minute and came within inches of scoring in stoppage time when he drilled a shot from the left wing, beating Charlotte goalkeeper John Berner but grazing the crossbar. Pulis also called up Couto’s fellow Academy product David Norris for the match.
Antonio Matarazzo made his fifth appearance of the season when he came on in place of Devron García to start the second half. Matarazzo almost put OCB on the board in the 76th minute when his corner service header went just wide.
The Lions return to Titan Soccer Complex on Sunday, Aug. 21, when they host the Richmond Kickers in the first leg of a home-and-home series and OCB’s penultimate regular season home game. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.
Tickets to all OCB home matches are available at OrlandoCityB.com or by calling 855-ORL-CITY. Follow the latest Orlando City news and updates via Facebook,Twitter,Instagram and YouTube.
Scoring Summary:
CLT - Patrick Slogic (Lewis Hilton) 4’
CLT - Brian Brown (Patrick Slogic) 6’
CLT - Enzo Martinez 64’
CLT - Brian Brown (David Estrada) 71’
Misconduct Summary:
OCB - Devron García (Yellow Card) 11’
OCB - Lewis Neal (Yellow Card) 49’
CLT - Bilal Duckett (Yellow Card) 67’
OCB - Harrison Heath (Yellow Card) 82’
OCB - Zach Hayden (Yellow Card) 84’
Lineups/Substitutions:
Orlando City B - GK Mark Ridgers, D Zach Hayden, Tyler Turner, Devron García (Antonio Matarazzo 46’), Craig Nitti, M Johnny Mendoza (Alejandro Garcia 88’), Lewis Neal, Andrew Ribeiro (Keegan Smith 72’), Pierre Da Silva (Isaque Couto 85’), Harrison Heath, F Michael Cox
Substitutes: GK Jake Fenlason, D David Norris
Charlotte Independence - GK John Berner, D Bilal Duckett, Patrick Slogic, Henry Kalungi, Joel Johnson (Jack Metcalf 87’), M Jun Davidson, Lewis Hilton, Enzo Martinez (Jorge Herrera 78’), F Caleb Calvert (Zach Pfeffer 76’), Brian Brown (Aly Hassan 79’), David Estrada (Alex Martinez 76’)
Substitutes: GK Cody Mizell, M Paul Clowes
Details of the Game:
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Weather: Partly Cloudy
August 17, 2016
Attendance: 1,232
Stats:
Shots:
OCB - 6
CLT - 23
Saves:
OCB - 4
CLT - 0
Corners:
OCB - 5
CLT - 7
