Orlando City at Tampa Bay Rowdies
When: Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Al Lang Stadium, St. Petersburg, Fla.
TV: Paramount+ (subscription required)
Everything you need to know for the Lions' U.S. Open Cup match at Tampa Bay Rowdies in "The Road Ahead":
Milestones
- Orlando City is currently on a club-record 526-minute shutout streak, following up a concession-free April with a clean sheet against Chicago last weekend. The Lions have kept five straight clean sheets for the first time in club history and will look to make it six on Wednesday in Tampa.
- The Lions are on an eight-game unbeaten run, tied for the second-longest in club history. Orlando is four games away from matching the club-record 12-game unbeaten streak from the 2020 season.
- Martín Ojeda’s next appearance will be his 100th for Orlando City in all competitions. Ojeda’s next assist, his 27th for Orlando City, will see him pass Nani for second all-time in club history. Iván Angulo is one assist behind Nani and Ojeda.
- At 17 goals in all competitions, Ojeda is now two away from entering the club’s all-time top 10 scorers. Daryl Dike and Benji Michel are tied for ninth at 19 goals apiece, while Ercan Kara is 11th with 18. Duncan McGuire is the only player on the active roster in the top 10, ranking fourth with 26 career goals.
- Ramiro Enrique’s next appearance will be his 80th for Orlando City in all competitions.
Stats & Storylines
- Orlando City continued its astonishing shutout streak in the Windy City this past weekend. This time, the man between the pipes was the hero – Pedro Gallese made eight saves to keep out over 2.5 expected goals worth of Chicago Fire chances to keep his fifth straight clean sheet and extend the run to 526 consecutive minutes without allowing a goal. Gallese was named to the MLS Team of the Matchday for his incredible performance.
- With the shutout, “El Pulpo” became the fourth goalkeeper to record five clean sheets in a row in MLS regular season play since 2020. Only one, Toronto FC’s Sean Johnson, has gone six regular season matches in a row without allowing a goal this decade.
- Kyle Smith became the fifth player in Orlando City history to reach 10,000 minutes played for the club after starting the Chicago game in central midfield. All five members of the 10,000-minute club – Smith, Robin Jansson, Pedro Gallese, Rodrigo Schlegel, and César Araújo – were in the starting XI on Saturday night.
- This week, Orlando City makes its grand return to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup after not participating in the 2024 tournament due to format changes. The Lions famously won the 2022 edition of America’s oldest ongoing national soccer competition, lifting the trophy after defeating Sacramento Republic FC 3-0 in the final at Inter&Co Stadium.
- Orlando City has enjoyed plenty of Open Cup excitement over the years, going all the way back to the club’s years in USL Pro, when it knocked off Oscar Pareja’s Colorado Rapids and Sporting Kansas City in a run to the quarterfinals in 2013. Pareja also served Orlando its first-ever defeat in the Open Cup as Director of Player Development for FC Dallas in 2011.
- Pareja has an extensive history in the Open Cup, winning it for his trophy as a head coach in 2016 with Dallas before bringing Orlando its first MLS-era trophy in 2022. Pareja also played in an Open Cup Final in his final season as a player with Dallas in 2005, though his side fell 1-0 to the LA Galaxy on a goal from current ESPN personality Hercules Gomez.
Series History
All-time vs. Tampa Bay Rowdies - 7-0-0, +12 GD (2-0-0, +2 GD away)
2013 - W 2-0 (N/WDW Pro Soccer Classic), W 3-2 (H), W 2-3 (A)
2014 - W 3-0 (H), W 4-1 (H/USOC), W 2-3 (A)
2022 - W 2-1 (H/USOC)
Meet the opponent: Tampa Bay Rowdies
- Orlando City reignites one of its oldest rivalries this week, facing USL Championship side Tampa Bay Rowdies in the U.S. Open Cup Round of 32. The teams last faced off in the 2022 edition of the tournament, with the Lions emerging victorious by a 2-1 scoreline thanks to goals from Alexandre Pato and Júnior Urso.
- Orlando and Tampa Bay played each other six times from 2013-14, meeting for the first time in the 2013 Walt Disney World Pro Soccer Classic, a match won 2-0 by Orlando on goals from Jamie Watson and Dennis Chin. As the Lions were in USL Pro and the Rowdies played in the now-defunct NASL, the teams played in a scheduled home-and-home series called the “I-4 Derby” each of those two seasons, with Orlando sweeping the two legs on both occasions. The teams also faced off in the 2014 U.S. Open Cup, resulting in yet another Orlando City win.
- The Rowdies' name dates back to 1975, when the franchise started playing in the original NASL. The first edition of the Rowdies played for 19 seasons before folding in 1993. After the short-lived run of the unrelated Tampa Bay Mutiny in MLS, the Rowdies name returned to Tampa as an expansion side in 2011.
- The Rowdies played in the revived NASL during Orlando City’s entire run as a USL Pro side, only moving to USL in 2017. Tampa Bay won the 2012 NASL Championship and won the USL Championship Eastern Conference in both 2020 and 2021.
- Things have not gone well for Tampa Bay in 2025. The club is 1-5-1 through seven USL Championship matches, though it did earn its second result of the season this past weekend, drawing Birmingham Legion 2-2 at Al Lang Stadium. The Rowdies are currently coached on an interim basis by Steve Coleman, a longtime assistant and analyst for the New Zealand national team who took over the post last month after the club fired head coach Robbie Neilson.
