Orlando City 3 LA Galaxy II 0
In a one sided affair at the ESPN Wide World of Sports tonight, first place Orlando City Soccer (13-0-3, 42 points) overran third place LA Galaxy II (8-5-4, 28 points) 3-0 to claim a convincing win and extend their lead at the top of USL PRO.
In truth, the scoreline hardly reflected the margin of victory as Orlando also had the ball in the net on two other occasions only for those goals to be mysteriously ruled out by one of the strangest performances by match officials that fans have seen in a long time.
Corey Hertzog (pictured above) was both the hero and victim of the disallowed goals and could well have walked of the field with a four goal haul had fortune been on his side a little more. His first goal came in the 18th minute as Luke Boden found space on the left side to drill a ball across the six yard box for Hertzog to slide in and tuck away.
Hertzog then made it a brace in the 43rd minute after some splendid link up play between Brian “Cobi” Span and Kevin Molino on the edge of the penalty area. Span drove inside from the wing and played the ball to Molino, who cleverly flicked the ball in behind the defense to Hertzog who finished neatly with a chip over Cody Laurendi in the Galaxy goal.
Less than two minutes later, Hertzog should have completed his first hat-trick in Orlando City colors when Tyler Turner played a wonderful cross to the striker who nodded it back across the keeper and into the top corner of the net. Unfortunately for the Lions, Hertzog was inexplicably ruled offside by the assistant referee.
Half Time : Orlando City Soccer 2 LA Galaxy II 0
Hertzog had the ball in the net again in the 50th minute as a Span launched a fierce shot from outside the 18 yard box that Laurendi could only push away to the six yard box. Hertzog won the foot race with the covering defender and knocked the ball home only to see the assistant referee’s flag raised again for offside. Another strange decision.
Orlando would eventually add a third in the 60th minute when Kevin Molino scored his 11th goal of the season to take his place at the top of the USL PRO goal scoring table. Molino was able to find the back of the net after playing Span in behind with a neat through ball. Span, who had made a good run to create space, attempted to chip the goalkeeper but saw his effort hit the post. The Trinidadian midfielder, meanwhile, was alert and clinically slotted the rebound home to put the game out of reach.
With the win, a 16th consecutive match without a loss in league play, Orlando now gains an 11 point cushion on the Richmond Kickers who remain in second place in USL PRO.
After the game, Lions Head Coach Adrian Heath said: “I think we’re good enough to have those kind of runs, so I’m not surprised, but we have to keep it going now, and that’s the standard that we set for ourselves. We’ve been a work in progress but things are getting better. Our combination play has improved and so has the players’ ability to understand their roles.”
Next week, the Lions will travel to take on the Wilmington Hammerheads on Thursday, July 3 for the first time this season. Kick-off is set for 7:30 p.m. at Legion Stadium. After that, it’s the I4 Derby as Orlando takes a 3-0 lead to Tampa Bay Rowdies on Sunday 6th July in the deciding game of the series.
Lineups/Substitutions:
Orlando City SC- GK Miguel Gallardo, D Tyler Turner, Brad Rusin, Luke Boden (Justin Clark 75’), Rob Valentino, M Anthony Pulis (Aodhan Quinn 74’), Adama Mbengue (Austin da Luz 61’), Darwin Ceren, Kevin Molino, Brian Span, Corey Hertzog (Dennis Chin 68’)
LA Galaxy II- GK Cody Laurendi, D Oscar Sorto (Joe Franco 40’), Daniel Steres, Dragan Stojkov, Bradley Diallo, M Bradford Jamieson IV (Laurent Courtois 57’), Andre Auras, Raul Mendiola, Rafael Garcia, F Jack McBean (Charlie Rugg 57’) , Travis Bowen
More photos at www.FloridaLeisurePhotography.com
