Reeves' Army

Yeah, I know, I’m late with this. Wednesdays suck as gamedays.

The Harrisburg City Islanders played us tough as usual, but Orlando City continued to build into dominant form, winning Wednesday night’s match, 4-2.

Tonight, they cap off their road schedule by hosting Rochester Rhinos. Match time is 7:30pm.

Orlando City continues their hectic weekend tonight when they again host Charleston Battery. Game time is 7:30pm at the Citrus Bowl.

A win tonight would give Orlando City the Commissioners’ Cup for the second straight year. We would clinch it a full two matches earlier than last season.

Match previews from the team website and Orlando Sentinel.

Of course the match will be streamed live at USL Nation, but the match will also be on the radio, on WYGM “740 the Game” in English and on WWFL 1340 “Onda Mexicana Radio” in Spanish.

Orlando City is launching into one of their busiest stretches tonight, hosting Wilmington Hammerheads at the Citrus Bowl. Game time is 7:30pm.

The website has a match preview. There is also a match preview from Rip Roaring 11.

It will be interesting to see how the team juggles the roster, with three matches in four days.

Being the middle of the work week, supporters’ tailgates will be abbreviated.

Orlando City is headed to school. Cal State-Fullerton, to be exact. They have late nighters against the Los Angeles Blues on Friday (10:30pm) and Sunday (8:00pm). At the team website, Adam Soucie has the match preview.

The supporters will have late watch parties for tonight’s game. The Iron Lion Firm will be at their usual place, XL Soccer World, while The Ruckus will hit the road, going to The Tilted Kilt on International Drive just north of Sand Lake Road (just off I-4 exit 74A.

Orlando City hits the road again this weekend. They will be at Dayton Dutch Lions tonight at 8pm, and Pittsburgh Riverhounds tomorrow night at 7pm.

At the team website, Adam Soucie has the preview for the weekend, and Chris Jones crunches the numbers.

There will be watch parties tonight for the Dayton match. The Ruckus will be at World of Beer in Altamonte Springs, while the Iron Lion Firm will be at XL Soccer World off Lee Road in Winter Park.

Tonight is the rematch of last year’s USL Championship: Orlando City hosting Harrisburg City Islanders. Gametime is 7:30pm.

Adam Soucie has the match preview, Chris Jones crunches the numbers.

An even bigger story is the promotion yesterday of Senegalese midfielder Adama Mbengue to the pro roster. The 18-year-old is one of six players who have played all 10 games thus far with the U-23′s, after scoring two goals in Orlando City’s preseason. This marks the first time a player has been promoted from the U-23′s to the pro team.

It’s Cinco de Mayo!

A big thing for today is getting our friends going to the Orlando Magic’s game 4 this afternoon to make a day of it and head over to the Citrus Bowl after their game, win or lose. We’ll show them a good time, slip them some real beer, and all that good stuff.

Adam Soucie has the match preview.

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Orlando City U-23 earned a scoreless draw against Fort Lauderdale Schulz Academy last night. They will play Schulz again next Friday night.

Orlando City U-23 begins the new era at the top of the Orlando City development system today.

The former Central Florida Kraze are preparing for their inaugural match tonight when they host Fort Lauderdale Schulz Academy at 7pm at the Seminole Soccer Complex in West Sanford.

The team currently has 17 players signed, with some of the finest young talent in Florida and the most sought-after college recruits in America. This may be the finest team the former Kraze has ever assembled. We’ll see if/when they get everything together.

The team played a scrimmage on April 16, including many of the current roster members and a few pro team players who fit the U-23 regulation. Nicolas Russo scored a penalty kick during that match.

Tickets can be bought at the gate, cash only. The price is $10 for adults, and $5 for youth age 16 and under. Gates open at 6pm.

And today Orlando City opens its home account by hosting Wilmington Hammerheads, who are themselves beginning their season tonight.

When Wilmington chose to sit out the 2010 season, people were completely shocked. Then the defending champions of USL Second Division (what was then the third tier), they drew a respectable 2,467 per home game, second in the league. Analysts had no idea how, or even if, they would recover.

(That hiatus eventually brought Jamie Watson to the Lions, BTW.)

They answered the critics emphatically in 2011 when they joined USL Pro. Their per-game average attendance of 3,926 was good for third in the league, and rivaled attendance in the second-tier NASL along with Orlando City, Rochester Rhinos and Charleston Battery.

They rewarded their rabid fans with a second-place finish in the American Division, with just one less win than the Lions. They fell in a 5-4 penalty shootout to Richmond Kickers in the opening round of the playoffs following scoreless regulation and extra time.

The question is, what can they do for an encore? For that matter, what can the Lions do for an encore following their 2-0 win at Charlotte last Saturday?

Chris Jones crunches the numbers. Adam Soucie has the match preview, though the title has the date wrong.

The parking lots will open early at 1pm today. I mentioned the tailgates and after-parties yesterday. The Ruckus tailgate in Lot L is accessible off Long St. The ILF tailgate in Lot U is accessible off Rio Grande Ave.

And team ownership wants to remind you that fireworks and other incindiaries ARE NOT PERMITTED AT THE CITRUS BOWL. Some of the supporters brought sparklers to the preseason friendly against Philadelphia Union in February. Not even these are allowed. The Ruckus has a fog machine; that was authorized by the venue.

Fireworks and incindiaries are expressly forbidden in the lease, and could get the team in trouble. Thus, anyone caught with such items will be kicked out and banned from future games.

UPDATE: Orlando City is taking calls selling tickets at the office until Noon today. If you want to get tickets, or season tickets if you want, call 855-675-2489. After that, they will be moving operations to the Citrus Bowl Box Office by Gate C.

The day is just about here. In 30 hours, Orlando City will launch its second season with the return of Philadelphia Union.

Lions columnist Chris Jones in his new pre-match feature OC3 reports on what has changed this offseason in the City of Brotherly Love. The Union of this year is far different from the one of last year. Their first designated player, forward Sebastien Le Toux, has been traded to Vancouver Whitecaps. Around the same time, goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon abruptly left the club and returned to his native Colombia.

Now they are relying on Colombian midfielder Roger Torres, young Congolese striker Danny Mwanga and sophomore goalkeeper Zac MacMath. What kind of force will they muster against the Lions, especially if they remain at full strength longer than 17 minutes?

Lions comm. director Adam Soucie in his new morning feature, the Morning Roar, states that developing fitness and team unity is the first priority of tomorrow night’s match. A win like last year is merely a bonus. There are rumors circulating that Lewis Neal will come off trial with Real Salt Lake and be back in time to return to the field for Orlando City.

Of course, we will still sorely miss departing players Lawrence Olum, Yordany Alvarez and Devorn Jorsling. Now is the time to see what incoming players like Matt Luzunaris, James O’Connor and John Rooney can bring to the table.

As part of a promotion with presenting and shirt sponsor Orlando Health for Heart Health Month, the team is asking all attending fans to wear red, especially red jerseys old and new. The first 2,000 fans in the gate get red rally towels. They will also hand out vouchers for heart health screenings during the match.