Reeves' Army

Orlando City has officially pushed its game Thursday night, June 2, against Charlotte Eagles back to 7:30pm. This is to help get more people in due to it being on a weekday.

In addition, this will be the first match for Orlando City that will be broadcast on Bright House Sports Network. They are airing a promo.

The Central Florida Kraze did what they had to do, beating the Bradenton Academics, 3-0, to finish U.S. Open Cup qualifying with a perfect 4-0-0 record. They are now 4-0-1 for the PDL season.

The Kraze had most of the pressure all night long, but couldn’t convert any opportunities until well into the second half. At 60′, I decided to do some chanting, being desparate to not see the Kraze drop any points. Sure enough, Matt McFarland crossed the ball in to Ezequiel Pedraza, who sunk it in to finally open the Kraze’s account.

Our team would not look back from there, with Abderrazak Berkia nailing a goal at 76′, and Jabari Garibaldi sinking a cross in at 85′ to put the topper on.

Whether or not we end up in the U.S. Open Cup is dependent on the results of the match between Nashville Metros and Mississippi Brilla on Monday, May 30. If Brilla drops any points, the Kraze are in.

I’m beginning to see how categorically unfair PDL U.S. Open Cup qualifying is.

Going into the last matchdays, both the Central Florida Kraze and Mississippi Brilla are 3-0-0 in the four-game qualifying series for the PDL Southeast Division spot in the national tournament. The problem is, Brilla got TWO games against an expansion team, and beat them bad both times. As a result, this puts the Kraze unfairly behind the 8-ball.

Now, the Kraze needs not only to win, but for Brilla to trip up at their last Qualifier on Monday.

So go to Showalter Field tonight, and urge us to TWO U.S. Open Cup representatives for Central Florida.

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Quick programming note: the UEFA Champions League Final today will be on FOX (WOFL-35 in Orlando), not FOX Soccer Channel.

Orlando City confirmed on its website today that the summer friendlies between the Lions and Premier League teams Bolton Wanderers and Newcastle United are part of the season ticket package. HOWEVER, they will not be eligible for use of “Bring-a-Friend” extra tickets.

Season ticket holders may purchase up to 10 extra tickets at a $2-per-ticket discount through the ticket office at 407-536-5368.

Orlando City got their revenge and a signature victory, beating the Richmond Kickers tonight, 2-0, for their 7th win and sole possession of first place in USL Pro.

As is typical recently, City got both their goals early. The first was a goal by Lewis Neal on an assist by Kevin Molino at 4′. The second was by Molino with an assist by Boden at 13′.

The Lions kept good pressure throughout the game. Shots and fouls were even. Miguel Gallardo got four shots on goal. From my vantage, we seemed to get a lot of questionable foul calls against us, topped off by a called-off goal near the death by Lewis Neal that was ruled offside late.

City’s next match is next Thursday night hosting Charlotte Eagles, the team getting a well-deserved 8-day home layoff after going 3-0-1 in the recent 11-day stretch.

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Tickets for Orlando City’s friendlies with English Premier League sides Bolton Wanderers (July 17) and Newcastle United (July 23) will go on sale TOMORROW, May 26, through the Orlando City ticket office at 407-536-5368. They will be available via Ticketmaster next Tuesday, May 31.

I am uncertain of the ticket pricing for these games, but I have confirmed that both games will be part of the season ticket package. Season ticket holders will get their tickets for these matches soon.

Congratulations to the graduating seniors of Central Florida! Today was the last day of school for seniors in Orange County; don’t know about the other area districts.

The perfect way to celebrate would be to come out tonight to the Citrus Bowl to party with your Orlando City Soccer Club!

The team plays at 7:30pm, against the Richmond Kickers. In addition, you’re welcome to Lot L (SE of the stadium) with The Ruckus for their tailgate.

Tickets start at $12 for the general-admission supporters section, which is the entire south side of the bowl.

There are two teams that come to mind if there is ever such a thing as a “storied” franchise in sub-MLS soccer: the Rochester Rhinos, and the Richmond Kickers.

The Kickers have been around since 1993, and from the beginning they became one of the top teams not in the MLS. In 1995, they won the last U.S. Open Cup tournament held before MLS opened shop.

In 1997, they advanced to the second-tier A-League, the same year Orlando had the Sundogs in the same league. On the field and off, they have been a consistent organization, drawing over 2,o00 per game every year since. During their stay in the A-League, they made the finals twice.

I’m not sure what happened in 2005, the first year that the A-League was renamed to the USL First Division (still second-tier). They finished 6th out of 12, and it was actually its best-attended year yet, drawing 2,654 per game. But for some reason or another, they chose the year after to move down to the third-tier USL Second Division.

They have maintained their profile in Richmond since, even having an even-better year in 2009 with 2,874 per game. They won the USL Second Division title in 2006 and 2009. They’re down a bit from that, hovering above 2,000 per, but they continue to stay within what they usually do.

It’s amazing that Richmond has not looked for greater prestige than where they historically have been. But one has to tip their hat to an organization which has done what so few below MLS has done: not merely survived, but thrived.

The match is tomorrow night, May 25, at 7:30pm. The City website has a preview. It is Military Night, as posted yesterday, with 2-for-1 tickets with valid Military ID, and free admission for ROTC cadets in uniform.

The Ruckus will be tailgating starting at 5pm at Lot L. They will also be collecting donations for the Wounded Warrior Project.

Orlando City’s matches from this past weekend with the Rochester Rhinos and Harrisburg City Islanders are now live on USL Live.

In addition, Invica Sports, which produces the Harrisburg City Islanders live feed, has released the Orlando City @ Harrisburg match on YouTube in its entirety.

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Max Griffin, Yordany Alvarez and Miguel Gallardo have all been named to the USL Team of the Week for this past week.

Gallardo got it for his 385-minute goalless streak and his four saves against Harrisburg. Alvarez got it for his tempo setting against Harrisburg, and Griffin got it for his GWG after his brief layoff against Harrisburg.

Orlando City posted a copy of their flier for Military Night for Wednesday night on Facebook:

Flier for Orlando City's Military Night 2011

Interesting and clever marketing.

Orlando City launched the scoring very fast, then made their statement at the death with a 3-1 win over the Harrisburg City Islanders.

The Lions got their first goal very quick, at Demar Stewart knocked in a corner kick by Jack Traynor from right in front of the goal at 2′. From there, they got into their typical routine of controlling the pitch without actually following through on their opportunities, taking their 1-0 lead to halftime.

Max Griffin finally made his return as a sub at 61′ and bolstered the attack, but a defensive mistake led to a goal by Harrisburg’s Stephen Basso at 80′, ending Miguel Gallardo’s scoreless streak at 385 minutes.

It seemed the game would end in another draw, with four points dropped on the road trip. But Lawrence Olum fed a cross to Max Griffin, who knocked in his sixth goal of the season to take the lead at 90′. Shortly thereafter, Harrisburg gave up a penalty in stoppage time, and Lewis Neal knocked the PK in at 90+2′ to seal the deal.

Miguel Gallardo had his usual brilliant goalkeeping play, with three saves. Shots were even at 10-10, but City had 9 offsides.

City comes home this Wednesday night, May 25, to host the Richmond Kickers. Game time has been changed to 7:30pm. This is the military tribute night, with 2-for-1 tickets to anybody who shows military ID at the box office, and free admission to ROTC cadets.

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Stoke City dropped their last game of the season to Wigan Athletic, 1-0. The win saved Wigan from relegation, guaranteeing them an 8th straight season in the Premier League. Stoke ends the season in 13th place.

Birmingham City lost 2-1 to Tottenham Hotspur, giving up the final goal at the death. Blackpool led twice, but an own goal put them down for good to lose 4-2 to Manchester United. Blackpool, Birmingham City and West Ham United were all relegated to Football League Championship.

Wolves lost to Blackburn Rovers, 3-2, but their two late goals gave them a high-enough goal differential that Blackpool and Birmingham City draws would have saved them anyway.