Kevin Molino’s return from a knee injury could be a huge boost for Orlando City if he regains the form that made him a two-time USL MVP.
Orlando City has not yet signed a major player this offseason, but it doesn’t feel that way for those around the team.
Kevin Molino is back after tearing his ACL last May, and the implications are massive if the two-time USL most valuable player can regain the form that made him one of the most exciting players on the roster last season.
Lions defender Brek Shea talked about how much more dynamic Orlando City can be in the attack with Molino on the field, and the headaches Molino causes for opposing teams. Reigning MLS rookie of the year Cyle Larin pointed out he and Molino only played a limited time together, and Molino assisted on Larin’s first MLS goal in Portland.
There will be a very small waiting period before seeing Molino. It has been eight months since he underwent ACL surgery in May, and he’ll be at the 10-month point by the start of the regular season.
“He’s champing at the bit, first day back preseason we expect him to join in,” Orlando City coach Adrian Heath said earlier this month at the MLS Scouting Combine. “Obviously we’ll tread carefully with him because it is a long period of time. … I think he had about six or seven days off where he went home and saw the New Year in, but since then he’s been in the building training. He looks good, which is incredible because we used to have to bribe him to get him in the gym and now he’s got one of those beach bodies; he quite likes going into the gym.
“We’re really looking forward to getting him back on the field.”
Cerén says Lions willing to fight
Orlando City made playoffs a clear goal last season and fell agonizingly short of its aspirations.
The Lions won five consecutive games to get to the final week of the season with a shot at the postseason, but would wind up five points shy of the all-important red playoff cut line. One day into the preseason, Shea again set the bar at a playoff-or-bust height by saying the season would be “a failure” if the team falls short of the postseason.
The expectations this year, though, feel more realistic, if only because the Lions are no longer an expansion team. A season’s experience in MLS and some tweaking to the roster make for a far different squad than the one that gathered one year ago.
“We believe we’re a winning team, a team that is going to fight, a team that will do things that people will talk about,” Orlando City midfielder Darwin Cerén said in his native Spanish Friday afternoon. “We had a good experience last season when we won [five] games in
a row, we were determined to fight together as a group.
“And now we’re going to do the same thing. We are going to show that we’re a quality team, a team that knows how to do things right and that will fight to the last game.”
Larin faces U.S. for first time
Larin was called by the Canadian national team for its friendly against the U.S. on Feb. 2.
While Larin has competed for Canada several times as both a UConn player and since being drafted by Orlando City, this game will be a special one for him.
“It means a lot,” Larin said. “Just to be back in the team and to play the U.S., I haven’t played the U.S. before so it’ll be nice to play the U.S. and hopefully beat them. We’ve got a good team that’s called up and a couple new faces, so it’ll be good.”