Lions eager to move on
Orlando City determined not to let losses linger
HOUSTON — If Orlando City had a do-over, things would be different.
The statement, made by coach Jason Kreis, is probably true of most scenarios. But the Lions don’t have a do-over. They don’t have to play Houston again during the regular season, and their 4-0 blowout loss Saturday night remains a blemish on their record.
How Orlando City will recover and move on from a game in which Houston coach Wilmer Cabrera said his team “could’ve scored more goals, definitely” is the focus now.
The Lions are eager to make sure the result doesn’t spark a downward spiral they can’t recover from. Kreis said it’s all part of the ebb and flow of a season.
“We went through a stretch where everything was happening well, we were winning games. Now we’re going through a little mini-stretch where we’ve lost two games in a row,” Kreis said. “For me, it’s all about what we do now: can we stick together and fight, react? Can we respond well next week?”
When Kreis posed that question after the Lions’ first loss of the season, a 2-0 defeat in Columbus, the team responded by beating the New York Red Bulls at
“For me, it’s all about what we do now: can we stick together and fight, react? Can we respond well next week?” Orlando City coach Jason Kreis
home and then winning their next three matches as well.
There were some tactical and organizational issues in the Houston match that will be addressed in order to deal with the type of speed displayed by the Dynamo’s attack, Kreis said. He also reiterated the match was made more difficult because of limited preparation time between Wednesday night’s loss in Toronto and Saturday’s game in Houston.
Cabrera imparted some wisdom after the match that applies to Orlando City as well, saying, “We’re not the best team in MLS when we win, but we’re not the worst team in MLS when we lose. It was a very solid game for us, in front of one of the top teams in MLS, so it’s important to continue believing in what we’ve been doing.”
Two consecutive losses, one a 4-0 shutout, is never good, but the Lions still are respected in the league and remain No. 2 in the Eastern Conference.
Midfielder Will Johnson pointed out after the game that in all three of the Lions’ losses, they gave up the first goal. Two of them were shutouts. He wants to fix that.
In Orlando City’s six wins this season, three were shutouts and they also scored the first goal of the match in the other three.
“When you give away the first goal against them, especially [in Houston], it makes things difficult because then you start to chase and they leave their guys high for the counter,” Johnson said. “They’re obviously good when they get into those positions. We were never able to get back in the game.
“The good teams in this league are the ones able to take the loss and then get back to what we do best and win the next one. Teams that struggle let these losses fester and start to knock their confidence, let one loss become two, then three, four and before you know it you can’t get out of a tailspin. We have to regroup and put in a shift next week.”
Orlando City returns home to host Sporting Kansas City on Saturday night, and the team is determined to learn from this two-game skid on the road and bounce back.
“We have to come out swinging,” left back Donny Toia said. “We need to stay winning at home and we have to stay together. That’s the most important thing right now.
“Everyone at this point is going to learn something from this game. We are going to look at video this week, figure out what we did wrong and what we can fix. Like I said, we just have to move on.”