Lions finding their stride
Confident entering road game vs. Timbers
SANFORD — After a rare stretch of recovery time, Orlando City hit the road to take on the Portland Timbers on Thursday in a Western Conference faceoff.
The game comes at a crucial time for the Lions, who sit only one point away from playoff positioning in the gut of the season. Fresh off a pair of invigorating home wins — including the 1-1 penaltykick thriller in the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals — the team is looking to capitalize on its momentum to earn crucial points on the road.
“I think the level of commitment the players have shown over the last few weeks has been outstanding,” Lions coach James O’Connor said. “We need to continue that and make sure it’s the same level of performance that it’s been.”
Last Saturday’s game against Columbus capped a brutal week of play for the team as it logged more than 300 minutes of play in three games during a span of seven days. The workload meant that a variety of players saw the pitch for the team, including rookies Santiago Patiño, Benji Michel and Kamal Miller, but the Lions secured two wins and a draw on the road during the stretch.
The team faces a similar situation this week, playing in Portland on Thursday and then returning home for another game on Sunday. But at this point, defender Robin Jansson said the Lions are becoming well-versed in recovery and rotation in order to succeed during quick turnarounds.
“I think we’re feeling quite good actually,” Jansson said. “We have tired bodies here and there, but that’s normal when you play a lot of games in a small amount of days. We’re feeling that we’re in a good mood and that we need to transition that into a good energy on the field.”
The team will be looking to bring that energy to play against Portland on Thursday against a team that is enjoying its own surge of momentum. The Timbers struggled early in the season.
The team is now riding a four-game unbeaten streak, highlighted by a 1-0 upset victory over LAFC at Banc of California Stadium last week. With a wealth of home games during the second half of their season, the Timbers will look to build off their home-field advantage, which is one of the strongest in MLS.
The Timbers’ greatest attacking threat is midfielder Diego Valeri, who leads the team with five goals and 10 assists. As lethal off the ball as he is when it’s at his feet, Valeri has powered the team on the offensive side of the ball as the Timbers’ attack has come to life during the course of the summer. With two four-goal blowouts in the past month — including a 4-0 rout of the LA Galaxy in the Round of 16 of the U.S. Open Cup — Portland has come into offensive form.
“It’s a big one for us,” Lions midfielder Sacha Kljestan said. “They probably circled this game as a very important game for them coming off a home tie over the weekend. It’s a big game for us, and there will be a lot of pressure from both sides.”
As Orlando City nears the middle of the summer, the mood of the players is drastically different than it was at the same time last season.
Recalling last year, Kljestan said this season feels more in control for the Lions. Orlando City has continued to hover in this position just below the playoffs cutoff for several weeks now, always remaining just a point or two below its mark.
To Kljestan, this makes the pressure of games like Thursday’s that much higher.
“At this point last year, we were starting to fall off way too hard,” Kljestan said. “Too many losses piling up, mentality getting worse, obviously confidence dropping a lot. Right now, I think we’re in a really good spot. Having said that, we’re still below the playoff line. Going into Portland, we know it’s another good chance for us to keep things rolling.”