Club: | Orlando City |
Season: | 2014 |
Manager: | Adrian Heath |
Chairman: | Phil Rawlins |
Chrtitle: | President |
Stadium: | Hess Field 17, ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex |
League: | USL Pro |
League Result: | 1st |
Cup1: | USL Pro Playoffs |
Cup1 Result: | QF |
Cup2: | U.S. Open Cup |
Cup2 Result: | 4th round |
Cup3: | WDW Pro Soccer Classic |
Cup3 Result: | T-3rd |
League Topscorer: | Kevin Molino (20) |
Season Topscorer: | Kevin Molino (25) |
Highest Attendance: | 5,029 vs LA Galaxy II (June 28) vs Charlotte (Aug. 2) vs Harrisburg (Aug. 16) |
Lowest Attendance: | 4,206 vs OC Blues (June 11) |
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Prevseason: | 2013 |
Nextseason: | MLS |
The 2014 Orlando City SC season was the club's fourth season of existence in Orlando, and their final season playing in the lower divisions. A Major League Soccer expansion franchise with the same name began play in 2015. The team entered the season as the defending USL Pro champions, beating Charlotte Eagles in the Championship Game after finishing second in the regular season.
On November 19, 2013, it was announced that Orlando City would be the next expansion franchise in Major League Soccer, the league's 21st team, to begin play in 2015.[1] The announcement was made at Church Street Station in downtown Orlando, in the old Cheyenne Saloon, and was attended by an overflow crowd estimated by the Orlando Police Department at around 4,000. This made 2014 their final season in USL Pro.
Manager Adrian Heath said that the construction of the team for the 2014 season will be centered around getting players who can potentially move up with the team in 2015.[2] As a result, he allowed several player contracts to lapse, only keeping a handful of vital personnel. He also signed goalkeeper Carl Woszczynski away from Los Angeles Blues, to play behind starting goalkeeper and team captain Miguel Gallardo.
Orlando City continued their affiliation with Sporting Kansas City through the MLS-USL Pro development alliance for the 2014 season. For the season, Sporting began transitioning their affiliation to Oklahoma City Energy FC, and would split their transfers between the two clubs before making Oklahoma City their sole affiliate in 2015.[3]
The day before the MLS announcement, Orlando City and Orlando Health announced that the hospital system had signed a multi-year sponsorship contract which would make Orlando Health the team's presenting sponsor for its final USL Pro season, and going into MLS.[4]
On June 3, 2014, Phil Rawlins sold Orlando City's USL Pro franchise license to minority owner Wayne Estopinal. While Orlando City moves on to MLS, the remaining USL Pro team will move to Louisville, Kentucky, in 2015 and become Louisville City FC. The team will maintain Orlando City's MLS colors. At the same time, James O'Connor retired as a player to become Louisville City's manager.
With the Citrus Bowl under construction, and their new stadium planned to open in 2016, Orlando City moved their games to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. They played at Field 17 in the Hess Sports Fields, where they invested to expand its capacity to 5,300.[5]
The team announced on December 5, 2013, that they would return to the Walt Disney World Pro Soccer Classic.[6]
All times from this point on Eastern Daylight Time
Orlando City entered the U.S. Open Cup in the second round.
No. | Nat. | Player | Birthday | Previous club | 2014 USL Pro appearances | 2014 USL Pro goals | |
Goalkeepers | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Miguel Gallardo | 24 October 1984 | Austin Lightning | 24 | – | ||
21 | Carl Woszczynski | 18 April 1988 | Los Angeles Blues | 4 | – | ||
26 | Rafael Díaz | 8 October 1991 | St. John's University | – | – | ||
Defenders | |||||||
2 | Tyler Turner | 4 March 1996 | IMG Academy Bradenton | 23 | 1 | ||
3 | Brad Rusin | 5 September 1986 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 23 | 2 | ||
4 | Tommy Redding | 24 January 1997 | FC America | 15 | – | ||
5 | Rafael Ramos | 9 January 1995 | S.L. Benfica U-19 | 4 | 1 | ||
7 | Bryan Burke | 3 January 1989 | Los Angeles Blues | 7 | – | ||
14 | Luke Boden | 26 November 1988 | Sheffield Wednesday F.C. | 23 | 2 | ||
19 | Bitielo Jean Jacques | 28 December 1990 | VSI Tampa Bay FC | 7 | – | ||
22 | Rob Valentino | 21 December 1985 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 19 | 1 | ||
23 | Justin Clark | 17 October 1988 | Rollins College | 13 | – | ||
Midfielders | |||||||
6 | Anthony Pulis | 21 July 1984 | Aldershot Town F.C. | 12 | 1 | ||
8 | Adama Mbengue | 1 December 1993 | Orlando City U-23 | 27 | 3 | ||
10 | Yordany Álvarez | 24 May 1985 | Real Salt Lake | 13 | 1 | ||
12 | Harrison Heath | 16 April 1996 | Norwich City U-18 | 7 | – | ||
13 | Austin da Luz | 9 October 1987 | Carolina RailHawks | 18 | 5 | ||
16 | Aodhan Quinn | 22 March 1992 | Philadelphia Union | 16 | – | ||
17 | Darwin Ceren | 31 December 1989 | Juventud Independiente | 23 | 2 | ||
18 | Kevin Molino | 17 June 1990 | Ma Pau SC | 27 | 20 | ||
20 | Mikey Lopez | 20 February 1993 | Sporting Kansas City† | 9 | – | ||
24 | James O'Connor | 1 September 1979 | Sheffield Wednesday F.C. | 1 | – | ||
24 | Estrela | 22 September 1995 | S.L. Benfica U-19 | 5 | 1 | ||
25 | Ian Christianson | 6 March 1991 | New York Red Bulls | 3 | – | ||
27 | Brian Span | 23 February 1992 | FC Dallas | 19 | 1 | ||
Forwards | |||||||
9 | Giuseppe Gentile | 18 October 1992 | Chicago Fire | 11 | 2 | ||
15 | Dennis Chin | 4 June 1987 | Central Florida Kraze | 26 | 5 | ||
11 | Corey Hertzog | 1 August 1990 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 21 | 4 |
† = Denotes players on loan through USL Pro-MLS Reserve League alliance
# = Denotes players who retired during the season
For the 2014 season, all matches will stream live on YouTube. The team's webcasts in 2014 are produced with assistance from the ESPN Innovation Lab.[21] Occasional matches will appear on Bright House Sports Network. Some home matches can be heard on the radio as well, either 740 the Game or 102.5/107.7-HD2 WLOQ.