Orlando City Magic Season Takes Plunge, Shattered By Red Bulls

Orlando, FL – For the first time ever, it appeared as if Orlando City SC was destined to head to the MLS Cup Final. However, Orlando City, their season, and dreams were shattered after falling 1-0 to the New York Red Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals in a packed Inter & Co. Stadium. They were supposed to follow in the footsteps of the Orlando Pride, who recently won the NWSL Championship. They were supposed to become the first city to win both MLS and NWSL titles in the same season. This is not where OCSC fans thought they’d be after finishing fourth in the East. It’s not where fans thought they’d be after being the only top-four team in the East to advance past the first round of the MLS Cup Playoffs.

More than one costly mistake

Orlando had only given up one goal throughout the playoffs. It was against Charlotte, and they had to fight back in the final minutes to stay alive. This time, Orlando gave up a costly goal in 47′ off a NY set piece, headed in by Andres Reyes.

#OrlandoCity find themselves down 1-0 after a 47' goal from #RedRunsDeep's Andres Reyes. #MLSCupPlayoffs | #VamosOrlandohttps://t.co/P3J55BTTPq

— Gustavo Chacon (@onaPSIh) December 1, 2024

However, before that, late in the first half, Orlando created a huge chance that should’ve found its way into the back of the net. Martin Ojeda received a long ball from Wilder Cartagena. He controlled it in stride and took two long dribbles into the Red Bull’s penalty area. Instead of taking the keeper one-on-one, with defenders falling on him, he found Facundo Torres all by himself. Facu was waiting around five yards into the penalty area, just a short cross away. Facu controlled the ball and had all the time in the world to put it wherever he wanted. Instead, he took his shot almost directly at Red Bulls keeper, Carlos Coronel.

It was a bigtime save, but the shot itself left a lot to be desired. Facu has been the catalyst and Orlando’s savior in many prior matches, but in that moment he wasn’t able to capitalize. A goal there would’ve made it a completely different match. NY would’ve had to play from behind, sending more players forward, which would’ve exposed their defense.

CORONEL!!! 🧤🐂

Contra ataque muito bem montado do Orlando City e Carlos Coronel salva o NYRB na finalização de Facundo Torres!!!!@territoriomls pic.twitter.com/3tFNYZp02C

— Tiago Brandão (@Tiagobrandao_8) December 1, 2024

Couldn’t capitalize

Instead, Orlando controlled every aspect of the game, but the Red Bulls’ defense played stingy and were lucky to not concede.

Orlando’s a team that doesn’t stop pushing until the final whistle has been blown. This has shown dividends on multiple occasions, most recently in game three of this playoff campaign vs. Charlotte. Nevertheless, Orlando would not be able to capitalize on their created chances. They lost the match and would have to watch the Red Bulls celebrate winning the Eastern Conference Finals inside Inter & Co. Stadium.

That’s it for #OrlandoCity. Their historic season comes to an end one game shy of the MLS Cup Final as they fall to #RedRunsDeep 1-0. Stay tuned for postgame comments from players & coach, as well as my season recap.
📸by: @VoiceOfG1 #MLSCupPlayoffs | #VamosOrlando pic.twitter.com/gOKcTYQs24

— Gustavo Chacon (@onaPSIh) December 1, 2024

All that being said, It was another record-setting season for Orlando City. They’ve only improved every season for three straight seasons. But even with that, this loss was a painful one for the OCSC faithful. They could see the light at the end of the tunnel, but it all went dark just before reaching the other side.

There’s always next season

Going into next season, all the big hitters are coming back. They’re either still under contract or the club has exercised their rights to another season. The contract for midfielder Felipe and defender Kyle Smith expired. However, the club is currently negotiating with Smith on a potential return in 2025.

To reach the pinnacle, the club needs to sign a striker that’s going to take the team’s goal-scoring prowess to another level. This season, Orlando had the third-most Big Chances Missed, while also having the fifth-most Big Chances Created (according to FotMob). If they can find themselves on the bottom half of the Big Chances Missed list, they’ll improve dramatically, and that’s saying something! Especially considering that they had the sixth-least goals conceded this season. They were also one of the leaders in Accurate Passes and Accurate Crosses per match. They are amongst the best in the league in almost every facet of the game, except finishing.

While Facundo gets it done more often than not, scoring 14 goals in 32 MLS matches, as a unit, they didn’t have the success that they should’ve had considering how incredible they played everywhere else on the field. I fully expect Orlando’s front office to address this position in the offseason.

MLS Cup Final

The New York Red Bulls advanced to the MLS Cup Final and faced off against the LA Galaxy yesterday, who were without their star player Riqui Puig due to tearing his ACL injury. However, LA got it done, defeating NY 2-1 and becoming the first MLS club to lift the MLS Cup trophy six times.