CAMPING WORLD STADIUM, Orlando, FL
US Open Cup, Round of 16
June 29, 7:30 pm ET
Wednesday night sees a clash between two Florida powers – Orlando City SC and the NASL’s Fort Lauderdale Strikers. The end of the Strikers’ spring season saw them sit squarely in the middle of their table, but as one of two NASL teams left in the 2016 U.S. Open Cup running, they won’t go down without a serious fight. That’s especially true since this is the first time in Strikers history they’ve progressed to the USOC fifth round, after a 4-3 PK shootout defeat of D.C. United in the last round.
Orlando City, meanwhile, are riding high, their confidence likely bolstered by a 3-2 stoppage-time win over tough Toronto FC in MLS regular-season play. Either way, neither team is playing this one loose.
At least one player involved, too, knows both sides—the Strikers’ Giuseppe Gentile, who spent 2014 with Orlando City, when they still played in USL. Gentile’s stint overlapped with several of the club’s current personnel, though, including the likes of Kevin Molino and Tommy Redding.
Molino, for his part, made an impact in Orlando City’s fourth-round win against the Jacksonville Armada, subbing in at 76 minutes and creating a chance just six minutes later. The Strikers should particularly be on the lookout for him. Orlando City, for their part, will likely need to battle Strikers goalkeeper Diego Restrepo, who made 10 saves in his team’s Open Cup match vs. D.C. United.
