Larin center used his head to score the first goal in Orlando City’s new stadium routinely packed the stadium the Citrus Bowl was never truly home It was an older stadium that had been designed for American football Lions fans were counting down the days until they could have a home all their own Finally on this day the wait was over Orlando City Stadium built specifically for soccer was ready Fittingly Orlando City opened the stadium against NYCFC The teams had joined MLS together in 2015 And also fittingly 6
Larin proved to be the hero The young forward had become a fan favorite after setting an MLS rookie record with 17 goals in 2015 Then he did it again scoring the early go-ahead goal in the 2017 opener at the new stadium Larin ran to the corner flag to celebrate in front of the Orlando City supporters section as his purple-clad teammates mobbed him The sellout crowd WHY THE LIONS Orlando City SC adopted its nickname as a way to honor the tradition of soccer in the region In the 1980s and 90s teams called the Orlando Lions competed at a variety of professional and amateur levels The current team’s mascot is a bulked-up lion named Kingston The club’s crest also features a lion’s head of 25,527 roared in celebration of the first goal in the new stadium Orlando’s journey to this moment had taken several years The team and its fans gladly took the time to enjoy it to the fullest NOT DONE YET The game was far from over however The Lions had to hold off NYCFC at least another 75 minutes before they could claim victory And they would have to do it without their captain Kaká He had to be subbed out early due to a hamstring injury However his replacement was Barnes who set up the first goal 7
Joe Bendik made save after save to keep NYCFC off the scoreboard New York City controlled the ball for much of the game But Orlando City rallied defensively after Larin’s goal No matter what NYCFC tried it could not find a way to put the ball past Orlando City keeper Joe Bendik The visitors had 14 shots seven of them on target But Bendik made every save to preserve his clean sheet 8
That proved to be important Larin’s goal ended up being Orlando City’s lone shot on target in the entire game But when the final whistle blew the hosts led in the only way that mattered the final score The team had opened its new home with a 1 0 victory The win was hard-earned as was the team’s path to get to that point MOVING ON UP The Lions win that day highlighted a major milestone for the club Orlando City was founded as a minor league team in 2010 At first it played in the Citrus Bowl a stadium built during the 1930s The stadium eventually could fit more than 65,000 people inside for football games Orlando City originally played in a league two levels below MLS called United Soccer League USL Pro Fans proved to be hungry for soccer as the team led the league in attendance But the Citrus Bowl was far too large Its dimensions were also not suited for soccer The team’s ownership wanted to make Orlando an MLS city But they knew the team and city needed a new stadium built solely for soccer Getting that stadium built was easier said than done The team asked Florida’s state government for help with funding 9
