Orlando City B played their second game of the season, hosting Chicago Fire II at Osceola Heritage Park. The young Lions were looking to bounce back from their 3-1 loss in the opener with a slightly different lineup for this one.
Lineup
Below is the starting XI for OCB on Sunday night with four Orlando City players appearing for the B team.
First Half
Another lively start to the game for Orlando City B, with a lot of attack down the wings. Yutaro Tsukada looked dangerous all half, chopping up his defender throughout. He was also responsible for the set pieces for the B team but didn’t seem to have the proper touch in the first half. On the other wing, Harvey Sarajian had his own moments where he played his defender off the pitching, even forcing his opponent to pick up a yellow card by dragging him out of position. Sarajian’s hard work would pay off, as he has a strong run on the right hand side, bodying his defender and squaring a great ball to Pedro Leão who put it home for his first on the season. This gave the young Lions a 1-0 lead.
Leão finds the space to put @OrlandoCityB in front 🦁 pic.twitter.com/KbaxBdIy49
— MLS NEXT Pro (@MLSNEXTPRO) March 8, 2026
Tristan Himes had a solid half and really displayed his skill and range. He was able to keep a ball from going over the line midway through the first half while also keeping a commanding box. Unfortunately, his defense would fail him when a bad clearance off the line gave Chicago Fire II a chance to rocket a ball in tying the score at 1-1.
Sandmeyer gets on the end of chaos in the box to level the match for @ChicagoFireFCII 🔥
📺 @onefootball & https://t.co/X8W22JsRvf pic.twitter.com/NJx3qDkfTz
— MLS NEXT Pro (@MLSNEXTPRO) March 8, 2026
The young Lions would get one more opportunity before the halftime whistle, where the ball would tickle through the box, off a Jaylen Yearwood cross, that skipped over Leão’s boot and fell to Tsukada who had his shot blocked.
Second Half
Both teams came out after the half with no changes and both teams hungry to press the game to get it in their favor. Orlando City B continued to have strong play on the wings which resulted in a few chances. The best chance to start the half was a left footed shot coming in from the right by Tsukada that stung the keeper’s mitts but he kept it out. Himes had a similar save on the other end where Chicago Fire II’s forward Poreba ripped a shot from outside the 18 but right at Himes.
Orlando City B did have another clear cut chance later in the half, with Harvey Sarajian rumbling through three defenders and squaring out left to Justin Ellis who put the shot just high. Tsukada was subbed off in the 62nd minute after he came up with a knock, with Gustavo Caraballo coming on to replace him. At the same time, Nicolas Lasheras came off and was replaced by academy player Dominik Baczewski (his second appearance in as many matches). Himes had a great break away save in the 68th minute, parrying the ball away and keeping the score level at 1-1.
In the 72nd minute, Justin Ellis broke through with a nice pass from Bernando Rhein putting the young Lions up 2-1. Ellis has been pressing for much of the half and he finally got his goal after a tireless stint from Rhein.
Ellis curls a beauty into the far post and puts @OrlandoCityB into the lead! 💫 pic.twitter.com/DMpkw1MeTl
— MLS NEXT Pro (@MLSNEXTPRO) March 9, 2026
There’s another view of the goal that you can see below which just displays Justin Ellis’ class.
TALK ABOUT PLACEMENT 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/y7dZ88PsWQ
— Orlando City B (@OrlandoCityB) March 9, 2026
To close down the game, the young Lions would make three more subs, with each of the new players making their OCB debut. Parker Amoo-Mensah, Landon Okonski, and Logan Tsopanoglou all came on with a great amount of energy. They ran their tails off to close down the game and were able to do so as the young Lions took it 2-1 over Chicago Fire II.
Players to Highlight
- Harvey Sarajian-Sarajian takes my top spot again and I thought he was even better this game than he was the last game. He was the best player for OCB on the field, while he didn’t have the flashiest goal, he certainly made his presence known. He started at right wing and he was tormenting Hugo Berg (Chicago Fire II’s left back) all night. Not only was he able to use his speed but his strength was on great display. He should have had two assists on the night if Ellis has put his other clear chance away. Sarajian also drifted to the other side, when called upon, and made it difficult for his opponent. Besides his one assist, he had a 75% passing percentage, three chances created, one successful dribble, won 75% of his ground duels, and 50% of his aerial duels.
- Justin Ellis-Ellis is the next one on my list and he’s right behind Harvey for me just because he had the clear cut chance missed in the second half. He was playing second balls well all night and was drawing the attention of multiple defenders the entire evening. He knew when to pick his moments and pressed well. He really seems to be working on his chemistry with Sarajian and Leáo as it really came through in this game. Alongside his one goal, he had 2 chances created, an 88% passing percentage, 60% successful dribbles, and won 50% of his duels.
- Yutaro Tsukada-Tsukada looked lively and really dangerous at times before he came off with the little knock he had but he didn’t look like he really wanted to be there, at times. I can’t read the player’s mind but you could tell there were times he didn’t have the right attitude with the B team (times where he wouldn’t get back to defend or had a look on his face of discouragement). I think he expects to get more time with the first team and not the B team but you need to make the most of your chances you get with either team. Looking beyond that, he had one shot on target, a 75% successful dribble rate, took most of the team’s corners (which were pretty good), and contributed on defense with two tackles as well as two recoveries.
- Benardo Rhein/Jaylen Yearwood-I’m putting both fullbacks here because they both had a quality game, with Rhein having the slight edge. They were great defensively and both had some nice attacking play. I’m really excited to see Yearwood start as he was my first draft crush for Orlando and seeing him miss out on the first team was tough. Rhein was able to get the assist on Ellis’ goal but that wasn’t the only action he had all night. He had four recoveries, two interceptions, three clearances, and a tackle. Yearwood didn’t get the full 90 but he made the most of his 72 minutes. He had three chances created, 88% passing percentage, four tackles, three clearances, an interception, and five recoveries. He was a defensive machine and should have had an assist as well. I’m excited to see both of them in further matches.
- Tristan Himes-This was his first home appearance at the professional level and Himes looked the part. He did have one goal against but that was more so on his defender than on him. He made four saves and a pretty accurate passing rate for a keeper, at 60%. I’m excited to see Himes get more time as I think he and Juan Rojas are two keepers to watch.
- Zakaria Taifi-He has to get a shout out for playing a position that is not natural for him but he did well to lock down the defense. I thought he was the better of the two center backs and brought a level of leadership this team needed. He picked up a silly yellow card all because the referee didn’t get out of the way on the break but outside of that, was pretty solid. He ended with an 87% passing percentage, a successful dribble, five blocks, five clearances, two interceptions, and two recoveries. He also dueled well, winning 50% of his ground duels and 60% of his aerial duels. Even out of position, he put an imprint on the game.
- Pedro Leao-He looked great most of the night and was showing why Ricardo went out and grabbed this kid from Flamengo’s U20 program. He was ball dangerous and got his first goal of the season. He was pestering Chicago Fire II’s defense all night and had great interchanges with Ellis. Look for him to be more dangerous as the games go on.
What’s Next?
On Saturday March 14th at 3:00pm, Orlando City B will head to their first away game of the year in North Carolina against Carolina Core. This game will be a weird one for Orlando City B since the first team has a game that same day, at home, against CF Montreal. That means a good chunk of the first team players, who normally play down with OCB, could be unavailable for the match. The academy players also have competitions that same weekend making some of them unavailable for OCB. It’ll be interesting to see if Orlando City decides to have the shorter bench or if OCB decides to have the smaller bench.
Carolina Core have lost once this season so they are looking to rebound where Orlando City B will be looking to keep their winning ways going.
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