Loud & Proud Orlando

Lineup

Orlando City B rotated a bit more in this one but still played a young lineup against Huntsville City. Himes continues to start in net, while also holding the armband. In front of him, he had the center back pairing of Titus Sandy Jr. and Albright Chikamso while Bernardo Rhein started at left back and Parker Amoo-Mensah at right back.

In the midfield, Ignacio “Nacho” Gómez started with a new partner in Caleb Trombino. On the wings, Issah Haruna started at right wing while Mathew Belgodere started this one on the left wing. Justin Hylton started at the attacking midfield spot while Harvey Sarajian started up top for the young Lions.

Pedro Leão did not feature in this game for OCB, nor did any of the young Lions who have been on international duty (Dylan Judelson, Clovis Archange, Gustavo Caraballo, Colin Guske, Zakaria Taifi, etc.).

First Half

Orlando City B started off the game well from the kick. They were able to get on the front foot in the 2nd minute, where Justin Hylton was able to receive a nice ball from the midfield and took a shot that went right over the bar. After that moment, OCB kept the ball mostly in the Huntsville end but it was a bit back-and-forth between the two sides. The game slowed down a bit when Haruna went down in the 13th minute and the trainers were asked to attend to him. The midfield would lose some of their focus a few moments later, as Nacho would give the ball away, allowing Huntsville to get on a breakaway but Himes made a big save and pushed the ball wide.

The next few minutes would get a bit feisty on both ends. OCB would be fouled hard at midfield, as Amoo-Mensah was forced down, resulting in a yellow going to Huntsville. Then in the 21st minute, Sarajian fought for a 50/50 but put a high boot into the defender’s head and picked up his own yellow card. Huntsville was able to get more on the front foot after the yellow card to Sarajian, which resulted in OCB’s defense needing to make back-to-back slide tackles in their own half before clearing the ball out. Both tackles were risky but necessary to keep the ball out. OCB had a very good opportunity in the 29th minute where Amoo-Mensah had a great pass in from Haruna but skied it to the right, missing the net.

The game would really shift in favor of Huntsville, all starting with a tough slide tackle that Trombino put on one of their attackers that earned him a yellow card in the 34th minute. OCB would get a quality chance a few minutes later with a ball that was sent route-one up to Sarajian but the Huntsville keeper would get out to it. It resulted in the keeper staying down for a bit but he would get back up a few moments later. Huntsville would then have 4 attacking sequences in a back-to-back-to-back-to-back fashion. The first chance came off an error from Chikamso who was slow to react to the pressing Huntsville attacker and gave the ball away leading to a shot from Huntsville that hit the bar. Huntsville would then have a cross cut through the box with nobody on the end of it and then an attack that came through the left side, through Amoo-Mensah’s defending and led to a near-post shot that was saved by Himes. In the beginning of first half stoppage time, Huntsville was able to create a turnover in midfield that led to a through ball cutting the OCB defense in half and the Huntsville attacker was able to outrun Chikamso and fire a shot that Himes would get a touch on but it would trickle past everyone and end up in the back of the net putting Huntsville up 1-0.

Julian Gaines collects the loose ball and @HuntCityFC takes the lead! 💪 pic.twitter.com/zlEi23EF1o

— MLS NEXT Pro (@MLSNEXTPRO) June 14, 2026

Second Half

OCB started the half with the ball and worked a few attacks up the field in the first few minutes. The best chance happened in the 48th minute where OCB played a few passes to the left side and Sarajian as well as Hylton combined to create a half chance. A minute later, OCB was able to work through the left side again this time creating a cross that flashed across goal with nobody on the end of it. After that effort, Haruna was able to get on the ball on the right, he cut in and took a shot. The shot was pushed out left and ended up at the feet of Matthew Belgodere who cut in and put the ball into the corner making the score 1-1 in the 50th minute.

Belgodere scores in back-to-back matches! 🔥

The Rising Star of Matchweek 14 levels for @OrlandoCityB! pic.twitter.com/psjdM6pFWO

— MLS NEXT Pro (@MLSNEXTPRO) June 14, 2026

OCB had another half chance that didn’t amount to much but it did give Huntsville an opportunity going the other way. They were able to work the ball up the left side and resulted in Himes needing to make a save to push the ball out. During that play, Gómez was dumped about 25 yards from goal and stayed down for a bit of time requiring some medical attention. He did get up and came back into the game shortly after. In the 63rd minute, the young Lions switched up the lineup with Gómez and Trombino coming off, being replaced by Jacob Ramirez and Nicolas Bobea Torres. The young Lions had a great chance after a great ball distributed by Himes up to Haruna, who was able to get on the end of it and square it to Sarajian who took a touch but it bounced off his foot resulting in a heavy touch.

In the 69th minute, OCB played the ball through Haruna again who makes a few defenders miss and squares it to Ramirez who was beating his man but got tackled 20 yards out. On the following free kick, Hylton puts it into the wall and the ball goes out wide. Huntsville would make their first two changes in the hope of changing the game a bit for them. In the 73rd minute, OCB was able to streak forward quickly, with Sarajian making a driving run. He flicked the ball back to Hylton who was caught off guard from the pass but was able to get on it and curl it wide of the post. In the 77th minute, OCB got on the attacking end, going up the left side where OCB is able to get a cross in via Bobea Torres that flies to Ramirez who volleyed the ball beautifully into the net! It’s not only Jacob Ramirez’s first professional goal but it puts Orlando City B up 2-1 late in the game.

That volley 😤 pic.twitter.com/UHne8Z6I2W

— Orlando City B (@OrlandoCityB) June 14, 2026

After the goal, Orlando made another sub as Brady Kendall came on for Justin Hylton. OCB didn’t let up, as they went forward again as the ball went up the left side, squared to Sarajian who passed it off to Kendall who had his shot saved and out for a corner. On the resulting corner, Haruna was able to get it short and had a shot as well that had to be pushed wide. In the 81st minute, Huntsville pushed upfield quickly and had a quality chance that was blocked wide by Sandy Jr. at the last minute. On the following corner, Huntsville had another shot that was blocked in the middle of the box. The game became very open in the middle of the pitch, with both teams trading chances. In the 86th minute, OCB made their last subs as they brought off Sandy Jr. and Chikamso for Landon Okonski and Nicolas Lasheras. The two were tested as soon as they came in since Huntsville had a corner right after and another attacking chance. During stoppage time, Huntsville had another close chance on a shot just wide of the left post, with a late dive from Himes. Himes was called again two more times but his last effort in the 96th minute required him to make a huge save that kept Huntsville out of the net and preserved the lead for the team, with a double save.

Players to Highlight

• Matthew Belgodere-He has to take one of my top spots again because he had another quality night out for OCB. He was a menace on the left side and also scored the goal that tied the game for his squad. Besides the goal, he ended the night with a 96% passing rate, 1 chance created, 1 shot, 1 successful dribble, 1 tackle, 2 interceptions, and won 4 of his ground duels. That’s back-to-back games where he’s scored and he’s really making the case for continuing to get starts even when everyone returns. It’s exciting to see him grow into this team, even at his young age.
• Parker Amoo-Mensah-After signing his first professional contract this week, Amoo-Mensah showed why the club decided to offer him an OCB contract. He defended well all night but also found ways to get forward to contribute on the offensive end. He went the full 90 minutes while finishing with an 83% passing rate, 3 chances created, 1 shot, 1 successful dribble, 2 accurate long balls, 1 tackle, 1 clearance, 2 interceptions, 2 recoveries, 8 ground duels won, and 1 aerial duel won. It’s been great to see him show his skills and watch him get rewarded this week. The question becomes: how high is his ceiling?
• Tristan Himes-He had a tough start to the match after allowing the one goal Huntsville scored on the night but after that, he really settled in and kept his team in the match. If it weren’t for a last-minute double save, the game goes to penalty kicks. He made 5 saves on the night, distributed well off his kicks, and made 6 recoveries on the night. While I do think he should have done better on the first goal, he found a way to put it behind him and really locked down the game.

Other players to note:

• Jacob Ramírez-He just missed out on my first list but he deserves a lot of credit as he got the game-winner in this one. When he came on, he was lively and really found ways to get involved. He ended the match with one goal, an 89% passing rate, 2 shots, 1 accurate long ball, 2 tackles, 1 clearance, 2 recoveries, and won 3 of his ground duels. While his playing time may diminish when Judelson and others come back, he deserves to get some more time, at least off the bench.
• Bernardo Rhein-He had a sneaky good game for OCB, and while his name didn’t come up often, you could see where he impacted the game. He played all 90 minutes while finishing with an 87% passing rate, 1 chance created, 1 shot, 1 accurate long ball, 3 tackles, 1 clearance, 2 interceptions, 5 recoveries, and won 4 ground duels. Rhein continues to be a force on the left side and very key to OCB’s structure.

What’s Next?

Orlando City B (28 pts., 7-4-3) are back at home for the next two, with their next opponent being Philadelphia Union II (18 pts., 5-2-6) in Orlando. OCB should have a larger pool of players to choose from in the next two matches with the first team back in training but with the young kids doing well, it’ll be interesting to see how they field the team.

Highlights