Orlando City B (28 pts., 7-4-4) hosted Columbus Crew II (32 pts., 9-3-4), the league leaders heading into this match. This is the first match-up between the two sides this season and OCB’s last home game for a month.
Lineup
Orlando City came out with a bit of a rotated lineup for this match. Starting in the keeper spot, Tristan Himes was dropped to the bench in favor of Juan Rojas, who was getting his second start of the year for OCB. The defensive pairing changed as well, with Titus Sandy Jr. and Clovis Archange lineup up as the center back pair. Parker Amoo-Mensah and Bernardo Rhein were the two full backs again in this one.
In the midfield, Issah Haruna and Dylan Judelson lined up in the double pivot. Gustavo Caraballo returned from international duty and took his spot on the right wing with Mathew Belgodere taking the left wing.
Up top, Pedro Leão partnered with the returning Harvey Sarajian, who was rested last week.
Notable players on the bench: Landon Okonski (CB), Albright Chikamso (CB), Justin Hylton (MF), Ignacio “Nacho” Gómez (MF), Caleb Trombino (MF), and Tristan Himes (GK).
First Half
The match was delayed almost two hours due to lightning in the area. It was delayed just before kickoff and required an additional warmup period before finally getting under way. Columbus Crew II started off strong from the jump, really pushing Orlando City B early in the match and making them defend more than they wanted to. They dominated this press for the first 5 minutes until OCB was able to break the press, through Sarajian who got it to Caraballo. Caraballo made two players miss but his shot is saved and pushed out wide. Crew II were suffocating all game and were very physical from the starting whistle, which led to their first yellow card in the 9th minute as they tackled an OCB attacker. OCB was able to use that card to push the ball upfield for a half chance as Belgodere got it wide and sent a cross through the box but nobody could get on the end of it.
After that chance, Crew II really got on the front foot and created five half chances from the 11th minute through the 27th minute. It started with a clumsy play created on the right side of the box where the ball bounced around for a bit then it was fired at Rojas who made the save. Columbus used switches often in this passage and their next chance was off a switch to the left side but Amoo-Mensah was able to block the ball out. On the next attack, Crew II made two passes and were in on goal but Rojas saved it point blank to put the ball wide. The last chance of this passage resulted in one more save that Rojas pushes to his teammate and OCB use it as a chance to counter up the field where they’re able to get a shot off and then a cross but neither could find the net.
A few minutes later, OCB was able to break again, this time through Caraballo who is able to lay the ball off to Sarajian who was able to round the keeper but he made his angle too tight and the ball just skimmed across the box. Crew II dominated possession again, this time getting a chance in the 32nd minute where they combined well and put up a quality shot but it was placed just wide to the right. Columbus would have a few more half chances until they would finally break through after a 5 pass sequence that led to the ball trickling in at the end of it, putting Crew II up 1-0.
Johann creates chaos and gets the goal 💪 pic.twitter.com/3DijeCDHyM
— Columbus Crew 2 (@ColumbusCrew2) June 29, 2026
Both teams would have a few more half chances but would go into the break 1-0 in favor of Columbus Crew II.
Second Half
At the half, Orlando City B made a sub as Justin Hylton replaced Pedro Leão. Leão took a hard foul at the end of the first half. Hylton made his presence known early as he was able to get involved in a chance for OCB in the 47th minute that was well put together but saved. After that chance, Crew II turned it on again and forced OCB to save two of them but watch a total of 4 chances occur in general. Rojas was up to the task though and made sure the ball stayed out of the net throughout those sequences. Orlando would get a chance in the 56th minute where Belgodere got it to Hylton who struck it first time and it hit the cross bar but bounced out.
At that point, OCB made three more subs, taking off Sarajian, Caraballo, and Judelson for Trombino, Gómez, and Tsopanoglou. The subs made an immediate impact in this one because in the 67th minute Gómez took a shot, off a Belgodere through ball, that deflected to Hylton who slotted it home and tied the game 1-1.
Justin crashes the net 💥 pic.twitter.com/llTcKr7WUW
— Orlando City B (@OrlandoCityB) June 29, 2026
After the goal, OCB would make one more change as Archange came off and Chikamso came on. Orlando would keep pushing and created a handful of half chances again until finally OCB would fire another shot on net, a shot by Tsopanoglou, that was deflected again and fell to Hylton who then scored his brace putting Orlando up 2-1.
Rebound king 👑 pic.twitter.com/SdyiFTwWyl
— Orlando City B (@OrlandoCityB) June 29, 2026
Orlando would be content to defend a bit more, with not much attacking push from the squad. They went into a lower block and forced Rojas to make a handful of saves to keep them up. During that period, Rhein picked up a yellow card as he was getting back after a counterattack failed. Rojas then made three saves in a row to keep the ball out of his net but he couldn’t hold on for too much longer. Crew II finally passed the ball around the box and served it to the right where their winger was able to slide it into the bottom corner to tie the game 2-2 in the 88th minute.
Gbamblé ties it up for @ColumbusCrew2! 💪 pic.twitter.com/KXEBNUHlMK
— MLS NEXT Pro (@MLSNEXTPRO) June 29, 2026
Rojas would have to make one more big save in second-half stoppage time off a bad throw from Rhein. The teams battled back and forth a bit but couldn’t muster a chance forcing the game to a penalty kick shootout. In the shootout, the teams traded penalty makes through the first three and then Gómez missed his shot and Crew II made theirs making it 3-4. On the last shot of the first 5, Rhein made his and Rojas came up big to make it 4-4 all. In the sudden death portion, Chikamso missed his shot on an attempted panenka and Crew II was able to put their shot in giving Crew II the win.
Players to Highlight
- Justin Hylton-The young attacker has been coming into form the last few weeks and this match he really displayed all his talents. Though he didn’t come on until the second half, he only needed 45 minutes to wreak havoc for OCB. He ended with both OCB goals, a 92% accurate passing rate, 1 chance created, 3 shots, 1 accurate long ball, 1 recovery, and 1 ground duel won. He was a spark in this match and really made the case for getting more playing time going forward.
- Juan Rojas-The young keeper got his second start of the season and he looked every bit the part. Though he let two goals in, he made eight saves and had great distribution all night. He ended with an 80% accurate passing rate, 4 accurate long balls, 8 recoveries, and 2 clearances. This performance was every bit what we were promised when he was signed to OCB and I look forward to seeing more of him in the future.
- Mathew Belgodere-He didn’t have his best game in this stretch but he was good again and he continues to display his talent. Belgodere had a few lively moments and was key on at least one of the goals for OCB. He played the entire match, had a 96% accurate passing rate, 3 chances created, 1 shot, 1 successful dribble, 1 accurate long ball, 1 interception, 2 recoveries, and 3 ground duels won. I love seeing this guy get better and better each match so let’s hope he continues on this trajectory.
Other players to note:
- Gustavo Caraballo-The young winger returned to the lineup this week and looked lively throughout the match when he was on. He didn’t have any goal contributions but he did have some quality play throughout the night. He played 62 minutes, ended with an 83% accurate passing rate, 2 chances created, 2 shots, 3 successful dribbles, 2 accurate long balls, 1 recovery, and 5 ground duels won. It’ll be great to see him acclimate back into the lineup and having him on the opposite side of Belgodere is going to cause problems for opposing teams.
What’s Next?
Orlando City B (28 pts., 7-4-5) heads on the road for their next three matches starting with a visit to Crown Legacy FC (32 pts., 8-5-2). The last time these two teams met was in May where it went to penalties and Crown Legacy took the win. With the game being on the road and with the first team in their full training camp before the restart, I wouldn’t expect many first team players to see the field for OCB in this match.
Highlights
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