Cyle Larin entered again into his cycle of scoring, opening the game in the 5th minute with a goal to set the Lions ahead 1-0.
Larin earned Rookie of the Year honors in the club’s inaugural season and returned undeterred by any form of ‘sophomore slump.’
The Chicago Fire organized their offense to challenge Orlando City goalkeeper Joseph Bendik in the 10th minute, although yielded no result. This would change several minutes later on a fast break to Bendik where the outstretched goalkeeper couldn’t deflect the path of the ball, evening the score to 1-1.
Another fifteen minutes passed to see the Fire strike the goalpost with a shot, nearly seizing the lead.
Orlando City’s Cyle Larin walked off due to a minor medical issue that involved Chicago goalkeeper Matt Lampson mistakenly knee-ing Larin in the arm on a jump.
Winter earned the closest shot on goal in the second half, rushing from midfield through defenders and firing to Lampson, who caught the ball for a no-goal.
Antonio Nocerino subbed out for Pedro Ribiero in the 63rd minute, Nocerino’s first sixty-three in MLS, following a penalty break against the Lions’ Cristian Higuita.
Kevin Molino tripped on a surefire chance on goal, soon named a penalty against Chicago while giving Orlando a free kick led by Brek Shea. The kick went astray, as did a corner kick opportunity a minute later.
Molino back-kicked a pass to Cyle Larin who shot toward left-goal on a path to the net although Lampson would dive in to deflect the pass again. Molino came back in the 80th minute to feed Hadji Barry on a one-on-one with Lampson, with the latter diving down to disrupt Barry from completing a kick.
Head coach Adrian Heath expressed his thoughts on the match, citing a disappointment in the outcome.
The Lions travel to New York City to play rival NYCFC at Yankee Stadium on March 18th.
