Orlando SeaWolves fall to Utica City as visitors take Eastern Division title
Orlando SeaWolves fell 7-6 to Utica City FC on Friday night at Silver Spurs Arena, Kissimmee.
In its first season, Utica City FC clinched the Eastern Division Regular Season crown with the victory and more remarkably, it is the first time in MASL history that the title has been taken from the Baltimore Blast.
Joey Tavernese opened the scoring for City with his 20th goal of the campaign and Jake Schindler added his 4th goal of the season to give the away side a 2-0 advantage after the first quarter.
Four minutes into the second quarter, they would go on to add a third as Lucio Gonzaga smashed home a fine strike before Orlando finally broke through, thanks to Thiago Freitas’ steal and assist to Osvaldo Rojas (pictured above). Schindler then doubled his goal tally with an unassisted strike to give Utica a 4-1 lead at half time.
In the third, Orlando closed the gap to 4-3 with goals from Edwin Rojas (pictured above) and Lewis Neal before sloppy play saw the visitors extend their lead to 6-3 with further goals from captain Bo Jelovac and Mauricio Salles.
Richard Schmermund scored from a free kick to cut the deficit back to two but Utica once again responded as Gonzaga added his second for the evening. Stefan Mijatovic (pictured above) and Derek Huffman would score late with a sixth attacker as the SeaWolves attempted the impossible, but it was too little too late to complete the comeback and Orlando fell 7-6.
Orlando will play their final home game of the season tomorrow, April 13 against the Florida Tropics, with kickoff set for 7:05 P.M.
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