Four Goals For Championship MVP
The Dominator returned to Orlando’s Citrus Bowl.
Straight out of Hollywood, Dom Dwyer slipped on the Orlando City Lions jersey he had left behind when he returned to Major League Soccer and Sporting Kansas City just 13 games into the season.
When he scored Orlando City’s first goal in the USL PRO championship game against the Charlotte Eagles, one could imagine that most of the crowd of 20,886 were thinking — he’s baaaack!
It was a bizarre game for a championship final. Eleven goals were scored. Seven by the winning Orlando City Lions. The Dominator scored four of those seven. He assisted on another in the 7-4 win.
[show_disconnected][show_to accesslevel=’Subscriber’] “I was so hungry, and I wanted to win so bad,” said Dwyer. “Not just for myself, but for all the guys, all the fans, and just everyone here.”
When Sporting Kansas City called Dwyer home he had scored 15 goals for the Lions, good enough to lead the league in scoring. Those 15 held up after he left, giving him a share of the scoring championship without ever touching another ball during the USL PRO regular season.
The Lions offense had sputtered and struggled a bit after Dwyer left the club, but recovered and finished second in the final regular season standings.
Back in Major League Soccer, Dwyer had gotten in a handful of games, and had scored one goal.
And who doubted that he would come back for a championship game. He was loaned to start the season, and he would be loaned for one game to win the championship and earn the game’s Most Valuable Player award.
Richmond which had opened the season with a 22-game unbeaten streak before losing to Charleston, had finished first. The Kickers were upset by Charlotte, 2-1 in the semifinals.
Despite scoring seven times, don’t think the win was an easy one. Charlotte took a 3-2 lead in the 57th minute on Christian Ramirez’ second goal of the game.
Dwyer tied it with a penalty kick four minutes later, and scored his fourth for a 4-3 lead with 20 minutes left in the game. Dennis Chin made it 5-3 less than a minute later.
After the game Dwyer spoke about how he had been welcomed back.
“I’m very appreciative they welcomed me back with open arms,’ said Dwyer. “Sometimes it’s difficult just bringing a guy back for one game because someone is going to lose their space. But I’m very appreciative and the guys were supportive. They were happy about it and we got the job done.
“I’ve never been involved in a 11-goal game in my life,” said Orlando City head coach Adrian Heath, “not even one where we scored seven.
“And to play in front of more than 20,000 was amazing.”
The victory marked the second league championship for Orlando City in three seasons. While Heath talked about the championship game, team owner Phil Rawlins talked about the future of the franchise.
“I think we’ve sent a message that we’re MLS ready,” Rawlins pronounced after the final whistle while the celebration continued around him.
“I think it is a night that people will remember forever and it just shows the strength of the market and the appetite for soccer here in central Florida.
“It’s not as if it was fans turning up to watch Newcastle or Fluminense or another star team. It was 20,000 turning up to watch Orlando City.”
[/show_to][hide_from accesslevel=’Subscriber’]
Your subscription has expired please
Subscribe to Southern Soccer Scene to view full article and get all the news in your mailbox![/hide_from]