2017 Orlando City SC season

Draft picks are not automatically signed to the team roster. The 2017 draft was held on January 13, 2017. Orlando had one selection.

2017 Orlando City MLS SuperDraft Picks
Round	Selection	Player	Position	College	Status
3	64	Danny Deakin	FW	University of South Carolina	Signed

Because of the inclusion of Orlando City B to the new stadium for home games, player movement between the two squads became possible for both teams. Some members who had MLS contracts had the "Right of Recall" option, applicable at any time to the first-team roster.

Date	Player	Position	Loaned To	Notes	Ref
March 10, 2017	Devron García	DF	Real C.D. España	Season Long Loan, expired 11/8/17	[7]
March 24, 2017	Earl Edwards Jr.	GK	Orlando City B		[8]
	Richie Laryea	MF			[8]
	Conor Donovan	DF		Expired 11/8/17	[8]
	Kevin Alston	DF		Expired 11/8/17	[8]
	Pierre da Silva	MF			[8]
	Tommy Redding	DF			[8]
	PC	DF			[8]
	Hadji Barry	FW		Expired 11/8/17	[8]
April 7, 2017	Moussa Sane	ST		Transfer Process Completed
April 26, 2017	Rafael Ramos	DF			[9]
	Josh Saunders	GK		Expired 11/8/17
	Seb Hines	DF		Expired 11/8/17

The Lions finish the preseason 2–2–2. Their first official match at the new stadium is a 3–1 friendly win against USL side St. Louis FC.

Jacksonville Dolphins v Orlando City SC

February 4, 2017	Jacksonville Dolphins	0–5	Orlando City SC	Jacksonville, Florida
12:00 pm EST			Spector  18' Kaká  40' Higuita  59' Rivas  67' Barry  76'	Stadium: Southern Oak Stadium Attendance: Closed-door scrimmage

Philadelphia Union v Orlando City SC

February 15, 2017	Philadelphia Union	3–3	Orlando City SC	Clearwater, Florida
1:00 pm EST	Simpson Ilson Jr. Sapong		Johnson Rivas Larin	Stadium: Joe DiMaggio Stadium Attendance: Closed-door scrimmage

Orlando City SC v Toronto FC

February 19	Orlando City SC	1–3	Toronto FC	Davenport, Florida
2:00 pm	Kaká  43' (pen.)		Altidore  4' Giovinco  84' Morrow  85'	Stadium: Champions Gate
Note: Game 1 of 2

Orlando City SC v Toronto FC

February 19	Orlando City SC	0–4	Toronto FC	Davenport, Florida
4:00 pm	Own Goal		Spencer Andrews James	Stadium: Champions Gate
Note: Game 2 of 2

Orlando City SC v St. Louis FC

February 25, 2017	Orlando City SC	3–1	St. Louis FC	Orlando, Florida
5:00 pm EST	Kaká  4' Larin  25', 35'		Petosevic  89'	Stadium: Orlando City Stadium Attendance: Closed-door friendly

Orlando City SC v Puerto Rico

November 4, 2017	Orlando City SC	6–1	Puerto Rico	Orlando, Florida
7:30 pm EST	Dwyer  39' Larin  59, 90+1' Barry  69' Hines  79' Rocha  86'	Report	Cabán  19'	Stadium: Orlando City Stadium Attendance: 8,231
Note: Fundraiser for Puerto Rico Relief in aftermath of Hurricane Maria; Kaka's final match for Orlando City

All times in regular season on Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−04:00) except where otherwise noted.

The MLS schedule was released on January 12. Orlando City played its first regular season match in their new stadium on March 5, against their expansion rivals NYCFC. New expansion teams for this year are Minnesota United FC, led by former coach Adrian Heath, and Atlanta United FC. The squad goes into the season riding a 2-game winning streak, besting the Union at Philadelphia, and D.C. United at Camping World Stadium last October.[15]

The team announced two sellouts on February 21: the Home Opener vs. NYCFC on March 5, and the L.A. Galaxy on April 15.[16]

Officials with the Atlanta Stadium group announced on April 18 that the retractable roof will not be completed in time for their planned opening match between Atlanta United FC and Orlando City SC on July 30, forcing moving the game to Bobby Dodd Stadium on July 29. The Lions visited Mercedes-Benz Stadium on September 16, playing to a 3–3 draw, in front 70,425 fans. The game set an MLS attendance record, and registered as 4th-largest crowd in the world this season.[17]

Orlando City entered the tournament in the fourth round against Miami FC, who had beaten the Tampa Bay Rowdies 2–0 on May 31, 2017.

Orlando City SC v Miami FC

June 14, 2017 4th round	Orlando City SC	1–3	Miami FC	Orlando, Florida
7:00 pm	Barnes  79' Pereira  52' PC  84' Ramos  90+4'	Report	Pinho  30, 36, 55' Trafford  52' Rennella  84'	Stadium: Orlando City Stadium Attendance: 5,838 Referee: Rubiel Vazquez

Place	Position	Name	MLS	MLS Cup	Open Cup	Total
1	FW	Cyle Larin	12	0	0	12
2	MF	Kaká	6	0	0	6
3	FW	Carlos Rivas	5	0	0	5
4	MF	Giles Barnes	3	0	1	4
	FW	Dom Dwyer	4	0	0	4
5	MF	Will Johnson	2	0	0	2
6	MF	Servando Carrasco	1	0	0	1
	DF	Jonathan Spector	1	0	0	1
	DF	Scott Sutter	1	0	0	1
	MF	Matias Perez Garcia†	1	0	0	1
	DF	Seb Hines	1	0	0	1
	MF	Victor Yoshimar Yotún Flores	1	0	0	1
	MF	Antonio Nocerino	1	0	0	1
Total			39	0	1	40

† denotes player who scored goals but left the club before the end of the season.

As of October 23, 2017.

After playing the 2016 season at Titan Soccer Complex on the campus of Eastern Florida State College in Melbourne, Orlando City B Head Coach Anthony Pulis announced on November 29, 2016 that the team would play at Orlando City Stadium starting in 2017. Orlando City Stadium is the first venue to host an MLS, NWSL, and USL team in the same location.[26] The team plays in USL Pro division, which was granted provisional Division 2 status by the USSF on January 6, making it officially the 2nd-highest league in the United States, behind MLS and now ahead of the NASL. Orlando City B now plays in the same league the Lions started at when beginning play in Orlando.[27] With the Tampa Bay Rowdies also making the move from NASL to USL Pro, the squads now have the first intrastate rivalry established, nicknamed "The War on I-4."[28]

On July 1, it was announced that Orlando City Stadium will host the Orlando City Development Academy U-17/18 knockout round match against the Colorado Rapids U-17/18s on Friday, July 7. The OCDA is the Club's youth development system that selects and trains elite youth soccer players with the hopes of developing future First Team talents. Two Academy products, Mason Stajduhar and Pierre Da Silva, are currently on City's First Team roster. Five current Academy players have featured or been included in OCB's 18-man gameday selections this season. Orlando City was the highest-ranked team remaining in the tournament. The team's historic run ended with a 2–1 semi-final defeat to the Colorado Rapids' DA team.[29]

Due to Hurricane Irma, Orlando City B’s match against the Richmond Kickers on September 7, was moved to a 4:30 p.m. ET start time at Orlando City Stadium. This was a Doubleheader with the Pride (see below.)

The season ended on October 12, with a 2–0 loss to Tampa Bay, 2 points below the red line for the playoffs.

Head Coach Anthony Pulis announces on November 20 that he has accepted the same position with St. Louis FC. No replacement has been yet named by the club.[30]

The Orlando Pride schedule was announced on March 1. Two Saturdays will be "Doubleheader Days" at the Stadium, alongside USL's Orlando City B, whose schedule was released on January 31: July 1 and September 23. The women's squad will take the pitch at 5:00 pm EST, and the men's team will kickoff at 8:30 pm EST.[31]

NWSL has signed a TV broadcast contract with the Lifetime Network to air a "Game of the Week" on Saturdays for the 22-week season. The Pride will have 7 matches featured on the channel, including their first game at the Portland Thorns on April 15, and their home opener vs. the Washington Spirit on April 22. The team bolstered its chances to make a run at the playoffs with the signing of five-time FIFA Women's Player of the Year Marta on April 7, 2017.[32]

During halftime of the squads' home opener on April 22 (which played to a 1–1 draw), officials with the NWSL joined CEO Flavio Augusto da Silva and Mayor Buddy Dyer to announce that Orlando City Stadium will host the league Championship Final on October 14. The neutral-site match will be alongside the semi-finals and the final of the 2017 NCAA Women's College Cup slated for November–December at the venue.

The NWSL announced on August 17 that the Game of the Week on Lifetime for Saturday, Sep 23 at 3:30 pm. ET will now feature the Orlando Pride vs. Portland Thorns FC at Orlando City Stadium.[33]

Due to Hurricane Irma, Orlando Pride's match against Seattle Reign FC, originally scheduled for Saturday, Sep 9, was played Thursday, Sep 7, at 8 p.m. at Orlando City Stadium.

With a loss by the Seattle Reign, coupled with the Pride's draw against Portland in the final home match of the season on September 23, the women became the first NWSL expansion team to make the playoffs, in only their second year of existence. They also defeated the North Carolina Courage, 3–2, in the last game of the season, to secure the No. 3 seed and a rematch with Portland in the Semi-finals. The dream season ended on October 7 with a 4–1 semi-final loss.[34]

On October 4, Head Coach Tom Sermanni signed a contract extension to remain with the Pride.[35]

Orlando Pride forward Marta and defender Ali Krieger have been named to the 2017 National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) Best XI, announced on October 12.[36]