{"id":236315,"date":"2026-04-17T23:40:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T23:40:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/236315\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T23:40:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T23:40:17","slug":"match-preview-houston-dynamo-fc-travel-east-for-an-interconference-matchup-versus-orlando-city-sc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/236315\/","title":{"rendered":"MATCH PREVIEW: Houston Dynamo FC travel east for an interconference matchup versus Orlando City SC"},"content":{"rendered":"

HOUSTON (April 17, 2026) \u2013 Houston Dynamo FC\u00a0hit the road on Saturday, April 18, traveling east for a interconference matchup versus Orlando City SC at Inter&Co Stadium, with kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. CT. Fans can stream the action live on\u00a0Apple TV<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s fixture will mark the first meeting between the two sides since 2022, and Houston will look to gain the upper hand in the all-time regular season series against Orlando, which is currently tied at two wins apiece, with the Dynamo holding a 7-4 edge in goals scored.<\/p>\n

Houston is coming off a\u00a0midweek U.S. Open Cup victory<\/a>\u00a0after\u00a0defeating\u00a0USL Championship side El Paso Locomotive FC 4-1 in the Round of 32 on Wednesday night at\u00a0Shell\u00a0Energy\u00a0Stadium. The match featured three goal contributions from midfielder\u00a0Ond\u0159ej\u00a0Lingr, who scored his first goal of the year, while registering two assists. Forwards\u00a0Ezequiel\u00a0Ponce\u00a0and\u00a0Nick\u00a0Markanich\u00a0also recorded their first goals of the year. Notably, Markanich, defender\u00a0Agustin\u00a0Resch\u00a0and defender\u00a0Sam\u00a0Vines\u00a0each made their first Dynamo starts tonight, while forward\u00a0Aliyu\u00a0Ibrahim\u00a0and goalkeeper\u00a0Jimmy\u00a0Maurer\u00a0made their first starts of the year.<\/p>\n

The Dynamo will now host another USL Championship side, Louisville City FC, in the Round of 16 on Wednesday, April 29, with kickoff scheduled for 7:00 p.m. CT. Fans can secure their tickets for the match\u00a0HERE<\/a>\u00a0via Tixr for as low as $5, and can also learn more about the Club\u2019s\u00a0Community First Ticket Offers and Value Menu<\/a>\u00a0for the 2026 season\u00a0HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Attacker\u00a0Guilherme\u00a0is tied for third in MLS with nine goal contributions (five goals and four assists). Additionally, the Brazilian is tied for fourth in the league for most goals and third in the league for most assists.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Additionally, forward\u00a0Lawrence\u00a0Ennali\u00a0sits fourth in MLS in one-on-ones with eight, winning seven for an 87.5 percent success rate. He is also tied for first in the league with a top speed of 35.96 kilometers per hour.<\/p>\n

Orlando is also coming off U.S. Open Cup action, earning a 1-0 victory over USL League One side FC Naples on Wednesday, with Tyrese Spicer scoring the team\u2019s lone goal. Orlando will next travel to face the New England Revolution in the Round of 16.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In regular season play, Orlando has a 1-3-1 (WLD) record over its last five matches and is coming off a 1-1 draw at Columbus Crew SC. They currently sit 13th\u00a0in the Eastern Conference standings with four points and a 1-5-1 (WLD) record.<\/p>\n

In terms of roster connections, Orlando have former Dynamo defender Griffin Dorsey on their roster, after Houston\u00a0traded the American<\/a>\u00a0to the Lions in February in exchange for $1 million in General Allocation Money (GAM) and a future sell on percentage. Houston\u2019s current captain,\u00a0Ant\u00f4nio Carlos,\u00a0signed with the Dynamo<\/a>\u00a0in July last year after playing 105 matches in all competitions for the Lions, while playing a key role in helping the club win its first trophy, the 2022 U.S. Open Cup.<\/p>\n

Today, the Dynamo\u00a0announced the signing of<\/a>\u00a0Dynamo Academy product\u00a0Mattheo\u00a0Dimareli\u00a0to an MLS NEXT Pro contract through\u00a0June 2027. The\u00a016-year-old\u00a0forward\u00a0will\u00a0then\u00a0join the first team\u00a0on an MLS contract as a Homegrown Player starting in\u00a0July 2027. Notably,\u00a0the\u00a0Cy-Fair\u00a0(Houston) native\u00a0is the 21st\u00a0Dynamo Academy product to sign a\u00a0Homegrown contract with the first team and the\u00a010th\u00a0signed by President of Soccer\u00a0Pat\u00a0Onstad\u00a0since he took charge of soccer operations in February 2022.\u00a0Additionally,\u00a0Dimareli\u00a0is\u00a0the\u00a012th\u00a0Dynamo Academy product to sign a professional contract with\u00a0Houston Dynamo 2.<\/p>\n

The Dynamo return to Shell Energy Stadium on for a midweek matchup versus San Diego FC on Wednesday, April 22, with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CT. Fans can secure their tickets for the match via Tixr\u00a0HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON (April 17, 2026) \u2013 Houston Dynamo FC\u00a0hit the road on Saturday, April 18, traveling east for a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":236316,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[105186,105181,57361,76949,105185,105184,105182,105180,139,141,140,105183],"class_list":{"0":"post-236315","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-orlando","8":"tag-antonio-carlos","9":"tag-ezequiel-ponce","10":"tag-houston-dynamo-fc","11":"tag-houston-dynamo-news","12":"tag-ibrahim-aliyu","13":"tag-jimmy-maurer","14":"tag-nick-markanich","15":"tag-ondrej-lingr","16":"tag-orlando","17":"tag-orlando-headlines","18":"tag-orlando-news","19":"tag-sam-vines"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236315","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236315"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236315\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/236316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236315"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236315"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236315"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}