ORLANDO, Fla. – Seeking its first winning streak of the 2018 season, Orlando City SC waited until the last 10 minutes of a Sunday home match to score three goals to come back against the Portland Timbers.

The Lions (2-2-1, 7 points) beat Portland (0-3-2, 2 points) 3-2 at Orlando City Stadium in front of 22,337 fans.

Trailing 2-2, Lions forward Dom Dwyer had a clear message for his team.

“I said we’re gonna win this game,” Dwyer said after the win. “I was just letting everyone know we’re gonna win this game. I just believed at that point that it was going to happen. You know, we had too much momentum. Guys were confident; guys had a bit of energy left…

“And I was just screaming to everyone, you know, to keep pushing, keep pushing forward to get another chance, and we did.”

Five minutes after the Lions tied the game at 2-2, right back R.J. Allen sent a deep ball down the middle-right part of the pitch and found Dwyer. As he gathered the ball, the second-year Lion fell to the ground, sprung to his feet, spun and shot the ball toward goal for the Lions’ first lead.

Just seven minutes earlier, City found themselves trailing 2-0, despite out-performing the Timbers in shots, possession, passing accuracy and corners. The Lions scored their first goal of the game in the 80th minute when rookie Chris Mueller opened his Major League Soccer account.

Midfielder Yoshimar Yotún delivered one of the Lions’ 12 corners and found Mueller at the near post for a flicked header.

Two minutes later, the Lions leveled the game with a penalty kick initiated by another corner. Amid the smoke emanating from City’s supporters section following Mueller’s score, both Dwyer and midfielder Sacha Kljestan fell to the ground, as one of them drew the penalty from within the six-yard box.

Kljestan took the shot from the spot and leveled the game at 2-2.

“Lot of hard work’s put in to leading up [to your first goal], but, most importantly, we got the three points,” Mueller said after the match. “I’m happy to have gotten the goal that kinda catapulted us forward and just a great day.”

Though Orlando City earned more scoring opportunities to start the first half, they did not score the first goal. The Lions took five shots with one on-target look compared to Portland’s two attempts (one on-goal) in the first 20 minutes.

And when it seemed like attacking midfielder Sebastián Blanco would be sent off for his second yellow of the game, fortune turned in favor of the Timbers, as a penalty kick was called against City after video review. Timbers forward Diego Valeri stepped to the spot and struck it to his left, the same direction Lions keeper Joe Bendik went, for the game’s first goal.

“I think, right now, it’s a little bit of collective games. It’s not necessarily about this game. It’s about the fact that, now, five matches, we’ve given up the first goal in every match,” third-year Lions head coach said after the game. “And that wears on you… Kinda feel like, ‘Here we go again. It’s gonna be a night where we have to fight from behind, again.’

“And that goes take a mental toll. So, the answer to me is, ‘Okay, let’s stop giving the first goal away.’ Let’s get the first one in one of these games and move forward from there ’cause clearly we’ve shown we can come from behind. Let’s see what we can do when we’re ahead.”

In the 59th minute, it seemed like Portland was putting the finishing touches on what would have been its first win of the season. Valeri sent in a free kick from near the right corner, finding defender Bill Poni Tuiloma’s head for a 2-0 lead.

The Lions stayed quiet for most of the first half after Valeri’s penalty, save for their closest scoring chance in stoppage time. Kljestan began the effort with City’s ninth and final corner of the first half. The ball found center back Jonathan Spector, who flicked it to midfielder Justin Meram to his right.

Meram seemingly had an easy scoring opportunity, but Timbers keeper Jake Gleeson dove to his left to maintain the visiting side’s narrow, 1-0 lead.

Who’s Next?

The Lions take to the road for one game when they travel to face the Philadelphia Union on Friday at 8 p.m.

For more on the Lions, as they take to the road for the second time this season, follow Victor Tan on Twitter at @NDR_VictorTan.

To contact Victor, you can email him at vtan@newdayreview.com.