Justin Ellis scores a header in the 69th minute from a cross from Tiago. Photo by Mario Casamalhuapa
Orlando City SC needed a goalkeeper's hands to salvage something from a night that had slipped away.
David Rodríguez drove a left-footed shot into the top-left corner in the 97th minute Wednesday, completing Atlético de San Luis' two-goal comeback and forcing a 2-2 draw at Inter&Co Stadium. The Lions recovered in the penalty shootout, converting all five attempts and winning 5-3 after Javier Otero pushed away Aldo Cruz's effort and Adrián Marín buried the clincher into the bottom-left corner.
But the extra point for victory was not enough. The result leaves the Lions short of the Leagues Cup knockout round for the first time since the 24-team tournament format launched in 2023.
Orlando led 2-0 with 20 minutes to play and still finished the night defending. San Luis held 63% of the possession to Orlando's 37% and outshot the hosts 16-10, a gap the scoreline masked for most of the second half.
Daryl Dike broke through in the 31st minute for his first goal back in the Orlando City purple, working free at close range and steering a left-footed finish into the center of the goal. The chance arrived moments after Gibrán Lajud had denied Tiago's header from the middle of the penalty area off a Wilder Cartagena cross — one of five saves the San Luis goalkeeper produced.
Lajud was busy again after the interval. He stopped Dike's right-footed attempt from the center of the box in the 46th minute following a Harvey Sarajian cross, then turned aside Gustavo Caraballo's shot in the 76th.
By then Orlando had doubled the lead. Justin Ellis replaced Dike in the 59th minute and needed 10 minutes to score, meeting Tiago's cross with a header into the bottom-left corner in the 69th. It was a clean piece of execution and, at the time, looked decisive.
San Luis had other plans. After manager changes stacked up quickly, Sebastián Pérez Bouquet halved the deficit in the 79th minute with a left-footed strike from the center of the box.
Otero kept the lead intact through a tense final stretch. He had already saved Leonardo Flores' attempt in the fifth minute and Benjamín Galdames' shot from the right side of the box in the 62nd. In the 79th, he stopped Mora's header off another Galdames cross moments before Pérez Bouquet scored.
The last line held until the seventh minute of stoppage time. Cruz crossed from the left, and Rodríguez struck from the right side of the box, lifting his finish high into the top-left corner. Otero was booked in the aftermath.
The match carried an edge. Six yellow cards — three to a side — and 20 fouls split evenly captured a contest neither team could settle.
In the shootout, Antoine Griezmann — a 75th-minute substitute for Sarajian — converted first for the Lions, followed by Ellis, Caraballo and Teodoro. Salles-Lamonge, Mora and Galdames answered for San Luis before Otero's save on Cruz opened the door for Marín.
Orlando City returns to Major League Soccer action Saturday, Aug. 15, against FC Cincinnati at Inter&Co Stadium (7:30 p.m. ET, Apple TV), then hosts Chicago on Wednesday, Aug. 19.
