Halloween meets the sea during SeaWorld Orlando’s Halloween Spooktacular, the ultimate family-friendly event featuring an ocean of Halloween fun where children can trick-or-treat, dance with whimsical sea creatures, catch silly and spooky shows and create sea-themed arts and crafts.
SeaWorld’s Halloween Spooktacular takes place every weekend in October: 1-2, 8-9, 15-16, 22-23, and 28-30. This daytime event runs from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m., leaving the littlest of trick-or-treaters wide-eyed for the fun-filled activities. For all of the “spooktacular” savings, visit SeaWorldOrlando.com.
Spooktacular Highlights Include:
New! Penelope’s Party Zone
New this year, a lively underwater environment immerses children in the wonders of the sea through kid-friendly music, games, and colorful characters. Located at SeaWorld’s Bayside area, this zone comes to life when guests dance and play along to the spooky sound waves broadcast by a live DJ. With countless bubbles floating overhead and colorful pumpkin fish gliding beside you, this Halloween party is sure to provide non-stop fun for all ages.
New! Apple Decorating Post
Kids and parents alikecan have a “splash” creating their own sweet treats at this new decorating station. Tasty apples can be dipped – for a nominal fee – with the decadently-flavored sauce of choice: white chocolate, fudge, or caramel, and then topped with sprinkles to finish them off.
Sesame Street’s Countdown to Halloween Show
Don’t miss Count Van Count on a quest to find his friends, Elmo, Zoe and Telly in this live musical stage show. Along the way, The Count meets dancing skeletons who will have everyone in SeaPort Theatre shaking, rattling and rolling.
Trick-or-Treating Under the Sea
Offering more than 1 million pieces of trick-or-treat goodies, costumed youngsters can search for hidden “sea” treasures using their Spooktacular maps at more than a dozen different locations. Each station features an assortment of sweet treats, including a variety of candies and healthy-choice options.
Spooky Sand Art Station
Another new element this year, children (and adults too) can make a multi-colored sand souvenir at this interactive arts and craft area where sea-themed glass bottles — in the shape of dolphins, turtles, starfish and more — are filled with an array of vibrantly-colored sands.
Strolling Entertainment
Penelope Pumpkin fish, Shamu, Dolly Dolphin, Shivers the Polar Bear, Pete and Penny Penguin, a mermaid, and a walking-talking spider-crab are among the many fanciful sea creatures that will join the colorful, playful schools of pumpkin fish welcoming trick-or-treaters as they stroll through the park. Photo opportunities with these “spook-tastic” characters create lasting memories!
More SeaWorld Halloween Fun:
Count Von Count’s Spooktacular Breakfast “Booffet” One of Sesame Street’s favorite residents, The Count, gets into the Halloween spirit with his friends from Sesame Street at Count Von Count’s Spooktacular Breakfast. Little ones will sing, groove and mingle side-by-side with Sesame Street characters, while listening to Halloween-themed music and enjoying a special breakfast “booffet.” Following the breakfast, kids can get their photos taken with the characters for memories that will last forever. Reservations can be made online, at the Information Counter or by calling 1-888-800-5447.
SeaWorld’s Holiday Family Sleepovers (6 p.m. – 9 a.m. on Oct. 21, 22, 28 and 29)
Families can snuggle into a spooky slumber surrounded by exotic fish, rays, and sea dragons inside the floor-to-ceiling aquariums at Manta. Cost is $78 per person or $103 (includes next-day park admission). A pizza dinner and breakfast are included. Program is for children in grades K-5 and their families. Sleepover reservations can be made by calling 1-800-406-2244.
Halloween’s happiest haunts will be reappearing for a season of “spook-tacular” fun as Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party returns to the Magic Kingdom for 23 select nights between Sept. 13 and Nov. 1, 2011.
The after-hours Magic Kingdom party will once again be immersed in the Halloween spirit, including two entertainment spectaculars created especially for the event:
Mickey’s “Boo-to-You” Halloween Parade proceeds down Main Street, U.S.A., heralded by the Headless Horseman and his trusty steed, and trailed by a cavalcade of holiday-themed characters, from Mickey and the gang to Disney villains and the stars of the Haunted Mansion (but make sure to watch out for Hitchhiking Ghosts!).
The bewitching “Happy HalloWishes” fireworks spectacular illuminates the sky in bursts of orange and green fireworks, while Cinderella Castle is draped in eerie hues and ghostly apparitions flit along the park’s rooftops.
The Boo-to-you Parade takes place at 8:15 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. with HalloWishes Fireworks Spectacular in between at 9:30 p.m. Special lighting, music and theming effects combine to transform areas of the park into happy haunted hollows.
The night of ever-so-slightly-frightful fun begins at 7 p.m. and runs until midnight, with guests encouraged to don their favorite Halloween costumes and trick-or-treat around the Magic Kingdom theme park.
In addition to Land-to-Land trick-or-treating, meet and greets with characters and entertainment unique to Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, many popular Magic Kingdom attractions — including, of course, Haunted Mansion — are available to experience.
Party dates in 2011 are: Sept. 13, 16, 20, 23, 27 and 30; Oct. 2, 6, 7, 10, 11, 13, 16, 18, 20, 21, 23, 25, 27, 28, 30 and 31; and Nov. 1.
To purchase advance tickets, guests can visit disneyworld.com/halloween or call 407/W-DISNEY. Advance purchase (prior to event day) savings of $6 per ticket are available for Sept. 13, 16, 20, 23, 27, and 30; Oct. 2, 6, 10, 11, 16, 18, 20, 23, 25 and 27; and Nov. 1.
Universal Orlando Gives Fans the Chance to Experience the Event with Steve Tango and Dave Gonsalves Plus, Guests Can Attend a Q&A and Autograph Session on Oct. 6
WHAT: Steve Gonsalves and Dave Tango, from SyFy Channel’s highest rated reality TV show “Ghost Hunters,” will test their luck at Universal Orlando Resort’s Halloween Horror Nights 21 on October 6. And for the first time ever, five “lucky” fans will win the ultimate Ghost Hunters experience: the opportunity to walk through one of the event’s terrifying haunted houses with Tango and Gonsalves.
Fans just need to follow Halloween Horror Nights’ official Twitter handle, @UORHHN, for more information about this once-in-a lifetime opportunity. Winners will receive admission to Halloween Horror Nights, an RIP Tour of the event and the opportunity to experience a haunted house with the Ghost Hunters on October 6.
Tango and Gonsalves will also host a Q&A and autograph session that evening. Access to these sessions is included in regular admission to Halloween Horror Nights 21.
For 25 nights beginning September 23, Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights returns as the nation’s best and most intense Halloween event. Guests will confront extreme Halloween entertainment that cannot be experienced anywhere else. This year, they will scream as they become prey to fiendish creatures, panic as they come face-to-face with a horrifying “thing,” feel chills as they are haunted by deceased souls – and watch in paralyzing fear as Lady Luck transforms from a tempting seductress to a bloodthirsty beast.
WHEN For more information on Halloween Horror Nights 21 and the “Ghost
It was on this day ten years ago that the World changed as we knew it. It’s hard to describe the feelings and emotions everyone in our office was going through as we watched the images on our TV screens from New York and the Washington D.C. area.
Today, we remember the 2,997 people who died in New York City, Arlington and Shanksville. We will never forget that day or the lives that were lost.
Here’s an amazing picture of the Twin Towers taken by Katie Weisberger as a remembrance of that day.
Katie was a freshman in the photography program at New York University and was flying back from her home in Richmond, Virginia. She had a Nikon 35 mm film camera at the ready when the twin towers came into view.
Weisberger has always loved seeing the world through a lens. School reinforced that habit, sharpened her eye. What particularly prompted her to take roll after roll from her window seat was an utterly lovely April day dawning in New York.
“It was very early morning, and I just remember it being really beautiful, watching the sun rise and taking photographs,” Weisberger recalls. “I had no idea I took that photo. It was on the negative.”
That photo — developed at a drugstore or photo lab — was a horizon shot, layers of blue sky streaked with a barely perceptible reddish haze and oceans of roiling clouds that submerged all of New York except for the twin towers. That one heartbreakingly glorious moment stood out, between a picture just of clouds and another of the entire city. Then, she stowed the prints away.
Collapsing images
She would pull them out five months later. Weisberger, who spent the summer waitressing in Boston, was beginning her sophomore year at NYU, in the Department of Photography and Imaging. “I was getting ready for school. It was maybe my second day of class,” she recalls. Her dormitory was located southwest in the Village, close to the World Trade Center. When she and her boyfriend at the time, Ryan, walked outside, they looked up and right through a hole burning in one of the towers.
“We kept walking and didn’t know what to make of it,” she says. They continued on, stopping on Sixth Avenue for orange juice and a bagel. There, they saw the second plane hit. “Crowds of people just stopped in their tracks. And at that moment, I realized that it was terrorists.” Shell-shocked, she and her boyfriend — who was booked on a flight later that day — said goodbye, and she headed to her first day of dance class. For two surreal hours, the teacher taught the fully attended class as if nothing had happened. As if two hijacked Boeing 767s hadn’t crashed into one of New York’s greatest landmarks just blocks away. At the end of class, a woman came in, announcing, “‘The towers have fallen. I don’t know if you know what happened.’”
Weisberger didn’t have her camera equipment on her, not for dance class, but she didn’t take photos that day, nor much at all after 9/11. There were too many others documenting the devastation, capturing bits and pieces of the unfathomable.
Instead, she remembered her photo, in storage under the bed. She knew people would want to see it, and when the storefront exhibit “Here Is New York: A Democracy of Photographs,” sought out contributors, she turned in her print. Hers became No. 1621 in an exhibit that would eventually comprise 5,690 images and travel the world. In the 2008 book “After Photography,” NYU photography teacher and author Fred Ritchin noted:
Interestingly, the best-selling image from the exhibition (the proceeds from the photos, which were selected by interested buyers without at first knowing who made the image, went to charity) was by Katie Day Weisberger, a student who had, a few months before the attacks, photographed the World Trade Center towers emerging from the clouds while seated in a passing airplane.
Hope amongst the clouds
That image of the twin towers, rising above a sea of clouds into blue skies, would also be featured on CNN, in the PBS documentary “Faith and Doubt at Ground Zero,” and in the Hartford Courant’s first 9/11 anniversary edition. The Connecticut paper defied newspaper design principles by wrapping the horizontal image across the front and back pages. Years later, the technique would be used on the cover of Don DeLillo’s 2007 novel, “Falling Man.” The title conjured up a more despairing icon, a man caught plummeting headfirst in a fatal dive from the falling towers, but it was Weisberger’s photograph that made the cover. A New York blogger, in a 2010 series of posts on book-cover design, pondered the image:
In “Falling Man,” postmodern master Don DeLillo takes on the strange disconnect experienced by many Americans following 9/11. The cover photo reflects that with the eerie view from above the clouds, as if from the point of view of a ghost. The vertical drop of the “A Novel” text emphasizes the book’s title, based on the name given to a performance artist that appears from time to time in the book, a mysterious man that reenacts the disturbing image taken of a suicide jumper on the day of the World Trade Center attacks.
Weisberger, the mother of a 2-year-old, now lives in Colorado and works as a freelance photographer. She can understand how a photo taken with such a young, hopeful spirit could be viewed as eerie in the light of 9/11. She has always been drawn to skies an artistic theme (“I appreciate the simplicity, openness and the beauty … [their] potentiality”), but Weisberger can’t shake the unease that an idyllic day can cause. “Every time I see a perfectly clear sky,” she admits, “there’s a feeling of ‘the air’s too clean and the weather’s too perfect to believe.’ I think of Sept. 11.”
But the clarity of that lovely April day, the quality of that sunlight, the “childlike quality of, I don’t know, wanting to experience something by way of camera,” still stand out.
“There has obviously been so much violence and politicking as a result of Sept. 11, and pertaining to the events of that day,” Weisberger states. “I think it’s important to be able to take a step back and see that regardless of everything that happened following that day and how one might feel about what has happened, there was a day 10 years ago during which a terrible thing happened that touched all of our hearts very deeply. I hope that my photograph helps people recall the heartbreaking simplicity of that fact, and at the same time the inherent beauty of life.”
Clarity in the haze of memories
Other details have become a hazier in the intervening years. She can’t remember the airline she was on when she took the photo, although surely she wouldn’t have needed to take off her shoes or measure her carry-on liquids in ounces in order to get through security. She thinks she was coming from her home in Richmond, Virginia — she could’ve hugged her parents goodbye at the boarding gate, before security fears did away with prolonging farewells until the last possible moment, before boarding. She can’t remember the flight she took in the days following 9/11, perhaps surrounded by seats left empty by Americans who had lost their faith in the skies.
Yet 10 years later, she also remembers how New Yorkers came together. “The most memorably and meaningful part of Sept. 11 was the obvious and immediate care that every single person in Manhattan –you know throughout the U.S. and the world, but more specifically Manhattan — took of each other,” Weisberger says. She remembers buying breakfast for people forced out of their homes by the blast and living in her dorm. How her boyfriend stood in line for five hours to give blood, only to be turned away because so much had been donated. And how New Yorkers stood together, cheering on the workers who brought up the rubble from the towers. “I’ll remember that in times of crisis, goodness does come out.”
That also is the legacy of Katie Weisberger’s chance shot, No. 1621.
Above is a picture of Ground Zero today… and the place where so many people will meet over the years to remember those that died. Today, though, one of the most moving tributes was from Paul Simon…music very often says more than words can… here’s the video…sorry about the quality:
NASA managed to launch two near identical probes named GRAIL A and GRAIL B on board a relatively small Delta II rocket this morning. The launch was delayed from Thursday, because of high gusts, and there was some doubt whether this launch would happen as the initial launch time of approximately 8.00am this morning was scrubbed. Instead the launch occurred at 9.08am but much of Central Florida was covered in cloud making viewing very hit and miss.
This is the first mission dedicated to measuring lunar gravity and determining what’s inside Earth’s orbiting companion… the Moon … all the way down to its core. It will take close to four months for the spacecraft to reach the moon, a long, roundabout journey compared with the zippy three-day trip of the Apollo astronauts four decades ago.
“Grail, simply put, is a journey to the center of the moon,” said Ed Weiler, head of NASA’s science mission directorate, borrowing from the title of the Jule Verne science fiction classic, “Journey to the Center of the Earth.”
The world has launched more than 100 missions to the moon since the Soviet Union’s Luna probes in 1959 and that includes NASA’s six Apollo moon landings that put 12 men on the lunar surface.
NASA’s GRAIL twins, though, won’t actually land on the moon but will conduct their science survey from lunar orbit. Beginning in March 2012, after the spacecraft have reached an orbit of 34 miles above the moon’s surface, scientists will begin to monitor the slight variations in distance between the two to map the moon’s entire gravitational field. The measurements will continue through May.
“It will probe the interior of the moon and map its gravity field 100 to 1,000 times better than ever before. We will learn more about the interior of the moon with GRAIL than all previous lunar missions combined,” Weiler said.
At the same time, four cameras on each spacecraft will offer schoolchildren the opportunity to order up whatever pictures of the moon they want. The educational effort is spearheaded by Sally Ride, America’s first spacewoman.
The entire GRAIL mission costs $496 million and GRAIL’s chief investigator, Maria Zuber of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said the precise lunar gravity measurements provided by this short mission will help her and other planetary scientists better understand how the moon evolved during the past 4 billion years. The findings also should help identify the composition of the moon’s core: whether it’s made of solid iron or possibly titanium oxide.
Another puzzle that GRAIL may help solve, Zuber said, is whether Earth indeed had a smaller second moon. Last month, astronomers suggested the two moons collided and the little one glommed onto the big one, a possible explanation for how the lunar highlands came to be.
Knowing where the moon’s gravity is stronger will enable the United States and other countries to better pinpoint landing locations for future explorers, whether robot or human. The gravity on the moon is uneven and about one-sixth Earth’s pull.
“If you want to land right next to a particular outcrop [of rock], you’re going to be able to do it,” Zuber said. “There will be no reason to do another gravity experiment of the moon in any of our lifetimes.”
Zuber said the GRAIL findings should eliminate cliffhangers like the Apollo 11 landing in 1969 by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. They overshot their touchdown site in part because of the subtle gravity changes in the moon’s surface below and they almost ran out of fuel before safely touching down on the Sea of Tranquility.
“It will be easier next time,” Zuber promised.
For now though, NASA has no plans to return astronauts to the moon, Earth’s closest neighbor at approximately 240,000 miles away. That program, called Constellation, was canceled last year by President Obama who apparently favors asteroids and Mars as potential destinations in America’s future without the shuttle. Undoubtedly some folks would like to put him there for good!
This is the second planetary mission for NASA since the space shuttle program ended in July and it attracted a large crowd to Cape Canaveral with as many as 6,000 to 7,000 guests there for the morning liftoff.
The year’s grand finale will be the launch of the biggest Mars rover ever the day after Thanksgiving.
“NASA is still doing business even though the shuttles stopped flying,” Weiler told reporters earlier this week.
GRAIL is the 110th mission to target the moon, according to NASA records. Missions have been launched by the United States, Soviet Union, Japan, China and India.
Lady Luck Reigns Over Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights 21
The Country’s Best Halloween Event Returns with More Nights, Plus All-New Haunted Houses, Scarezones and Shows
You seek her… hoping she’ll be on your side. She appears…an enchanting seductress…and you decide to take a chance.
But the more chances you take, the more she craves…you. Her eyes grow cold. Her face contorts into…something that is not human. Her charming laugh turns to rabid growl. Your luck has run out. You have made your last choice.
For 25 nights beginning September 23, Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights returns as the nation’s best and most intense Halloween event. Guests will confront extreme Halloween entertainment that cannot be experienced anywhere else. This year, they will scream as they become prey to fiendish creatures, panic as they come face-to-face with a horrifying “thing,” feel chills as they are haunted by deceased souls – and watch in paralyzing fear as Lady Luck transforms from a tempting seductress to a bloodthirsty beast.
Lady Luck is the force behind this year’s event, and she awaits those brave enough to challenge her and take a chance. Her main weapon is choice, and her desire is for you to make yours. But no matter what you decide, you can’t escape the terror she has in store at Halloween Horror Nights 21.
Halloween Horror Nights runs September 23-24, September 29-30, October 1-2, 6-9, 13-16, 19-23 and 26-31. Tickets and vacation packages are on sale now and can be purchased at www.halloweenhorrornights.com/orlando. Due to the event’s popularity, tickets for weekend nights are expected to sell out and should be purchased well in advance.
AN OVERVIEW OF HALLOWEEN HORROR NIGHTS 21
EIGHT HAUNTED HOUSES
Nevermore: The Madness of Poe
The madness of Edgar Allen Poe’s greatest works has come to life. Step into the mind of the iconic writer, where every turn of the page takes you closer to the brink of insanity.
The Forsaken
Four ships began Columbus’s fateful voyage, only three became legend. Condemned to a watery grave, the mutinous and cursed crew of that fourth ship has returned with a vengeance. For within the walls of a Spanish fort, a maelstrom has brought from the depths….death itself.
H.R. Bloodengutz Presents: Holidays of Horror
Join creature feature host, H.R. Bloodengutz, in his final televised broadcast as he presents a SCARE-athon of holiday-based horror that is guaranteed to cleave you screaming for more.
The Thing
Paranoia spreads like an epidemic among a group of researchers in an isolated Antarctic outpost as they are infected, one by one, by a horrifying creature from another planet. In a place where there is nothing, they found something.
Saws N’ Steam: Into the Machine
Spinning blades and massive, crushing pistons await you around every corner as you are forced deeper into the bowels of a mechanical nightmare. Give yourself to “The Machine.”
The In-Between
An ominous portal reveals a 3rd dimension where all is not what it seems: a realm where our world and another collide. Surrounded by fiendish creatures, your eyes will deceive you with every step through this phantasm of terror.
Winter’s Night: The Haunting of Hawthorn Cemetery
As snow falls on this normally serene gothic cemetery, the deceased souls that occupy its confines have their sights set upon you, insuring that the chill you feel up your spine is more than just the cold of night.
Nightingales: Blood Prey
Within every war, the Nightingales have appeared. Able to transform themselves to fit any setting, these savage banshees feed on the weak and the helpless. Patrolling WWI era trenches, you discover that you are more than just at war…you’re being hunted.
SIX SCAREZONES
Acid Assault
For decades now the city has been degrading from the effects of Acid Rain that still falls today, caused by factories which sprung up on the city’s edges during the 20th century. Those that have lived and survived the blistering decay are all alone in the city. Survivors have stripped the city of all life to sustain their own…dare to enter the ACID ASSAULT.
Canyon of Dark Souls
Upon entering into the Canyon of Dark Souls, you will feel like a small spec of humanity as the overwhelming sense of death surrounds you. Creatures that dwell within the Canyon are not welcoming so walk slowly as to not disturb them.
Grown Evil
Enter, if you dare, into our garden where Evil grows. Nature has taken this once well manicured sanctuary back from the humans who once kept it. Now the creatures that inhabit the garden are making any human that enters their prey.
NightMaze
Journey through the ever changing maze of darkness. This all black maze will morph and change as you walk through it. You will not be scared the same way twice.
7
As daylight shines upon our Temptresses, their appearance, though evil, allows you the spectacle of beauty. As night falls, these 7 temptresses will show their true colors and take on their true Fatal Evil forms. Beware of your own temptations.
Your Luck Has Run Out
Enter if you dare into the lair of the LUCKY! Your choices will determine if you make it out alive. Witness lucks deadly wrath, will she choose you to be her next victim?
TWO LIVE SHOWS
Bill & Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adventure
Party on as those two most excellent dudes return to skewer the biggest names in entertainment and pop culture.
Death Drums
A seductive, hard-hitting and raw extreme drumming experience.
DON’T MISS UNIVERSAL ORLANDO’S ROCK THE UNIVERSE 2011 THIS WEEKEND, FEATURING HIT CHRISTIAN BANDS LIKE SWITCHFOOT, CASTING CROWNS, RELIENT K AND MORE …
WHAT:
This weekend, Rock the Universe 2011 – Florida’s biggest Christian music festival – kicks off at Universal Orlando Resort. Guests can rock out to seventeen of the biggest names in Christian rock – including Switchfoot, Casting Crowns, and Relient K and enjoy access to an all-new fan zone, inspiring guest speakers, nightly candlelighting ceremonies, some of the world’s best theme park attractions and more.
The full artist lineup can be viewed below.
ROCK THE UNIVERSE 2011 LINEUP
Friday, September 9
4 p.m. – 1 a.m.
Saturday, September 10
4 p.m. – 1 a.m.
Switchfoot
Casting Crowns
David Crowder Band
Third Day
anberlin
Relient K
Grits
RED
Family Force 5
Tenth Avenue North
Rhema Soul
Brandon Heath
Hyland
Live Fish
** Names in bold indicate headlining acts.
Along with live concerts by top-name talent, guests can experience an all-new fan zone, featuring autograph sessions with performing acts, band merchandise, and a first-ever New Artists’ Stage where three emerging artists will perform live, including former American Idol contestant Jason Castro.Guests can also enjoy the thrilling attractions found only at Universal Studios, including Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit – where they can rock out to hidden tracks by some of this year’s performing talent.
For more details about Rock the Universe 2011 and to purchase tickets, visit www.RocktheUniverse.com
WHEN: Friday, September 9 and Saturday, September 10 – 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. each day of the event
Right before heading out on her five city “’MODELLAND’ Book Tour – A Fierce Experience!” Tyra Banks spent some down time at Universal Orlando Resort with her family over the Labor Day weekend. While there, Tyra came face-to-face with Lady Luck, the blood-thirsty seductress and force behind Halloween Horror Nights 21. Named “the country’s best Halloween event” for three years straight, Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights will bring to life guests’ most intense nightmares for 25 nights this fall, beginning September 23. Banks and her family were hosted to experience both Universal Orlando theme parks while in town for a business visit.
Oh wow…what an evening. I’ll post some video later (hopefully) but for those of you who couldn’t be there, this was an evening of high drama and really showed why football (I refuse to call it soccer) is the number one sport in the world. In a cauldron of noise with just over 11,200 spectators present, the two teams, Orlando City and Harrisburg City served up an encounter that is likely to be remembered for many many years… certainly by Orlando City fans.
The game two-ed and fro-ed in the first half with both sides having chances to take the lead but it didn’t get really juicy until the 47th minute when Orlando goalkeeper Gallardo was sent off leaving the Lions with an uphill battle with just 10 men. An error in the Lions defence left Harrisburg forward Sainey Torray one on one with the Orlando keeper and when Gallardo took him down his fate was sealed.
The game continued to go from one end of the pitch to the other with no real cutting edge from either team until two minutes from full time when Orlando scored. It was a simple move that saw a delicate Lewis Neal through ball to the oncoming Lawrence Olum who blasted the ball past Chase Harrison in the Harrisburg goal. (Photos above.) This sent the crowd into wild hysteria and coming so close to the end most fans expected Orlando to be victorious.
Not so, 5 mins of injury time was played and with literally 20 seconds left on the clock, Harrisburg conjured up an equalizer. Throwing caution to the wind, Harrison went up for a series of three corners and he caused enough commotion that forward J.T. Noone was left free to slot home a dramatic late equalizer. Extra time it was.
4 mins into the first period of extra time and things went from bad to worse for Orlando. Their defence had seemingly learned nothing from the last second equaliser and they left Harrisburg’s Touray open from another corner and he nodded the ball home past a despairing Sean Kelly in the home teams goal. 2-1 Harrisburg.
Orlando it seemed, despite being easily the best team in the league this season, looked beaten. Adrian Heath, Head Coach of Orlando, was having none of it however, and he rallied his troops at half time of extra time. Orlando came out the blocks and had what looked like a stone wall penalty turned down as Devorn Jorsling fell from a push in the penalty box. The home crowd couldn’t believe it as the referee turned down the appeal but more drama was to come 90 seconds later as Dennis Chin was then brought down by outstanding Harrisburg defender Jeritt Thayer, who promptly earned himself a red card. All the pressure was now on Lewis Neal (below) and he delivered a calm and collected finish from the penalty spot to make it 2-2.
So then came penalties and Orlando took a 2-0 lead through Neal and the leagues Most Valuable Player Jordany Alvarez before misses by Charlie Cambell and Luke Boden made it 2-2 after 4 penalties each. So it came down to what was effectively sudden death. Up stepped Sainey Tourey with the 5th shot for Harrisburg and he drilled his low shot wide of the left hand post giving Orlando the chance to seal an epic evening. All eyes were on Devorn Jorsling (below) as he stepped up and his cool finish to the left corner gave Orlando the fairytale ending they wanted to take the USL PRO Championship. Unbelievable stuff and in the land of make believe, fabulous roller coaster and epic theme park rides you couldn’t have written a better script for the game. It really did have it all.
“You could not have had a better game,” said Orlando City owner Phil Rawlins. “The record number of fans who came out tonight saw one for the history books. This is huge for Orlando, even bigger for Orlando City. This is one that we will never forget.”
Ahead of tomorrow’s USL PRO Championship Game between Orlando City and Harrisburg City Islanders came the USL PRO League Awards Ceremony in Orlando this afternoon. The event included speeches by USL President Tim Holt, Orlando City Owner / President Phil Rawlins, Orlando City Head Coach Adrian Heath (pictured above left) and Harrisburg City Islanders Head Coach Bill Becher (pictured above right.)
In a prelude to the game, both coaches remained cautiously upbeat about their chances of taking home the title in the season’s final game. Harrisburg Coach Becher said: “We know it will be very difficult and we look forward to the challenge… hopefully we can rise to that challenge tomorrow night.” In the other corner, Orlando coach Heath was careful to pay his respects to the Islanders: “We know it will be a very very difficult game tomorrow night. We hope we can play in the same vein and maintain the form we have shown in the last few months and if we can, we know we will give ourselves a good chance … but we’ll make sure we give Harrisburg the respect they deserve.”
Awards for the Leagues Most Valuable Player, Rookie of the Year, Defender of the Year and Goalkeeper of the Year were also given out and Orlando City players and staff took the top honors as league coaches and managers voted for the top performers.
Most Valuable Player – Yordany Alvarez, Orlando City
Not known for his scoring prowess and not a flashy player, Cuban-born Alvarez (pictured above) earned the respect of his peers and his opponents as Orlando City’s leader in the central midfield. Opponents needed to get through Alvarez first if they wanted to break down Orlando City’s defense, and it did not happen often as the Lions allowed the fewest goals against with only 16 in 24 games.
Rookie of the Year – Luke Mulholland, Wilmington Hammerheads
Also an MVP finalist, Mulholland turned in a remarkable first professional season, finishing tied for second in USL PRO in points (23) and tied for third in goals (9). The 2010 Wingate University graduate led the Hammerheads to the second best record in the league.
Coach of the Year – Adrian Heath, Orlando City
It would be hard to argue against Heath, the former Everton star who led Orlando City to the top of the standings early, where the squad remained for the entire season. Orlando City, which reached the USL PRO Championship game via 3-1 and 3-0 playoff wins, suffered only one loss at the Florida Citrus Bowl this season while also producing the top road record.
Defender of the Year – Rob Valentino, Orlando City
The leader of the league’s stingiest defensive corps, Valentino (pictured above) patrolled the back line for 20 games this season, dominating in the air and seeing more minutes than all other field players except Alvarez and Lawrence Olum. A four-year captain at the University of San Francisco, the former New England Revolution draft choice scored the winner in Orlando City’s 1-0 victory at Charlotte in April.
Goalkeeper of the Year – Miguel Gallardo, Orlando City
As the 2011 USL PRO leader in shutouts (11) and goals-against average (.681), Gallardo (pictured above) proved to be nearly impenetrable throughout the season for those who found their way through Orlando City’s formidable defense. The 2008 USL PDL Goalkeeper of the Year, Gallardo also finished tied for the league lead in wins with 12.
Also honored were Lions midfielders Lewis Neal and Jamie Watson (above left) who picked up USL PRO All League – Second Team honors while Alvarez, Gallardo, Valentino and forward Maxwell Griffin (above right) picked up First Team awards.
The 2011 USL PRO Championship Game kicks off at 7 p.m. tomorrow night and history could be made as Orlando as a city has not won a professional sports championship in a decade. Tickets are still available for this historic match and start at just $12. To order tickets, call 855-ORL-CITY (855-675-2489). Tickets will also be available at the Citrus Bowl box office beginning at 4 pm on Saturday. For more information, visit www.orlandocitysoccer.com today.
