Coming off hat trick, Joao Klauss leads St. Louis City vs. Orlando City

St. Louis City SC interim coach David Critchley said Joao Klauss has many good attributes as a player, but values one above all others.

"We want our No. 9 scoring goals," Critchley said of Klauss.

Klauss did that in the team's last match on June 15, scoring a hat trick in St. Louis City's 3-3 home tie with the LA Galaxy. He'll try to author a suitable encore Wednesday night when they host Orlando.

Klauss rescued St. Louis (3-9-6, 15 points) from yet another loss by scoring in the fifth minute of stoppage time to salvage a point. It was his first hat trick in MLS play and the first in St. Louis' three-season history.

"One more time, I put my name in the history of the club," he said. "Sometimes you have ups and downs in soccer. I've been here from Day 1 ... everybody knows the relationship that I have with everybody on this club."

Klauss has five of the team's 17 goals this year, matching the total he had last year in 27 matches. His explosion marked just the second time this season St. Louis has tallied three times in a game.

Meanwhile, Orlando (8-4-6, 30 points) comes into this one after a 1-0 shutout June 14 at Colorado it to fifth in the Eastern Conference standings. But the Lions will be short-handed for this one. Duncan McGuire and Alex Freeman are out with injuries while Rodrigo Schlegel is suspended due to yellow card accumulation.

Orlando coach Oscar Pareja was pleased with the three points in Colorado for many reasons, particularly the fact that his team tightened things up on defense. They ceded three goals in consecutive defeats against Atlanta United and Chicago.

"We all declared it was a must-win, not just for the three points but also for our confidence," he said. "Our heart was good enough to win these three points and we are happy."

The Lions won the teams' only matchup two years ago by a 2-1 score. This is their first trip to St. Louis.

--Field Level Media