No. 4 seed Orlando City (15-12-7) is in the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season while No. 5 Charlotte (14-11-9) has qualified for the first time in club history.

Pictures: Orlando City and Orlando Pride at media event ahead of playoffs

The sides faced each other in September with Orlando winning 2-0 at home. Both teams have been in great form since then.

"Those previous years give us a ton of experience and a ton of confidence going into this year's playoffs," said Lions forward Facundo Torres. "We're a new team in different ways, but at the same time the team is playing really well right now."

The Lions relied heavily on Torres throughout the regular season. The Uruguayan forward used missing out on the Copa America tournament as fuel for the back half of the season and helped push Orlando City from near the bottom of the table into fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

"Things weren't really going right. We weren't really finding ourselves as a team and individually, right? Same thing, the goals for me, the assists for me weren't really coming, and I wasn't happy with a lot of my performances," Torres added. "But now individually and as a team, we've really turned things around. We've gotten into the right form and we're heading into how to get to a great moment in the playoffs."

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Charlotte, under coach Dean Smith, has allowed the second-fewest goals in the regular season (37). A solid defensive foundation led the club to close with a five-game unbeaten streak entering this matchup.

The Lions have a potent attack in the of Torres (14G, 3A) as well as Martin Ojeda (4G, 9A), Ivan Angulo (5G, 6A) and Duncan McGuire (10G, 2A).