ORLANDO, Fla. — The Orlando City Lions and their defense of their U.S. Open Cup championship didn't go according to plan.

The team lost its Round of 32 match 1-0 against Charlotte FC at the Mecklenburg County Sports Complex in North Carolina, ending its chances to capture the cup again.

Goalkeeper Mason Stajduhar got the nod in the goal and kept the Lions in the match with three saves, all of which were fully extended stops. However, the best chance of the game for Orlando City to score was by forward Duncan McGuire, but he couldn't get enough control to put the ball in the net.

Kamil Józwiak scored Charlotte FC's lone goal in the 70th minute.

"With the volume offensively, it was not what we wanted," Lions coach Oscar Pareja said. "We wanted more action in that last part of the field, and the way we defended, I think we did pretty well. As I say, the game loses balance when we lose the ball in that key moment and then we chase it."

The Lions won all six games at Exploria Stadium last year on their way to the championship game, a 3-0 victory against USL team Sacramento Republic. The Lamar Hunt Cup was the first trophy won by Orlando City since it joined Major League Soccer.

“Disappointed with being out of the Cup," Pareja said. "We came with the highest intentions to defend the Cup and advance, but it was not like that. The game was frustrating with the options that we had to tie it up and just making mistakes that were costly. With the Cup, it is hard, but it is what the game brings when you have these objectives and try to do things and we couldn’t get the result and we are very disappointed.”

Orlando City’s current players recently received their championship rings and watched a documentary reviewing their run to the 2022 Cup.

But much has changed since the team captured the trophy last year.

Orlando City had already played Charlotte FC earlier in the MLS season, in March, and lost that game at home 2-1.

Before the matchup, Pareja said the knowledge the team gained about Charlotte’s tendencies would be useful but that each game is different and that team could make some adjustments and shift its strategy.

The Lions have built a younger roster since last season. Gone are longtime players Benji Michel, a homegrown player who scored a goal in the championship last year, and Tesho Akindele. Michel is playing for Primeira Liga club Arouca, and Akindele has retired from soccer. Midfielder Mauricio Pereyra has been out recently with an injury and not scored a goal this season.

Stajduhar was in net instead of the Lions' usual goalkeeper, Pedro Gallese. 

As they prepared for the game, the remaining players who were part of last year’s championship team had shared their excitement and the importance of Cup play with the new ones.

"At this point, it is difficult within a speech to fix the things," Pareja said. "I think we have to observe it. We are a professional soccer club, and we are professionals that need to think. First, we need to calm down. I think it is something that is very comprehensive with the Club. We have to first just calm down. We have a turnaround pretty quick, we have a game in three days. We have to rescue all the good things that we had in the game and just keep building at what we need to get better.” 

The Lions' next game is an MLS match in Columbus at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.