NEW YORK — A violent collision in the 18th minute forced Orlando City goalkeeper Mason Stajduhar to be carted off the field on a stretcher and taken to the hospital, and the Lions went on to lose to New York City FC 4-2 on Friday night.

Santiago Rodríguez, Hannes Wolf and Agustín Ojeda each scored in the first half for NYCFC, ending its three-game losing streak.

Thirteen minutes were added to the first half because of Stajduhar's injury, and NYCFC took advantage with two stoppage-time goals against backup goalkeeper Javier Otero, who was making his Major League Soccer debut.

Within 8 minutes, Tayvon Gray raced to get to a through ball at the endline and sent it back to find Wolf for a deflected shot into the back of the net to make it 2-0. Gray ran past the defense again and sent a pass across the goal for Ojeda’s easy tap in.

“It was a very strong moment and hard for us to see the injury of Mason [Stajduhar]," coach Oscar Pareja said. "I know our emotions came in, and it could have been a part of that low performance as well. We don’t want to say that because that is not our character, but we were really sad with what happened to Mason. It is the things that the game brings and things we have to deal with, especially at this time when we need him, and he was healthier and getting through his best moments in the club. Many things and many emotions close to our mind for sure. We don’t blame the players, but it stinks, and it is difficult.” 

Rodríguez had opened the scoring for NYCFC in the 15th minute with his eighth goal of the season.

Orlando midfielder Dagur Thorhallsson scored in the 72nd minute, and Duncan McGuire added a close-range shot in second-half stoppage time to get within 3-2.

Mounsef Bakrar capped the scoring when he cut back his defender and curled a shot past Otero.

"I would say it was two [different] halves," Thorhallsson said. "First half, we didn’t show up. We were losing first balls, losing second balls and giving up easy goals. In the second half, we talked about just holding the face and change the shape a little bit, and it worked. I feel like we came out really strong and scored two goals. Then, it is on me that I lose the ball there on the fourth goal as we were trying to go forward, and I take full responsibility for that.” 

New York City (10-8-2) won for the first time since a 5-1 victory over San Jose on May 31. Orlando (5-9-6) dropped to 0-6-1 in New York since 2018.

Orlando said Stajduhar was in stable condition but did not disclose his injury. NYCFC coach Nick Cushing confirmed after the game that forward Malachi Jones, the New York City player who collided with Stajduhar when he came out of his area to stop a ball, was also taken to a local hospital for further assessment.

Orlando City has a short week to determine how to move forward if it must play without Stajduhar. The Lions play again at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Toronto.