ORLANDO, Fla. – When Orlando City B took the lead with 15 minutes to go on Thursday night, the script was starting to look familiar for a Bethlehem Steel FC side that had surrendered three consecutive defeats to slide back to eighth place in the Eastern Conference entering Orlando City Stadium.

Thanks to an outstanding late finish by Marcus Epps, though, Steel FC wrote a new ending as it emerged with a 1-1 draw to slide at least temporarily up to seventh place ahead of this weekend’s action as it returns back to Pennsylvania.

“Huge goal,” said Steel FC Head Coach Brendan Burke. “[Epps] probably drew a penalty in the first half that wasn’t given, and he stayed with it, all the guys stayed with it. It was hot, humid, and they worked hard.”

It also offered a moment of redemption for the rookie, who had previously squandered the best chance of the first half in a tense affair between two sides in the middle of the race for the postseason. In the 20th minute Epps had been slipped into the penalty area by a deft pass by Jamaican international Cory Burke, but with time to try and pick his spot the rookie skied his finish well over the crossbar.

The chance was an indicator of how the first half had gone, with Steel FC controlling more possession thanks to excellent work by U.S. U20 international Derrick Jones and Maurice Edu, who made his third start for the side as he returns from injury. Bethlehem was only able to register one shot on goal in the first half, however, as Santi Moar’s shot from the edge of the penalty area was comfortably saved by OCB goalkeeper Jake Fenlason.

“I thought we were good in possession, maybe not as dangerous as we needed to be in the final third,” said Burke. “In terms of at least matching them and controlling the tempo of the game for large spells, I thought in particular in the first half we were really good with that.”

Steel FC’s good work also saw Burke go close early in the second half as he knifed into the left side of the penalty area only to fire wide of the near post. When Orlando’s Pierre Da Silva struck on his side’s first shot on goal in the 75th minute, finishing off a good move with Albert Dikwa with a rifled finish to the top-left corner, it looked like Bethlehem’s would end up empty-handed again.

As good as Orlando’s goal was, though, Steel FC matched it with four minutes to go. Burke again played provider, holding up possession well before finding Epps just inside the top-left corner of the penalty area. Epps took aim and picked out a perfect shot to the right corner to earn his side a valuable point.

“It’s been tough the last couple of weeks, losing three in a row,” said Cory Burke. “It means a lot for us to come here and get a point. We did this for the coaching staff, fight hard.”

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With seven games to go, including another big test on Sept. 9 as the Tampa Bay Rowdies visit Goodman Stadium, there’s still work to be done for Steel FC as it looks to avoid a repeat of last season’s late slide in a congested race for the USL Cup Playoffs in the Eastern Conference.

After his side’s late rally on Thursday, Brendan Burke is hopeful a playoff place awaits.

“It would mean everything to us,” said Brendan Burke. “We clearly understand that we’ve progressed, [a playoff place] would just put a bow on it, but we’ve definitely progressed big time from last year in terms of our performances and going away from home and controlling other team’s environments like we did tonight.”