Loud & Proud Orlando

Orlando Pride got a monumental win against Gotham FC. Celia and Ally Watt scored. The Pride are now unbeaten in seven games and are two points away from playoff contention. 

In the first half, the Pride came out swinging with both Erika Tymrak and Kerry Abello creating several chances in attack. The Pride was able to take advantage of their set pieces and caused danger to Gotham. Gotham was also pushing forward through Midge Purce and Taylor Smith troubling the Pride’s backline. Gotham was able to apply pressure in transition, and the Pride started to turnover the ball easy. In the 31st minute, Onumonu sprinted down the wing, she cut in to shoot, and her shot hit the post. Gotham was closer to their first goal. As Gotham’s momentum grew, the Pride pushed back resiliently. Erika Tymrak, had a phenomenal game and created several chances for Orlando. Also, she attempted several times to link up with Julie Doyle, which also had a solid performance. Both players were extremely bothersome for Gotham’s backline. At the end of the first half, Orlando overpowered Gotham in possession and shots on target(51.7%-48.3%)(9-6), Erin McLeod’s had three important saves and cooled down several attempts from Gotham. 

In the second half, the Pride dominated possession in the midfield with Meggie Dougherty Howard being the protagonist of the attacking plays for the Pride. Meggie was carving up Gotham’s mid. Orlando Pride’s first goal came from Kerry Abello, that delivered another outstanding performance, crossing the ball to Celia at the far post. Celia’s header was neutralized by Gotham, but then she caught her own rebound that was lightly deflected by Tymrak, and made the score 1-0 Pride. Gotham was left stunned. 

After the goal, Gotham started to go for the counter play and went on an attacking onslaught. Pride’s momentum started to wither down a bit, but Coach Seb Hines had other plans. Gunny Jonsdottir, Haley Hanson and Ally Watt were subbed in. The substitutions gave the Pride fresh legs and enabled Orlando to maintain their momentum from the first half. In the 72nd minute, Orlando went 2-0 at Subaru Park, Meggie Dougherty Howard assisted Watt and the forward dribbled past Freeman and then struck a missile past Betos to score her first goal in a Pride jersey and on her debut with the team. Later in the post press conference, Ally Watt praised on the freedom that Coach Hines allows them to have offensively. 

Despite Gotham scoring one on the Pride, that didn’t stop the teams’ momentum. Haley Hanson on post press conference, mentioned that the team still need to be more compact defensively. Orlando was able to hunker down defensively and secured a win on the road against one of the leagues’ darlings. Gotham is one of the most favored teams in the NWSL, but this new found Pride has taught most of the NWSL’s “bigger market” teams that they are a sincere threat and a very tough team to play against. As Coach Hines said in post press conference “Determination is non negotiable.” And you can see that reflected on the pitch. 

The Pride will face the OL Reign on Friday Aug 26th at Exploria Stadium. 

Vamos Orlando!