It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon here at Inter&Co Stadium and Orlando Pride was about to make history once again. In front of them is a star-studded squad like Gotham FC, also looking to add another piece of history to their illustrious group of accolades. A week ago, former Gotham player Zerboni criticized the Pride by implying that they were not impressive and only had one star player, Marta, while Gotham had many more. The fans in the stadium certainly took that to heart and showed out at Inter&Co with signs and flags supporting “ONE STAR FC” Orlando Pride. The lineup, as we already mentioned in the last Pride Pod, was a repeat vs. Seattle Reign. The players in the warm-up appeared enthusiastic and prepared to deliver a devastating blow, akin to what Bane did to Batman in the comics.
The game started with a lot of intensity, with Gotham pushing forward numbers and the Pride top-notch defending. In the 5th minute, Kerry Abello made a brilliant pass to Marta, who is an icon, and then sprinted beautifully to attempt a low cross to Jacquie Ovalle, but Berger was able to extinguish the threat. Jacquie fell and grabbed her ankle, but it was just a scare; she was able to get up, and the game continued.
In the first 15 minutes, Orlando Pride defended superbly against every attacking onslaught from Gotham. The clearest chances the Pride had were a few sprints from Marta. You felt the tension and the semifinal vibe because the pride wasn’t giving up, they’re pushing forward numbers, and both teams are playing very physically.
In the 33rd minute, the Orlando Pride had their closest chance when a beautiful pass from Marta reached Julie Doyle, who then set up Jacquie Ovalle for a potential 1v1 against Berger, but Ovalle’s pass was slightly wide. The whole stadium erupted because the Pride was closer than Gotham to scoring the first one of the afternoon.
The game was characterized by back-and-forth action, leading the referee to award three minutes of additional time. It was halftime; Sams and Rafaelle excelled defensively in the first half. Offensively, 1 word: MARTA. Ovalle and Doyle are also excellent at defending and jumping into the attacking transition. Kudos to Ally Lemos and Haley McCutcheon, who had favorable matchups vs. Rose Lavelle and Ester, respectively. Hopefully in the second half, the Pride will be able to break the stalemate and score a couple of goals.
In the second half, both Oihane and Simone Charley replaced a fatigued Julie Doyle and Cori Dyke, who both had excellent performances in the first half. Thereafter, Orlando Pride got a bit more incisive with crossing the ball through the flanks, but they did not find anyone who could put it away. For over 70 minutes, the game was choppy and saw frequent back-and-forth action; although the Pride created the most chances, they were unable to capitalize on them. The team that scores first is likely to win. Or, if that doesn’t pan out, it will go to extra time and penalties. The two teams displayed a very similar style of play. Despite having Marta and home field advantage, the Pride wasted most chances due to poor communication between the flanks and mids or bad crosses from Oihane. Carson Pickett replaced Ally Lemos, who had an outstanding game, in the 75th minute. Lemos has been more than influential defensively in three back-to-back games, partnering with Haley McCutcheon to be scrappy and recover loose balls in the middle.
In the final minutes of the second half, the Orlando Pride attempted to transition aggressively, but Gotham’s backline was effective in stopping them. Regrettably, in the 90th minute +7, Jaedyn Shaw (Gotham FC) scored with a right-footed shot to the bottom right corner from a free kick.
It was heartbreak at Inter&Co Stadium; after dominating most of the attacking chances, the Orlando Pride said goodbye to their hopes of a second championship back-to-back. Gotham clinched their spot in the NWSL Final and will face the Washington Spirit.
Let’s hope for better results in the future!
Vamos Pride.
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