North Carolina Courage 0 – 0 Orlando Pride
CARY, NC – It had been nearly a full year since the Orlando Pride took to the field in NWSL competition. Their topsy-turvy path back to league play took them to WakeMed Soccer Park on a perfect fall afternoon.
While needing to shake off some competitive rust, the Pride came out strong, challenging the Courage, and put Courage goalkeeper Stephanie Labbé to work soon after kickoff.
The first half was well-paced and level for the two Southern Pod clubs with Possession and Duels Won nearly even. The Courage had a decisive advantage on shots, doubling the Pride’s total 6-3.
North Carolina’s best chance in the opening half came in the 42nd minute when Debinha got on the ball and curled a long shot from about 25 yards out. It had Orlando goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris beat, but sailed just beyond the far post.
Harris was involved in a close call earlier in the half, when she nearly 30 yards off her line to intercept a pass to Courage forward Lynn Williams. The two players got tangled up, with Harris holding Williams up long enough for her defender to gain possession.
Orlando saw their best opportunities of the half come from the head of forward Sydney Leroux. In her first start in nearly two years, Leroux nodded a Marta free kick toward the goal, but Labbé was there to make the grab. Later in the half, Jordyn Listro air mailed the ball into the Courage 18-yard box looking for the forward making her run, but Leroux’s diving header was just off frame.
The two clubs came out of the locker room and picked up where they left off at the end of the first half. As they settled into the half, the Courage were able to more effectively execute their press while Orlando worked out some early second half kinks.
In the 53rd minute, Lauren Miliet took a pass from Lynn Williams down the flank and found Debinha all alone in front of the Orlando goal. In an outstanding acrobatic move, Harris thwarted the Brazilian’s chance with a kick save before smothering the ball.
Nine minutes later it was Williams nearly getting the Courage on the board. She shook loose from defender Toni Pressley and fired a shot that clanked off of the goalpost.
Through a combination of defensive heroics, help from the hardware, and lack of quality on North Carolina’s finish, the Pride kept the Courage off of the scoreboard through some early nervy minutes of the second half. As their confidence grew, the any heaviness in their legs faded and they started taking on the Courage in their own half if the field. Their persistence nearly got them the first goal of the game as it passed the 70-minute mark. Marta won the ball out wide and rifled a cross through the box, catching defender Carrie Lawrence making the run from the defensive end of the field. Lawrence’s sliding shot was out of Labbé’s reach but hit the crossbar.
Lawrence was doing the work at the other end of the field as well. In the 81st minute, a Lynn Williams shot across the box got through Harris’ hands and rolled tantalizingly along the goal line. It was a footrace between Lawrence and North Carolina sub Danica Evans, but it was the Orlando defender winning the battle and booting the ball away to safety.
And that was all of the offense either team could muster in the game. The game ended at zeroes apiece. For the Pride, coming off a year layoff with key players missing from their lineup including Alex Morgan, splitting the points and leaving WakeMed Soccer Park with a clean sheet was a dream result.
While North Carolina were happy to keep Orlando off the board, they hoped to put away more of their chances. “We talked about the clean sheet being the most important part before the game, but we didn’t expect to get a zero on the other end of it,” said Courage head coach Paul Riley after the game.
All in all, Riley was more pleased with his squad’s defensive performance this week over last week’s wild 4-3 win over Houston. He specifically cited the performance of rookie Addisyn Merrick, who was back in the starting eleven after leaving the Houston game early with a head injury requiring stitches.
“She’s strong, athletic, she’s good in the air. She tackles, chases, she can distribute [the ball]. She’s got a lot of great qualities,” he said. “She played center back in college, but I think she could play any of those back fie positions for us. Great mindset for the game, a true competitor. When you play for a club like ours, you’ve got to be competitive.”
Final notes
- After experimenting with a 3-1-4-2 formation against the Houston Dash last week, Paul Riley went back to the box formation against Orlando. “It gives us more stability in the midfield and allowed us to play out to the two sixes.”
- In an article in the Orlando Sentinel, Pride defender Toni Pressley said the players were coming into their first game in 343 days with a chip on their shoulder. Pressley herself missed almost 18 months while she underwent successful treatment for cancer.
- Goalkeeper Stephanie Labbé earned a clean sheet in her final game before voluntarily opting out of the remainder of the NWSL Fall Series.
- Next up for the Courage is a two-week break before they travel to Houston to take on the Dash on Sunday, October 4. They close out Fall Series in Orlando on Saturday, October 17.
Lineups
North Carolina Courage: S. Labbé; A. Merrick, K. Kurtz, A. Dahlkemper ©; C. Roccaro; Debinha, L. Milliet (D. Evans, 66′), R. Williams; L. Williams, R. Williams (H. Harbison, 84′), M. Speck (R. Baisden, 69′)
Orlando Pride: A. Harris; C. Lawrence, A. Krieger ©, T. Pressley, C. Petersen; J. Listro (C. Washington, 87′), M. Viggiano, Marta; K. Edmonds (K. Howarth, 80′), S. Leroux, A. Elinsky (D. Blackwood, 64′)
Score
North Carolina Courage 0
Orlando Pride 0
Goals
North Carolina Courage: none
Orlando Pride: none
Discipline
North Carolina Courage: C. Roccaro (YC, 10’)
Orlando Pride: J. Listro (YC, 35’)
