Photo courtesy Orlando Pride media.
The Pride were in desperate need of a win as they took on the Washington Spirit at home. The top team in the league would show exactly how they got there by defeating the Pride 2-1. The loss will jeopardize the Pride’s chances to make it into the playoff’s. Coach Tom Sermanni, during his post game interview, stated “I think we had to win tonight to make the playoffs. That’s a reality of the situation”. He then followed that up by saying he felt it may be unrealistic for the Pride to make playoffs with their current record.
The speedy Spirit Forward, Cheyna Williams put the first goal in the net after the Pride defense collapses. Williams managed to creep past Pride center back Kayln Kyle, nutmegging her and then finishing in front of the net. With the return of the Pride’s national players the team collectively looked out of sync at times, compared to a solid core of Spirit players that had played a majority of their season without losing many players.
A low cross-field pass from Katie Stengel found midfielder Christine Nairn. A wide open Nairn took advantage of a one on one against Orlando keeper Ashlyn Harris by shooting the ball into the lower right corner of the net to make the game 2-0.
Recognizing their season was in the balance, Tom Sermanni made some wise substitutions. A much-needed build by the offense would get Cami Levin room to make a through pass to a running Sara Hagen. A soft touch from Hagen would be all that was needed to put it past Spirit goalie Kelsey Wys.
A few more opportunities to make the game level would present themselves for the Pride but they couldn’t convert. After the game Alex Morgan said that she felt her team had a lot of holes in the midfield and that they needed to do a better job of possessing the ball. Morgan also added “It’s definitely not easy because we’ve had in and out flow of national team players, and some of our amateur players coming up to fill in those spots. They have been great but I think that with the expansion team, we don’t have the depth that some of the other teams have been able to create over the years”
Morgan during a game with the US women’s national team.
Although playoffs may not happen this year Morgan is optimistic about the future. “The city has been fantastic. I hope we continue to build as a club and continue to get quality players into positions that I think we don’t have the depth on this year. In the off-season, I hope we continue to look for more depth on this team. Whether that be international players or domestic players, we need good league players that will be here all year”.
Orlando Pride
