Chioma Ubogagu of the Orlando Pride (photo by Diego Diaz).
Orlando, F.L- Saturday evening, the second and third place teams met at Orlando City Stadium where the Seattle Reign fought to remain in second place with 28 points as the Orlando Pride were one point below them. Due to the USWNT training camp, some of the top players from both sides were missing.
The Pride brought an intimidating start as Marta put the ball past the legs of the Reign’s defense and took the shot in the seventh minute that was saved by goalkeeper Lydia Williams. Following this play a corner kick, forward Chioma Ubogagu shot the ball towards the goal, but was deflected by Seattle’s defense.
In between Seattle also had some early attempts following Orlando’s as midfielder Jess Fishlock headed the ball to the goal, but was also saved.
The Pride came with early goal in the 21st minute as several attempts were made on goal off a free kick by Marta. Ubogagu crossed the ball to the box and was deflected by the Reign back-line, but fell to the feet of Pride defender Toni Pressley, who scored her first goal of the season, giving the Pride a 1-0 lead.
In hopes of scoring an equalizer, the Reign applied pressure and in the 36th minute as Jodie Taylor and Fishlock worker together to generate a play. Once Fishlock gained possession of the ball near the Pride back-line, she passed to Taylor, but her right-footed shot was blocked by former Reign goalkeeper Hayley Kopmeyer.
Just before the half, Marta made a give-and-go pass to Ubogagu, who had Orlando fans at the edge of their seats and put Reign goalkeeper Lydia Williams to the test in the last minutes to try and extend their lead. Her close-range shot was to the left of the net and Williams came out to deflect it, resulting in a corner kick for Orlando.
Although Seattle was down by one, they had persisted in the first half and recorded seven opportunities over Orlando’s five.
After re-grouping with their coaches and teammates, Taylor was determined to successfully finish the ball on goal. Fishlock crossed to Taylor and managed to cut the ball by Pressley as Kopmeyer came out, but her shot was blocked and then cleared by Pressley.
After six shots with four on goal, Taylor was finally successful in the 70th minute after a cross from forward Nahomi Kawasumi that left Taylor with the perfect opportunity as her left-footed finish made its way past Kopmeyer to score the equalizer.
In a post-game interview with Dalen Cuff, Taylor shared:
“Going into the second half we knew we had to come out fighting we knew we had to go and get a goal back and I feel we were a bit unfortunate to not get a second,” Taylor said.
Seattle managed to remain in second place and came out with 30 points as the Pride are still underneath them with 29.
“We started OK,” Sermanni said. “We just didn’t have the energy to threaten Seattle as much as we should have. I just felt we made a lot of fundamental errors. I felt it was a game where we got back in the habit of bad habits.”
Following the international break, the Pride will face Sky Blue FC on Sunday, August 5th at 7:30 p.m. ET at Orlando Stadium.
SCORING SUMMARY:
ORL-Toni Pressley, 21’
SEA-Jodie Taylor (Assisted by : Nahomi Kawasumi), 70’
BOOKING SUMMARY:
SEA-Lauren Barnes, yellow card, 90 + 1’
ORLANDO PRIDE: #28-Haley Kopmeyer, #4-Shelina Zadorsk, #21-Monica Hickmann Alves, #11-Ali Krieger, #3-Toni Pressley (#9-Camila Martins Pereira, 59’), #6-Chioma Ubogagu (#5-Emily Van Egmond, 67’), #12-Kristen Edmonds (#16-Carson Pickett, 79’), #17-Dani Weatherholt, #14-Alanna Kennedy, #10-Marta Vieria Da Silva, #2-Sydney Leroux
Subs not used: #19-Poliana Barbosa, #8-Danica Evans, #7-Christine Nairn, #18-Elizabeth Stout
SEATTLE REIGN: #1-Lydia Williams, #7-Steph Catley, #3-Lauren Barnes, #4-Megan Oyster, #8-Theresa Nielson, #10-Jess Fishlock, #17-Beverly Yanez (#12-Morgan Andrews, 25’), #20-Rumi Utsugi (#19-Kristen McNabb, 26’), #22-Jasmyne Spencer, #14-Jodie Taylor, #9-Nahomi Kawasumi (#13-Adriana Leon, 79’)
Subs not used: #18-Michelle Betos, #16-Jaycie Johnson, #24-Alyssa Kleiner, #21-Christen Westphal
TOTAL SHOTS: ORL 12-18 SEA
SHOTS ON GOAL: ORL 4-8 SEA
FOULS: ORL 17-4 SEA
OFFSIDES: ORL 2-7 SEA
CORNER KICKS: ORL 4-6 SEA
SAVES: ORL 6-3 SEA
Orlando Pride
