Orlando Pride at Seattle Reign: Player Grades and Player of the Match

As we all know, the Pride were missing quite a few key players on Sunday night, but they held firm and stopped all the right balls at all the right times, bringing back a point against the Seattle Reign in the process.

Here are the player grades and Player of the Match.

Starters

GK, Haley Kopmeyer, 7.5 (PotM) — It was a barrage in the first half, no two ways about it, but Kopmeyer stayed calm and kept control of the things she had the ability to control. She notched five saves on the night and her diving save in the 51st minute is up for NWSL Save of the Week.

D, Poliana, 6 — Poliana had some decent moments and was heavily involved with the attack later in the game, but with that much involvement you have to get a better passer rating than the team low of 40.5%.

D, Monica, 7.5 — Monica was under attack most of the night, and she often provided an outlet to get the ball out of dangerous situations. How she managed a team high of 83.3% passing is beyond me. She also did well keeping the Seattle attack in front of her the entire night.

D, Shelina Zadorsky, 7 — Like Monica, Zadorsky was called into action often and came through almost every time. There were a couple of shaky moments, but not enough to knock her down.

D, Carson Pickett, 7 — Even though it was a hectic match, Pickett seemed to finally settle in to her role a bit more. Most of the danger provided by the Pride on the night usually came from a Pickett ball, as her play into the box was pretty on point for the entire match. Her service in the first half should have led to a goal, with Alanna Kennedy heading off the crossbar and Sydney Leroux failing to put the rebound in from point-blank range. Carson had a killer stop later in the second half that could have been a perfect opportunity for Seattle to take all three points.

MF, Dani Weatherholt, 7 — Dani was her usual self and disrupting as much Seattle possession as she could. She came away with a team-leading five tackles, while only conceding two fouls. I’m really liking her ability to sneak forward and create some opportunities.

MF, Alanna Kennedy, 6 — A tale of two halves for Kennedy. In the first half it seemed like she was a part of every turnover, but in the second half, she settled in and caused as much havoc as she received. The Jess Fishlock vs. Alanna Kennedy battle is something I can’t get enough of.

MF, Kristen Edmonds, 5.5 — Edmonds had a hard time dealing with the press most of the night and couldn’t provide much in the way of an attack on the right side. When she did get involved, it seemed like her instincts were fast asleep, as she was too slow to react.

MF, Emily van Egmond, 6 — Emily had a decent night, her passing being the weakest part of her game at 46.4%. What little offense there was in open play, she was usually a part of. Later in the game, she just barely got beat by Lydia Williams’ Save of the Week-nominated effort.

F, Chioma Ubogagu, 6 — Chi worked hard pretty much the entire time she was on the pitch. As usual, there were some frustrating moments from her, but it felt like if something was going to happen on the night, she would be involved somehow. It just didn’t work out that way. A couple of chances created on the night and a decent passer rating of 66.7% put her above average for me.

F, Sydney Leroux, 5.5 — Syd had the second-lowest passer rating at 45.2%, and missed a point-blank shot on goal. Things were always just a little off for her on the night. Leroux’s work rate continues to be excellent, though, and she provided relief in midfield a few times to disrupt Seattle.

Substitutes

MF, Christine Nairn, (76’) N/A — Normally I’d give a rating to someone for 14 minutes of play, but neither Nairn nor Danica Evans got much of a chance to make an impression with just nine touches apiece.

F, Danica Evans, (76’) N/A — Flip throw! We did get that. With Rachel Hill being out, I would have liked to have seen Evans come on a bit earlier. As I mentioned under Nairn, there just wasn’t enough from either player to give a real grade. Each player took a shot at goal, but both were off target.

There you have it. A lot of props given to the defense, but it was a mess of a night the further up the field you got. You know the drill, give me your impressions and your Player of the Match by voting below.

Polling Closed