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Orlando Pride vs Houston Dash: Final Score 1-1 as Taylor Kornieck Scores Late Equalizer

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2 years ago

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The Orlando Pride (6-5-7, 25 points) got a late header from Taylor Kornieck to draw with the Houston Dash (6-7-4, 22 points) 1-1 at Exploria Stadium this afternoon. Kornieck’s goal off a corner kick cancelled out an early strike by Houston’s Rachel Daly, claiming a point for each team.

The Pride only made one change to the starting lineup from last week’s 1-0 win over NJ/NY Gotham FC. After missing the last game with an injury, Amy Turner returned to the lineup, replacing Toni Pressley. Erika Tymrak remained in the lineup after a strong performance in New Jersey that included a stellar long-range goal.

The Dash got off to a fast start, putting the Pride on their back foot. The first chance for the visitors came inside the first minute, when Kristie Mewis received the ball on the left. With space in the box, Mewis fired on goal but her shot was wide of the target.

In the 10th minute, the Dash broke the early deadlock. After doing well to get in front of the defender, Ali Riley either took a heavy touch or tried a short pass to Turner but didn’t get enough on it. Either way, Daly reacted faster than Turner, ran in, and played it past Ashlyn Harris inside the far post for the opening goal.

“It was interesting because I thought we had a good warm up,” interim coach Becky Burleigh said about the slow start. “But I think it was a little bit of confidence. It was a little bit of tempo. It’s definitely something we’re going to go back and evaluate because we just can’t have that kind of start and expect to get good results.”

“It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what it is,” Meggie Dougherty Howard added. “But I think we just need to be confident from the first minute and I think it takes us a little bit of time to build that confidence through the game.”

The first chance of the game for the Pride didn’t come until the 27th minute. Marta dribbled through a pair of Dash defenders, before taking a long-distance shot from outside the box. The ball was easily collected by Dash goalkeeper Jane Campbell, but it was the first shot for the Pride.

The Dash nearly doubled their lead in the 36th minute. A Mewis corner was headed toward the far corner, but Harris got her hand to it and knocked it away. Unfortunately, the ball went directly to Shea Groom who fired right back on goal. Harris was in a seated position, but was still able to make the save, allowing the Pride to clear.

While the Pride got the ball briefly out of danger, it quickly re-entered the box and was at the feet of Mewis. The dangerous midfielder shot on goal, forcing Harris into another save, keeping the Pride’s deficit at one.

The Pride didn’t have many chances in the first half but did create some near the end. In the 42nd minute, Marta sent a dangerous cross into the box. Jodie Taylor was charging toward goal, but was unable to reach the pass as it sailed harmlessly out of play.

In injury time, the Pride had a pair of opportunities to equalize before the break. First, Gunny Jonsdottir received the ball outside of the box and fired on goal, but Campbell was able to easily catch it. A minute later, Sydney Leroux found space and shot toward the far post. The ball skipped past a diving Campbell, traveling just inches wide of the post.

Similar to the first half, it was the Dash who got the first chance of the second 45 minutes. In the 48th minute, Riley lost the ball to Nichelle Prince in her own third. Prince carried the ball into the box unimpeded, getting a shot on goal. However, Harris was there once again, getting low to make the kick save.

Already down a goal, the Pride suffered a difficult loss in the 60th minute. Jasmyne Spencer got in front of Harris on a Dash corner kick, forcing the Pride goalkeeper to go up and over the former Pride player. Harris dropped the ball, resulting in a scramble in front of goal that saw the ball hit the post.

When the ball was finally cleared, Harris went down in the box. The Pride medical staff attended to her head and neck area, even bringing on a stretcher. Once Harris got up on her own, she was given a concussion test and escorted off the field by the medical staff. Erin McLeod came on for the star goalkeeper, her first appearance for the Pride since June 23 in Kansas City.

“Besides being a little bit sore, I think that we’re out of the woods on that one,” Burleigh said about Harris after the game. “It was more scary at the time. When you have a head or a neck injury, there’s always some concern there.”

In the 79th minute, the Pride created a couple of chances that resulted in the equalizer. It started when Ali Krieger sent a long ball into the box, finding the head of second-half substitute Kornieck. The forward got her header on target, but Campbell was able to tip it over the crossbar.

Dougherty Howard found Kornieck again on the ensuing corner kick. Again, Kornieck put her header on target. Campbell got her hand on the ball, but tipped it against the underside of the crossbar. The Dash tried to clear but the ball snuck over the line for the equalizing goal.

“I’m feeling great,” Kornieck said about scoring her first goal at Exploria Stadium. “It’s been a long time coming. I’m happy for the team to play incredible, and I’m just really happy to get my first goal at Orlando stadium. It meant a lot to me to go in and score, finally, in front of our home crowd, I have no words for it. It just meant the world to me.”

After the Pride had lost one of its most important players earlier in the second half, the Dash nearly lost one of theirs. In the 82nd minute, a dangerous cross into the box found the head of Daly. However, Mewis was also going after the ball and Daly’s head slammed into the midfielder’s shoulder, sending her to the ground. Fortunately for the Dash, their first-half goal scorer was able to resume.

The 95-degree heat showed its impact in the final minutes of the game. The Harris and Daly injuries resulted in 10 minutes of second half injury time, but neither team was able to create a chance and the game ended in a 1-1 draw.

The Pride led many statistical categories in this game, including possession (56%-44%), passing accuracy (78.6%-73.7%), total passes (485-380), and duels (55-43). The difference was in the final third, where the Dash were able to create chances and the Pride struggled. While the Pride were better in the second half, the Dash had more shots (11-8) and shots on target (5-4).

“Looking back on the game, I think we put ourselves in the hole a little bit,” Burleigh said about the performance. “Our start was not what we would hope for, but for the team to battle back and to deal with that adversity and for the people who came into the match, but there were some really strong performances from the reserves. I’d like to shout out Erin McLeod. That’s a tough situation to go into and her composure was incredible. Obviously, Taylor gets a goal coming off the bench. But, Toni Pressley played a big role coming off the bench as well so it’s great to see our reserves making such an impact.”

While the Pride would’ve preferred three points at home, especially having played two more games than multiple teams, it’s a needed point as they look to secure a playoff spot for only the second time in team history. The point keeps the team in fourth in the league, and three points ahead of today’s opponent.

“I think that we’re going to learn from this game,” Dougherty Howard said after the game. “And I think it’s been a little bit of a pain where we’re struggling to start our game strong and today we got punished. So, we were able to fight back and showed a lot of character and getting the result again, but bottom line, we need to start getting better and we know that and I think that’s going to be a real focal point going forward as we make this playoff push. But once we settle in, we show that we can play, and we can be confident on the ball, but we just have to do that from the first minute.”

The Pride will take the field again next Saturday night when they face Racing Louisville FC at Exploria Stadium at 7 p.m.

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2023 Orlando Pride Season in Review: Haley McCutcheon

The veteran fullback logged a lot of minutes for the Pride in 2023.

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20 hours ago

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November 29, 2023

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

Haley McCutcheon was still known as Haley Hanson when she joined the Orlando Pride on Aug. 18, 2022 in a midseason trade with the Houston Dash. The Pride gave up $75,000 in Allocation Money and a second-round draft selection. She joined Orlando for the stretch run, making her debut with the Pride on Aug. 20 in a 2-1 win over Gotham FC. Following the 2022 season, the Nebraska product signed a new contract through 2024 on Oct. 26 of last year.

Let’s look back at McCutcheon’s second year with the Pride.

Statistical Breakdown

The 27-year-old appeared in every one of the Pride’s 22 regular-season games, starting each of them, and was only subbed out twice all year. She logged 1,955 minutes this season, which was third most on the Pride behind only almost-an-iron-woman Emily Madril (1,977) and Kylie Strom (1,967). In other words, McCutcheon played 98.7% of all possible minutes for Orlando during the NWSL regular season. She scored one goal but did not assist on one, despite providing 15 key passes on the year. The defender attempted 17 shots, five of which were blocked and four were on target. She completed 504 of her 716 pass attempts (70.4%), but just 20.8% of her long passes, and nine of her 40 crosses were successful. In her own end, McCutcheon completed 77.6% of her passes but only 59.8% in the attacking half. Defensively, McCutcheon contributed 10 blocks and 18 interceptions while winning tackles at a 56.9% rate, duels at a 58.3% rate, and aerial duels at a 62.7% clip. Surprisingly, she did not tally a single clearance all season. McCutcheon conceded 18 fouls while winning only eight, and she was not booked.

In NWSL Challenge Cup play, McCutcheon appeared in four of the team’s six matches, starting two, and logging 233 minutes. She did not score or assist on a goal, attempting two shots and getting one on frame. Her passing rate in the competition was just 67.6%, and she was successful on 40% of her long passes while logging three key passes and going 1-for-4 on cross attempts. She completed 70.4% of her pass attempts in the defensive half and 62.7% in the attacking half. On defense, McCutcheon contributed two blocks and two interceptions while winning her tackles at a 75% rate, 77.3% of her duels, and 75% of her aerial duels. She conceded two fouls while winning one and was not booked.

Best Game

McCutcheon’s best match came back on April 29 in the Pride’s 3-1 win over the San Diego Wave at Snapdragon Stadium. She tied season highs in shots (2) and shots on target (1), passed at a 90.5% rate, and made three tackles. Those are all good things, but it gets better. In this match, McCutcheon scored her first goal with the Pride and her only goal of the season, and it proved to be the game-winning strike. And what a strike it was! With the ball on the other side of the field, McCutcheon made a smart run on the back side. Midfielder Viviana Villacorta spotted the run and delivered an excellent, long, diagonal ball into the area for her. But McCutcheon still had a lot to do. She put her head on it and powered it over the goalkeeper and inside the far post to give the Pride their first lead of the season.

The Pride added another goal and went on to grab their first win of the 2023 season. That sparked a 3-0-1 run in league play and got Orlando going in a season that came down to Decision Day.

2023 Final Grade

The Mane Land staff gave McCutcheon a composite rating of 6 out of 10 for her 2023 season, which is a slight improvement over her score of 5 last season. She was a good facilitator down the right side of the pitch and could fill in at times in the midfield with her versatility. Where she continued to struggle at times was with her 1-v-1 defending down the Pride’s right side and with her crossing accuracy at times.

2024 Outlook

As mentioned above, McCutcheon is on a deal through the 2024 season and since the Pride are safe from the NWSL Expansion Draft, the only way she wouldn’t be back is via trade or transfer. I expect her back in purple next year as she’s a versatile player who can fill in at multiple spots and she is obviously valued by the club, playing a lot of minutes and even wearing the captain’s armband five times during the 2023 NWSL campaign and twice in the Challenge Cup.

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2023 Orlando Pride Season in Review: Erika Tymrak

The veteran midfielder completed her third season in Orlando purple.

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2 days ago

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November 28, 2023

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride

Veteran midfielder Erika Tymrak signed a two-year deal with the Pride on Dec. 9, 2022, in order to stay in Orlando through the 2024 season. The Pride originally acquired the rights to Tymrak from Kansas City, along with midfielder Gunny Jónsdóttir, on Jan. 30, 2021. In exchange, the Pride gave up the rights to Kristen Edmonds and a second-round draft pick. Tymrak had retired in January of 2020 but decided to return to her pro career, and the Pride signed her to a contract on Feb. 5, 2021, just days after acquiring her rights. The Pride picked up Tymrak’s 2022 contract option following the 2021 season before re-signing her to her current contract.

Let’s look back at Tymrak’s third year with the Pride.

Statistical Breakdown

The 32-year-old appeared in 13 matches, starting 10 and playing 806 total minutes in the NWSL regular season. She was subbed off every time she started. Tymrak did not score a goal in 2023 but did contribute three assists on 21 key passes. Of her 11 shots on the season, she put just three of them on target while three others were blocked. She passed at a 73.4% rate, completing 174 of 237, connected six times on 12 long passes, and was successful twice on five total crosses. In her own half, her passing was better (85%) than in the attacking half (65.1%), as is typical of most players. Defensively, Tymrak won eight of 17 tackles (47.1%), 40 of 93 duels (43%), and just one of nine aerial duels (11.1%). She tallied three interceptions on the year. Tymrak won 14 fouls from the opposition while committing only four and was not booked on the season.

In the NWSL Challenge Cup, Tymrak appeared in all six of Orlando’s games, starting four, and playing 337 minutes. Again, she was subbed off every time she started. She did not score a goal but contributed one assist on four key passes. Tymrak attempted two shots in the competition. Neither was on goal and one was blocked. During the tournament, Tymrak passed at just a 64.9% rate on 74 attempts, was accurate just 33.3% of the time on six long passes, and went 0-for-3 on crosses. She connected on 81.5% of her passes in the defensive half and 43.5% in the attacking half. The Detroit native and University of Florida product recorded five interceptions on the defensive end, won two of three tackle attempts (66.7%), and won 19 of 42 duels (45.2%). She did not win any of her four aerial duels (0%). Tymrak won 11 fouls from the opposition while committing just two and was not booked.

Best Game

There were some good ones to choose from, but I’ll say Tymrak’s best match came on July 1 against the Washington Spirit on the road — a dominant 3-0 Pride victory. Tymrak started and played a season-high 89 minutes (tied with her next outing on July 7 against OL Reign and the April 15 game against Gotham FC). Her big moment in the match was providing the pass that set up this beauty of a goal from Julie Doyle that allowed Orlando to take full control of the match:

Tymrak also drew two fouls on the Spirit in the match and helped her teammates control the game. With the win, the Pride swept the season series from the Spirit.

2023 Final Grade

The Mane Land staff gave Tymrak a composite rating of 5.5 out of 10. This is the same score she received from us for her 2022 season after securing a 6.5 in her first year with Orlando in 2021. Tymrak is a savvy veteran who can read the game well. She doesn’t produce much in the way of offense but she’s helpful with possession, facilitating between the defensive and offensive players around her on the pitch. She has a role on the team and is a useful player to have around to provide depth at this stage of her career.

2024 Outlook

Tymrak is signed through the 2024 season, so it’s likely she’ll occupy a similar role on the Pride next year — a reliable and versatile midfielder off the bench who can find teammates in the attack. Unless the Pride’s shooters are more lethal in 2024, I wouldn’t expect her assist numbers to go up, but perhaps she can find the net herself once or twice next season.

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2023 Orlando Pride Season in Review: Rafaelle

Rafaelle joined the Pride on July 3 and immediately was a key part of the team.

Published

3 days ago

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November 27, 2023

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride

The Orlando Pride signed Rafaelle on July 3 to a contract running through the 2025 NWSL season. The Brazilian international took part in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, joining the Pride after the tournament. She immediately partnered Emily Madril at center back, becoming a key member of the starting lineup as the Pride made a run towards the NWSL playoffs.

Let’s take a look at how Rafaelle played after joining the team this season.

Statistical Breakdown

Rafaelle joined the Pride after the end of the 2023 Challenge Cup, so all of her appearances came in the regular season. She made seven appearances, all starts, and played 610 minutes. She played all 90 minutes in six of those games, being substituted for Megan Montefusco on Aug. 20 against the Chicago Red Stars, her first game with the club. The center back finished the season with 31 clearances, seven blocks, and 11 interceptions. She won nine of her 11 tackles (81.8%), 32 of her 50 duels (64%), and 17 of her 23 aerial duels (73.9%).

Going forward, Rafaelle completed 243 of her 305 passes (79,7%) and 30 of her 64 long balls (46.9%). As expected, most of her passes were forward (37.4%) and she played the ball more to her right (30.5%) than to her left (25.2%). She did not register an assist, a key pass, or a cross on the season. She took seven shots, putting four on target, and scored her lone goal in her Pride debut. Additionally, she won one foul and conceded six, but no penalties and she was not booked.

Best Game

Rafelle’s best game of the season came in her first appearance for the club, a 5-0 win over the Chicago Red Stars on Aug. 20. The Brazilian was strong defensively, winning all three of her tackles and recording one block, three interceptions, and six recoveries. She completed 28 of her 34 pass attempts (82.4%), with 25 of those passes coming from her own half.

It’s arguable whether this was her best defensive game, but it definitely featured the most memorable moment of her first season in purple. In the 14th minute, Penelope Hocking cleared the ball out for a Pride corner. Adriana’s set piece sailed beyond several players, but Rafaelle was on the back side of the box to head it towards goal. Chicago goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher got her hand to the ball, but couldn’t keep it out, giving the Pride an early 1-0 lead.

The Pride were up 5-0 in the 70th minute when Seb Hines decided to replace the center back with Montefusco, giving the 32-year-old defender a rest before an intense end to the season.

2023 Final Grade

The Mane Land staff gave Rafaelle a composite grade of 6.5 for the 2023 season. She was better defensively than Montefusco and slid in nicely alongside Madril. Joining the team late in the season, she had a smaller sample size than she’ll likely have next season, but impressed. Having some competitive games and a full preseason, she might even receive a higher grade next year.

2024 Outlook

Rafaelle joined the Pride late in the season as they made a push for the playoffs. Going into next season, she’ll have experience playing alongside her center back partner, Madril, which should provide more comfort. Her current contract is through the 2025 season, so that pairing will likely remain on the starting back line at least through the next two years.

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