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Orlando Pride vs. North Carolina Courage: Final Score 1-0 as Pride Suffer Season’s First Loss

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3 years ago

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The Orlando Pride were completely outplayed, but still only conceded from the penalty spot in a 1-0 loss to the North Carolina Courage at WakeMed Soccer Park. The Pride (0-1-1, 1 point) suffered their first loss of the 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup on a Merritt Mathias penalty kick goal in the second half. North Carolina (2-0-0, 6 points) took complete control of the East Division one third of the way through the group stage with the win.

The far better team on the night won, but the winning goal was not without controversy. Mathias’ goal from the penalty spot came off a questionable handball call on Gunny Jonsdottir, with the ball coming through traffic and hitting her unintentionally while she was not making herself bigger or holding her arm in an unnatural position. The referee thought about it for a couple of seconds before giving it and Mathias took advantage.

The loss broke a string of road results in North Carolina for the Pride, who had three draws and a win in their last four trips to Cary, NC. Orlando is still looking for its first goal in 2022 and under Head Coach Amanda Cromwell.

“Not a great match for us, obviously in possession,” Cromwell said after the match. “I still think we worked really hard and defended pretty well.”

Cromwell made three changes from last weekend’s match, inserting Toni Pressley, Meggie Dougherty Howard, and Parker Roberts in place of Amy Turner, Mikayla Cluff, and Angharad James. Erin McLeod started in goal behind a back line of Courtney Petersen, Pressley, Megan Montefusco, and Carrie Lawrence. Dougherty Howard and Roberts joined Jonsdottir and Marta in midfield, with Darian Jenkins and Sydney Leroux leading the attack.

Once again, the Pride started the match rather sloppily. A botched clearance by Montefusco handed the Courage the ball in the penalty area in the opening minutes of the match but the shot was blocked and Marta did well to come back and help clean things up. In the fifth minute it was Roberts with a wayward pass in the middle of the pitch on her own half to ignite the North Carolina counter. Kiki Pickett luckily fired wide of the right post, although McLeod was well positioned to deal with it if it had been on frame.

Kaleigh Kurtz fired over the bar after a punch from McLeod didn’t go very far off a Courage corner in the 18th minute. The ensuing restart was a costly one for Orlando. Marta jumped to try to get onto a long ball and went down after landing without any contact with a defender. She looked to be in a lot of pain and went off. She did return but it wasn’t for long. Mikayla Cluff subbed on for the captain in the 31st minute.

“Marta going down in the first half didn’t bode well, as far as our possession went,” said Cromwell. “She helps so much with our composure on the ball and to build with her ability to keep it in tight spaces.”

Cromwell didn’t have an update on Marta’s injury after the match.

Kiki Pickett got a head to a Mathias cross in the 33rd minute but Montefusco did just enough to bother her so she couldn’t direct it on goal. Shortly after that, Taylor Smith nutmegged Cluff on the Courage attacking right and set herself up for a shot from the corner of the box but she hit it over the bar in the 38th minute.

Over the final seven minutes of the half, the Pride were unable to string more than two passes together. Some of that was the Courage press, but a lot of it was simply wayward passing or not reacting quickly enough to the situation. The Pride somehow got out of the first half without conceding, but the opening 45 minutes were mostly played in Orlando’s end. There was little for Katelyn Rowland to do in the Courage goal aside from catching a couple of errant corner kick crosses.

The Courage out-shot the Pride 11-2 but got only one on target. The Pride got neither effort on frame. North Carolina held much more possession (65.5%-35.5%) and was far more accurate when passing the ball (86.5%-66.9%). Orlando earned more corner kicks (3-2) despite a severe lack of possession.

“Anytime we come here, it’s not an easy place to play,” Pressley said. “They like to high press. They’re a high-energy team.”

“I think where we struggled, especially in the first half, was in transition,” Dougherty Howard said. “We weren’t connecting on that first pass, so we weren’t really able to get on the ball and really build any momentum.”

Cromwell subbed on Kylie Strom and Angharad James at halftime for Lawrence and Roberts, getting more experience on the pitch for the second half.

There was another scary moment for Orlando early in the second half when Jenkins stayed down for a bit and had to receive attention from the training staff. However, she was able to continue.

Jonsdottir conceded a dangerous free kick in the 53rd minute with a poor challenge from behind and was booked for it. Carson Pickett fizzed a shot over the bar on the set piece. Five minutes later, the ex-Pride defender nearly took advantage of Montefusco failing to clear a set piece delivery and hit a shot just wide off a deflection.

A minute later, the decisive play of the game happened. A ball through traffic hit Jonsdottir’s arm. Referee Joshua Encarnacion took a couple of beats and awarded a penalty. Jonsdottir’s arm was within a few inches of her body and she couldn’t have known the ball was coming, as Strom was in between her and the ball when the cross was made. So, it was unintentional, with her arm not in an unnatural position, and ball to hand. But only Encarnacion’s opinion mattered, and the penalty was given.

“We couldn’t really see it that well but it seemed pretty soft. Her arms were by her side,” Cromwell said.

“The call on the PK? I’m not really sure on that one,” Dougherty Howard said.

Mathias smashed it just under the bar in the 61st minute, giving McLeod no chance.

It was the first goal the Pride conceded under Cromwell, although that may just be down to poor finishing by the opponents thus far. Opponents have only put seven of 32 shot attempts on frame against Orlando through two matches.

Two minutes after the penalty, Brianna Pinto shook free and sent a shot on target that McLeod saved, as the Courage just kept coming. Three minutes later, the Courage shouted for a second penalty when Smith got behind Pressley and the two players raced toward goal. Pressley put a hand on Smith’s outstretched arm and the Courage forward went down easily, and this time Encarnacion wasn’t interested.

“I know she’s really quick, so I was just trying to make it as difficult as possible for her to get a clean touch or clean shot off,” Pressley said. “And I think I had a bit of luck on my side. So thank goodness for that.”

The Pride finally worked the ball up into the final third in the 73rd minute and Leroux had a go from the top of the box but her shot was blocked.

Kiki Pickett fired over the bar after James both gave away the ball cheaply and then conceded a free kick from just outside the area, as the Pride mistakes continued.

Cromwell sent Erika Tymrak onto the field for Jonsdottir and it opened up the game a little for the Pride. But on the first chance to turn North Carolina over and attack with numbers, Tymrak played the ball in to an offside Leroux, with two teammates on her left in the 80th minute. A little more patience in the buildup may have allowed Leroux to reset. Leah Pruitt won a corner just after that and the Courage could only clear the service to the top of the box. Cluff stepped up and hit a hard shot on the half volley but it sliced just wide.

Seconds later, Dougherty Howard stepped into a shot from outside the area and hit it straight at the goalkeeper. It was the Pride’s first shot on target and it came in the 81st minute.

The Courage had little trouble seeing out the final nine minutes, plus five minutes of stoppage time.

North Carolina dominated, with the advantage in shots (17-7), shots on target (3-1), possession (60%-40%), and passing accuracy (80.9%-69.4%). Each team finished with four corner kick opportunities.

“In the first half we tried something a little different in how we defended and it didn’t work really well. They broke our pressure way too easily,” Cromwell said. “So, we changed it in the second half and got a little bit better. But in the end we just didn’t hold the ball well enough. Going forward, we’re going to have to build better and break lines — not just look for (the ball) over the top because we just got too stretched. We couldn’t maintain possession that way.”

“Just figuring out not to play into the trap and what they want and sometimes, you know, just looking beyond that initial pressure is a way to be successful,” Dougherty Howard said. “And then being able to pick up the second ball.”

“The video will be really interesting, because we’ll be able to solve some of the breakdowns and show them where they can be more successful, whether they’re taking an extra touch or an internal dribble, where they can be better support for each other,” Cromwell said. “It seemed like we isolated players too much tonight, a lot of A to B in the passing and we need to be more sophisticated than that.”

The Pride are right back at it during the upcoming midweek, with a home match against NJ/NY Gotham FC Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Exploria Stadium.

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Orlando Pride Announce 2025 Preseason Camp Roster

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11 hours ago

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January 20, 2025

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Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

The Orlando Pride have announced the club’s 2025 preseason roster consisting of 30 players, with one of those (Mariana Larroquette) currently out on loan in Argentina. Another player, forward Amanda Allen, was formerly on loan with the USL Super League’s Lexington Sporting Club, but that loan was terminated when Allen was placed on the Season Ending Injury list on Dec. 9, 2024, with a torn labrum.

The Pride return all of their core players from the 2024 team that won the NWSL Shield and NWSL Championship, including 98% of the player-minutes from last season and all of the team’s goal-scoring from a year ago. Almost all of the players who competed in the team’s incredible season are back from a team that broke league records for points, wins, clean sheets, consecutive shutout minutes, consecutive wins, and consecutive games unbeaten.

New faces for 2025 include two off-season signees — goalkeeper Kat Asman and defender Zara Chavoshi, the first player the Pride signed directly out of college since the league’s removal of the NWSL Draft. 

The roster is made up of four goalkeepers, just eight defenders (compared to 12 a year ago), nine midfielders, and nine forwards. One of those forwards, Larroquette, is on loan with Newell’s Old Boys Women of the Campeonato de Fútbol Femenino in Argentina’s top flight. 

The 30-player roster includes three non-roster invitees: goalkeeper DeAira Jackson, midfielder Aryssa Mahrt, and forward Simone Jackson.

DeAira Jackson was the 2024 WAC Goalkeeper of the Year and a member of the All-WAC first team following her last collegiate season. After playing two seasons at Cal State Fullerton, she transferred to Grand Canyon University and became the school’s all-time shutout leader with 16 in just two seasons. Nine of those came in her senior campaign, which set the school record for most clean sheets in a season. She was also the Outrigger No Ka Oi Tournament MVP and a two-time WAC Player of the Week in 2024. The Fontana, CA native appeared in 43 matches for Grand Canyon across two seasons, compiling a record of 25-11-7, the aforementioned 16 shutouts, a 0.89 goals-against average and a save percentage of .781, facing 415 shots in 3,754 minutes.

Mahrt played three seasons at the University of Wisconsin, appearing in 62 games (61 starts) and playing 4,503 minutes. The Milwaukee, WI native scored 21 goals and added 15 assists, putting 78 of her 114 shots on target. Eight of her goals were game winners. Mahrt started all 21 games in her senior season, leading the Badgers in goals (10) and assists (4). She has represented the United States at the youth level with both the U-14 and U-16 sides. Her soccer lineage includes a great grandfather who played for the Malaysian National Team.

Simone Jackson is a Redondo Beach, CA native who played four seasons at USC, appearing in 73 games (51 starts), scoring 22 goals, and adding 13 assists. In 4,204 career minutes, she fired 192 shots, putting 88 on target and scoring six game winners. She was a member of the All-Big Ten third team following the 2024 campaign, a first-team All-Pac-12 selection in 2022, a third-team All-Pac-12 selection in 2023 and 2021, and a 2021 Pac 12 All-Freshman Team honoree. She has represented the U.S. at multiple youth levels, including at the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, in which she scored for the United States in a 3-1 loss to Japan. Jackson has also participated at every level starting at U-14.

Simone comes from a family with a tremendous athletic pedigree. Her grandfather, John Jackson, was USC football’s running backs coach and offensive coordinator from 1976-81; her father, John Jackson Jr., played both football and baseball at USC from 1986-89 before brief stints with four NFL teams in the 1990s and playing minor league baseball. Her brother, John Jackson III, played wide receiver at USC and is currently with the Chicago Bears organization.

The club’s two Zambian players — Barbra Banda and Grace Chanda — are the only ones listed as internationals. Unlike previous years, no players are listed as not yet reported.

The Pride will kick off their 2025 campaign with a rematch of the 2024 NWSL Championship as they face the Washington Spirit in the 2025 NWSL Challenge Cup on March 7.

2025 Orlando Pride Preseason Roster (as of Jan. 20, 2025):

Goalkeepers (4): Kat Asman, McKinley Crone, Anna Moorhouse, DeAira Jackson (NRI).

Defenders (8): Kerry Abello, Zara Chavoshi, Cori Dyke, Brianna Martinez, Carson Pickett, Rafaelle (SEI), Emily Sams, Kylie Strom.

Midfielders (9): Angelina, Grace Chanda (INTL – Zambia, SEI), Morgan Gautrat, Ally Lemos, Luana (SEI), Aryssa Mahrt (NRI), Marta, Haley McCutcheon, Viviana Villacorta.

Forwards (9): Adriana, Amanda Allen (SEI), Barbra Banda (INTL – Zambia), Simone Charley (SEI), Julie Doyle, Simone Jackson (NRI), Mariana Larroquette (LOAN), Ally Watt, Summer Yates.

Key

INTL: International Player
NRI: Non-Roster Invitee
NYR: Not Yet Reported
SEI: Finished 2024 on the Season-Ending Injury list
LOAN: On loan 

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Pride Ready to Make a Run for the 2025 Title with a Core from 2024

Comparing and analyzing the percentage of returning minutes and goals for the Pride to those of previous NWSL playoff champions.

Published

3 days ago

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January 18, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

During my son’s soccer practice earlier this week I was walking around the park and came upon a basketball court where there was a game going on. One team made a basket to win the game, and a player from the losing team immediately yelled out a phrase that is familiar to anyone who has ever played pickup. “Run that back,” the player said, indicating that they wanted to play another game right away with the same players. The winning team acquiesced, and off they went. Off I went as well, as I did not want to make it awkward by standing there continuing to watch 10 people I did not even know playing pickup hoops in Winter Park.

It was probably already awkward. Oh well.

It was fitting, however, that those players were talking about running it back while I was around a soccer practice, because just a few miles away — in Sylvan Lake Park — the Orlando Pride are preparing for their 2025 NWSL season. And now that Marta has re-signed with the club for two more seasons, the Pride are bringing back nearly every player from the 2024 season. It is not everyone, but the Pride are bringing back a cool 98% of all the minutes played during the 2024 NWSL regular season.

Only four players who played any minutes during that season have departed — Carrie Lawrence (288 minutes), Evelina Duljan (174), Celia (74), and Mariana Larroquette (52), though she is only on loan and is scheduled to be back in the summer, taking their combined five starts and 593 minutes with them — but that leaves more than 25,000 of the 2024 minutes played returning to the Pride for 2025.

Throughout the 2024 season we received indications that the front office really liked the makeup of the group already on hand, as during the year they signed McKinley Crone, Julie Doyle, Cori Dyke, Morgan Gautrat, Brianna Martinez, Viviana Villacorta, Ally Watt, and Summer Yates to new contracts. Most of these were completed in the early to middle part of the season, so even before the team had clinched the regular-reason title and entered the playoffs it was clear that the club felt like it had a good mix of players for the present and the future.

All of these players already being under contract through at least 2025 have made for a very quiet off-season for the Pride so far, and then when Marta made her announcement last week, it cemented the incredibly high percentage of returning minutes. “How high,” you ask in your best Redman or Method Man voice? I already mentioned it was 98%, but of all the NWSL teams who have ever won a championship, that 98% ranks first for returning minutes and represents one of only two seasons when the champion brought back more than 90% of the team’s minutes played from its championship season.

Because the Pride brought back nearly all of their minutes played, it should not be a surprise that they also brought back nearly all of the goals they scored. Except they did not bring back nearly all of the goals they scored, they brought back all 43 of the goals (excluding own goals) they scored during the 2024 season. All of them! The Pride are the first playoff champion in NWSL history to return 100% of the goals scored during their championship season, as you can see from this chart below, which details each playoff champion and the percentage of minutes and goals that returned for the subsequent season. It also shows what place the team finished during the subsequent regular season and playoffs:

The 2018 Courage are clearly the closest proxy to the 2024 Pride, and I like what I see when I look off to the right in that chart, because that team brought back almost all of its minutes and goals and then went ahead and finished first during the subsequent regular season and won it all during the playoffs. I am not saying that the Pride will do the same in 2025, but I am not not saying it either. Give me a few weeks to get my preseason predictions in order and I may actually say it loudly and (being that they are the Pride) proudly.

There are counterexamples as well, as the 2016 Western New York Flash (who became the North Carolina Courage in 2017), 2021 Washington Spirit, and 2022 Portland Thorns all brought back more than 80% of their minutes and 90% of their goals and did not win the playoffs, but both teams were highly successful during the subsequent regular season and won playoff games, though they did not repeat as champions.

One of the more interesting things about the 2025 Pride will be that they will have tremendous continuity with all of their returning minutes and goals, but they will also have continuity with four players who were with the club in 2024 but did not play or barely played due to injury/illness. Neither Simone Charley nor Grace Chanda suited up for the Pride at all last season, but both are experienced players who had been expected to contribute to the team before their injuries. Luana and Viviana Villacorta both did play a little bit — Luana in the beginning of the season and Villacorta at the end. Luana had been starting before her diagnosis of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma ended her 2024 season, and Villacorta played more than 1,000 minutes during each of the 2022 and 2023 seasons before an injury kept her out for most of 2024.

All four of these players are currently listed on the 2025 roster, and as they return to full fitness it will almost be like four brand new signings of players who are clearly NWSL quality players, providing not only depth but also pushing the starters to stay sharp, lest they lose their role to someone challenging for their minutes. Brand new signings often take time to settle in, but these four will be familiar with the club, the coaches, and their teammates, which a huge advantage for the Pride.

Former NBA coach and current front office executive Pat Riley coined the phrase “the disease of more” to reflect what often happens to championship teams during the year after they win their title, as players want more for themselves, be it credit, media coverage, playing time, money, status, etc. Riley said that “success is often the first step toward disaster,” and while I quibble with the word “often” in that quote, I do think it can be true in sports. The Pride will get everyone’s best shot (figuratively, and sometimes literally) in 2025, and to repeat as champions they will have to do a lot of what they did in 2024 while also evolving some as well.

Bringing back nearly all of the same players helps with the repeating of last season’s excellent form, and “adding” those injured players who did not play last season, plus rookie defender Zara Chavoshi and free agent goalkeeper Kat Asman, will bring some new vibes and claws-sharpening-claws energy to the 2025 squad.

The Pride’s season kicks off in early March, and while the roster could still change in the next seven weeks, I think that it is likely that who they have right now is who will be wearing purple in the opening match.

I am looking forward to seeing them run it back while going on a title run.

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Orlando Pride Loan Forward Mariana Larroquette to Newell’s Old Boys Women

The Argentine forward is going home to get some minutes until July 1.

Published

5 days ago

on

January 16, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

The Orlando Pride announced today that forward Mariana Larroquette is going on loan to Newell’s Old Boys Women in her native Argentina until July 1. The move will keep the seldom-used attacker out of the Pride lineup until midseason, but she’ll be able to get some playing time that could prove beneficial to Orlando in the season’s second half.

“We’re excited to find an opportunity for ‘Larro’ to gain meaningful minutes while also being an ambassador for the women’s game in her home country Argentina, as they get set to host the CONMEBOL Championships this summer,” Orlando Pride Vice President of Soccer Operations and Sporting Director Haley Carter said in a club press release. “This will be a great move for her both professionally and personally, and we’re excited to see what she achieves while on loan.” 

The Pride signed Larroquette on July 6, 2023 — just prior to her involvement in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup — on a contract through 2025. The former Club León, Sporting CP, and Kansas City forward and Argentine international was expected to bolster an Orlando attack that was in need of more goals. It hasn’t worked out that way, even though she scored her first Pride goal and added an assist in her first appearance with Orlando in a 5-0 destruction of the Chicago Red Stars at home on Aug. 20, 2023. That remains her only NWSL goal since joining Orlando.

The 32-year-old made just four appearances during the 2024 regular season — all off the bench — logging 48 total minutes. She did not contribute a goal or an assist or even attempt a shot. Larroquette completed just 41.2% of her 17 passes. She started once in three appearances in the 2024 NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup, playing 107 minutes without a goal contribution and attempting three shots. Larroquette did not appear in the Pride’s postseason run to the NWSL Championship.

In her Pride career so far, Larroquette has made just 12 appearances in all competitions, starting just one time, scoring one goal, and contributing one assist.

What It Means for Orlando

Ultimately, this is a chance for Larroquette to get some minutes and perhaps improve her form. Although she provided depth last season, she was rarely used. Playing for the Lepers (seriously, that’s the team’s nickname, which is even stranger than Newell’s Old Boys Women) will get Larroquette playing time in the Campeonato de Fútbol Femenino close to home. This could be the precursor to her departing Orlando for good if she isn’t a good fit for Seb Hines’ tactical approach. At 32, Larroquette is unlikely to bring a windfall to the Pride in a transfer, but she has shown she can be a useful player off the bench when needed in recent years, and has been able to contribute on the international level for Argentina.

This is a move that can help Larroquette re-establish her game and show whether she is still capable of providing offense to her club — whether that ends up being the Pride or another team. As she has not been seeing the field much, there shouldn’t be a big impact to Orlando while she’s away, and it is possible we’ve seen the last of her in a Pride uniform.

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