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Orlando Pride vs. North Carolina Courage: Final Score 2-1 as the Pride Win Their Second Game of the Season

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3 years ago

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The Orlando Pride (2-1-1, 7 points) used an early goal by Sydney Leroux and a late first-half goal by Mikayla Cluff to beat the North Carolina Courage (0-2-0, 0 points) 2-1 in Cary, NC. Brianna Pinto scored a consolation goal late to give the hosts a chance, but the Pride held on for their second win of the season, extending their unbeaten streak to three games (2-0-1).

With the North Carolina Courage losing several key players to injury and COVID protocol, Pride Head Coach Amanda Cromwell made some significant changes to the lineup. Kylie Strom, Viviana Villacorta, Jordyn Listro, Abi Kim, and Julie Doyle all entered the lineup, replacing regular starters Darian Jenkins, Gunny Jonsdottir, Courtney Petersen, Toni Pressley, and Leah Pruitt. Additionally, Angharad James returned from an ankle injury and started the game on the bench.

While the lineup changes can be somewhat attributed to Courage absences, Cromwell spoke last week after the game about the team’s tired legs. This game was an opportunity to give some of the most used players some much-needed rest.

This game got off to a similar start as the Pride’s 1-0 win against Angel City FC. In the fourth minute, Cluff got on the end of a cross but it was saved by Casey Murphy. The Courage goalkeeper wasn’t able to block it far away, sending it right to Leroux, who put it into an empty net.

“The ball just happened to kind of pop out to me,” Cluff said about her involvement in the opening goal. “I was waiting for the second ball and I was able to get good contact on it. She made a great save and then Syd was there to bail me out and put it away for us.”

The Pride have now scored inside the first five minutes of both regular season road games. In Los Angeles, Leroux scored a similar goal in the third minute, giving the Pride a very early lead against the NWSL newcomers. Tonight, they did the same thing, just a minute later.

“It’s huge,” Cluff said about scoring early on the road. “We talked about the big moments in the game and the times that we let them get shifted. The first five minutes of the game is some of the biggest parts. So it’s nice when we’re able to come out and get a strong start.”

“Scoring that early allows us to just play and be calm,” Listro added. “Sometimes at the start of the game it’s super frantic. But when we get that first goal, we can take a breath and then just play our style of soccer.”

The Courage got their first chance in the ninth minute when Diana Ordonez found Rylee Baisden at the top of the box. The midfielder took the host team’s first shot at goal, but it was blocked and the Pride began to head the other way.

The Pride had a great chance to double their lead in the 20th minute. Kim’s cross made it through the box for Ryan Williams, whose poor clearance went right to Cluff. The rookie quickly shot on goal but it was going wide the whole way and didn’t cause any trouble for Murphy.

They had another chance in the 22nd minute when Strom sent a long ball into the box for Doyle. The forward got her head to the ball but it was too soft and Murphy made an easy save.

North Carolina got one of its best first-half chances in the 24th minute from a smart play by Debinha. Meredith Speck played the ball to her right and Debinha, knowing that Ordonez was making a run behind her, let it go. Ordonez took the ball towards the end line and sent in a cross. However, Megan Montefusco did well defensively and blocked the cross. It went out for a corner but McLeod punched the ball away on the ensuing set piece and the Pride were able to clear.

Kim created another chance in the 27th minute when a run to the end line saw the midfielder lift a short cross to the front of the six-yard box. The ball appeared to be a little behind Cluff as she attempted to put it on goal. As a result, she didn’t get much on it resulting in an easy save for Murphy.

In the 30th minute, a misplayed goal kick was won by Listro. She immediately was able to get the ball to Leroux, who took a couple of dribbles and fired on goal from the top of the box. However, the shot was a little wide.

Three minutes later, the Courage had a great chance when Williams sent a cross into the box. Ordonez received the low pass and laid it back for Baisden, who was a couple of yards behind her. Baiden’s first touch was a hard shot, but Carrie Lawrence did well to get in front and block it away.

The Courage got another good chance two minutes later when Taylor Smith got sent in behind the Pride defense. Fortunately, the ball was a little too far for her and McLeod came well off her line to clear it.

Debinha continued her dangerous play from the left with a pair of crosses in the 37th and 41st minutes. The first one was cleared away by Lawrence but the second found a teammate at the back post. Ordonez and Jorian Baucom were charging at the post and Ordonez was first to reach the ball. It was a little high so she wasn’t able to get much on the header that went wide. It was fortunate for the Pride, as Baucom was right behind her and seemed in a good position to get a better shot on target.

While North Carolina looked more dangerous as the game neared halftime, it was the Pride that scored. In the 44th minute, Celia sent a long ball for Doyle. It looked as though the ball would go out of play but Doyle didn’t give up and slid to save it. The ball went back to Leroux who looked to redirect it towards goal but Williams came across to block it. The ball went right to Cluff near the penalty spot who put the ball past Murphy, doubling the Pride lead. It was her first career NWSL goal.

“I can’t remember who crossed it, but I saw the ball getting crossed in and I’m just trying to get into the box,” Cluff said about her goal. “And luckily Syd kind of put her body on the line for us, got the deflection, and I happened to be in the right place at the right time.”

After being a part of the buildup for the second goal, Celia took her own shot three minutes into first half injury time. The shot looked to be going just inside the far post, but Murphy did well to get down and tip it wide of the goal.

The Pride were the better team in the first 45 minutes, with more shots (7-4) and shots on target (4-0). The Courage did have plenty of chances, with more possession (55.6%-44.4%), corners (4-2), and crosses (12-7), but the Pride took advantage of their chances, ending the half with a 2-0 lead.

The Pride made a few changes at the end of the first half and early in the second half. A surprising substitution was Kerry Abello coming on for Doyle a minute into first-half injury time. Jenkins and James both came on at halftime for Kim and Viviana Villacorta, and Pruitt replaced Cluff in the 61st minute.

After the team’s 2-2 draw with the Kansas Current over the weekend, Cromwell spoke about the team not being aggressive enough after taking the lead in the 51st minute. That wasn’t a problem as the second half began with the Pride pushing forward. They weren’t able to create any shots in the opening minutes of the half, but did win a corner kick in the 54th minute.

Both teams had several chances in the first half, but the first good second-half chance didn’t come until the 73rd minute. After winning the ball back inside her own box, Lawrence sent a long ball for Leroux, looking for a fast break. Leroux tried to play it through the legs of Kaleigh Kurtz but the ball bounced off her legs and right back to the forward. Leroux continued on, beating Kurtz and Malia Berkely to find space for a shot. Unfortunately, the shot was just wide of the post, stopping what would’ve been one of the goals of the season.

Playing from two goals behind, the Courage didn’t get their first shot of the second half until the 75th minute. After coming on at halftime, Havana Solaun had to come off due to an injury and was replaced by Pinto. The new addition to the game took a shot seconds after coming on but it was well high of the goal.

The Courage had another chance in the 82nd minute when Jaelene Daniels made a long run into the Pride box after a short pass by Carson Pickett. She did well to find some space but ran out of energy, sending the ball well wide of the target.

As time wound down, the Pride fell into more of a defensive shape, looking to see out the win. But the hosts got one back in the 85th minute. Pinto got a chance from the top of the box but her shot was blocked. The ball went back to Williams on the right who quickly played it back to Pinto. A slick spin opened up some space for the attacker to get a shot on goal. The ball was heading right to McLeod, but took a slight deflection off Montefusco, going inside the near post.

Up a goal and with time winding down, the Pride just wanted to hold onto the lead. Cromwell made one defensive change in the 89th minute, bringing Courtney Petersen on for Abello. The head coach said she would’ve liked to have made one more defensive change near the end. However, the Pride did well to hold onto the one-goal lead.

“North Carolina has a great attack, especially in transition. So we just tried to communicate as much as possible and keep our shape for the last 30 minutes,” Listro said about the final defensive effort. “And I think we worked really hard as a team and tried to win all our one-v-one battles and that showed and we came out with a win.”

The Courage continued to push hard for an equalizer as the game entered injury time and came very close. Three minutes into injury time, Berkely sent Ordonez through behind the Pride defense. She put the ball past McLeod and into the net but was judged to be offside.

While Ordonez was clearly offside, the second one was close. Five minutes into added time, Pickett sent a long ball into the box for Brittany Ratcliffe. Her first touch was over McLeod and in for what North Carolina thought was the equalizer. However, the linesman’s flag was up and, again, the Courage player was judged to be in an offside position.

Shortly after the offside call on Ratcliffe, Pinto tried to send Daniels through but she was the third offside call in injury time for the Courage. The final whistle final blew and the Pride were able to hold on for a 2-1 win.

After being held to four shots in the first 75 minutes, the Courage had six shots and three offside calls in the final 15 minutes plus injury time. They ended the game with more shots than the Pride (10-8) but, while the Pride put four shots on target, North Carolina only put one on frame. The final 15 minutes also allowed the Courage to end the game with more possession (54.4%-45.6%), corners (4-3), crosses (22-10), and passes (454-390).

“Very exciting. My adrenaline was going from those last six minutes of injury time,” Cromwell said after the game. “Obviously North Carolina is a very good team. They won the Challenge Cup. They have a lot of great attacking pieces. So holding on to a lead was really, really hard but important to do and I was just really proud of our efforts.”

“What we’ve been working on is a little bit of mentality, a little bit of having courage,” Cromwell continued. “And one of the quotes I said to them at the end tonight is, ‘Fortune favors the brave.’ And I thought we were brave tonight. I think some players have stepped up to be brave in communication, to be brave on the ball.”

The win pushes the Pride all the way up to second place, just two points behind San Diego Wave FC atop the NWSL standings. However, the Pride have played more games than anyone else and two more than some teams.

After securing seven points in their last three games, the Pride will return home Sunday night to face the Chicago Red Stars in the final match of the three-game week.

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Orlando Pride Announce 2025 Preseason Camp Roster

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2 days 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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Orlando Pride

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

4 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

6 days ago

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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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