2022 Orlando Pride Season in Review: Anna Moorhouse

The Pride signed English goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse on Jan. 31. The 26-year-old had been playing in France with Bordeaux and with a two-year contract and the club using NWSL Allocation Money to make the signing, it was thought that the Oldham, England native would come in and compete with Erin McLeod for the starting role. At the time, backup Kaylie Collins was unsigned.

Moorhouse was kept on the bench whenever McLeod was available, however.

Let’s take a look back at her first season in Orlando.

Statistical Breakdown

Moorhouse made her competitive Pride debut on March 30 at home against NJ/NY Gotham FC — a 1-0 loss for Orlando in the 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup. She appeared in three matches (all starts) during the Challenge Cup, playing 270 minutes and making 14 saves and allowing nine total goals for a goals-against average (GAA) of 3.00. The Pride went 0-3-0 with Moorhouse in net, but she faced an incredible 58 shots (23 on goal) in those three matches. She led all Pride goalkeepers in games, minutes, and saves in the Challenge Cup but conceded the most goals and had by far the highest GAA. In those three matches she finished with four catches, one punch, and two clearances, and did not have any drops. Her distribution was poor, as she passed with a 62.6% success rate (just 42.4% on long passes).

She made her NWSL regular-season debut with the Pride on Sept. 9 in a 2-0 home loss to the Portland Thorns and got another start in the Pride’s next game Sept. 16 at Louisville — another 2-0 loss. The Pride were 0-2-0 with Moorhouse in net in the 2022 regular season but scored no goals for the English goalkeeper. Moorhouse made two appearances in the regular season (both starts) and made nine saves, allowing four goals for a 2.00 goals-against average in 180 minutes played, facing 28 shots (13 on target). She finished the year with a 69.2% save success rate, one punch, three clearances, and one drop. She passed at an 84.2% rate (56.3% on long balls).

Best Game

Moorhouse’s best performance was probably in her regular-season debut. Despite losing 2-0 to the Portland Thorns, Moorhouse faced 17 shots, including eight on target, making a regular-season-high six saves to keep the match closer than perhaps it should have been. although the Thorns helped by hitting some of those 17 shots off target. There was nothing she could have done with Yazmeen Ryan’s point-blank redirection, as Kylie Strom simply got out-muscled in front of goal. It appeared that she didn’t see the shot on the second goal by Hina Sugita, which snuck just inside the post to her left, until it was too late to stop. Some less passive defending by Jordyn Listro, who also acted as the screener who helped shield Moorhouse’s view of the shot, might have prevented the chance from happening at all. The goalkeeper accepted responsibility anyway and said she got her bearings wrong and thought the shot was heading wide.

“I thought it was going wide,” Moorhouse said about conceding the goal. “I got my bearings just a little bit off. But, to be fair, she put it in off the post so it was right in the corner. So I’m going to have to come up with something special to even keep that out.”

2022 Final Grade

For her first season in Orlando, The Mane Land staff gives Moorhouse a composite rating of 5 out of 10 for the 2022 season. Our consensus was that Moorhouse played better in her two regular-season starts than she did in the Challenge Cup, when she seemed indecisive at times. Those Challenge Cup appearances can be at least partially attributable to not yet being familiar or comfortable with her new teammates, Amanda Cromwell’s system, the playing style in the league, and a new country. It wasn’t great that the team went 0-5-0 with her in goal, but it certainly wasn’t her fault that the Pride scored just three goals in her five starts and 450 minutes of play — and no goals at all in three of those five starts.

2023 Outlook

With another year on her contract, we expect Moorhouse to come in and again compete in camp in 2023. With McLeod out of contract, it remains to be seen if Moorhouse will be counted on to step up her game to become the starter in 2023 or if the Pride will re-sign McLeod or bring in a new No. 1 goalkeeper. Collins is under contract for next season too, and it stands to reason the Pride will sign a third goalkeeper, although whether that ends up being McLeod or someone else remains to be seen. As a group, we aren’t sure Moorhouse can become the everyday starter for Orlando unless she shows more improvement and consistency.

Previous Season in Review Articles (Date Posted)

• Kaylie Collins (10/11/22)
• Parker Roberts (10/13/22)
• Haley Bugeja (10/14/22)