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Orlando Pride vs. Angel City FC: Final Score 2-2 as Pride Claim Point on Late Equalizer

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2 years ago

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The Orlando Pride (3-5-6, 15 points) had to come back twice, but managed to pull out a 2-2 draw against Angel City FC (5-5-3, 18 points) at Exploria Stadium. Former Orlando fullback Ali Riley gave the visitors the lead just before the half but Julie Doyle came off the bench to score her second goal in as many games in the second half. Angel City responded with a goal off a set piece by Cari Roccaro, but an own goal by Paige Nielsen in second-half injury time caused the game to end in a draw.

Pride Interim Head Coach Seb Hines made only two changes to the team that drew 2-2 with the Kansas City Current last weekend. Starting center back Megan Montefusco was suspended due to yellow card accumulation and replaced by Toni Pressley. Additionally, Darian Jenkins returned to the lineup, replacing Doyle. As a result, the back four behind Erin McLeod consisted of Celia, Pressley, Carrie Lawrence, and Kylie Strom. The midfield was made up of Meggie Dougherty Howard, Jordyn Listro, Erika Tymrak, Viviana Villacorta, and Kerry Abello, with Jenkins up top.

The first chance of the game was for the Pride in the fourth minute. A quick pass by Villacorta allowed Strom to find Abello in the box. The midfielder attempted a shot from the left of goal, but it skipped across the six-yard box and out for a goal kick.

In the 24th minute, Tymrak found Dougherty Howard near the box. The Pride midfielder attempted to curl the ball around Angel City goalkeeper Didi Haracic, but it was deflected out of play.

Three minutes later, Strom nearly found Tymrak in the box. It was a good run by Tymrak and a good ball through by Strom, but it was a bit too far and Haracic was able to beat the Pride midfielder to it.

Tymrak had a great chance in the 29th minute when Strom gave her the ball inside the Angel City box. The midfielder should’ve been able to put the shot on target, but it somehow managed to flick up onto her arm. The referee didn’t call a handball, but it provided Angel City with an opportunity to clear.

After messing up her first golden opportunity, Tymrak was given a chance to redeem herself in the 39th minute. She received the ball in nearly the exact position as her 29th-minute chance. This shot was hit towards the goal but was well over the crossbar.

Angel City didn’t have many great chances in the first half, but made the Pride pay for missing theirs. In the 40th minute, Riley received the ball on the left. It appeared as though she would attempt a cross, but instead went for goal and beat McLeod to the far post.

After failing to score in her 24 appearances with the Pride, the right back has now scored twice in her last three games with Angel City.

The Pride did have one last chance to equalize before the end of the half. Jenkins cut inside from the right and into the box, creating enough space to get a shot off. But it was blocked and the Pride went into the break down 1-0.

The visitors had slightly more possession in the first half (50.9%-49.1%) but the Pride had more shots (7-4), crosses (8-2), and corners (2-0) in the first 45 minutes.

“Seb just told us to play with courage,” Abello said about the halftime talk. “You know, we need to want the ball. Everyone needs to want to get on the ball and turn and go forward. And not that we weren’t playing with courage, but I think we needed even more of a drive and Seb, he believed in us.”

The visitors nearly doubled their lead right after the break. Coming on as a halftime substitute, Simone Charley was one-on-one with Lawrence heading into the Pride box after a long ball by Megan Reid. The center back fell, allowing Charley to be free in on goal. However, she lost control of the ball, allowing the Pride to escape the dangerous situation.

The Pride should’ve had the equalizer in the 49th minute when some nice moves by Abello created enough space to send the ball into the box. The cross sailed over the head of Haracic to Jenkins at the back post with a wide open goal in front of her. She headed the ball down, but it was straight down, resulting in it bouncing over the crossbar instead of into the open net from just a few feet in front of the goal line.

In the 63rd minute, Tymrak played a ball into the box, looking for Abello at the near post. The ball was a bit too far for the midfielder and Tyler Lussi knocked it out of play. The ensuing corner was to the near post where Celia and Lussi came together. However, the ball bounced out of play and Angel City was able to clear.

The Pride got their equalizer a minute later. It started with a Doyle cross that was headed on towards goal by Tymrak. The shot was blocked and ended up with Savannah McCaskill at the top of the box facing the goal. Pressured by Villacorta, McCaskill played it back to Nielsen. However, Doyle beat her to the ball and shot into the roof of the net.

It was Doyle’s second goal of the season and her second in two games. She also scored the second goal last week in the Pride’s 2-2 draw with the Current.

“She’s been terrific,” Hines said about Doyle’s current goal streak. “She was fortunate enough to start off having given a really good performance against Kansas, but these are the decisions you have to make as a head coach. So she made an immediate impact and that’s all we can ask. When players come onto the field as a substitute, can you make an impact in a game? And she certainly did that today. With getting a goal and making difficult runs, finding the spaces.

“We’re talking about a rookie. We’re improving her, developing her. You know, going through a slight bit of adversity, how are you going to react not starting? And she showed today, her reaction was brilliant.”

Angel City didn’t wait long to answer, doing so in the 72nd minute. First, Charley got her head to a Lussi cross, putting it on target. McLeod did well to get down and knock it out of play for a corner kick.

The ensuing corner kick was flicked on by the head of Nielsen. It landed at the feet of Villacorta and Roccaro. Villacorta was unable to get her foot to the ball and Roccaro quickly shot on target, putting it past McLeod and giving the visitors a 2-1 lead.

The Pride nearly found another equalizer in the 79th minute when Strom played Abello behind the Angel City defense. The midfielder shot with her second touch, but sent it just wide of the post.

The hosts had another good opportunity in the 87th minute when Mikayla Cluff was fouled by Jun Endo. Thais Reiss stepped up to take the free kick but sent it straight into the wall. The ball bounced right back to Reiss, who sent a second shot into the wall, allowing Angel City to clear.

The Pride continued to pressure, looking for a second equalizer. They were given a boost when the fourth official held up five minutes in injury time. They didn’t need much of those five minutes as they found a second equalizer inside the first minute of added time.

The team worked the ball out to Abello on the left, with the final ball coming from Reiss. Abello quickly sent a hard cross into the box, where Doyle was making a run and Cluff was heading towards the back post. Nielsen got to the ball before either Pride attacker, but knocked the ball into her own net, evening the game at 2-2.

“I was just so thankful,” Abello said about having a part in the equalizer. “I was definitely a little disappointed at some of my chances missed earlier in the game. So my one goal is just to make a difference, make something happen. You know, it’s not always going to be pretty and at the end of the day, it was a deflection but I was happy with the chance I took to just drive across the goal.”

After the equalizer, the Pride continued on the attack. Two minutes into injury time, Doyle made a good run toward the end line and won a corner. The ensuing set piece was knocked out of play for a second corner, but that one was cleared away.

The final chance of the game for the Pride came in the fourth minute of added time when Jasmyne Spencer fouled Reiss at the top of the box. Tymrak took the free kick but sent it wide.

Despite barely hanging on to a draw in the final minutes, it was Angel City that had the last chance of the game. Endo found former Pride player Dani Weatherholt in the box and the midfielder shot on goal. But it was right at McLeod who made the save and ended the game.

Other than the scoreline, it was a dominant performance by the Pride. They ended the game with more possession (52.6%-47.4%), shots (16-9), corners (7-4), and crosses (28-9). The difference in the game was the lack of shooting precision as the Pride only put one shot on target and Angel City put four on frame.

“Entertaining. Happening more often than not,” Hines said about the game. “I said in pregame that what you’ll find today is two teams that are both wanting to win, needing to win to get three points. We’re obviously chasing Angel City. Obviously chasing the playoffs as well. So I felt that we dominated the game in possession. Even out of possession I think we’re in controlled spaces, that they were patient in trying to pull us out of positions. But you know, we’re allowing the right people to have time and space on the ball. And there was a few little adjustments that we had to make at halftime. We had to increase the energy on our shifts across to keep them spaces tight and the players did that. But the game is all down to goals and we created a lot of good opportunities to score. We have to take them and when we do take them, we’re going to be even more of a threat than we showed today.”

This draw is another point for a team pushing for the sixth and last playoff spot. And while the team will be happy to extend its unbeaten run to five games, they’ll also look back at several missed opportunities that could have resulted in the Pride claiming all three points. 

“It’s the hardest part of the game, right? Putting the ball in the goal,” Hines said about the missed chances. “And I don’t know if it’s repetition in training. The players have showed that they can put the ball in the goal in training. We created them sort of opportunities in training as well.”

This is the third game this season that the Pride have come back to score an equalizer in second-half injury time. They previously did it on May 14 against the Current and on May 27 against the Washington Spirit — both at Exploria Stadium.

“I think it’s our leaders,” Abello said about the team’s ability to come back. “You know, I think it’s players that really step up and our leaders, not just our older players, but our younger players coming on. Thais came on today and brought so much energy and a voice and arrangement and I think that’s what really drives us late in the game. I wish it wasn’t always coming down to an equalizer at the end of the day. But I think it says so much about our team and our identity and the work we put in at training.”

The draw keeps the Pride in playoff contention, six points behind OL Reign for the final playoff spot. However, the Pride have a game in hand.

They’ll look to extend their unbeaten run to six games next Saturday night when they travel out west to face expansion side San Diego Wave FC for the first time.

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Orlando Pride Announce 2025 Preseason Camp Roster

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1 day 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.

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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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