Orlando Pride
Orlando Pride vs. Kansas City Current: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
The Pride look for their first regular-season points as they hit the road and face the Kansas City Current.
Welcome to your match thread as the Orlando Pride (0-3-0, 0 points) return to NWSL regular-season action tonight, facing the Kansas City Current (0-3-0, 0 points) at Children’s Mercy Park. This is the first of two meetings between the Pride and Current, with the return game at Exploria Stadium scheduled for June 24.
Here’s everything you need to know about tonight’s game.
History
The Current joined the NWSL in 2021 after its ownership group bought the Utah Royals and relocated the team to Kansas City. It’s the second NWSL team in the city — FC Kansas City played there from 2013 to 2017 before moving to Utah — and the team was known as NWSL Kansas City for its inaugural season.
The Pride and Current have only played four games against each other, all in the regular season. Orlando has a 2-0-2 record in the series and has outscored tonight’s opponent 8-5.
The two teams met last on July 31, 2022, in Kansas City, while the Pride were in the middle of their seven-game unbeaten run. The Pride opened the scoring when Erika Tymrak found the head of Celia and doubled the lead just after halftime through Julie Doyle. The Current came storming back with goals by Elyse Bennet and CeCe Kizer, pulling out a 2-2 draw.
Last year’s first game between the two was on May 14 at Exploria Stadium. The Pride took the lead early in the second half on a Gunny Jonsdottir goal. Bennett late in the second half, and the visitors appeared to win the game a minute into injury time through Kristen Hamilton. However, Kylie Strom was pulled down in the box five minutes later, resulting in a penalty. With Marta injured, the only player willing to step up to take the penalty was center back Toni Pressley, who drilled the ball into the roof of the net, pulling out a 2-2 draw.
The teams played twice during the 2021 NWSL season, with the first game occurring on May 30 at Exploria Stadium. In the 16th minute, Courtney Petersen found Alex Morgan just outside the six-yard box and the striker headed in the game’s lone goal. It appeared as though it was cleared off the line but the referee said it went over and the Pride won 1-0.
The Pride and Current met again on June 23 at Legends Field in Kansas City. The Pride had a weakened squad as then-coach Marc Skinner left some key players at home, preparing to lose them to the Olympics. It looked to be costly when Mariana Larroquette gave the hosts the lead in the eighth minute of first-half injury time. But the Pride responded well.
Two minutes after Larroquette’s goal, Sydney Leroux’s shot took a deflection off a defender and went in to make it 1-1. Shortly after halftime, Leroux scored on a great individual effort from just outside the box. Marta then scored the goal of the game, beating Kansas City goalkeeper Abby Smith from the top of the center circle, lifting the Pride to a 3-1 win.
Overview
It’s been a tough start to 2023 for the Pride. After receiving a 4-0 beating by the Portland Thorns, they’ve had a record-setting couple of weeks, conceding the latest goal in NWSL history three times. The first took place in a 2-1 loss to Angel City and they broke that record twice in a 2-0 loss to NJ/NY Gotham FC.
The most recent game was the first 2023 Challenge Cup match. Ally Watt’s second-half goal gave the Pride their first lead of the season and they held onto that lead until the last second. Denise O’Sullivan scored in the ninth minute of second-half injury time, stealing two points from the Pride in a 1-1 draw.
The Pride have been dealing with the injury bug early this year. The most notable is Doyle, who started the first two games, but suffered an ankle injury against Angel City and was subsequently placed on the 45-day disabled list. The team has also suffered injuries to starters Carrie Lawrence, Celia, Anna Moorhouse, and Marta.
Apart from the season opener, the Pride defense hasn’t been bad, only conceding one goal in three games before second-half injury time. The problem has been the final minutes and the attack. The goal by Watt Wednesday night was only the team’s second in four games and, as previously mentioned, the first time they’ve led this year.
This evening is a decent chance for the Pride to get their first league point of the season as they face the only other pointless team in the NWSL. The Current fired their head coach, Matt Potter, just hours before their Challenge Cup game in Houston Wednesday for the slow start and apparently losing the locker room. He was replaced by Caroline Sjoblom, who will take charge for the second time this year and first time in a league game.
Unlike the Pride, the Current haven’t come very close to claiming points in the regular season. They’ve been worse defensively, conceding a league-high nine goals in total and eight in their two most recent league games. They haven’t been any better than the Pride offensively to start the season, scoring once in their first two games, but scored twice against the Chicago Red Stars. However, they were already trailing 4-0 by the time they got their first goal.
Similar to the Pride, the Current looked better in their Challenge Cup opener. But tonight’s opponent was able to hold on for the win in their game. It was a Kizer brace that gave Kansas City the 2-0 win over the Houston Dash on the road Wednesday night.
Despite the win, the start to the 2023 season is a surprising one for the Current, who finished the 2022 season in fifth and made it to the NWSL Championship Game, where they lost 2-0 to the Thorns. They brought back almost their entire starting lineup from 2022 and added the highly-sought after Brazilian attacker Debinha from the North Carolina Courage.
With their roster and the success they had last season, it seems that the Current will eventually break out of their slump. The coaching change could have an impact on that, but the Pride are hoping a regular-season turnaround will happen after tonight’s game.
“They’re going through (a coaching) change. They’re all also looking to win a game of football like ourselves, so it should be a really good, interesting game,” Pride Head Coach Seb Hines said. “It’s nice to go away from home, different environment. Obviously they’re building something there in terms of their fans and stadium up-and-coming, but we have to focus on ourselves.”
Aiding the Pride in their quest for points, the Current have 11 players listed on their availability report. Elizabeth Ball (hamstring), Morgan Gautrat (calf), Hanna Glas (knee), Kristen Hamilton (knee), Claire Lavogez (knee), Alex Loera (foot), Sam Mewis (knee), Desiree Scott (knee), Mallory Weber (knee), and Jenna Winebrenner (COVID protocol) are listed as out. Mimmi Larsson (hamstring) is listed as questionable.
The Pride enter this game without Kerry Abello (hip), Haley Bugeja (head), Julie Doyle (ankle), Celia (leg), and Carrie Lawrence (knee). Amanda Allen is still on international duty.
Official Lineups
Orlando Pride (5-3-2)
Goalkeeper: Carly Nelson.
Defenders: Kylie Strom, Emily Madril, Megan Montefusco, Caitlin Cosme, Haley McCutcheon.
Midfielders: Viviana Villacorta, Marta, Jordyn Listro.
Forwards: Ally Watt, Adriana.
Bench: Kaylie Collins, Maliah Morris, Summer Yates, Mikayla Cluff, Tori Hansen, Brianna Martinez, Anna Moorhouse, Erika Tymrak, Messiah Bright.
Kansas City Current (5-3-2)
Goalkeeper: Cassie Miller.
Defenders: Hallie Mace, Gabrielle Robinson, Addisyn Merrick, Croix Soto, Kate Del Fava.
Midfielders: CeCe Kizer, Vanessa DiBernardo, Lo’eau LaBonta.
Forwards: Michelle Copper, Debinha.
Bench: Rylan Childers, Mimmi Larsson, Chardonnay Curran, Izzy Rodriguez, AD Franch, Jordan Silkowitz, Alexa Spaanstra.
Referees
REF: Karen Callado.
AR1: Art Arustamyan.
AR2: Katarzyna Wasiak.
4TH: Patricia McCracken.
VAR: Carol Anne Chenard.
AVAR: Emma Richards.
How to Watch
Match Time: 5 p.m.
Venue: Children’s Mercy Park — Kansas City, KS.
TV: None.
Streaming: Paramount+ (U.S.), NWSLsoccer.com (International).
Twitter: For rapid reaction and live updates, follow @TheMandLand and the Orlando Pride’s official Twitter feed (@ORLPride).
Enjoy the match. Go Pride!