Podcasts
SkoPurp Soccer Episode 21: San Diego Wave Rewind and OL Reign Preview
One chance for the Pride to climb above the playoff line came and went, but another awaits on Sunday.
Just when we were getting used to the Orlando Pride winning regular-season games, they lost one. What can we say? We’re not allowed to have nice things. You can’t win them all, anyway, and the Pride played quite well in most phases of the game on Friday night. The inability to finish chances was frustrating for all involved but the failure to deal with corner kicks on the defensive end was even worse.
The Pride dropped a 2-1 home decision, falling to the San Diego Wave for the first time in the all-time series (2-1-1). Orlando did a nice job keeping Alex Morgan quiet, but switching off on those set pieces cost the team a chance to leapfrog the Wave into the playoff positions. We break down the game and make our selections for Player of the Match.
This week’s mailbagbox was empty (we think…Twitter was acting up) and we did a little housekeeping. Hopefully you get through the storm OK and send in your questions for next week’s show. Remember, you can ask us anything by hitting us up on Twitter at either @TheManeLand or @SkoPurpSoccer and using the hashtag #AskSkoPurp. Or you can visit our show page, scroll down, and fill out the handy form.
The road ahead for the Pride is a difficult one with five matches to play. We discussed the remaining schedule, the NWSL standings, and how the Pride could finish anywhere from about second to 12th in the league. It’s been a crazy year around the NWSL, with lots of parity.
Finally, we looked ahead to the Pride’s second consecutive opportunity to beat the team in front of them in order to vault into a postseason spot. Can Orlando get its first road win in the series against the Reign? If so, it would be one of the biggest wins in club history. We tell you our key matchups for the game and make our final score predictions.
Here’s how Episode 21 went down:
0:15 – The Pride struggled to finish chances and defend corner kicks. That was a bad combination.
21:55 – A walk through the standings and schedule and our key matchups and predictions for a trip to Washington to face OL Reign.