Orlando Pride
Orlando Pride vs. San Diego Wave: Final Score 1-1 as Winning Streak Ends at 8 Games
The shorthanded Pride scored first but had to split the points on the road with yet another different starting lineup.
The NWSL-record win streak is over but the team remains unbeaten in 2024 after a 1-1 draw against the San Diego Wave at Snapdragon Stadium. Orlando (8-0-4, 28 points) got a first-half goal from Julie Doyle and withstood ferocious attacking pressure by San Diego (3-4-4, 13 points) throughout the second half, conceding a deflected goal by Makenzy Doniak but holding on for a road point.
Orlando remains unbeaten in San Diego (2-0-1) and stays atop the NWSL standings, three points ahead of Kansas City, albeit with one more game played than the Current. The Pride are already within three points of their total for all of last season.
“Overall, I think it’s a good away point,” Orlando Pride Head Coach Seb Hines said after the match. “It keeps our unbeaten streak going as well. It’s always a tough place to come, San Diego away. You look at the personnel they have on the field, you know, internationals all over, but I thought we stood up to the challenge really well.”
Hines did not have a full-strength squad for the contest, with Brazilian internationals Rafaelle and Adriana out of the matchday roster and Marta on the bench after the trio played Tuesday night in Brazil. Anna Moorhouse started in goal behind a back line of Kerry Abello, Kylie Strom, Emily Sams, and Brianna Martinez. The midfield in the 4-4-2 consisted of Cori Dyke — her first NWSL start — Morgan Gautrat, Haley McCutcheon, and Doyle, with Barbra Banda and Ally Watt up top.
The Pride were sloppy out of the gate, turning the ball over repeatedly in the first five minutes. The hosts couldn’t produce any clear-cut chances off of those turnovers, however. The first decent look came in the sixth minute when Strom tried to shepherd the ball out of play but instead turned it over. The ball ended up with Mya Jones in the box and Strom recovered to block her first shot attempt. The rebound came back to her and she sent the follow-up shot off target.
Abello got muscled off the ball in the 11th minute, allowing Jones to get a cross from the right to the far post. Maria Sanchez was there and got her header on target, but it was right at Moorhouse for the comfortable save.
Orlando’s first look at goal came in the 16th minute when Abello stole the ball and sent it to Doyle on the right. Doyle fired her shot near post but missed wide into the outside netting, wasting the opportunity. Two minutes later, Banda tried a curling shot from outside the area on the left but sent it fizzing just wide of the right post.
Doyle took a pass from Watt and got into the box on the right in the 26th minute. Cutting back to her left, she sent a left-footed effort on goal but it was a weak dribbler right at Kailen Sheridan for an easy scoop.
Alex Morgan was sent in deep by Jaedyn Shaw in the 29th minute on the right side. Moorhouse perhaps could have gotten to the ball first, but she hesitated and had to make a big save from point-blank range to keep the game scoreless.
Banda sent in a good cross for Watt from the right in the 31st minute. Watt went down under contact but the referee wasn’t interested in making a call. The Pride won a corner out of it and Strom sent a weak header right at Sheridan.
Moments later, Strom slipped while defending Morgan, who was able to get a clean look at goal but fired her shot right at Moorhouse.
In the 34th minute, Banda got loose on the right and tried a cross that deflected out to the top of the area. McCutcheon ran onto it and fired but the shot was wide.
The Pride broke through two minutes later. Orlando countered off a San Diego set piece and the ball ended up with Banda on the right after a nice play by Martinez. Banda took on Naomi Girma and sent a cross into the middle for Doyle, who contorted her body and stuck out a leg to redirect the ball past Sheridan to make it 1-0 in the 36th minute.
“I definitely wasn’t satisfied with just one goal, and I knew that one goal wasn’t going to win the game. I think once you get one in, your confidence just goes up, and so I’m hoping that that was the start of more to come, but yeah, we’ll see. I’ve just got to keep shooting, and trusting my teammates, and being committed to getting in the width of the goal.”
“I thought we took our goal exceptionally well. It was great to see Julie get on the score sheet,” Hines said.
Banda nutmegged a defender and got in down the left in the 41st minute but her cross for Watt was tipped away by a defender’s toe.
The last chance of the half fell to San Diego, with Danielle Colaprico firing a dipping shot toward goal that Moorhouse tipped over the bar.
San Diego dominated the possession in the first half (65%-35%) and had the advantage in shots (8-6), shots on target (6-3), corners (4-1), and passing accuracy (86%-74%), but the Pride had the only goal.
Marta came on for Banda — who Hines said was on a minute limitation for the match — to start the second half, making her 100th NWSL appearance. The substitution emboldened the hosts, who pressed forward without the fear of Banda’s pace and scoring threat. As a result, the hosts were on the front foot throughout the second half and the Pride’s block dropped deeper as they went back to their play of the first five minutes, repeatedly turning the ball over in their own half.
“It’s very difficult, because there’s not another player like Barbara,” Hines said. “She is always going to put fear in defenders. She’s going to keep defenders honest with starting position. I think if that scenario presents itself again, we still have quality players, and it may look a little bit different.”
The first chance fell for the Wave in the 54th minute when Morgan broke down the left with two teammates in the area and only one defender. Abello was the one defender, and she was able to knock the cross out for a corner. Gautrat cleared the ensuing set piece cross.
Watt got up the right in the 57th minute, with one of her limited second-half touches, but she sent either a cross or a shot attempt right at Sheridan.
Marta had a tight-angle shot in the 60th angle, but the effort was no trouble for Sheridan, who knocked it aside for a corner.
Two minutes later, the hosts equalized. Martinez gave too much space on the right side and it allowed a cross to find second-half sub Doniak. Moorhouse may have stopped the shot, but it deflected off of Abello and in to make it 1-1 in the 62nd minute.
“To be honest, I couldn’t see (the ball), because Kerry was stood right in front of me,” Moorhouse said. “It’s just one of those things. I think on a different day, Kerry can block it.”
“Obviously disappointed with the equalizer, but to see the game out and get a point away from home is pleasing for the staff and the players,” Hines said.
Two minutes after the goal, the Pride survived a scare. Moorhouse came off her line to get to a ball over the top, but she sent her clearance off an opponent and it deflected to Kyra Carusa, who tried to fire into the empty net from distance. Fortunately for the Pride, Carusa didn’t make good contact and sent her shot too low, where Moorhouse could catch it.
A poor giveaway in the defensive half led to a Carusa shot in the 71st minute but it was over the crossbar. The Pride immediately gave the ball back and Savannah McCaskill sent a cross to a wide-open Sofia Jakobsson at the back post, but she sent her header off target.
Substitute Mariana Larroquette nearly got in behind in the 79th minute on a good through ball but she didn’t have enough pace to stay ahead of Abby Dahlkemper.
Two minutes later, Jakobsson sent a dangerous cross to the near post for Doniak but it was just over her head and Moorhouse caught it.
Pride forward Alex Kerr, who was selected in the fourth round of the 2024 NWSL Draft, made her professional debut late, coming on in the 83rd minute for Watt.
San Diego survived a rare mistake by Sheridan in the 88th minute. The goalkeeper came off her line to catch a Marta set piece cross, but she spilled the ball and it laid in the box teasingly, but no Pride players could get to it. The ball was sent out of the box where Martinez gathered it and sent a poor cross out of play.
Nothing came of the six minutes of stoppage time for either side, with neither getting a clear-cut opportunity. Marta made a nice move to keep a ball in at the end line but sent a screamer out in front that was too close to Sheridan, who covered it. On the other end, a deflected cross fell to Kristen McNabb outside the area and the fullback sent a shot that sailed well off target.
That was it, and the teams had to split the points.
San Diego dominated the stat sheet, finishing with the advantage in possession (65%-35%), shots (19-9), shots on target (13-6), corners (6-2), and passing accuracy (85%-74%).
It wasn’t the kind of performance the Pride have shown during much of the unbeaten streak so far, but considering the unavailability of key players and a difficult road environment against a determined opponent, the draw isn’t the worst outcome in the first of four road games in the final five matches before the Summer Cup break.
“I think the players (were) coming off the field disappointed (with the draw) that they put themselves in a position to win the game,” Hines said. “Unfortunate not to see it out or get that second goal. But you know, every game has its challenges. I think there’s elements of our game that we can continue to improve on. I think we can control the game more in possession, find connections and our links, but again it’s a good away point. Last year we probably would have taken that, but the players have set high standards for themselves and so have we as staff.”
Moorhouse confirmed Hines’ observation.
“I think the biggest thing is disappointment,” the goalkeeper said about the game. “I definitely thought we defended well. We attacked well as well. I think we were very disappointed to come away with a point and not all three.”
The Pride will finish their two-game road swing on Saturday, June 15 at North Carolina.