Orlando Pride vs. CF Pachuca, Concacaf W Champions Cup: Photo Gallery

The Orlando Pride returned to Concacaf W Champions Cup action Wednesday night at home needing a win to reach the semifinals in their first time in the competition. Another shot of Marta magic was not enough by itself to provide a victory against CF Pachuca Femenil and the clubs drew 1-1. The Pride created plenty of chances to find a second goal, but were wasteful with those opportunities. As a result, they were eliminated from the tournament on goal differential, despite tying for second in the group with the visitors from Mexico.

Seb Hines played a few more starters than he had been using in the competition, but with three matches in eight days, he still opted for rotation rather than playing his best starters in a must-win match. He introduced more of those starters in the second half, but it did not produce the intended result.

The Pride came out on the front foot and Marta put Orlando on top with a stunning free kick goal, playing the ball perfectly over the wall and scoring off the inside of the near post in the 25th minute to take the lead.

Finding themselves trailing and in danger of being eliminated, Pachuca pushed forward after the goal, creating opportunities for the rest of the half against a turnover-prone Orlando, which held the visitors at bay.

Hines made three changes at the break, but one of those was detrimental, as he moved Cori Dyke from fullback to center back, withdrawing Rafaelle, who had played well in the first half. Pachuca drew level in the 54th minute on a ball into the area that Dyke couldn’t handle. It deflected off of her and straight to Chinwendu Ihezuo, who fired a shot off Emily Sams and past backup goalkeeper Cosette Morché to tie the score.

The introdduction of Jacquie Ovalle shortly afterward didn’t help Orlando much, as the team could not supply service to the Mexican winger. Still, the Pride built up some nice attacks up the left side but could not be lethal in front of net at the end of those buildups. The best of those chances fell to Summer Yates, who fired wide for the fourth time in the match, and a Marta header on a good ball in from distance was flicked straight down the middle for an easy save. Haley McCutcheon hit the crossbar late, and that was as close as the Pride could get.

Orlando fell short in the end, and the team’s first foray into international competition came to a disappointing end. As it has been throughout the regular season, the team’s biggest issue in the tournament was scoring goals. A few more goals against the weaker sides in the group or one more in the final match would have seen the Pride through to the semifinals.

he team now must focus on closing out the NSWL season strong to secure a home match in the playoffs, but it won’t be easy on the road against Washington today or at home in the finale against Seattle.

We hope you enjoy these images from the Pride’s historic first Concacaf W Champions Cup campaign and first-ever meeting with CF Pachuca.