Orlando Pride vs. Seattle Reign FC: Photo Gallery

The Orlando Pride hosted the Seattle Reign in the NWSL playoff quarterfinals Friday night, advancing 2-0 with a goal in each half. In a well-executed rematch of last weekend’s Decision Day matchup, Orlando created chances early and managed to take the lead in the first half with Haley McCutcheon providing more postseason magic. Once playing with the lead, the Pride stayed well organized but had to weather a lot of Seattle pressure as the visitors pushed to find a way back into the match. Ultimately, Marta — as she so often does — made the game’s decisive play, allowing Luana to push Orlando into the semifinals.

Orlando started the game as the aggressor, creating the majority of the shots early. Most of their chances were routine until the 17th minute, when Julie Doyle received the ball in the Seattle penalty area but didn’t get enough on the shot. The chance foreshadowed the opener four minutes later, as Doyle played a give-and-go with Marta, receiving an excellent through ball before finding McCutcheon in about the same place. McCutcheon placed her shot perfectly inside the left post for a 1-0 lead.

Orlando continued to try to create chances, but struggled to make the same quality entry passes for the remainder of the half. Seattle’s pressure started to affect the Pride and turn the hosts over, and the Reign attack grew into the game a bit more. While they didn’t have any exceptionally dangerous looks, the chances were all Seattle’s way through to the halftime break.

Orlando tried to catch Seattle off guard coming out of halftime with a well-placed shot from Ally Lemos in the 46th minute that forced a good save from Reign goalkeeper Claudia Dickey. Starting around the 60th minute, Seattle pushed numbers higher, repeatedly taking the ball away and looking to counter. As a result, most of the remaining chances went the Reign’s way, including a Sally Menti free kick off the crossbar in the 63rd minute and an Anna Moorhouse kick save against Maddie Mercado in the 76th.

In the 82nd minute, Marta showed the grit that has defined her career, stepping in front of a back pass and running solo against Seattle defense into the box. Jordyn Bugg defended well, ushering her to the corner of the penalty box despite the Brazilian’s appeal for a penalty, but this again foreshadowed future events in the game. At the next stoppage, Simone Charley came on in the 83rd minute and provided fresh legs for some outlet relief, creating two shots in the process, but neither was threatening.

Deep in stoppage time, Marta wove more of her magic. The veteran midfielder received a clearance just outside the Orlando penalty area and, instead of lumping it down into the corner to waste some time, Marta showed grit and determination, going on a full-field run into the Seattle penalty box. Phoebe McClernon and Samantha Menza could not stop her, instead conceding a penalty deep in second half stoppage time. Always a class act, Marta then protected the spot until players were set and turned over the ball to Luana, for an emotional close to the game. Her Brazilian international teammate didn’t disappoint, smashing her first Pride goal into the upper left quadrant of the net to put the match away.

We hope you enjoy these images to a memorable playoff victory by the Pride. It wasn’t the prettiest game, but Orlando was able to grind out a result in the postseason against a determined and organized opponent, advancing to the NWSL semifinals.