Orlando Pride vs. Washington Spirit: Final Score 4-2 as Pride’s Defense Falls Flat in Home Loss

The Orlando Pride (2-3-2, 8 points) squandered a first half comeback from 2-0 down with some glaring defensive mistakes and an offense that couldn’t get past a stout Washington Spirit (3-1-3, 12 points) defense in a 4-2 home loss. The crowd of 7,507 fans had to wait out over an hour and a half weather delay to be disappointed in the end, despite Barbra Banda’s brace rallying Orlando back to level terms by halftime. Two second-half goals and a lack of offensive threat by the Pride led to the team’s second straight loss in league play.

The Pride have now conceded seven goals in their last two league games, and the team’s trend of starting halves poorly continues, as Orlando fell behind 2-0 within the first six minutes of the game. Sofia Cantore’s early brace set the tone, Claudia Martinez broke the 2-2 tie 10 minutes after halftime, and Trinity Rodman killed the game off in the 70th minute.

“You go in promising positions where I thought we started that first probably one or two minutes, and then, you know, you get punished for not ending it, not finishing your press,” Orlando Pride Head Coach Seb Hines said after the match. “Switched off at the back, and it allows [a] team like Washington, who are really dangerous in transition, with acres of space to run into.”

Goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse started behind a back line of Cori Dyke, Rafaelle, Hailie Mace, and Oihane. Angelina and Ally Lemos were the defensive midfielders behind an attacking line of Solai Washington, Haley McCutcheon, and Summer Yates, with Banda up top. Marta was on the bench after taking a knock last week but did not see the field, even when the Pride fell behind in the second half.

The match, which was scheduled for 4 p.m., finally kicked off at 5:37 p.m., after a delay for inclement weather. But it was the Spirit who handled the start of the game much better, pulling ahead in just the second minute with their first attempt of the game.

Cantore finished off a perfect Trinity Rodman feed over the top that Anna Moorhouse couldn’t stop.

In the sixth minute, Orlando tried to respond, with Banda working herself free on the right side and sending a dangerous cross into the box for Solai Washington’s run. The rookie left her shot too close to goalkeeper Sandy MacIver, who got a touch to it, pinging it off the left post. The rebound sparked a Spirit counterattack, which ended with another Rodman assist and a Cantore goal as Rafaelle lost track of the Spirit striker and couldn’t recover, allowing an easy finish to make it 2-0 in the sixth minute.

Following the second goal, the Pride began to assert possession but rushed their buildup, losing control in the process. They eventually worked the ball to Haley McCutcheon for a shot on goal, but it was easily saved by MacIver.

In the 16th minute, Hailie Mace struggled to contain Rodman, conceding a corner. Washington recycled several balls into the box, but Orlando’s defense eventually cleared them. The Pride then fashioned a counterattack, only for Lucia Di Guglielmo to pull Solai’s shirt, earning a yellow card.

Orlando started to string together periods of possession, but their connections in the buildup were too slow to truly pressure Washington. They earned a corner in the 25th minute, but MacIver scooped it up after a brief scramble in the box.

The Pride’s pressure should have paid off in the 30th minute. A scramble in the box led to Tara Rudd’s foul on Banda, handing Orlando a penalty kick. It was Ally Lemos who stepped up to the spot, but her run-up was easy for MacIver to read and, Lemos placed the ball far too close to the keeper and right at chest level. MacIver made an easy save, sending it out for a corner.

However, after squandering the spot kick, the Pride made the ensuing set piece pay off.

The corner was sent in to Rafaelle, who headed it down and forward to Banda. The Zambian did a good job of boxing out her defender, taking a touch to chest it down, spinning, and firing it in to put it away, cutting the lead to 2-1 in the 33rd minute.

The Pride were buoyed by the goal, coming alive. Orlando prowled around the box with sustained possession, and Banda struck again in the 38th minute to tie the game. Lemos sent a good ball over the top to Oihane on the right. The Spaniard sent in a low cross, and Banda again turned on it and blasted it past MacIver.

The match then settled into a midfield battle, with possession changing hands frequently. In the 43rd minute, Yates fired a shot high over the goal. Washington countered by working the ball into Orlando’s 18-yard box in the 45th minute, but no one was there to finish. The visitors repeated the play in the 48th minute from the other side, but neither attempt was particularly threatening.

The first half ended with possession even (50%-50%), but Orlando led in shots (9-4), shots on target (5-2), corners (3-1), and passing accuracy (80%-73%).

The Spirit started the second half on the front foot and looking to get back in front, but Orlando broke up their efforts to build, and managed to work a Banda shot in the 48th minute that was saved easily by Maclver. Washington worked her way down Orlando’s left side in the 52nd and put a cross into the box but it was too close to Maclver, who caught it easily.

Both teams managed some minor advances into each other’s territory, but good defense by both teams repeatedly snuffed out each chance.

The game turned in Washington’s favor when Mace and Rafaelle both stepped up, and a line-splitting pass allowed Martinez to in behind and put Washington up 3-2 in the 55th minute.

Again the match settled into a bit of back and forth, with not much in the way of threatening attacks. Rodman had a shot in the 63rd but sent it right at Moorehouse. Mace committed another mistake in the 65th, as she passed the ball right to Rodman, who settled and fired but the shot was blocked. Rosemonde Kouassi took a shot after getting onto the rebound but Moorhouse made the save.

The Pride made a triple substitution in the 66th minute, putting Simone Jackson in for Yates, Nicole Payne on for Oihane, and Julie Doyle on for Washington.

The subs didn’t change the game much though, and in the 70th minute, Rodman struck again. It was a simple ball over the top into space, bypassing an Orlando back line asleep to the danger. A precise cross in from Kouassi led to a tap-in by Rodman, putting Orlando in a deep 4-2 hole from which the Pride could not recover.

Luana subbed on in the 74th minute for Angelina and Seven Castain replaced Lemos in the 78th.

Orlando scratched out a few minor efforts in the Spirit’s box, but they still could not test Maclver.

The Spirit almost put another one away on a counterattack in the 85th but it was right at Moorhouse. Orlando responded with a counterattack, with Banda fighting her way through the defense and managing a close-range shot at a sharp angle that wound up over the end line for a corner. McCutcheon sent the ensuing ball in over the crossbar in the 87th.

The Pride spent the rest of the match failing to fashion any real chances with Washington playing keep-away to run out the clock, which they did well.

In the 95th minute Banda managed an attempt from the widest of angles that was easily saved and that was it for the Pride on a disappointing night that had a moment of hope going into half time.

Washington held the most possession (55%-45%) and a slight advantage in passing accuracy (77%-76%), but Orlando led in shots (16-10), shots on target (8-7), and corners (6-2).

“It can’t always be Barbra. It would turn into a one player team,” Hines said. “They do contribute in so many different ways. You know, I think some of the pressing was great. [I] think the creativity from Summer Yates was brilliant as well. You know, taking players on and getting [into] dangerous positions. That first goal again, it comes from a position where you know, you think you’re going to score. We hit the post. I think we hit the bar as well. And these are the fine margins that are kind of letting us down. We don’t want to concede four goals. (I) hate conceding. It hurts a lot. But there’s a few positives that we can take away going into the next game.”

“I think it’s definitely a difficult one. Obviously, nobody likes to lose at home,” said Payne, who made her Pride debut in the second half. “We’ve been working really hard. Especially after the last game, we really went to work to try and work on the things that we needed to fix and tweak. We fell a little bit short, but obviously, we’re a very, very good team, and we’ll have more moments. We know that we can do better and clean up those things that we need to.”

Next up, the Pride face the North Carolina Courage at home on Friday.