Orlando Pride vs. Washington Spirit: Final Score 1-0 as Pride End Three-Game Losing Streak

The Orlando Pride (8-11-2, 26 points) came away with a shocking 1-0 win over the Washington Spirit (11-6-4, 37 points) this afternoon at Audi Field in Washington, D.C. Haley McCutcheon’s third-minute goal gave the Pride the lead and they held on to claim all three points. Washington dominated the match but could not score on any of its 23 shots.

Pride Head Coach Seb Hines made two changes to the team that lost 2-1 to the Portland Thorns on Aug. 15. Cosette Morche got her first start of the year in goal, replacing regular starter Anna Moorhouse. Angelina also entered the lineup, replacing Solai Washington.

“She’s (Morche’s) been itching for an opportunity. I think Anna’s done great all season long, but we felt we needed to make a change in that position,” Hines said about the change in goal. “She’s been ready. She’s been hungry for this opportunity.”

The back line in front of Morche in goal was Hailie Mace, Rafaelle, Cori Dyke, and Oihane. Angelina and Ally Lemos were the defensive midfielders behind McCutcheon, Julie Doyle, and Jacquie Ovalle with Barbra Banda up top.

This was always going to be a tough game for the Pride. They’ve struggled since the FIFA World Cup break and entered on a three-game losing streak. But the combination of an early goal, Washington’s inability to hit the target, and an excellent last-minute save by Morche lifted the Pride to an unlikely and much-needed win.

The biggest moment of the game came in just the third minute. Banda took the ball off center back Elisabeth Tse’s foot to start a counterattack with Ovalle and McCutcheon making runs. Banda’s pass across the top of the box was too far in front of Ovalle but perfect for McCutcheon. The defensive midfielder struck the ball beautifully, tucking it past a diving Sandy MacIver and inside the near post to give the Pride a 1-0 lead.

“I saw Barbra get the ball, and I just needed to run as fast as I could,” McCutcheon said. “But we talked a lot about how I was in a wider, more advanced position today, and that was because I needed to make runs in the box. And so, I did that and arrived and just tried to place it. And thankfully found the back of the net.

“It’s something that we’ve always been working on. Once Barbra gets in those positions, can we get players to support the attack. Nine times out of 10, she’s going to get the advantage on the defender. So it’s believing in yourself and believing in delivering a really good ball,” Hines added. “And it’s a well-taken finish from Haley McCutcheon, who is playing out of position. But Haley’s done a terrific job since she’s come to the club of playing multiple positions for this team and doing whatever it takes for this team.”

The goal gave the Pride their first lead in four games. The club’s most recent lead was when Doyle scored in the 88th minute against Chicago Stars FC on July 24, which was also a winner.

“We wanted to try to silence this great crowd that they had today, and so that was really fun to do early on,” McCutcheon said. “But we’ve gone down in games and really struggled to come back from that. And so to go up and kind of give ourselves a little bit of a cushion was really nice.”

The first chance for the hosts came in the eighth minute when Trinity Rodman put Oihane under pressure, taking the ball right off her foot. As the attacker played the ball forward for Rosemonde Kouassi, Morche came off her line. Kouassi got to the ball first but was pushed wide. She attempted a chipped shot, but the Pride goalkeeper went up to catch it, ending a dangerous threat.

Banda fouled Tse in the 11th minute, giving Washington a free kick in a dangerous position. Sofia Cantore flicked on Kate Wiesner’s set piece delivery and Rafaelle blocked it. However, it went right back to Cantore, who sent her shot off the crossbar. The ball ended up with Tamara Bolt, who sent her attempt off the far post. The ball continued to bounce around the box before the Pride finally cleared it.

Banda outran Esme Morgan to get to an Angelina clearance behind the Spirit back line and in on goal. However, Morgan caught up, forcing the Pride striker to cut inside. Banda got a shot off, but Morgan did well to block it. Doyle followed the shot and sent her attempt over the target.

The game settled down after the Doyle miss with the next chance coming in the 30th minute. Kouassi received a long ball on the right and created space from Mace with a stepover. She found Rodman approaching the box, but the first-touch shot was off target.

Rafaelle fouled Tse from behind in the 38th minute, giving the hosts a free kick. Dyke’s short clearance fell to Kouassi, but Angelina deflected her follow-up shot out of play. Wiesner’s ensuing corner kick bounced off the near post. The Spirit quickly regained possession after Orlando’s clearance and Morgan played the ball up the field for Bolt on the right. Rafaelle tried to shield the attacker, but she was still able to win the ball. The defense knocked her cross to the top of the six to Rodman at the top of the box. Rodman’s shot went just wide of the near post.

Cantore dribbled into the Pride third of the field in the 42nd minute before finding Rodman to her left. Rodman cut inside and shot, but Dyke deflected it out for a corner. Bolt headed the ensuing free kick to Rodman behind her. Rodman sent in a ball to Tara Rudd, who headed wide to end the attack.

After 45 minutes, the Spirit had the edge in possession (72%-28%), shots (8-5), and passing accuracy (86%-70%). But the teams each had one shot on target and two corner kicks as the Pride took a slim 1-0 advantage into the break.

It took 10 minutes for either team to create a chance in the second half. In the 55th minute, just after Rafaelle blocked a cross out for a corner kick, Wiesner sent a set piece cross to the back post, where Rodman tried to redirect it on target, but the header was wide.

A minute later, Lemos sent the ball down the right for Banda. Tse tried to head the ball away but missed, allowing Banda to get into the Spirit half. Banda took Rudd one-on-one in the Washington box, creating enough space for a shot that went just wide of the far post.

Hines made his first change in the 62nd minute, sending on Nicole Payne for Doyle, who had picked up a knock.

The Spirit had a great chance in the 69th minute when Wiesner played a ball to Rodman down the left. Rodman beat Oihane and sent a low cross to the top of the six-yard box for Gift Monday. The halftime substitute did well to get around the ball, but Rafaelle blocked it.

Hines made his second substitution in the 77th minute with Summer Yates replacing Lemos.

Wiesner nearly intercepted Oihane’s throw-in in the 81st minute for Banda, however, the left back missed, allowing Banda to get behind. Rudd closed down the Zambian striker, forcing her to shoot early and the attempt went over the crossbar.

Kouassi fouled Ovalle near midfield in the 85th minute and it looked as though the Pride would just try to keep possession, but Ovalle had other ideas. The attacker played a pair of give-and-gos, first with Banda then with Yates. The second got her to the top corner of the six-yard box where her near-post shot forced MacIver into a save.

Banda took possession and got another shot off, but the Spirit blocked it and cleared their lines.

The fourth official showed 11 minutes of second-half stoppage time and it was full of chances. The first came when Hal Hershfelt lifted the ball into the box, but Monday put it over the crossbar.

The Pride went the other as Angelina sent a long ball over the top for Payne. The substitute had a step on Rudd and got into the Spirit box before sending her shot over the crossbar.

In the fifth minute of stoppage time, Monday tried to send the ball toward the end line for Gabrielle Carle, but Payne deflected it out of play. The corner kick found Monday, who headed it to the top of the six-yard box. Ashley Hatch attempted to continue it over Morche, heading it off the top of the crossbar and out of play.

Hines wanted to replace Ovalle with Luana after the miss, but the referee decided Ovalle took too long to come off, so the Pride had to play with 10 players for one minute while trying to maintain their one-goal lead. Luana came on 90 seconds later just before a corner kick Kouassi won.

Paige Metayer had a free run on the ensuing set piece and headed it on target, but Morche got her right hand to the ball, tipping it over the crossbar. 

“It was a little bit windy, and the cross was really moving, so I just got back in my goal and made just a reaction save,” Morche said. “Might have blacked out a little bit. I don’t remember all of it. I just got a palm on it and knew I had to push it out of the goal, which was kind of tough. But it just happened very fast.”

The next corner kick was to Monday at the back post, but she headed her attempt into the outside netting.

With time winding down, Washington continued pressing for an equalizer. In the 10th added minute, Morgan recieved a pass well outside the box. The defender took the long-distance attempt but couldn’t keep it down.

The Spirit went on one final attack in the 12th added minute. Kouassi flicked on Rudd’s long ball to the top of the box for Hatch. With her back to the goal, Hatch tried to flick the ball over Morche. But it was an easy catch by the Pride goalkeeper, who secured it for the win.

At full time, Washington had the edge in possession (73%-27%), shots (23-10), shots on target (3-2), corner kicks (11-2), and passing accuracy (85%-63%). But the Pride were able to keep the Spirit from scoring, hanging on for the win.

“Terrific result. Really gritty performance,” Hines said. “Took an early lead. The attention to detail was really good, players doing the roles and responsibilities, throwing bodies on the line throughout the whole game. And we got a little bit of luck. Obviously, good team, always going to create opportunities to score. Post helped us out, and, yeah, a really good collective performance from everyone.”

“I think that the first win after the spell we’ve had was going to be a hard one. It was going to be one that we had to earn every single thing,” McCutcheon added. “And we know that luck hasn’t gone our way in the past few games, and so we needed to create our own luck. Really proud of the group and how we responded to a really tough run.”

The win ends a three-game losing streak the Pride were on and places the Pride in 11th in the NWSL, still four spots behind the Seattle Reign for the final playoff spot. However, they’re only two points behind Seattle now, making a potential third consecutive playoff appearance much more possible.

The Pride will look to build off this win when they welcome the Utah Royals to Inter.co Stadium on Saturday night.