Orlando Pride vs. Bay FC: Final Score 3-1 as Pride Take Three Points On the West Coast

The Orlando Pride (10-13-3, 33 points) went on the road today and beat Bay FC (7-14-5, 26 points) 3-1 at PayPal Park in San Jose, CA. Haley McCutcheon led the team with a brace, while Racheal Kundananji got the goal for Bay FC and Jacquie Ovalle scored just before full time.

Pride interim head coach Yolanda Thomas made three changes from the team that lost 4-1 to the Portland Thorns on Sept. 19. Rafaelle, Angelina, and Marta entered the starting lineup, replacing Hannah Anderson, Ally Lemos, and Summer Yates.

The back line in front of goalkeeper Cosette Morche was Hailie Mace, Rafaelle, Cori Dyke, and Oihane. Angelina and Luana were the defensive midfielders behind Solai Washington, Marta, and McCutcheon with Barbra Banda up top.

The Pride got off to a fantastic start, scoring on their first attack. In the second minute, Luana headed a 50-50 ball forward for McCutcheon and the midfielder sent Washington down the left. With a defender on her and approaching the end line, Washington laid the ball back for McCutcheon. The veteran opened up and guided her right-footed shot beyond the dive of Bay FC goalkeeper Jordan Silkowitz and inside the far post to give the Pride the 1-0 lead.

“Obviously, getting a goal up at any point is fun and relieving, right? But after the last game, we emphasized making sure that we’re ready to go when that whistle blows,” Thomas said. “So, to have that kind of play and then a goal early on was obviously great for us.”

A sixth-minute turnover in the back gave Bay FC its first quality chance at goal. After receiving a pass from Mace, Angelina played a weak ball back that Alex Pfeiffer intercepted. She played the ball centrally for Hannah Bebar and the midfielder sent a beautiful ball to the far side of the box where Kundananji was making a run behind the Pride back line. The Zambian international’s first touch set her up perfectly and her second touch was a shot on target. But Morche did well to come off her line and block the attempt.

In the 11th minute, Jenna Nighswonger collected a short Rafaelle clearance and entered the box. The defender dribbled through Luana before McCutcheon slid in to block her shot. Morche punched the ensuing corner kick away to Claire Hutton, whose shot from the top of the box was also blocked. Bebar took possession from Angelina, who couldn’t clear it, and laid it off for Hutton, who sent a lovely ball to the far post. A wide-open Kundananji was making another back-post run and connected with a diving header. The striker sent her header inside the far post to even the game at 1-1.

Morche made a terrible mistake in the 32nd minute that nearly gave the hosts the lead. A poor clearance was over Angelina to Bebar, who headed the ball back into the box. Angelina was caught unaware as Karlie Lema ran across the 18 and collected it. The attacker’s second touch was a shot that forced Morche to block it with her legs, keeping the game tied.

Hutton received a throw-in in the 36th minute and, after her cross was blocked, played a short pass to Pfeiffer just inside the box. The attacker curled the ball around Angelina and the shot was headed inside the far post, but Morche dove to her right to make a crucial one-handed save.

McCutcheon won a 50-50 ball in the first minute of stoppage time, tapping it to Marta with plenty of space near the top of the Bay FC box. The Pride captain was looking for Banda — who created space by dropping off her defender — but the striker let it go for Oihane, making a run behind. The right back’s first touch was a shot to the near post that Silkowitz tipped wide. Silkowitz caught Marta’s ensuing corner kick, ending the threat and the half.

After 45 minutes, Bay FC had the advantage in possession (53%-47%), shots (11-5), shots on target (4-2), crosses (14-5), corner kicks (6-4), and passing accuracy (88%-78%). But the teams traded goals, entering the break even on the scoreboard.

“We talked about how they varied how they played,” Thomas said about her halftime message. “So, we had kind of a few ideas and we just kind of nailed down, okay, this is what they’re doing. Here’s how we’re going to set up and be compact and stop them. But more importantly, we had too many giveaways, too many lost balls, too many turnovers. So, I actually ripped into them quite well about executing technically, individually, and taking and owning your own actions. And the response was phenomenal.”

The Pride started the second half similarly to how they started the game. In the 47th minute, Washington beat Sydney Collins into the box from the right side, forcing the defender to slide in and concede a corner kick. Angelina sent her ensuing set piece service toward the back post, where McCutcheon came flying in, unmarked. McCutcheon sent her free header past Silkowitz to restore Orlando’s lead. It was McCutcheon’s second career brace — both taking place this season.

“Honestly, McClutchen, as we’re calling her now, is invaluable,” Thomas said. “She’s played just about every position on this team at some point. She can go and run for days, and she brings that quality in both boxes and in between. So, she’s really the heartbeat of the team when we get into the fight. So, she’s really invaluable for us.”

“She’s put the team on her back, not just in the game and on the field, but off the field,” second-half sub Kerry Abello added. “She talks to everyone. She has great leadership qualities. She brings the energy no matter what the result is on the field, and this season just would look way different without her. I’ve always believed that she would be one of our top goal scorers, and so I am not surprised at all, but really happy for her. And like I said, I think she’s just driven to show up for the team and put us on her back like she did tonight.”

Bay FC should have equalized for a second time in the 49th minute when Nighswonger found Pfeiffer making a run between Mace and Rafaelle. The attacker got her head to the ball and tried to put it inside the far post, but the attempt bounced wide.

Thomas made her first three changes of the game in the 62nd minute as Lemos, Jacquie Ovalle, and Abello replaced Luana, Marta, and Oihane.

Immediately after the substitutions, Bay FC created a chance when Bebar played a ball to Kundananji down the left. The striker played the ball to the top of the six-yard box for an open Pfeiffer just before it crossed the end line. The ball bounced off of Abello and Morche before the Pride were able to clear.

Joelle Anderson played a nice ball out of the back for Taylor Huff in the 66th minute, creating a good chance for the hosts. Huff tried to find Pfeiffer on the right as she entered the Pride third of the field, but Abello got in the way. The ball fell to Lema, who fired from just outside the box into Morche’s hands.

Agostina Holzheier played a square ball to Nighswonger near the top of the Pride box in the 69th minute. Rather than lifting a cross into the box, the left back unleashed a shot that got behind the diving Morche and skipped just wide of the near post.

Thomas made her fourth change of the game in the 71st minute, replacing Rafaelle with Hannah Anderson.

McCutcheon laid the ball off for Angelina in the 76th minute in a seemingly innocuous position. However, the defensive midfielder took a shot from 35 yards out that caused Silkowitz to dive to her right. It went wide, but didn’t miss by much.

The Pride’s final substitution came in the 78th minute when Julie Doyle entered the fray, replacing Washington.

Nighswonger did well to bring down a long ball forward in the 89th minute, tapping it on for Keira Barry. The second-half substitute shot from outside the box went just over Morche’s fingertips and the crossbar.

Bay FC came even closer to an equalizer in the 90th minute when Holzheier took the ball off of Anderson’s foot just outside the Pride box. She took a couple of touches before sending a shot that bounced off the near post and out of play.

In the first minute of second-half stoppage time, Hutton intercepted Dyke’s poor clearance attempt. The midfielder found Holzheier nearing the Pride box, but her shot was right at Morche. Holzheier had another chance from distance in the third minute of stoppage time when Heather Gilchrist found her. However, her near-post attempt didn’t cause much trouble for Morche.

Carolina Conti found Kennedy Fuller at the top right corner of the box in the sixth minute of stoppage time but Angelina blocked her shot. McCutcheon collected the block and sent a long ball forward for Banda, who shielded off her defender at midfield. Banda laid the ball off for Ovalle and the Pride had a two-on-two. At first, it seemed going for the corner flag was the correct option. But Ovalle dribbled to the top of the Bay FC box instead. As Bay’s defenders tracked Banda, the Mexican international had plenty of room to take a couple of touches inside before sending a rocket past Silkowitz and inside the far post to give the Pride a 3-1 lead in the dying seconds.

“We’ve been nursing Jacquie a bit with minutes because she just had some aches and pains and we want to make sure we keep her healthy. So, I think it’s actually helped her to get a little bit of rest, and then come in to make a difference for us,” Thomas said. “I mean, it’s big. She’s such a phenomenal player, and if you can add confidence to what she has already brought to the team, she does a lot of sort of unseen grit work. But then can deliver moments of magic. And she did today. And we kind of joked that we didn’t know she had the right foot, but that was a beautiful ball she put in.”

At full time, Bay FC had the advantage in possession (54%-46%), shots (28-9), shots on target (8-4), crosses (30-7), corner kicks (7-5), and passing accuracy (86%-75%). But the Pride took advantage of their opportunities putting nearly half of their shots on target and converting on a third of them.

“Great result. It was a really gritty win,” Abello said. “It maybe wasn’t our best performance from start to finish, but I’m so proud and moved by the way that the team just kind of rallied around those goals by Haley McCutcheon. I mean, she put the team on her back today and made it happen, and a huge result for us.”

The three points keep the Pride in 11th in the NWSL standings, two points behind Denver Summit FC. While not eliminated from the playoffs yet, they’re still seven points behind Seattle Reign FC for the eighth and final spot with everyone having four games remaining in the season.

Despite the gap and unlikelihood of qualifying for the third consecutive year, the Pride continue to fight as if they still have everything to play for.

“We’re in the playoffs now,” Abello said about the team’s mentality. “It’s no secret where we lie on the table, and we’re really fighting for that playoff position. And so, really, they start now. We have to win every game, and that’s how we played the game today. These are our playoffs, and this was our first playoff game, and we showed up like that today.”

While Bay FC dominated in every statistical category, Thomas felt like it was a fair result.

“I wouldn’t say we escaped out of here with three points. I think they made mistakes equally to the way we did,” Thomas said. “So, I think it was two teams that probably didn’t play their best football for 90 minutes. So no, I wouldn’t say we escaped out of here. We got out of here with three points with a lot of grit and determination and experience to know how to put a game away.”

The Pride will continue to try to climb the league standings when they welcome San Diego Wave FC to Orlando Friday night.