RECAP: Orlando Pride score three goals unanswered to nip Angel City 3-2
The defending NWSL champion Orlando Pride trailed 2-0 with fewer than 20 minutes to play. The rest is team history.
Defender Emily Sams joins her Orlando Pride teammates to celebrate their 3-2 come-from-behind victory Friday at home against Angel City FC. PHOTO: Courtesy of Orlando Pride
‘Tale of two halves’
The Orlando Pride played Friday’s second half against Angel City FC the way champions should play.
Trailing 2-0 into the 72nd minute at Orlando City’s Inter & Co. Stadium, the defending National Women’s Soccer League champions rallied for a 3-2 win thanks to goals by Marta (72nd minute) and Barbra Banda (76th) and an own goal by Angel City defender M.A. Vignola in the third minute of stoppage time.
“…we showed our character. We showed our mentality. That never-say-die, never-give-up.”
— Seb Hines, Orlando Pride coach
“Tale of two halves,” Orlando coach Seb Hines told reporters after the game, according to Sean Rollins in an article for The Mane Land, which covers Orlando City SC, Orlando City B and the Orlando Pride. “I think, obviously, being 2-0 down in this league it’s incredibly difficult to get back into it. But we showed our character. We showed our mentality. That never-say-die, never-give-up.”
Orlando (5-1-0, 15 points) outplayed Los Angeles-based Angel City (2-2-2, 8 points) in the first 45 minutes with more possession (57-43 percent), crosses (12-5), corner kicks (7-4), and passing accuracy (85-79 percent), but had failed to put any of its five shots on target.
Angel City put four of its eight first-half shots on target, including goals by forward Riley Tiernan and midfielder Katie Zelem.
The Pride had 10 second-half shots, five on goal. When the match ended, Orlando had a 15-10 advantage in shots, holding Angel City to just two attempts, one on target, in the second half.
“You know, it’s been a while since we’ve been a couple of goals down in games,” Hines said. “But, again, two halves are never the same. We rectified it in our halftime team talk. And, yeah, we went after it. You know, nothing to lose at that point.”
Orlando bounced back from their first loss of the season, a 1-0 loss to the Washington Spirit on the Pride’s home pitch. With 25 points, the Pride are tied, for now, with the KC Current. The Current play North Carolina Courage at 7 p.m. ET tonight.
Pride defenders Carson Pickett and Kerry Abello both said Marta’s score was a turning point in the match.
“I think it gave us belief,” Pickett said about the goal. “I think we, deep down, have belief, but we kind of need that, ‘Okay, we’re really in this game, and we can fight back, claw back.’ It gave us that extra bit of confidence to go there and continue to score, because we saw that we can. We could find a way to break them down, and we need to do it again and again.”
Abello echoed Pickett’s comment.
“That goal was everything,” she said. “I think, up until that goal, we had so much momentum, and we all thought we were going to score that first goal to get us back in the game. But, as time drags on, you’re like, is it going to come? Is it going to come even with good chances? And so, for her to put that away early enough for us to be like, oh, we still have so much time left. We have the momentum. We can do this. So, that goal changed everything.”
Former Orlando defender Alanna Kennedy had to leave the match in the 53rd minute after being struck in the face by Gautrat’s elbow while the players vied for a ball in the air. Kennedy was down for several minutes before leaving the field with a black eye. She was replaced by Madison Hammond.
PRIDE STARTERS (4-2-3-1) — Anna Moorhouse; Kerry Abello, Kylie Nadaner, Emily Sams, Cori Dyke; Ally Lemons, Morgan Gautrat; Angelina, Marta, Prisca Chilufya; Barbra Banda.
SUBSTITUTIONS — 59th: Ally Watt, Haley McCutcheon and Oihane Hernandez for Chilufya, Gautrat, and Dyke; 72nd: Grace Chanda and Carson Pickett for Angelina and Nadaner.
NEXT — At Portland Thorns on Saturday, May 3