Orlando Pride Lose to Portland Thorns in Inaugural NWSL Season Match
Orlando Pride kicked off its inaugural season in the NWSL versus Portland Thorns on Sunday afternoon. Steph Catley put Orlando on the board first but Portland were able to come out of the first week of the NWSL with a win led by rookie Dagny Brynjarsdottir and Lindsey Horan who both tallied goals on the night.
Soccer News: Orlando Pride (0-1-0, 0 points) launched its inaugural National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) season against Portland Thorns FC at Providence Park in front of 16,073 spectators and over 15,000 online viewers on Sunday evening. Australian international Steph Catley made history, opening the Pride’s scoring sheet, however, the home team walked away with a 2-1 victory.
“Overall I was delighted with the players, I was delighted with their effort, delighted with the way they played. To be honest in the last 15 minutes or so I thought we were the team that was more likely to score. Obviously very disappointed that we lost the game because I thought they deserved something,” said Head Coach Tom Sermanni. “To be honest I was a bit apprehensive about tonight because I didn’t know what to expect, and Portland did a fantastic job.”
“Outside of Seattle, this was our most difficult away trip. Portland’s a team that’s been together and they have a lot of international players, so when I judge the game overall, I think we had a fantastic effort and players can be really proud of what they did tonight.”
Much like the Pride’s Major League Soccer counterpart’s inaugural match in March 2015 – when Brazilian playmaker Kaka scored the team’s first goal through a free kick – Catley capitalized on her free kick scoring opportunity when she fired a hard shot on a set piece that ricocheted off the wall to beat the Thorns’ Michelle Betos.
NWSL rookie Dagny Brynjarsdottir responded for the home side, rifling home a cross from U.S. Women’s National Team midfielder Tobin Heath in the 25th minute. Off a free kick, Heath redirected the ball toward the middle with one touch, and Brynjarsdottir was able to beat Ashlyn Harris.
Portland then added its second goal of the night, the eventual game-winner, on another goal created by Heath’s crafty touch. Midfielder Allie Long looked to chip a ball over the Pride’s backline, who caught the Thorns offsides seven times in a their debut, but a difficult clearance led to the ball in front of Heath. The midfielder quickly volleyed the ball over to USWNT teammate Lindsey Horan, who beat Harris from eight-yards out.
Sermanni started a pacey lineup that kept the Thorns’ defensive line in check with Jasmyne Spencer, Alex Morgan and Kristen Edmonds at the top – leading an offense that outshot the Thorns 15-11.
In the final 10 minutes, Morgan looked to score her first goal of 2016 against her former club, being setup on a well-paced throughball but Betos was able to turn away the close-range shot.
Former Santa Clara University midfielder Dani Weatherholt, who Pride signed last week, made her professional career debut subbing in for Maddy Evans in the 71st minute.
Australian centerback Laura Alleway had perhaps the best opportunity for Orlando’s second goal when she rocketed a 30-yard free kick, only to be kept out by the upper stanchion in the ninth minute.
After the cross-country journey, the Pride will finally debut in front of its home crowd on Saturday, April 23, when Carli Lloyd and the Houston Dash come to the Orlando Citrus Bowl for a 7:30 p.m. contest.
Orlando Pride Head Coach Tom Sermanni Interview
Thoughts on the game:
Overall I was delighted with the players, I was delighted with their effort, delighted with the way they played. To be honest in the last 15 minutes or so I thought we were the team that was more likely to score, obviously very disappointed that we lost the game because I thought they deserved something.
Thoughts on playing first game after building process:
We did better than I expected, to be honest I was a bit apprehensive about tonight because I didn’t know what to expect, and Portland did a fantastic job. Outside of Seattle, this was our most difficult away trip. They are a team that’s been together and they have a lot of international players, so when I judge the game overall, I think we had a fantastic effort and players can be really proud of what they did tonight.
Thoughts on Steph Catley’s first historic goal:
She didn’t score any goals like that when I was a coach in Australia, so I am glad she scored that [free kick]. It was great that we scored that first goal, it was great to get in the lead, and it’s safe to say, on another day with that performance, I think we would’ve gotten a better result.
Thoughts on potentially playing in front of similar crowd at home:
Hopefully the fans will come and root for us. Hopefully they watched the game tonight and they feel really proud of the efforts of the players, and I encourage as many, many fans as possible to come along and really support this team.
Thoughts on strategy to add pace with lineup:
We thought we could exploit them with our pace if we played three quick players up front, and I thought the three of them did terrifically. Again, particularly when the game gets stretched out, they started to get into the second half, and I think it caused the defense a lot of problems. Again, this is the first game. We probably need a little bit more refinement and better decisions in the final half and I think we could score more goals.
Orlando Pride Forward Alex Morgan Interview
Thoughts on the Pride’s inaugural match:
Today I thought we fought pretty well. We didn’t really know where we stood coming into the first game of the season, obviously, not playing any NWSL teams during the preseason. I felt like we had a really good preseason and coming into this game I thought it was kind of the start of a long journey for us and we knew we wanted to build. I don’t feel the result shows where we are but we created a lot of opportunities. Portland is a very good possession-oriented team so, obviously, they played really well and at times things got through. But for the most part I thought it was pretty even on both sides of the field and I’m really proud of the players and hopefully we can continue building on what happened tonight.
Thoughts on the performances of other players on the field:
I was really happy with how the players really stepped up today and fought hard. They really battled on the field. With Allie Long and Lindsey Horan in the middle, that’s a pretty tough midfield to go against. Putting Mana [Shim] in there, she’s a very technical player. I thought the midfield did really well and the defense held a really good line; they got Portland offside [multiple] times. I think there were really great moments but I think that these next few games are going to be building blocks for this team. We knew coming into this first game we weren’t going to be the possession-oriented team. We wanted to let Portland do that and we wanted to high press. I think there were really, really great moments and I’m really happy with how the players stepped up and did well tonight, especially the subs.
Thoughts on the challenges faced against Portland’s backline and potential changes in formation:
I think it will very game-to-game based on how the team is looking. We wanted a lot of pace up front today and we decided to go with Jasmyne [Spencer], Kristen [Edmonds] and myself. We had them on their heels at times but I don’t think we exploited them as much as we could have. Going against Emily Sonnet and Emily Menges they are both very experienced. Emily Sonnett has been with the National Team for the last year and she’s shown really well. Going against my old team, it’s a team I know a lot about and they have so much chemistry. You can see, even with Lindsey [Horan] coming in as a new player, she played really well. It’s just going to be continuing to press backlines. I think Apple [Sarah Hagen] will be seeing a lot of time this year but this game Coach decided to go with Jasmyne, me and Kristen.
Thoughts on her return to Portland:
At first when I arrived it was a little weird just because, usually when I’m arriving it’s in red. It was different because it didn’t really feel as much like home as it used to. But it was so great to get back and just connect with some of my old teammates here in Portland. It was my home for three years. To come back here it’s always great. It’s a very long journey from Orlando. I didn’t really enjoy that part of traveling here but it was great to play on the field again and just see the fans. Portland really does have great fan support and we saw that again tonight. Hopefully we’ll see that in Orlando next week.
Thoughts on playing with multiple former Thorns on Orlando:
I feel like a lot of the players on the Pride have played together before in the NWSL. So that chemistry was a little bit built going in but at the same time these players have had a month, like 35 days if that. Like I said before, it’s going to be a lot of building. A lot of getting to know each other’s tendencies and we do have some newer faces – some rookies who are coming in and trying to make a name for themselves. So I think we have a really good squad and it’s nice to have some familiar faces like Kaylyn [Kyle] and like Steph [Catley].
Thoughts on team’s reaction to Portland’s late goal:
We just need to take it one game at a time. I told the team I was proud of them because I was. I thought we really stepped up and fought really hard. I think we were unlucky in the end. I told them to keep their heads up because we have a great game next weekend at home and hopefully we’re going to break the NWSL attendance record and we’ll have a ton of fans just like Portland had tonight. The result doesn’t really show what we talked about. I think, for the most part, we were happy with our play on the field, the result just didn’t show that.
Source/Photo Credit: Orlando Pride
