The game started negatively for Orlando, with the early injury of Laura Alleway during the warm-ups. That forced Orlando Coach Tom Sermanni to make a change, putting Becky Edwards in the starting lineup replacing Alleway. He also shifted Monica down to the defense, when the original plan was was going to have her play in midfield.
During the first half both teams fought for possession of the ball equally, with Orlando creating more dangerous opportunities. Several shots came by the way of Jasmyne Spencer, Lianne Sanderson and Alex Morgan. These were all easily controlled by Houston’s goalkeeper Lydia Williams.
The dynamic of the game changed up in the second half, with more possession and opportunities coming for the Houston Dash. But Orlando’s goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris had yet another solid game and kept a clean sheet, for her third in a row.. Both teams created several weak challenges, until a amazing long shot by Kristen Edmonds found the back of the net for Orlando giving the Pride their first away win of the season and third victory in a row.
With this victory, the Orlando Pride have climbed into the second position of the standings. They sit just behind the Washington Spirit, who play tomorrow against the Portland Thorns.
The Pride Pride will continue their away tour next week, when they play on Saturday May 28th, against FC Kansas City. Then they will play against Western New York Flash on June 11th and Washington Spirit on June 18th before coming back home on June 23th to face the Houston Dash for the third time on the season, 2nd at Camping World Stadium.
