(Orlando, FL) Orlando Pride lost Saturday afternoon 2-0 at their home stadium, the Orlando City Stadium against Houston Dash. Carli Lloyd and Rachel Daly were in charge of scoring both goals in a disappointing match by Orlando Pride. Orlando Pride came from beating Houston Dash 4-2 at the BBVA Compass Stadium.
Orlando Pride mostly dominated the first half of the match. Pride had two clear chances in the first half. First, in minute 22, striker Rachel Hill received the ball on the verge of the box and shot with at second touch. However, the ball went straight into goalkeeper Jane Campbell’s hands. Then, at the 26th minute, defender Stephanie Catley sent a cross which was finished with a header by forward Marta; her header hit the crossbar and left for a goal kick. Dash had the clearest chance of the match in minute 41 when defender Poliana hit the ball over goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe’s head, but Catley was there to clear the ball on the line. First half would go into 3 minutes of added time, which is just how much time was needed for Houston Dash to take the lead. Poliana dribbled down the side drawing out a defender to leave striker Carli Lloyd open at the top of the 18. Poliana waited for the perfect pass then played the ball straight to Lloyd in the 49th minute where she took a one-time shot to sink it in the upper 90 giving Lloyd her first goal of the season for Dash and their first goal of the match. Lloyd’s goal ended the first half leaving Dash with 1 point and Pride with 0.
Houston Dash seemed to take control in the second half. In the 62nd minute, Dash could put their second point on the board. Poliana came up big with the assist again drawing the defender wide leaving forward Rachel Daly room to get open inside the box. When Daly was free Polinana played a beautiful pass to Daly where she could one time flick it right past Bledsoe. With Daly’s goal that closed the scoreboard. However, Dash was not done trying in the 79th minute Dash has a corner kick and Polinana almost had her chance standing on the near post she went up for a beautiful header but hit the post, and it was deflected away by Catley. In the 81st minute Dash forward Janie Beckie had her chance one on one with Pride goalkeeper Bledsoe, but she was not allowing it she kept her eye on the ball and was able to make a beautiful save to deflect the ball out of the box. It was a back and forth match until the final whistle blew leaving Dash with 2 and Pride with 0 points.
Following the match, we got a chance to speak with Orlando Pride’s head coach Tom Sermanni who said; “Any time you lose a game you are obviously deflated. Losing at home makes it even harder. But losing at home and you do not play well, makes it harder still.”
After today’s result, the Orlando Pride fell into the 7th position with 12 points, while the Houston Dash climbed to the 8th with 9 points.
Orlando Pride will travel to face Sky Blue FC on June 28th, 2017 at the Yurcak Field. Whereas, the Houston Dash will receive Boston Breakers at their home stadium, the BBVA Compass, on June 28th, 2017.
