ORLANDO, Fla. (Aug. 7, 2021) - Orlando Pride (4-4-5, 17 points) travels to take on the Chicago Red Stars (6-5-2, 20 points) on Sunday, August 8 at SeatGeek Stadium. Kickoff for the match is set for 6 p.m. ET, with the contest available to stream on Paramount+ in the U.S. and international viewers able to tune in on Twitch.
“I think Chicago wants to play, also. They’ve got some great possession players. If you look at a lot of their midfield, that’s what I feel makes them tick and clearly they have some terrific athletes up top that can stretch you. So, for us, it’s going to be a willingness of us to keep possession against their midfield but also deal with the athletes that they have up top,” interim Head Coach Becky Burleigh said. “For us, it’s going to come down to us reinforcing our identity and hoping to impose that on them.”
Sunday’s match will be the first meeting between the two sides in 697 days, dating back to Sept. 11, 2019 where the two teams were equal through 90 minutes. Chicago’s Casey Krueger was able to find the back of the net in stoppage time, however, to secure the 1-0 win over the Pride.
The Pride look to build off of its 1-1 draw against North Carolina in what served as Becky Burleigh’s first game as interim head coach. The draw put Burleigh in the record book as the first Pride coach to secure a result in their first match in charge. Sydney Leroux scored in her fifth game this season off of an Ali Krieger assist, which was the defender’s first helper since September 29, 2019.
Leroux’s sixth goal of the season leads the Pride and also puts her atop the league leaderboard, tied with Washington's Ashley Hatch. With the addition of Krieger, the Pride now have nine players with an assist this season, tied with Portland for a league high. Marta and Taylor Kornieck lead the league with three assists apiece.
Chicago enters the weekend following a 3-1 victory over the Washington Spirit last weekend. Mal Pugh, Morgan Gautrat and former Orlando Pride forward Rachel Hill all scored for the Red Stars, moving them to six wins on the season.
The Red Stars currently have five goal scorers on the season with Pugh currently leading the team with three and Gautrat, Hill and Makenzy Doniak with two goals apiece. In addition to her three goals, Pugh also has a pair of assists on the season. Goalkeeper Cassie Miller has one clean sheet and 12 saves in five games this season.
Following Sunday’s match, the Pride return to Exploria Stadium to take on the Portland Thorns on Saturday, August 14. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET with tickets available at Orlando-Pride.com or by calling (855) ORL-CITY.
