ORLANDO, Fla. (June 21, 2019) - Orlando Pride (0-7-2, 2 points) heads back on the road to face Sky Blue FC (0-6-2, 2 points) on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET at Yurcak Field. The match will be nationally streamed on Yahoo! Sports, with international fans able to tune in on NWSLsoccer.com.
“I think [Sky Blue] will be very, very structured,” Head Coach Marc Skinner said. “I think they press effectively when it comes into zones so you’ve got to be able to impact that by getting in between their lines and playing quickly. If you do that, I think you can cause them a real problem. If you don’t then they are structured, they’re organized and they’ll counter-attack on you and that’s what I’m expecting. I think we have to be resilient again, but we also have to find our creative form to get between players, get around them, and then punish them going forward.”
The Pride enter Saturday’s match looking to build off a 2-2 draw at the Houston Dash this past Saturday. Joanna Boyles opened the scoring on the evening, capitalizing on a free kick in the 13th minute for her first professional goal. The Dash, however, scored two unanswered to take the lead with goals from Sofia Huerta and Kristie Mewis in the 47th and 67th minutes respectively, but Danica Evans scored late for the Pride in the 71st, earning her second career goal and her first of 2019 to split the points between the two sides.
Sky Blue comes into this week’s matchup following a 1-0 defeat at Utah last Saturday. Amy Rodriguez scored the eventual game-winner for the Royals in the 16th minute, forcing Sky Blue to return to New Jersey empty handed.
Saturday’s match will be the first between the two sides in 2019. The Pride will host Sky Blue on August 31 at Exploria Stadium before returning to Yurcak Field on September 29 for their final road match of the season.
