Orlando Pride (3-3-3, 12 points) set a Club scoring record on Saturday night, racking up a 4-2 win over the Houston Dash at BBVA Compass Stadium. The four goals in the match marked the most goals ever scored in a single match for the Pride, while Marta set a single-game scoring record with four points on two goals and two assists, playing a role in each score.
“I’m obviously delighted with the win because we haven’t gotten very many wins on the road. It was a very important result for us and I think the best part of the result was how clinical our finishing was,” Orlando Pride Head Coach Tom Sermanni said. “At four-nil, I don’t think that was necessarily a fair reflection on the play because Houston is a good side and they create chances and play some really great soccer. So, overall, I was just really pleased with the way we finished things.”
Though the Pride were outside 15-9 in the match, the visiting side were most efficient in their opportunities, putting in four of their six shots on goal.
Despite having been away for two weeks on international duty - and meeting back up with the team only a day prior in Houston - the Pride’s Brazilian contingent showed no hiccups in their game.
Sixteen minutes in, Camila put the Pride up 1-0 on a laser-focused shot from nearly 40 yards out. The former Dash player collected a pass from Marta, created some space for herself then blasted a shot into the upper-left corner beyond the best efforts of Houston goalkeeper Lydia Williams.
Orlando’s lead jumped to 2-0 shortly after when Marta capitalized on the counterattack. After goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe made back-to-back saves on Carli Lloyd at the other end of the field, Marta collected a small push-pass from Camila at the midfield line and drove the length of the field for her fourth goal of the season.
On the previous set of plays, Bledsoe punched down a screamer on Lloyd’s dead-center set piece to deny the U.S. international in her first NWSL appearance this season. Just a minute after, off a corner kick, Lloyd had another go with a hard, left-footed volley but Bledsoe was up to the task. She denied the back-to-back FIFA World Player of the Year with a diving save to her left.
Bledsoe picked up her second consecutive win, making four saves in the outing.
Marta bolstered the Pride lead again in the 57th minute, from nearly the same spot as her first, after Jasmyne Spencer used her speed up the middle lane and picked out her teammate on the left hand side.
The Pride’s fourth goal came on Alanna Kennedy’s first in purple, with the Australian rising high above the Dash defense and heading in Marta’s corner kick service in the 68th minute.
Saturday’s win marked Orlando’s first road win since May 20, 2016, when the Pride earned three points in the same city, defeating the Dash 1-0 on a late goal from Kristen Edmonds.
The Pride and Dash will see a quick turnaround before their next meeting, wrapping up a back-to-back series next Saturday at Orlando City Stadium. Tabbed as the NWSL’s Lifetime Game of the Week, the match will kick off at 3:30 p.m. ET from Orlando. Tickets are available at orlando-pride.com/tickets or by calling (855) ORL-CITY.
