ORLANDO, Fla. (February 16, 2018) - Orlando Pride will begin its quest for the 2018 National Women’s Soccer League championship on Saturday, March 24, at Orlando City Stadium. The Pride will host the league’s newest team, Utah Royals FC, at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Single game tickets will be available to the general public on Friday, Feb. 23 at 10 a.m. ET. Season ticket packages are available at orlando-pride.com/tickets or by calling (855) ORL-CITY. Discounted rates are also available for groups of 15 or more. The remainder of the Pride’s 24-game regular season schedule, featuring 12 home games and 12 road matches, will be announced on Tuesday, Feb. 20.
The March 24 match will mark the first time the Pride begin a season in front of their home crowd, after starting the year at Portland in each of the team’s previous two seasons.
The Pride will also feature in home openers for the Washington Spirit and Portland Thorns FC. Orlando first travels to face the D.C. side on Saturday, March 31, for a 3:30 p.m. ET match at Maryland SoccerPlex, which will be featured as the NWSL Game of the Week on Lifetime. Orlando later heads to Providence Park to battle 2017 champion Thorns FC on Saturday, April 15 at 6 p.m. ET.
Fans will again be able to watch the NWSL Game of the Week on Lifetime at 3:30 p.m. ET each Saturday. All other matches will be available on go90 in the U.S. and on the NWSL app and NWSLsoccer.com for international fans.
In addition to the home opener, the Club has announced three Pride Kickoff to Soccer events. On Sunday, March 18, the first-ever Pride Brunch, presented by Chambord, featuring a Q&A with Head Coach Tom Sermanni will be hosted at Wall Street Plaza. The following day, Monday, March. 19, fans will have the opportunity to meet the 2018 Pride at Pride in the House event at Orlando City Stadium. Lastly, Wednesday, March 21, will feature another edition of the Winning Women in Purple networking event, presented by Orlando Heath. Further details on each event, as well as previously announced Kickoff to Soccer events, can be found at orlandocitysc.com/ockickoff.
After reaching the postseason for the first time in only its second season in the league in 2017, the Pride roster was bolstered during the offseason with the acquisition of forward Sydney Leroux, midfielders Christine Nairn and Emily van Egmond, as well as defender Shelina Zadorsky, among others. Leroux will join an already powerful attacking force, featuring the duo of Marta and Alex Morgan, while the defense will again be anchored by U.S. Women’s National Team goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris between the pipes.
