ORLANDO, Fla. (July 22, 2016) – Orlando Pride (6-7-0, 18 points) begins a two-game road trip on Saturday night when they travel to face Seattle Reign FC (4-4-5, 17 points) at 10 p.m. ET at Memorial Stadium. The two teams are separated by just one point in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) table, as the Pride sit in fifth place and the Reign are just one spot behind in sixth.
Saturday’s game will be streamed at orlando-pride.com/live or can be followed on Twitter through the Pride’s official account, @ORLPride.
“This is a really tough game. [Seattle has] lost Hope [Solo] but they still have six international players, none of whom who are going to the Olympics, so they’re a team that’s pretty much at full-strength,” Pride Head Coach Tom Sermanni said. “They’ve gotten to the final the last two years and on paper, apart from Portland, they’re probably the strongest team in the league. So we’re going to expect a very difficult game.”
On May 8, in the first of two meetings between the two teams, the Pride picked up their first shutout win of the season with a 2-0 victory over Seattle. Forward Sarah Hagen headed home a cross from Alex Morgan in the 87th minute, before former Pride midfielder Lianne Sanderson capitalized on a rebounding Morgan shot for Orlando’s second goal.
The Pride enter Saturday’s match looking to bounce back from last week’s one-goal loss to the Chicago Red Stars, a game that saw nearly an hour delay mid-match due to inclement weather. Forward Taylor Comeau scored the lone goal of the match, heading in a cross from Sofia Huerta in the 23rd minute.
Kaylyn Kyle, who has featured at center back for the Pride’s last two matches, nearly equalized in the second half but her attempt was cleared off the line by Chicago’s defense in the 65th minute.
Seattle drew 1-1 with second-seeded Western New York on Saturday night. Manon Melis put the Reign up early in the match but Jessica McDonald equalized in the 45th minute to split the points.
Following this weekend’s game, the Pride travel to Boston to face the Breakers on July 31. After the two-match road swing, the NWSL will take a break for nearly all of August due to the Rio Olympics. The Pride return to the field on August 26 when they host the Washington Spirit at 7:30 p.m. ET.
