ORLANDO, Fla. (April 13, 2018) - After two weeks without a match, Orlando Pride (0-1-1, 1 point) travels to Oregon to take on defending National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) champion Portland Thorns FC (1-1-0, 3 points) on Sunday, April 15. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. ET at Providence Park.
The match will be nationally streamed on go90 and on the NWSL app. International fans can tune in on NWSLsoccer.com.
This match will mark the first time the two sides have met since last year’s NWSL semifinal match that saw Orlando fall to Portland 4-1. The Thorns then went on to win the 2018 NWSL championship, defeating North Carolina Courage 1-0 at Orlando City Stadium.
“[Portland is] one of those teams where we have to break that rhythm of not getting a result against them. It’s strange because they are a team that, particularly in our games out there, we’ve played well for large parts of the game and we just don’t seem to be able to get the ball over the line. That goes from our very inaugural game in 2016 to the semifinal game last year when I felt that for a large, large part of the game we were the better team,” Pride Head Coach Tom Sermanni said. “But we just don’t seem to be able to get over the line against them. That’s something that we’ll need to do this weekend. We’ll need to try and plan then execute that plan accordingly. I think we’ve got the players to do it and if we do it well enough I think we can win the game.”
Orlando enters the match seeking its first win of the season and its first victory over the Thorns. The Pride’s 2018 campaign began with a point at home against Utah Royals FC before falling on the road to the Washington Spirit in their last match on March 31.
Sunday’s match will see forward Alex Morgan return to the pitch for the first time since sustaining a concussion on March 24 against Utah. Morgan has since scored four goals for the United States in two wins over Mexico.
Morgan spent her first three years in the league as a member of the Thorns before joining Orlando ahead of its inaugural 2016 season. During her three seasons in Portland, Morgan appeared in 36 matches and was a member of the 2013 NWSL Championship team.
The Pride will again be without their Brazilian and Australian players who are still competing in FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifying tournaments with their respective national teams.
Portland is coming off a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Red Stars on March 31. Midfielder Lindsey Horan opened scoring for the Thorns in the ninth minute with forward Christine Sinclair netting the second goal in the 40th minute, as well as the game-winning penalty kick in the 65th minute.
This will be Portland’s first home game of the season and the third consecutive time the Pride have traveled to play in the Thorns in their home opener. Orlando opened its 2016 and 2017 NWSL campaigns at Providence Park.
