ORLANDO, Fla. (Aug. 7, 2022) - Orlando Pride (3-5-6, 15 points) played to a 2-2 draw in Angel City FC’s (5-5-3, 18 points) first-ever trip to Exploria Stadium on Sunday night. With the result, the Pride have now gone unbeaten in their last five games dating back to July 3.
The Pride were backed by goals from second-half substitute Julie Doyle as well as an Angel City own goal in the 90th minute. Doyle’s strike was her second of the season, with both goals coming in the Pride’s last two matches. She is the first Pride player to score in consecutive games this season.
This was the first home match played for the Pride in the last 30 days when they beat the Houston Dash on July 8. The Pride also earned a result that game thanks to an own goal in the second-half.
Acting Orlando Pride Head Coach Seb Hines:
“Entertaining [game]. It is happening more often than not. I said it in the pregame that what you will find today are two teams that both wanted to win, needed to win, to get three points. We are obviously chasing Angel City and they are obviously chasing to get to the playoffs as well. I felt that we dominated the game in possession. Even out of possession I think we were in controlled spaces. They were patient in trying to pull us out of positions, but we are allowing the right people to have time and space on the ball. There were a few little adjustments we had to make at halftime. We had to increase the energy and shift across to keep those spaces tight and the players did that. The game is all down to goals. We created a lot of good opportunities to score, but we have to take them. When we do take them, we are going to be even more of a threat than we showed today.”
Scoring Recap:
40’ Ali Riley - LA 1, ORL 0
The visitors opened the scoring after Ali Riley found some space on the left side of the box and sent a shot with her left foot across the goal and into the upper right corner of the net.
64’ Julie Doyle - ORL 1, LA 1
The second-half substitute leveled the match when she pounced on an errant pass by Angel City deep in their own box and sent a rocket of a shot with her left foot into the roof of the net.
72’ Cari Roccaro (Paige Nielsen) - LA 2, ORL 1
Angel City regained the lead off a corner kick with Paige Nielsen able to flick the ball into the middle of the box. The ball fell to the feet of Cari Roccaro who took a touch and fired the ball through a sea of people and over the goal line.
90’ Paige Nielsen (Own Goal) - ORL 2, LA 2
The Pride tied the match again in second-half stoppage time after some great team build up play made way for Kerry Abello to drive the endline and send in a driven cross. With multiple Pride jerseys in the box causing commotion, the ball was eventually hit in by Angel City defender Paige Nielsen.
Match Notes:
- The Pride are now unbeaten in their last five games dating back to July 3. This is the longest unbeaten streak of the season for Orlando.
- The late second-half goal to tie the game counted for the third time the Pride have scored in second-half stoppage time to earn a result so far this season.
- The Angel City own goal marked the fourth time the Pride have scored in stoppage time this season.
- Julie Doyle is now the first Pride player to score in back-to-back games this season with second-half finishes against both Angel City and Kansas City.
- Seb Hines made two changes to his starting lineup, with Toni Pressley returning on the backline and Darian Jenkins slotting in on the forward line.
- Megan Montefusco was ineligible for Sunday’s match due to yellow card accumulation
- Orlando ends the regular season series against the expansion side unbeaten, after picking up a 1-0 win on May 8 in LA.
Next Match: Orlando will hit the road and head to Torero Stadium for the first time to take on the San Diego Wave on Saturday, August 13th. Kickoff for the match is set for 10:30 p.m. ET.
