Orlando Pride (7-6-5, 26 points) returns to the road on Saturday afternoon, traveling to face ninth-seeded Boston Breakers (3-8-7, 16 points) at 4 p.m. ET. The Pride are riding a string of positive performances on both the offensive and defensive ends, and will look to pick up their first-ever win at Jordan Field this weekend.
Saturday’s match will be available to watch online at go90.com, NWSLsoccer.com and on the go90 app. The game will also be streamed on the Huffington Post Women’s Facebook page.
“We need to start well [on Saturday]. We need to start positively, we need to start quickly and we need to get straight at Boston to really put them under pressure. They’ll be, like most of the teams in this league, very well-organized, hardworking, they’ll be robust,” Head Coach Tom Sermanni said. “They have a couple high-quality players in the team, particularly Adriana Leon, who has played very well recently and is a handful when she’s playing well, and Rosie White in midfield who is very creative. So those two are a pair we’ll have to keep our eye on.”
The Pride enter the weekend’s match riding an undefeated three-game homestand that saw Orlando outscore its opponents 9-1, including two consecutive shutouts. Most recently, the Pride put out their best performance in team history, recording a 5-0 win over Sky Blue FC on Aug. 12. That victory marked the most goals ever scored in a match, as well as the largest margin of victory by any of Orlando City SC’s three teams.
Alex Morgan and Marta both recorded braces in the match, while second-year midfielder Dani Weatherholt scored her first career goal. Morgan, who played her first 2017 match on July 1, has scored five goals since – all coming over the team’s last four home games.
After missing 11 games due to injury, goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris made her return in the match and posted the Pride’s third shutout of the season.
Marta is tied for second in the league with 11 goals and has been extremely successful away from home, scoring seven times on the road. Marta and Brazilian teammate Camila are tied for the team lead in assists with five each.
Prior to Saturday’s rout over Sky Blue FC, the Pride also beat Washington 3-0 on Aug. 8 and drew Chicago 1-1 on Aug. 5.
After a midweek win by Seattle Reign FC, the Pride sit in fifth place in the league table but could jump back into playoff position with a victory Saturday at Jordan Field and a Seattle loss at New Jersey.
Boston will play its third game in a week after hosting the Houston Dash Wednesday evening. After being tied 1-1 at halftime, the Dash scored two second-half goals to take a 3-1 win on the road.
Leon leads the Breakers with five goals, while Natasha Dowie – who scored Boston’s lone goal on Wednesday – has four.
The two sides have met once already this season, with the Pride picking up their first clean sheet of the year in a 2-0 win on June 3 at Orlando City Stadium.
Following Saturday’s match, the Pride travel to face FC Kansas City at 3:30 p.m. ET on Aug. 26 in the NWSL Game of the Week on Lifetime. The Pride then return to Orlando for their final three home games of the regular season, kicking off the three-game homestand with a 7:30 p.m. rematch with the Breakers on Sept. 2.
Tickets to all Pride home games can be purchased at orlando-pride.com/tickets or by calling (855) ORL-CITY.
