ORLANDO, Fla. (May 27, 2022) - Orlando Pride (2-2-2, 8 points) scored twice in stoppage time to come back and draw the Washington Spirit (1-1-3, 6 points), 2-2. The draw marked the second time this season the Club has scored a second-half extra-time goal to earn a point at Exploria Stadium after doing so two weeks ago against Kansas City.
The Pride battled back in the final 10 minutes of the game and were rewarded with two goals coming from Mikayla Cluff and Darian Jenkins. Cluff tallied her second of the season and of her professional career, while Jenkins hit the back of the net for the first time this regular season.
With the goal, Jenkins recorded the latest goal in NWSL regular season history, with the ball crossing the net at 97:25. Jordyn Listro recorded her first career assist with the helper on Cluff’s goal.
Orlando Pride Head Coach Amanda Cromwell:
“I don’t think I have been so happy about a tie in my life. Equalizing is important. Especially going down, I thought we actually played very well that game for a majority. We had a couple turnovers and [Washington] finished really well. Good players are going to punish you for your mistakes so we have to just tighten up in our possession, especially in the defensive half. We went down right after the first goal and got a header off of the post. It seemed like we had four or five corners right in a row. You could see our mentality, we were pushing. We really didn’t let it really affect us and that was huge to see that. The players that came in were fantastic and just willing to go wherever. You saw Abi [Kim] and Julie [Doyle] interchanging on that right flank. We told them both just fly, we have nothing to lose at this point, just fly at them. Jordyn [Listro] getting in there and doing her thing. What a great goal with Kayla [Cluff]’s header. She felt bad about that first goal with her turnover, so she was really excited to get that one back. I just knew at the time, it felt like the clock was our opponent because I felt like another goal was coming, but was it going to come in time because we didn’t have much time left. Something to be said for this game and earning this point. I think it is important going forward.”
Scoring Recap:
19’ - Trinity Rodman (Audrey Harding) - WAS 1, ORL 0
The visitors opened the scoring early on when Audrey Harding found an open Trinity Rodman outside of the box. Rodman took one touch and fired a missile with her right foot into the bottom left corner of the net.
66’ - Ashley Hatch (Ashley Sanchez) - WAS 2, ORL 0
The Spirit doubled their lead after the ball took an unlucky deflection off a Pride player and fell to Sanchez who slid the ball through to Hatch. From there, Hatch hit it with her first touch and beat Erin McLeod.
90+5’ - Mikayla Cluff (Jordyn Listro) - ORL 1, WAS 2
The Pride pulled one back late thanks to Mikayla Cluff bagging her second goal of the regular season. The run started with Jordyn Listro driving towards the end line, then cutting the ball back. Listro floated it to the middle of the box where it found Cluff’s head leaving the Spirit goalkeeper with no chance to make a save.
90+8’ - Darian Jenkins - ORL 2, WAS 2
Orlando leveled the match when Julie Doyle collected the ball and sent it across the box. The ball took a slight deflection, but fell to the feet of Darian Jenkins who took a touch and proceeded to calmly pass it past the goalkeeper and into the back of the net.
Match Notes:
- Friday marked the second time the Pride have scored in stoppage time to come back for a draw, the first on May 14 in a 2-2 tie with Kansas City.
- Darian Jenkins' goal is the latest NWSL regular season goal ever recorded at 97:53.
- Mikayla Cluff recorded her second professional goal after scoring the game winner at North Carolina earlier this season.
- Jordyn Listro recorded her first professional assist on Cluff’s goal.
- The Pride have now scored multiple goals in four-consecutive games dating back to the 2-2 draw against Kansas City on May 14
- Defender Celia made her 30th NWSL regular season appearance
- Defender Megan Montefusco appeared in her 145th match across all competitions in the NWSL.
- Head Coach Amanda Cromwell made two changes to her starting lineup from the last match, with Mikayla Cluff entering the Starting XI and Megan Montefusco sliding to center back.
Next Match: Orlando will hit the road and head to Houston to take on the Dash on June 3 at PNC Stadium. Kickoff for the match is set for 8:30 p.m. ET.
Heineken Star of the Match: Carrie Lawrence
