“Neva Lost!”
The Pride are currently sitting on six straight games unbeaten. This is the third longest unbeaten run in the Club’s history and a result on Saturday will tie the second-longest streak which was seven straight games at the start of the 2021 regular season. The Pride’s record during the streak is 4-0-2 with the run beginning with a 2-2 draw back on July 3. The Club record is nine games unbeaten, dating from Aug. 5 to Sept. 30 in the 2017 season.
First in Purple
Midfielder Meggie Dougherty Howard scored her first goal in a Pride uniform with a 23rd-minute penalty kick goal. The penalty was earned when forward Julie Doyle sent in a cross that was knocked down by the hand of a Wave defender. Meggie stepped up to the spot and placed the ball inside of the left post in her first-ever penalty kick attempt of her NWSL career. The goal marked her second-ever NWSL goal with the first coming on Aug. 4, 2017 when she was with the Washington Spirit.
Milestone Achieved
With the start, midfielder Erika Tymrak made her 150th regular season appearance. Tymrak became just the 11th player to achieve the mark in league history. The 2013 NWSL Rookie of the Year has scored 19 goals and recorded 17 assists across all of her 150 regular season appearances.
NJ/NY in PHI
Saturday’s match will take place at the home of Major League Soccer’s Philadelphia Union, Subaru Park. The match will be the second time Gotham FC has played in Chester, just south of the City of Brotherly Love, and the first time the Pride play at the venue. Gotham hosted a game at the same location in 2021 as a send off to former midfielder Carli Lloyd.
Nine Point Weekend
The Pride victory on the West Coast last Sunday finished off a nine-point weekend for all three teams across the Club, with MLS side Orlando City SC also getting a 1-0 victory on the road over the New York Red Bulls and MLS NEXT Pro side Orlando City B defeating NYCFC II 2-0 also on the road.
Keeping It Clean
Erin McLeod made six saves in the shutout win against the Wave, her second clean sheet this season with at least five saves. McLeod joins Aubrey Kingsbury and Katie Lund as the only goalkeepers with multiple shutouts with five or more saves. The clean sheet marked McLeod’s fourth of the regular season and fifth across all competitions.
Welcome to the Squad
It was a busy couple days for the Pride front office as they made two trades to bring in a pair of in-form members to the squad. The Pride started with acquiring forward Ally Watt from OL Reign on Monday. Through 22 matches across all competitions for the Reign’s 2022 season, Watt has appeared in all but one, tallying one goal and one assist on the year. Orlando also acquired a mainstay of the Houston Dash’s backline, Haley Hanson, on Thursday. Hanson spent four and a half seasons with the Dash before joining the Pride and played a vital role in helping lead the Dash to becoming 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup champions.
Milestone Tracker
- Erika Tymrak is also one goal away from 20 in her NWSL career
- Meggie Dougherty Howard is three regular season appearances away from 100 in the NWSL
- Gunny Jónsdóttir is six appearances away from 100 across all NWSL competitions
- Darian Jenkins is one goal away from 10 across all NWSL competitions
- Celia is two appearances away from 50 across all NWSL competitions
- Courtney Petersen is one appearance away from 50 across all competitions for the Pride
