💬 Ally Watt: 'The scoreline really shows the effort that we put in today' after 4-1 win over North Carolina

Orlando Pride Head Coach Seb Hines

Opening Statement

“Really, really pleased with the attitude of the players coming in here. After being on the road against Washington, and then a quick turnaround for tonight’s game, they started really, really well. [They were] on the front foot, their level of intent to put North Carolina under pressure [was high], especially in transition. I thought we were really threatening in transition. To be up in the game in the first half was really pleasing.”

On the connection between Barbra Banda and Ally Watt

“Yeah, they’re two fast forwards. Anytime you have a striker partnership where they’re both fast and threatening in behind, it can be dangerous. We felt today, going into the game, that there might be an area that we can exploit. With North Carolina, they like to high press, be really aggressive in those positions, so to have two outlets with both Ally and Barbra was a joy to watch. I’m glad they executed the game plan, and maybe we do that again somewhere down the line, but overall just pleased that they managed to score the goals.”

On how he keeps the team’s momentum going

“I think we just stay humble, I think we stay quiet. I don’t think we’re making as much noise as other teams in the league. I think we’re doing a tremendous job taking it game-by-game, the next one’s around the corner again against [Racing] Louisville on Sunday. We’re just focused on ourselves, stay humble, have that hunger to go out and go again and we’ll see where that leads us towards the end of the season.”

Orlando Pride Forward Ally Watt

Opening statement

“I think Seb [Hines] said it for us, he said we need to start early, start off with a high press and some high energy and I think we executed that plan, we executed in front of goal. We’re doing really well in transition and finding each other really well. I think the scoreline really shows the effort that we put in today.”

On her first goal of the game from Barbra Banda

“One thing I know, if Barbra’s running towards the goal, you better be up there with her. She played a beautifully weighted ball into my run, and I knew I had to put it on goal, put it on frame, so I just did that. It was probably one of my easier goals I’ve scored. So, yeah, Barbra played an amazing ball in.”

On assisting Banda’s first goal of the game

“I just knew. I got the ball wide, it’s kind of part of our game plan. Just build to ‘hey if you can’t find an option, just play it wide and we’ll be on the ball.’ I just trust that we’re going to have people in the box, we’ve been really focusing on that and just really just trying to focus on finally timing our runs down. I got it, kind of whipped it in with my left, hoped for the best. I knew Julie [Doyle] and Barbra would be there. Fell perfectly to Barbra and she executed perfectly.”

Orlando Pride Midfielder Haley McCutcheon

Opening statement

“I mean, that was a massive win. North Carolina's always a great team and a tough opponent. I think that we stuck to the game plan and we got three points, which is what we're after.”

On what 3-0 halftime lead did for team’s confidence

“I mean, it's massive. I think early on, we talked about scoring more goals and giving ourselves that cushion. But there's also that pressure to maintain and keep a clean sheet. While we're happy with the result, we're disappointed to not get a clean sheet so there are still things that we want to improve on.”

On defensive effort of entire team

“Something we've talked about this year is doing whatever it takes. I think that we've done an incredible job of having that defensive work rate and also adapting to what the game is giving us and what our opponents are giving us, whether it's what we expected or not. So yeah, incredible effort from front to back.”