LOUISVILLE, Ky. (March 16, 2024) – The Orlando Pride (0-0-1, 1 point) earned a point on the road on Saturday afternoon, overcoming a two-goal deficit for a 2-2 draw on the road against Racing Louisville FC (0-0-1, 1 point), all while playing down a player from the 62nd minute on.
The Pride secured the road point after second-year forward Summer Yates got her toe on a flick from Amanda Allen, sending the ball in for the Pride’s second goal of the game and the first of her professional career. Yates’ goal in the second half followed a first half Pride goal that came off a Louisville own goal, after Kerry Abello did the work and sent in a cross that was deflected in by the Racing defender.
Down 2-0 after the first 20 minutes of the match, the Pride also battled back while being down a player when Kylie Strom picked up a second yellow card in the 62nd minute of play.
Saturday’s match also saw the Pride debut of four players, with Angelina, Morgan Gautrat, Ally Lemos and Luana all making their first-ever appearances for Orlando.
Goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse finished with two saves, with her first on the night pushing her to second all-time in Club history for career stops.
The Pride will now turn their attention to the 2024 home opener, set to welcome Angel City FC to INTER&Co stadium in an 8 p.m. ET kickoff on Friday, March 22.
Scoring Summary:
13’ Elexa Bahr (Reilyn Turner) – LOU 1, ORL 0
The home side took the early advantage after a ball from Reilyn Turner found Elexa Bahr in behind the Pride backline. Bahr took a touch and was able to chip it over the Pride goalkeeper for the finish.
19’ Uchenna Kanu (Elexa Bahr) – LOU 2, ORL 0
Louisville doubled its lead after Bahr passed the ball to Uchenna Kanu, who just stayed onside. From there, Kanu was able to get a shot off across the face of goal that found the back of the net.
24’ Elli Pikkujämsä (Own Goal) – LOU 2, ORL 1
The Pride pulled one back when Kerry Abello found some space on the wing and after doing some nice work to find a cross, the ball deflected off Elli Pikkujämsä and got over the goal line.
86’ Summer Yates (Amanda Allen) – ORL 2, LOU 2
Orlando leveled the match after earning a free kick late in the game. Angelina sent the ball in which found the head of Amanda Allen, who was able to flick it on to Summer Yates with the forward poking it past a diving Katie Lund.
Head Coach Seb Hines:
“Hard fought point, we showed a lot of character toward the end [of the game]. It’s never easy to go two goals down in a game, especially in this league. I can’t fault the players, especially their attitude toward the end. You’re looking at players stepping up in that environment, which is tough to not only get the goal but then to see the game out. [It was] a really important point for us moving forward.”
Match Notes:
- With the second-half finish, Summer Yates scored her first goal of the season and the first goal of her professional career.
- With the flick on the Yates’ finish, Amanda Allen earned the first assist in her NWSL career.
- Making two saves on the day, goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse moved into sole possession of second place Club history in total saves.
- Coming on as a second-half substitute, Ally Lemos, the Pride’s No. 9 overall draft pick in the 2024 NWSL Draft, made her NWSL debut.
- Earning the start, Kerry Abello appeared in her 50th match for the Pride across all competitions.
- Four Pride players made their Club debuts on Saturday, including Angelina, Morgan Gautrat, Lemos and Luana.
Next Match: The Pride will return to INTER&Co Stadium to host their home opener as they welcome Angel City FC on Friday, March 22. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. ET with the match available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
