💬 Seb Hines: Pride must 'raise our standard' after disappointing loss to North Carolina Courage

Orlando Pride Head Coach Seb Hines

Opening statement  

“The scoreline doesn’t lie. Today was not good enough. North Carolina is very good both in attack and defense. They are a difficult team to break down with their athleticism and their attitude to win the ball back quickly in transition. We found it tough. I think we struggled with the basics. We talked about a game plan to put pressure on them in the right moments. If you time it a little late then they will pick you off and be threatening in the attack and that is where we fell apart.” 

On the message to the team following the match 

“We have to raise our standard. We have let our standard drop the last two games. I think previous to that, we have been very good and been threatening and we need to get back to that. We are going to be analyzing every little detail from training all the way up to the game. It is a tough league. It is unforgiving at times and you have got to put the work in and know what it means to represent this team. That is kind of where we have fallen short, that desire and determination. There are a lot of players that wear their heart on their sleeve and want to give everything, but it has to be a collective and it has to be the standard all around. I think that is where we are falling short right now."

On how the adversity can help build the team to be stronger 

“It basically tests you and who you are as a character now. Coming off the back of a 5-0 defeat, who wants to stand up and take the challenge with both arms? We will be looking closely in training with the game around the corner next week at home in front of our home fans. We need to put in a good performance in front of our home fans and get back to our winning ways at our home stadium.”

Orlando Pride Defender Kylie Strom

Opening statement 

“Obviously, a disappointing result. Losing hurts. Credit to North Carolina, they are a great team, but we knew exactly what they were going to do. We had a game plan and we knew we had to close to them and had to end it and get wide and we had to be comfortable without the ball. Just wasn’t good enough from us tonight.” 

On pushing forward to the next match 

“It is a quick turnaround and we have a lot to learn really quickly. We have to let this sink in and learn from it. They are a good team, but we are a good team too. I don’t think we showed what we can do. I think we have to go back to our identity, go back to the basics and back to our principles and show everybody what we can do, because we know we are way better than what we showed tonight.” 

On giving up the first goal of the match 

“We started off the game really well. Even when went down 2-0, we still felt like we were okay and like we were still in it. Even 3-0 we felt like we were still in it, we just needed that one goal. The first 15 minutes, we created chances, and we were playing like ourselves. We were keeping the ball, we had our patterns that we began to execute and we were doing those things. For whatever reason, we lost our way a little. It has been a little bit of a theme for us when we go down one, we have conceded again in the past few games. That is something we really need to learn and grow from. We were in it, when we played like we know how to play, we were in it so I think that is a good learning lesson.”

UKG Challenge Cup: Orlando Pride (0-3-1, 1 point) vs Washington Spirit (2-3-0, 6 points)

When: Friday, August 4, 7:00 p.m.

Where: Exploria Stadium, Orlando, Fla

TV: Paramount+ (subscription required)