It may have been an unfamiliar stadium in a country the Orlando Pride had never played in, but Orlando looked right at home on Tuesday night in Panama City, Panama. Behind a hat trick from midfielder Summer Yates, the Pride surged past Chorrillo FC in the CONCACAF W Champions Cup, getting their second shutout in the international campaign with a 5-0 win.
For Yates, it was a night she’ll never forget. The third-year midfielder has been steadily carving her place in the Pride’s lineup over the last two seasons, and against Chorrillo FC, she was able to show out.
“Just excited to keep going further in this tournament,” Yates said after the match. “We did our job. We came in, Seb [Hines] told us to score goals, so that's what we tried to do.”
Yates scored early, just six minutes into the match, then doubled her tally 22 minutes in, before capping it off early in the second half with a penalty, securing her first professional hat trick, the second in Pride history.
“It’s awesome,” she said, smiling. “I talked to Giles [Barnes] before the game, he was definitely giving me that motivation to just go out and play free and play like myself, so that’s what I tried to do today, just express myself and have fun with it. And the team definitely helped me get there; it wasn’t just me. [They] kinda wanted me to get [the hat trick], so shoutout to them for helping me get it.”
The win also keeps the Pride undefeated in Champions Cup play, having secured a 3-0 win over Costa Rican side LD Alajuelense two weeks ago in the friendly confines of Inter&Co Stadium. Now, for the first time, the Pride have a win outside the continental United States under their belt.
“It definitely means a lot to us,” said defender Zara Chavoshi, “We got our name out there last year, but we want to keep spreading the word. Orlando Pride is one of the best teams, not only in the NWSL, but in the world.”
For Chavoshi and the back line, maintaining the shutout with the team playing aggressively, despite having no natural fullbacks for the majority of the game, was a statement in itself.
“We take a lot of pride in defending and especially in shutouts,” she said. “Every component, we face a new challenge with them, and putting so many numbers forward means we’re sacrificing stuff at the back, so just keeping it clean back there means a lot.”
With two matches left in their group stage the importance of this result and the amount of goals scored will be important as the team plays in Mexico in two weeks time against undefeated Club America.
For now, however, the team is enjoying the simple things before they get back to Orlando to host the North Carolina Courage in NWSL action on Friday.
“It’s cool to see us from last year go and get these opportunities,” Chavoshi said. “We talk about it all the time, how it’s such a big stage, and we should never take it for granted. We’re just excited to get the win and fun for the team and motivation for our next league game.”
