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NWSL Orlando Pride

Orlando Pride Drops Season Opener at Portland Thorns FC

March 26, 2023 - National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Orlando Pride News Release


PORTLAND, Ore. - Orlando Pride (0-1-0, 0 points) suffered a 4-0 defeat to the Portland Thorns in its season-opening match of the 2023 NWSL season. This was the fourth time both sides have gone up against one another to open the NWSL regular season, making it the most common season opening pairing in NWSL history to start the season.

The match saw the four players make their Pride debut for the Club to start the season. 2023 NWSL Draft picks Emily Madril and Messiah Bright earned the start in the match. Brazilian Adriana also earned the start up top after joining the Club from Brazilian side Corinthians and had perhaps the best Pride opportunity with a 53rd-minute shot. Another 2023 NWSL Draft pick, Summer Yates, saw her first professional action in the match coming on as a substitute in the 53rd minute.

Pride goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse made a Club-high 12 saves on the night. This beats the previous Pride record held by Ashlyn Harris who made 10 saves on April 29, 2017 against the North Carolina Courage.

The Pride will return home to Exploria Stadium for their home opener next week as they welcome Angel City FC for a 5:30 p.m. ET kickoff. Tickets for the season opener are still available here.

Scoring Summary:

16' Morgan Weaver - POR 1, ORL 0

The Thorns opened up the scoring with Christine Sinclair getting a good look on goal and firing a shot, which was saved by Pride goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse, but the rebound fell right to the feet of Morgan Weaver who was able to slot the rebound home for the goal.

22' Sophia Smith (Christine Sinclair) - POR 2, ORL 0

Christine Sinclair was able to block an attempted clearance by the Pride defense and center the ball to the middle of the box and find Sophia Smith who got on the end of the pass for the finish.

49' Hina Sugita - POR 3, ORL 0

The home side extended their lead after Thorns forward Sophia Smith struck a shot which was saved by Pride goalkeeper Moorhouse, but the rebound fell to the feet of Hina Sugita who was able to find the back of the net.

76' Michele Vasconcelos (Sophia Smith) - POR 4, ORL 0

The Thorns scored their fourth after Sophia Smith centered the ball from the endline to the middle of the box, finding Michele Vasconcelos for the finish.

Head Coach Seb Hines:

"Obviously we are disappointed with the result and the goals we conceded, but I think there are a lot of positives to take away. We came here and tried to play the right way. We tried to control the game in possession and when you do that there has to be an objective to score and I don't think we created enough opportunities to score. That is something we will review and look back at with video and ultimately toward going into the season we want to possess to score goals. Credit to Portland, they got us in transition and were very direct and front footed. We will just have to evaluate moving forward."

Match Notes:

Pride defender Emily Madril and forwards Messiah Bright and Adriana all made their debut for the Club earning the start.

Midfielder Summer Yates made her first appearance for the Pride coming on as a substitute in the 53rd minute.

Pride captain Marta made her return to the pitch a year to the day, after suffering an ACL injury on March 26, 2022, leaving her unable to play last year.

The match saw Head Coach Seb Hines make his debut as the full-time Head Coach of the Orlando Pride after filling in on the interim last year.

Next Match: Orlando Pride will return home for its home opener as the team welcomes 2022 expansion side Angel City FC to Exploria Stadium. Kickoff is set for 5:30 p.m. ET with fans able to watch the match locally on FOX35 PLUS or stream on Paramount+.

Teams 1 2 F

Portland Thorns 2 2 4

Orlando Pride 0 0 0

Scoring Summary:

POR - Morgan Weaver 16'

POR - Sophia Smith (Christine Sinclair) 22'

POR - Hina Sugita 49'

POR - Michele Vasconcelos (Sophia Smith) 76'

Misconduct Summary:

ORL - Mikayla Cluff (Yellow Card) 10'

ORL - Julie Doyle (Yellow Card) 70'

ORL - Seb Hines (Yellow Card) 71'

ORL - Caitlin Cosme (Yellow Card) 72'

Lineups/Substitutions:

Orlando Pride - GK Anna Moorhouse; D Haley McCutcheon, Emily Madril, Caitlin Cosme, Kylie Strom; M Mikayla Cluff (Jordyn Listro 67'), Kerry Abello, Marta © (Summer Yates 53'); F Julie Doyle, Messiah Bright (Haley Bugeja 67'), Adriana

Substitutes Not Used: GK Carly Nelson; D Celia, Megan Montefusco; M Viviana Villacorta; F Erika Tymrak, Ally Watt

Portland Thorns - GK Bella Bixby; D Meghan Klingenberg, Becky Sauerbrunn, Kelli Hubly (Meaghan Nally 77'), Natalia Kuikka; M Morgan Weaver (Michele Vasconcelos 63'), Hina Sugita, Sam Coffey, F Sophia Smith (Izzy D'Aquila 77'), Christine Sinclair (Rocky Rodriguez 81'), Crystal Dunn (Olivia Moultrie 63')

Substitutes Not Used: GK Shelby Hogan; M Taylor Porter; F Hannah Betfort

Details of the Game:

Time: 5 p.m. ET

Weather: Cloudy

Date: March 26, 2023

Attendance: 15,204

Stats:

Possession:

POR - 48.6%

ORL - 51.4%

Shots:

POR - 26

ORL - 9

Saves:

POR - 1

ORL - 12

Fouls:

POR - 9

ORL - 10

Corners:

POR - 10

ORL - 7

Heineken Star of the Match: Adriana

Check out the Orlando Pride Statistics



National Women's Soccer League Stories from March 26, 2023


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