Frustrated Pride are hungry for home win
Losing a lot of games is tough for any team, but the start of this season has been especially frustrating for the Orlando Pride, who feel that they are much better than their record suggests.
“We’re creating a ton, we have good possessions, we play good soccer,” forward Jasmyne Spencer said. “It’s just the ball’s not really falling for us yet, but we just keep plugging along, trying not to get too frustrated, hold ourselves accountable a little bit more and just keep getting after it.”
While the Pride feel they are close to getting results, time is quickly running out to turn the season around. Orlando is in eighth place in the National Women’s Soccer League, has the thirdworst goal differential in the league and has won just once.
Coach Tom Sermanni hopes changing the lineup will make a difference today when the Pride (1-3-3, 6 points) take on the Boston Breakers at Orlando City Stadium at 7:30 p.m.
“Probably the biggest thing we’ve looked at this week is trying to get our team selection right for Boston,” Sermanni said. “You know, we feel because of the situation that we’re in at the moment, you know, we definitely need to get a win.”
One position that will not see a change, however, is goalkeeper. Sermanni was happy with the performance of Aubrey Bledsoe, who stepped in for the injured Ashlyn Harris against Sky Blue FC.
“I think she had a very sound game last weekend, so that makes the selection in that position fairly straight-forward,” Sermanni said. “There is certainly competition for that spot, but, you know, at this stage, with Aubrey’s performance last week and the confidence and the faith that we have in her, you know, she’ll be starting.”
While Sermanni knows the Pride are falling behind in the standings, he has been cautious of putting too much emphasis on this weekend’s game.
“There’s still another 15 games or whatever to go, so you don’t pin everything on one game,” he said. “Because if the result doesn’t go, you’ve got to get up and ready for the next game.”
After playing against three of the top four teams in the league during the past few weeks, the Pride will face a much easier opponent this weekend. Boston (2-3-2, 8 points) is just two points ahead of Orlando in the table and has had difficulty creating chances this season. The Breakers have scored just seven goals and are seventh in shots on goal.
Boston, however, has improved significantly since last season, when the team finished with the worst record in NWSL. The Breakers are already just a win away from matching their point total in 2016.
“Boston’s a different team this year,” defender/ midfielder Maddy Evans said. “They’ve had some good success early on in the season and all the teams are having some highs and lows I think, but it’s gonna be a battle.”
After spending much of the opening portion of the season on the road, the Pride will be playing just their third home game of the season this weekend. Orlando has not won an away game but has had success at Orlando City Stadium, coming away with points in both of their previous home games.
“A huge advantage at home is our fans,” Sermanni said. “The thing that we would like to see again is them coming out in force at the weekend and really getting behind the team and supporting the team and that gives the team a huge boost.”