Pride need big victory over FC Kansas City
Coach Tom Sermanni is aware of what’s at stake tonight.
The Orlando Pride sit in sixth place, four points away from the Seattle Reign FC for the fourth and final National Women’s Soccer League playoff spot. Orlando has seven games left to play and while the deficit isn’t insurmountable, the Pride have to start winning.
Orlando (4-5-4, 16 points) faces FC Kansas City (3-6-4, 13 points) at 7:30 p.m. at Orlando City Stadium.
“This is, for me, is one of those must-win games,” Sermanni said.
The two teams played to a 1-1 draw on May 7 in Kansas City.
A loss won’t put the Pride out of contention in the playoff race, but it might put them in a tougher position. Sermanni doesn’t want other teams controlling the results and wants Orlando to take care of its own business.
“It’s one of those situations where we’ve got — and I’ve said this regularly every week — you’ve got to keep in touch,” Sermanni said. “Otherwise, you get to this
stage and it’s mathematically possible to get into the top four, but then you’re dependent on other teams and other results.”
To start earning wins, Orlando has to stop having defensive lapses.
Orlando was content to get a 2-2 draw on the road against Washington last week, but it surely could have been three points. The Pride conceded a late penalty kick, handing Washington a draw.
It’s not just the late penalties that have hurt the club. There have been lulls during matches when the Pride are dominating possession and dictating games. A misplaced pass, failing to mark an opposing player and not being clinical enough in front of goal is allowing the opposition to get back into the game.
“I think it’s just a concentration thing and a constant communication with each other, keeping each other in check because 90 minutes is a long time,” defender Steph Catley said. “We’re a team full of experienced players and we shouldn’t be having those lapses like we are.”
Getting wins at home will help Orlando in the chase for the playoffs. The Pride struggled during their past two games at home, failing to score a goal in each of the contests.
Alex Morgan’s continuing return to fitness and Marta’s form — eight goals in 12 matches — should increase the number of chances in front of goal.
Defensively, Orlando has to prepare for Kansas City forward Sydney Leroux.
Leroux has found the back of the net three times in 13 games. She is fifth in the NWSL with 32 shots. Depending on needs, Sermanni said he expects Kansas City to play either a 4-2-3-1 formation or a 4-4-2.
“Kansas [City] are a football playing team,” Sermanni said. “They like to play out of the back, so if we allow them to dictate the tempo playing how they want to play, they’ll cause us some problem with their passing. And then they’ve obviously got a player Sydney Leroux’s quality up front of who, [if ] you give a half a chance in front of goal, will score.”
There is a bit of pressure on Orlando.
The team has top players throughout the squad. A win tonight might create the momentum needed to make a run at the playoffs.
“We get that’s time to really get together to do our best in order to not drop the points that we’ve been dropping from time to time,” Marta said through a translator. “Honestly, the team is getting better and better, so we feel pretty good about the development and how the team is approaching this work.”