It’s a battle for NWSL position tonight at Orlando City Stadium, as the Pride take on Sky Blue FC in a matchup of two teams fighting to reach the playoffs.
It has been a very important week for the Orlando Pride. Despite an up-and-down season, the team knew it could quickly get back on track if the group could pick up a lot of points during three games this week.
Two games and four points later, the Pride are now potentially one victory away from moving into a National Women’s Soccer League playoff spot.
Orlando will look to get that big win when it hosts Sky Blue FC tonight at 7:30.
“A win this week could put us in the top four, a win this week gives us a little bit of separation from Sky Blue and a win certainly puts us right in the competitive mix and keeps our destiny in our own hands,” coach Tom Sermanni said. “… It’s a very, very important game and we’ve spoken all week about this three-game stretch being very critical to us.”
No games in NWSL are easy, but Orlando (6-6-5, 23 points) will be facing an especially tough opponent this weekend. Sky Blue (7-8-2, 23 points), which has the same number of points as the Pride, is just as close to a playoff spot and owns one of the most productive of-
fenses in the league.
Sky Blue has scored 29 goals this season, the second most in NWSL, leads the league in shots on goal and features forward Sam Kerr, one of the most effective goal-scorers in the league this season.
“She’s been absolutely on fire this year and almost unplayable at times,” Sermanni said. “She’s the key. If we can keep her quiet then I think the quality that we’ve got in this squad is one that will score goals and create chances.”
Alanna Kennedy and Steph Catley, who play with Kerr on the Australian national team, are especially familiar with the problems she presents to opposing teams. But they doubt that they have any advice on her to play her that could have a strong impact on the outcome of the game.
“She’s one of those players that if she’s gonna have a good game, she’s gonna have a good game. So, you’ve just gotta do whatever you can to minimize that,” Catley said. “The entire team needs to be working on defense. So, I’ll tell them what I can, but everyone’s seen her play and everyone’s seen what their attack can do in general.”
While Sky Blue’s offense may be tough to contain, the Pride’s defense will get a big boost with goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris set to play for the first time in more than two months.
“A goalkeeper’s role is about obviously goalkeeping and stopping goals going in, but it’s also about organizing defenses, keeping players’ minds on the job,” Sermanni said. “That’s where Ash is exceptional and that’s that probably Xfactor that she adds to the team.”
Through the highs and lows of the season, there have been a few times where Sermanni thought the Pride had finally figured things out before the team started losing again.
But with just a few games to go, he feels that the club has finally developed the consistency it needs to make it to the playoffs.
“If I look over the last few games, we’re starting to get a much better level of consistency and continuity,” he said. “So hopefully we’re getting things together at the right time.”