The Orlando Pride
Pride still winless against Thorns as offense sputters again
can’t keep the Portland Thorns from winning 2-1 on a cold, rainy evening on the road.
The return of star forward Alex Morgan wasn’t enough to spark the Orlando Pride’s attack.
Three games into the season, the Pride certainly need a spark.
Orlando scored an early goal to snatch its first lead of the season but couldn’t keep the Portland Thorns from finding the back of the net on a cold, rainy Sunday evening at Providence Park in Portland, Ore. The Thorns continued their unbeaten run against the Pride, dropping the stillshorthanded visitors 2-1 in front of an announced crowd of 16,466.
The Thorns are unbeaten against the Pride, and Orlando (0-2-1, 1 point) is still searching for its first win of the 2018 season. The Pride also are waiting for five international players to return to the club, including Brazilian star Marta.
“It was the type of game we expected over here,” Pride coach Tom Sermanni said. “We knew how Portland played: how tough it was going to be, and it was exactly that. We did well for spells. We were under pressure for spells. I thought we finished strongly, as well.”
Early on, it looked like Orlando’s offensive woes were behind it. Christine Nairn created a golden early chance with a steal and pass into the penalty area, and Chioma Ubogagu’s finish put Orlando up 1-0 over the defending NWSL champions in the 20th minute.
Nairn took away a pass from