The Orlando Pride’s
Bad weather interrupts game that will resume today
game with the N.C. Courage is postponed by rain in the 22nd minute. It will resume today at 10 a.m., scoreless, as the Pride fight for the playoffs.
CARY, N.C. — After multiple weather delays, the Orlando Pride’s match against the North Carolina Courage has been postponed until 10 a.m. today.
Kickoff was delayed one hour and 35 minutes on Saturday due to inclement weather.
The two clubs played into the 22nd minute of the match — with both sides providing excitement for the fans who stuck around — before a large storm in the area caused another delay.
The coaches of the two sides met in the press box of Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park to discuss what to do with the match delayed again after 9 p.m. After two meetings, it was decided the match would be postponed.
The match will resume in the 22nd minute. North Carolina Courage officials reviewed NWSL rules late Saturday night to confirm play would resume at the same time as the interruption rather than restarting as if a match hadn’t started Saturday night.
North Carolina (15-1-5, 50 points) was set to receive the NWSL Shield after the match after easily clinching the league’s best record. The Pride (8-7-6, 30 points) are battling for the fourth
and final playoff spot.
Lineup changes
Orlando Pride coach Tom Sermanni on Saturday used a four-person back line for the first time since the Pride’s 3-1 loss to the Houston Dash on July 11.
The Pride’s back line consisted of (left to right) Kristen Edmonds, Shelina Zadorsky, Alanna Kennedy and Ali Krieger. Sermanni used three-back formations for the Pride’s previous four matches before Saturday.
He did keep a few of the lineup changes intact. For instance, Kennedy was used as a centerback instead of in her usual holding midfielder role.
Sermanni said it would be best if the club could have some continuity, but it depends on things like results and which players are available.
“It would great to be in the situation we were at this time last year when the team virtually picked itself,” Sermanni said.
“Even if we made some changes, it all seemed to fit together easily. At the moment, that seems to be a complex issue that we haven’t quite got right this year. I don’t think we’re far away.”
Krieger, speaking to members of the media on Thursday, said the Pride are still looking for a measure of comfort with each other, despite closing in on the end of the regular season.
“I think it’s important because when you get comfortable with the players around you and you kind of have a set lineup, you start getting comfortable and understanding the way your teammates play,” Krieger said.
Sermanni’s style
The Pride were winless in three matches heading into Saturday’s game. Krieger said the club noticed a bit of a shift in Sermanni’s coaching style — though not by much.
Krieger said Sermanni morphs into a more fierce coach when the team needs it most. Sermanni is known for being — through and through — a player’s coach.
“When we’re not doing well and we feel it he has to kind of be that fierce coach to kind of get that extra 2 percent or 10 percent out of us,” Krieger said. “We need that from our leadership, from top down. That’s the only time that I think he is that way. He’s a player’s coach. He manages players really well. That’s a quality that not many coaches have.
“It’s that other piece of us feeling that fierceness from him and taking what he’s telling us that he wants and applying it to that game. I think that has maybe been a little bit of a disconnect. That’s on us. We have to go out there and perform and mentally in the game, as well as physically.”
Leroux is back
Striker Sydney Leroux returned to the Orlando Pride’s match-day 18 for the first time since the Pride’s 1-1 draw with the Seattle Reign on July 21. Leroux had missed the club’s two previous matches with an undisclosed illness and returned to training in the week leading up to Saturday’s match. It was her largest gap of time missed since missing all of 2016 due to pregnancy.