Rookie defenders pushed to improve after Houston loss

In the week leading up to the first match of the NWSL Fall Series, Orlando Pride rookie Courtney Petersen needed to soothe her nerves.

She felt jittery, more antsy than she’d ever been before a game during her career at the University of Virginia. When those nerves got to be too much, Petersen found a simple cure — getting in the car, turning on her game-day playlist and driving until her thoughts shut off.

“I was overthinking the game too much,” Petersen said. “I just had to remember that it’s just another soccer game. I’ve been doing this my entire life.”

The first two matches of the fall series have been a roller coaster of emotions for the Pride’s rookies.

None has been tested more than Petersen and fellow outside back Carrie Lawrence. The pair were tasked with defending two of the top attackers in the league — Debinha and Lynn Williams — during their professional debuts against North Carolina.

Both players were wracked with nerves in the hours leading up to the match. For the first time in her soccer career, Petersen felt like she might throw up. Lawrence couldn’t stop shaking.

“The last 20 minutes of the game I think I, like, blacked out,” Petersen said.

After consecutive starts for the Pride, those nerves have subsided. But the challenge remains for the rookie defenders as they try to learn as much as possible during the series’ four games.

The backline shut out reigning league champions North Carolina Courage, then allowed the Houston Dash to take 27 shots Saturday. The 3-1 loss could have been worse if Pride goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris hadn’t made seven saves.

With only eight returning players on the Pride roster for the NWSL Fall Series, coach Marc Skinner knew patience would be required while mentoring a young group.

“That’s part of the management process of the younger players,” Skinner said. “That’s what we’ll be focusing on. We’ll keep pushing them, keep working them and then see who can add themselves to the roster going forward.”

For Skinner and the Orlando veterans, a key to this process is managing the rookies through their highs and lows.

Petersen and Lawrence were filled with confidence after their debuts in North Carolina — the pair helped to keep a high-caliber Courage side off the board, and Lawrence earned leaguewide praise for a near-miss shot and a goal-line save.

But Skinner said the young defenders performed “below their standard” in Houston. The pair turned over a combined 18 passes in their defensive third, gifting the prowling combination of Shea Groom and Kristie Mewis opportunities to exploit the Pride backline.

“In this league, if you make mistakes, you can’t allow that mistake to define your next pass,” Petersen said. “You just kind of have to shake it off because a forward is going to be able to tell when their opponent is kind of frustrated with themselves and they’re just going to tear them apart.”

The learning process challenges veteran teammates as well as Skinner. As captain for the Pride, Harris expects Petersen and Lawrence — along with other rookie defenders such as Konya Plummer — to build consistency in their performances.

Harris said the main difficulty is the learning curve from a college to a professional level when it comes to understanding the movement of the game.

“A lot of times it comes down to knowing the game and seeing the game and understanding the game and how to exploit spaces,” Harris said. “And it’s hard. At this level, if you don’t do the right things, you will be exposed.”

Pride veterans have always been hard on their rookies, and Harris was blunt after the loss in Houston. She said the defense wasn’t good enough, noting a dropoff in performances after young players impressed during the Courage game.

But that’s the kind of feedback Lawrence and Petersen seek out from experienced defenders Ali Krieger, Toni Pressley and Harris.

“We just had the small conversations of, ‘Hey, if you need to yell at me, it is OK to yell at me to do something because I’m gonna make mistakes,’” Petersen said. “[The veterans] hold us to a high standard. They’ll be your biggest critics but they’ll also be your big fans.”

As the Pride return to Orlando for rematches against Houston and North Carolina, the rookies will be challenged to adapt and learn from their mistakes.

The fall series is essentially a tryout for many of the rookies seeking spots on an NWSL roster.

“For us to be a successful team, we can no longer give away free chances to play for Orlando,” Skinner said. “It almost at times felt like we had to give up playing opportunities because we had no more options in the Year 1. Now what we need to do is make sure that those players are good enough to earn that.”