Pride visit North Carolina for Challenge Cup match

The Orlando Pride head on the road to take on the North Carolina Courage in the UKG Challenge Cup today.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at WakeMed Soccer Park, and the game will be carried on Paramount+.

The last time these two sides met in North Carolina, Orlando lost 3-0. The Pride (0-2-1, 1 point in the Challenge Cup) are 5-13-5 all-time against the Courage (2-0-2, 8 points) and sit at the bottom of their group. A loss would effectively end any chance the Pride has of advancing out of the group stage.

The Courage enter this game after a 6-0 thrashing of the Washington Spirit last weekend. The Pride, meanwhile, suffered a 3-1 defeat at home to NY/NJ Gotham FC and will need to be at their best against an elite team in excellent form.

“In the last game [against North Carolina Courage], I think we gave them too much respect. We’re going to need to be fully committed to blocking shots,” Orlando coach Seb Hines said. “In their last game, they scored a lot of goals outside the box, and that’s a scenario that we need to improve on in this game.”

The Pride know they need to stick to their identity and not allow the Courage to dictate the game. If players such as forwards Messiah Bright and Julie Doyle can lead the line from the front, Orlando stands a chance of getting a positive result.

“We need to be fully committed to the press, but we need to stick to our identity and also be good in possession,” Hines added. “It should be an exciting game. It’s two teams that want to play and want to possess the ball with an objective to score.”

The Pride will be without Marta (Brazil), Adriana (Brazil), Rafaelle (Brazil) and Mariana Larroquette (Argentina) who remain on international duty at the Women’s World Cup.