ORLANDO, Fla. – (June 25, 2016) – Just three days after a thrilling victory over the Houston Dash, Orlando Pride (5-5-0, 15 points) returns to Camping World Stadium to face Portland Thorns FC (5-0-5, 20 points) on Sunday at 5 p.m. ET.
Sunday’s match can be watched live locally on Bright House Sports Network (Ch. 47/Ch. 1147HD). The game will also be streamed at orlando-pride.com/live or can be followed on Twitter through the Pride’s official account, @ORLPride.
“On paper and on the table, Portland is obviously the best time in the league right now. They are filled with quality international players – five U.S. players, a great Canadian player and a couple of European players – so it’s, on paper, the toughest game of the season,” said Pride Head Coach Tom Sermanni. “It’s made even tougher, probably for both teams, because of the quick turnaround from midweek [games] and I think another major factor on Sunday will be the kickoff time and the weather. So there’s a whole range of things coming into this game.”
The Pride enter the match looking to build on Thursday’s 1-0 win over the Dash, after Sarah Hagen connected with Jasmyne Spencer in the second minute of stoppage time to preserve the league’s only perfect home record. Goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris, who earned her sixth NWSL Save of the Week honor on Friday, made five saves in the contest to pick-up her fourth shutout of the season.
After pushing their home unbeaten streak to four games, the Pride will face perhaps its toughest test of the season in a rematch of the Club’s inaugural game, which saw the home Thorns come away with a 2-1 win despite Steph Catley’s historic goal for the Pride.
Orlando’s defense will be tasked with containing the league’s top-scoring offense, led by U.S. internationals Tobin Heath and Lindsey Horan, as well as Canadian striker Christine Sinclair.
Portland is coming off a 2-0 win over the Chicago Red Stars on Wednesday night at Providence Park. Sinclair and Nadia Nadim, setup by recent debut Amandine Henry, scored in the first half and Michelle Betos earned her third win of the season in net. Portland has now won two-straight games and is the only remaining undefeated team in the National Women’s Soccer League.
“[Portland] plays a combination of really good possession football and they’ve got some individually dynamic players. But they are also a team that has a great deal of physicality about them and they aren’t frightened to play a direct style of football,” Sermanni added. “They’re a real mix and we need to be 100% to make sure we counteract them.”
Sinclair, Nadim and Horan lead the Thorns with three goals each, while Heath leads the NWSL with five assists and 18 shots.
Pride forward Alex Morgan continues to be one of the top offensive threats in the league, ranked second in both shots (29) and shots on goal (15). On the other end, Harris leads the pack with 38 saves.
The match will also be the last time the Pride’s international players are available until after the 2016 Summer Olympics, as they report to their respective national teams after Sunday’s match to begin preparations for Rio.
