ORLANDO, Fla. (Aug. 16, 2018) - Fourth-place Orlando Pride (8-6-6, 30 points) faces the league-leading, NWSL Shield-winning North Carolina Courage (15-1-5, 50 points) on Saturday, Aug. 18. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET at WakeMed Soccer Park.
The match will mark the first of three regular-season matches remaining this season. The Pride currently sit in fourth place in the playoff race, just two points behind third-place Portland Thorns FC.
The Pride are one of several teams that are still on the hunt for one of three final playoff positions. Currently they sit in fourth place with 30 points, just two points behind the third-place Thorns, tied with the Chicago Red Stars and two points behind the sixth-place Utah Royals FC. Next week the Pride will take on the Red Stars in a six-point swing and will finish the regular season against Sky Blue FC. The Red Stars and Thorns both have one additional game remaining than Orlando, while the Pride hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over both Chicago and Utah.
The match will be streamed on NWSLsoccer.com.
“What I know is that we have a group of players that are really focused in getting into the top four. We have a group of players that, like myself, are a little bit frustrated with the way that results have gone, the disparity in our performances during games and it’s something that we just need to rectify,” Head Coach Tom Sermanni said. “We know how critical these last three games are. This is the case of us ‘getting back on the horse’, so to speak, and getting out there and performing the best that we can and recapturing the type of form we’ve had for patches during games but through all 90 minutes.”
Saturday’s match will be the first on the road since July 14, when the Pride defeated Utah Royals FC 2-1. In their last match at Orlando City Stadium, the Pride fell 2-0 to the Portland Thorns.
Sydney Leroux leads the Pride with six goals this season, while four other players have four goals each. Christine Nairn leads the Pride with four assists.
North Carolina returns home after a 1-1 draw against the Chicago Red Stars. Debinha scored for the Courage in the 22nd minute, assisted by Jessica McDonald.
Lynn Williams’ 10 goals lead North Carolina and are tied for the second-most in the league. McDonald leads the Courage with six assists, the most in the league and Crystal Dunn is close behind with five.
The Pride previously fell to the Courage on May 23 by a score of 4-3 and on June 30 by a score of 3-0, both at Orlando City Stadium. In the team’s most recent trip to WakeMed Soccer Park, the 2017 regular season finale, Alanna Kennedy scored a stoppage time stunner that gave the Pride a 3-2 win and put Orlando into the postseason for the first time in Club history.
