Orlando Pride Head Coach Seb Hines
Opening Statement
“Tonight was very much a roller coaster of emotions. The players were terrific. The attention to detail defensively, stopping a lot of promising attacks. Angel City has been in really good form as of late, so I think we did a great job there. The roller coaster comes from scoring goals that were disallowed. The players showed great resilience to never give up. Even when conceding late, they still pushed to try and get a winner. Credit to them and their attitude.”
On the Pride’s defensive evolution this season
“Team cohesion has been key. [Hailie] Mace is playing a new position and building relationships with Rafa [Souza], Oihane [Hernández] and Cori [Dyke]. They’ve been excellent. The goal we conceded was disappointing, especially late, but it was a strong finish. Overall, players are still learning the system and building relationships. Across the first five games, we haven’t given up many opportunities. There have been isolated lapses, but now the team is more consistent from start to finish.”
On the team’s recent performances
“We’ll enjoy the moment. In the first two home games, we performed well and created chances. Now, we’ve improved defensively. We are continuing to evolve, adapting to how teams approach us. I’m proud of the team’s resilience and effort. It’s frustrating when goals don’t come earlier, but the team continues to push. That collective mindset led to the result. This completes a strong first quarter of the season. We’ll reset and prepare for the next phase.”
Orlando Pride Midfielder Angelina
Opening Statement
“I think everyone that was here tonight felt the energy. We knew we were going to come out with the three points. We did get scored on pretty quick after our goal, but that didn’t drop our confidence. We were still trying to get another goal. We were still on top of them. So, I think that everyone just felt the same energy and we were very confident that we were going to get the three points.”
On the team’s approach to the match
“We know they have a lot of quality, and they do like to have their sixes get the ball, their ten get the ball. So, as much as we could just take that out of their game, that’s what we try to do. Of course, there were times that they were just going through the middle and making good plays, but I think we did a good job pressing them. We had really good moments that we gained the ball very high up the field, so I think we did a good job on that.”
Orlando Pride Midfielder Haley McCutcheon
Opening Statement
“I think we earned that result. I think that we defended so well. I think that we managed the momentum of the game, and in the end, got two pretty goals out of it. So really, really happy.”
On her two goals
“Yeah, first one, we put Barbra [Banda] out wide to isolate her and get her in crossing positions and she did amazing to serve that ball in, Summer [Yates] challenges and I’m just right place, right time. Thank goodness I was onside because I would have lost it if they called it off again. But yeah, just trying to be opportunistic in the box, and then the second goal, great service from Marta, Hannah [Anderson] keeps it alive again, so gritty, bodies flying everywhere, and I just tap it in.
