As is the case in every match, the Orlando Pride players gathered in the locker room before taking the pitch, but this time the mood was visibly different. An energy reverberated around the room, echoing through the walls - the Pride were ready and no one would stand in their way.
“We spoke before the game and I felt there was an energy about them,” Head Coach Tom Sermanni said. “Sometimes you’re in the dressing room and you feel your team is flat, and sometimes you’re in the dressing room and you feel there’s an energy there. I felt tonight there was a real energy about the players and a determination.”
That commitment was carried on the shoulders of all 14 players who stepped foot on the pitch in the 2-1 victory over the Washington Spirit. After going down a goal in the first half, the all-around team effort that radiated from the Pride mirrored that same energy Sermanni saw in the locker room.
In stoppage time of the first half, Sydney Leroux connected on a pass from Alanna Kennedy, took a few touches towards goal, juked her defender and then sent the ball near post, straight through the defender legs and past the goalkeeper to equalize.
The push to continue fighting after conceding a goal proved to be the game-changer for a team eager for victory.
“We just decided to go for it,” Leroux said after scoring her team-leading fifth goal of the season. “We had nothing to lose.”
Sermanni described the mentality of the players as a “really determined fashion.”
The resolve exuded by the team on Saturday night is one that is frequently seen by second-half substitute Dani Weatherholt.
“Coming in as a sub I just knew I had to lift the team up, bring energy, bring work ethic and bring passion to the game,” Weatherholt said.
The midfielder entered the match in the the 65th minute alongside Camila, who had been absent for nine months after sustaining an ACL tear and MCL sprain in her right knee.
“I’m very happy I got the minutes,” Camila said through a translator. “But we are in this together. We have one goal and I think that was shown today with the game, and that’s it. It’s about helping each other.”
In the 25 minutes following their substitutions, the Pride took an additional nine shots, forcing the Spirit’s goalkeeper to make save after save, but to no avail for Orlando.
Until Marta’s magic, that is.
In the 85th minute, the Brazilian forward received the ball at her feet near the midfield. Dribbling down field, Marta beat two defenders and then rocked the ball off the bar and into the back of the net, securing all three points for the Pride.
“After we tied the game I tried to tell myself, ‘It’s okay, don’t be stressed, we can get the win,’ and I kept telling [that to] my teammates around me so we could achieve that win,” Marta said through a translator. “When I received the ball, I was just like, ‘It’s just 1-v-1, I can do this, so let’s get out and do this.’ ”
With the season two thirds of the way through and playoff positions separated by mere points, the Pride will look to carry on that ‘get out and do this’ mentality and the energy from Saturday’s match on an important two-game road stretch. Orlando next travels to face the climbing Houston Dash on Wednesday followed by a tilt with dangerous expansion side Utah on Saturday.
“This year we've done really well on the road so we're hoping to continue that streak," Weatherholt said.
