CARY, N.C. – Orlando Pride (4-7-1, 13 points) were defeated on Saturday night by a score of 3-0 to the North Carolina Courage (6-4-2, 20 points) at WakeMed Soccer Park. The match saw defender Megan Montefusco earn her 150th NWSL regular-season appearance with the start.
Scoring Summary:
32’ Kerolin Nicoli (Tess Boade) – NC 1, ORL 0
The home side struck first with Tess Boade laying the ball off to Kerolin Nicoli near the top of the box who was able to find the bottom corner of the goal and get the ball over the goal line.
77’ Meredith Speck (Olivia Wingate) – NC 2, ORL 0
The Courage added to their lead with Olivia Wingate and Meredith Speck playing a give-and-go at the top of the box, which was finished off by Speck.
83’ Haley McCutcheon (Own Goal) – NC 3, ORL 0
North Carolina earned their third of the night with Kerolin getting a shot on goal, which was initially saved but, through a crowded box, was eventually put into the back of the net on an own goal by Pride defender Haley McCutcheon.
Head Coach Seb Hines:
“We just weren't ourselves today. Every second ball, North Carolina was there. They pressed effectively and we didn't have that sharpness, and it's becoming a theme away from home. That was the message after the game. We've got to figure this out away from home and we need to start picking up points away from home. We can't only rely on our home form. So again, it's just going back to the drawing board, see where we can improve. The game plan was to be threatening in transition and I felt early on we caused them problems. They weren't able to play through the lines as often as they probably used to in previous games. There were moments where we could have been thrown in transition and we just weren't thrown in transition. We didn't have the internal drive that we showed last week against Portland and to go straight to the ball. That was a disappointing factor of the game.”
Match Notes:
- With the start, Megan Montefusco made her 150th NWSL regular season appearance.
- Forward Amanda Allen made her second professional appearance, entering as a second-half substitute. Her first appearance since competing in the Concacaf U20 Championship with Canada.
- Head Coach Seb Hines made one change to his starting lineup entering the match, with Messiah Bright getting the nod for the Starting XI.
Next Match: The Pride will return home to the friendly confines of Exploria Stadium to welcome the Kansas City Current on Saturday, June 24. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET with the game available to stream on Paramount+ and can be viewed locally on FOX35 PLUS.
