In its 2018 season finale, Orlando Pride (8-9-6, 30 points) will travel to New Jersey to face Sky Blue FC (0-17-6, 6 points) on Saturday, Sept. 8. Kickoff is set for 12:00 p.m. ET at Yurcak Field.
The game will be streamed on NWSLsoccer.com.
“There’s two things [I’d like to see on Saturday]: a positive performance and a win. That’s it in a nutshell,” Head Coach Tom Sermanni said. “You never know how seasons are going to pan out but at the end of the day you’ve got to go out and perform as a professional. We need to do that. We need to do that as a staff, we need to do that as a team and we need to do that as individual players.”
Sydney Leroux leads the Pride with six goals and is expected to return to the pitch on Saturday after missing the previous match due to concussion. Alex Morgan follows with five goals while forwards Rachel Hill, Marta and Chioma Ubogagu each have four. Christine Nairn is joined by Marta as the Pride’s leaders in assists, both with four on the season.
Marta was recently named a finalist for The Best, FIFA’s annual award for the top women’s player of the year. The forward has won the award five times previously in her career, the most of any women's player and tied with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi for most ever, male or female.
The Pride fell to the Chicago Red Stars 3-1 on Saturday, Aug. 25, eliminating them from playoff contention. Alex Morgan headed home her fifth goal of the season in the 65th minute off a lofted ball from Marta for her 4th assist of 2018.
Sky Blue enters the match following a 1-1 draw against Washington Spirit off a Sarah Killion equalizer in the 87th minute.
Katie Johnson and Imani Dorsey share the team lead with four goals each while Carli Lloyd and Savannah McCaskill have three goals apiece. McCaskill also has three assists on the season.
It will be the 2018 season finale for both teams and the third time they face each other this year. The Pride collected a 3-2 win on June 16 behind a Sydney Leroux brace and a game-winning goal from Rachel Hill. In their second meeting, the Pride recorded a 2-2 draw against Sky Blue with goals from Marta and Dani Weatherholt. The Pride are 3-2-2 all-time against Sky Blue.
