ORLANDO, Fla. (September 29, 2017) - Orlando Pride (10-6-7, 37 points) closes its second National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) regular season on the road when it travels to face the No. 1 seeded North Carolina Courage (16-6-1, 49 points) at WakeMed Soccer Park on Saturday night. Though the four postseason teams have been decided - North Carolina, Portland, Chicago and Orlando - semifinal match-ups will be determined following the results of this weekend’s games.
The meeting could serve as a preview for next weekend’s semifinal matchup, as the Pride and Courage could face-off at the same location on Sunday, Oct. 8 to vie for a place in the 2017 NWSL Championship, which will be hosted at Orlando City Stadium at 4:30 p.m. ET on Oct. 14.
Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff will be will be live streamed at go90.com, NWSLsoccer.com and on the go90 app.
“It’s not so much about giving time [to certain players], it’s about getting our preparation right for [the semifinal]. And it’s trying to keep the rhythm and the momentum in the team going that we’ve had the last seven or eight games,” Head Coach Tom Sermanni said. “It’s more about us, sitting down, looking and thinking to be ready for a week from now and deciding what we need to do this weekend to make sure we do that as best as we can [in the playoffs].”
The Pride and Courage have split points in their two meetings this season, with each taking a win at their home stadium. North Carolina won the first match 3-1 on April 29, with Camila scoring her first goal of the season on a long-distance blast in the 27th minute.
Orlando then turned the tables on the Courage, knocking them off by the same scoreline and ending North Carolina’s undefeated record on May 14. The Pride jumped out to a two-goal lead with quick tallies in the 49th and 50th minutes from Chioma Ubogagu and Camila, respectively, before Jasmyne Spencer put the game away in the 82nd.
Both the Pride and Courage are riding hot streaks. Orlando is unbeaten in its last eight matches, most recently drawing second-seeded Portland Thorns FC 0-0 in Central Florida last weekend. Both teams had a number of chances throughout the 90 minutes, but the defenses held strong to split the points.
North Carolina wrapped up a strong regular season by claiming the NWSL Shield with Wednesday night’s 4-0 win at the Houston Dash. The Courage had four different scorers, with Sam Mewis, Lynn Williams, Debinha and Ashlyn Hatch all getting on the stat sheet.
While next weekend’s semifinal match-ups are not yet determined, the Pride will have a better idea of where they could play before Saturday’s match kicks off. The two other playoff teams, Portland and Chicago, will play each other on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET. A draw or win by Chicago would mean a Pride rematch against North Carolina on Oct. 8, while a Chicago loss could open the door for the Pride to jump into third-place and book a meeting with Thorns FC on Oct. 7 at Providence Park. Should the Pride win and Red Stars draw, Chicago will hold the tiebreaker over Orlando and claim the No. 3 spot.
All postseason matches will be aired on Lifetime. Tickets to the 2017 NWSL Championship can be purchased at nwslsoccer.com/championship.
