Saturday’s match against the Chicago Red Stars started slow, with a passing thunderstorm delaying kickoff by an hour. But once the whistle blew and the ball started rolling, the energy and enthusiasm from crowds and players alike poured into Orlando City Stadium. All eyes were on the pitch, but an energy was building as people looked to the substitution bench.
In the 65th minute, Alex Morgan made her long-awaited season debut for the Orlando Pride, coming on as a substitute for rookie Rachel Hill. Morgan spent the first part of the year with Olympique Lyonnais, and she has been eager to use the skills that she learned with that team on the NWSL pitch. On Saturday, we got a glimpse of that potential.
“Pleased to see her back,” Head Coach Tom Sermanni said after the match. “She looked fit, she looked healthy, she looked dangerous. I think it was a good first step back for her.”
Morgan is known as one of the team’s top goal-scorers, but as she pointed out, scoring goals hasn’t really been a problem for the Pride this season. What the team needs now is consistency, and she’s hoping to help her squad reach that next step.
“This year the team has scored more goals than we did all last year, so I wouldn’t say the goals aren’t here,” Morgan said after the match. “I’m really excited to play with [Marta] and some of the other players like Rachel, Jas, who I played with last year, Chi, even Camila and Steph with her killer left foot. I’m excited to play with these players more and more, and I think the goals will come. It’s just we’ve either been in a drought or been full of goals so we need to get that consistency now.”
Morgan hasn’t had much time in full training with her team, and likely we will get a better idea of Morgan’s play and chemistry with her teammates next time we see her out with the squad. But for now, the Pride are happy to have Morgan back and eager to get to work.
