ORLANDO, Fla. (Sept. 8, 2020) - Orlando Pride has signed seven players to short-term contracts, it was announced today, in defenders Carrie Lawrence and Ally Haran, midfielders Zandy Soree, Deneisha Blackwood, Jordyn Listro and Savanah Uveges, and forward Kate Howarth. All seven players will join the Pride for the duration of the Fall Series.
“We are very excited to add each of these players to the Orlando Pride,” Head Coach Marc Skinner said. “All seven represent the young, hungry talent we are hoping to identify and work with for the upcoming match period. We’ve been very happy with the progress each of these players have made since joining us and look forward to giving them the opportunity to play for the Pride in the Fall Series.”
Lawrence, 23, rejoins the Pride after she was initially waived ahead of the NWSL Challenge Cup. An alum of the University of Central Florida, she was previously signed to the team in January 2020, but did not feature for the Club. While at UCF, she was a three-year letterwinner from 2016-18, making 49 appearances, scoring four goals and adding 11 assists.
Haran, 24, joins the Pride following a stint with the Houston Dash. A product of Wake Forest University, Haran totaled 67 appearances from 2014-17 for the Demon Deacons, starting 66 matches while scoring four goals and adding three assists. Following her time at Wake Forest, she played overseas at UMF Selfoss in Iceland, starting 19 matches and scoring two goals in 2018 before eventually being named to the Pepsi-Deildin 2018 Team of the Year.
A fellow UCF alumna, Soree joins the Pride after spending four years with the Knights from 2016-19. In that span, she totaled 67 appearances with 55 starts, netting 14 goals with 11 assists. On the international stage, Soree has appeared for the Belgian U-17, U-19 and senior national teams, with three caps for the senior side, the first of which came in 2019.
Blackwood, 23, is a member of the Jamaican National Team, joining fellow Reggae Girl Konya Plummer on the Pride roster. A graduate of West Florida University, Blackwood last played for Slavia Prague in the Czech First Division.
A graduate of the University of South Florida, Listro comes to the Pride following a stint with UD Granadilla Tenerife in Spain's Primera División. A Toronto native, Listro spent 2013-16 at USF, totaling 82 appearances with 75 starts and adding five assists, setting a school record for appearances throughout her collegiate career.
Both Blackwood and Listro will hold international roster spots for the Pride, and will be eligible to play pending receipt of their P-1 visas.
Coming from the University of Nebraska, Uveges spent the early part of the preseason with the Pride as a trialist. Following three redshirt seasons in Lincoln, Uveges totaled 44 appearances with 34 starts from 2017-19, scoring 11 goals and registering four assists in that span. In 2018, she earned Third Team All-Big Ten honors.
Howarth, 29, rounds out the additions to the Pride, the lone signee with NWSL minutes on her resume. Following a four-year career at the University of Miami, Howarth played for the New England Mutiny in the Women’s Premier Soccer League Elite (WPSL-Elite) before joining the Boston Breakers in 2013. That year she made four appearances for the Breakers and was a teammate of current Pride players Sydney Leroux and Julie King.
The Pride begin Fall Series play on Sept. 19, traveling to face the North Carolina Courage in a 1 p.m. ET kickoff that will be aired nationally on CBS and internationally on Twitch.
