ORLANDO, Fla. (May 14, 2022) - Orlando Pride (1-1-1, 4 points) drew with the Kansas City Current (0-2-1, 1 point) on Saturday night after a second-half stoppage-time penalty kick from defender Toni Pressley at Exploria Stadium. The Pride were also backed by a 51-minute goal from captain Gunny Jónsdóttir, which opened the scoring on the night, and a strong performance in between the sticks from goalkeeper Erin McLeod. McLeod finished the night with six saves, including a breakaway stop in the 86th-minute.
The Pride opened the scoring in the second half courtesy of Jónsdóttir finishing off a pass from Sydney Leroux from just inside the six-yard box. The goal marked Jónsdóttir first of the regular season after tallying two in the Challenge Cup.
Orlando Pride Head Coach Amanda Cromwell:
“The first half I thought we played well. I thought we should have controlled the tempo more. We were hitting too many long balls, getting too stretched and I think wasting energy to be quite honest. I think you could see that energy that was wasted in the first half kind of come around in the second half with some tired legs and some knocks that we were just trying to protect…We need to be better with the seeing it out and being more condensed because we got way too stretched, but way to fight back. I thought Kylie [Strom] was great coming on. She had a shot that just got tipped over at the end and she earned that penalty so I was really happy for Kylie. Getting a point kind of feels frustrating because I thought we were in control of the game in the first half and should have finished some of the chances. I have to give Kansas City credit for the last 20 [minutes]. They made some subs that were dynamic and fast and you could see our defense was tired.”
Scoring Recap:
51’ Gunny Jónsdóttir (Sydney Leroux) - ORL 1, KC 0
The Pride took the lead shortly after halftime, with Darian Jenkins sending in a cross from the right side, finding Sydney Leroux at the opposite end of the box. Leroux laid it off first time to a sliding Gunny Jónsdóttir, who was able to slot the ball into the back of the net.
78’ Elyse Bennett (Lo’eau Labonta) - ORL 1, KC 1
The Current leveled with Lo’eau Labonta lofting in a cross toward the back post from the left flank, finding the head of Elyse Bennett for the finish.
90 + 1’ Kristen Hamilton (Elyse Bennett) - KC 2, ORL 1
The Current took the lead after Elyse Bennett drove to the end line and centered the ball to find Kristen Hamilton at the top of the six-yard box for the go-ahead goal.
90 + 6’ Toni Pressley (PK) - ORL 2, KC 2
Toni Pressley leveled the match deep into stoppage time after Kylie Strom was taken down inside the penalty box. Pressley stepped up to the spot and rocketed the ball into the roof of the net to level the match.
Match Notes:
- Gunny Jónsdóttir scored her first goal of the regular season and her third in all competitions for the Pride this year, netting two in the Challenge Cup for the side.
- Pressley’s goal marked her fourth career goal, all coming as a member of the Pride. It was Pressley’s first since May 11, 2019 and first career penalty goal.
- Sydney Leroux tallied her first assist of the year with the helper on Jónsdóttir’s goal.
- McLeod’s six saves marked a high across all competitions for the goalkeeper this season.
- Kylie Strom recorded her first regular season appearance in 2022, entering the match after the halftime break.
- Head Coach Amanda Cromwell made no changes to her starting lineup from last week’s win at Angel City.
Next Match: The Pride face a quick turnaround, traveling to take on the North Carolina Courage on Wednesday, May 18, at WakeMed Soccer Park in a 7 p.m. ET kickoff.
