Orlando Pride (0-4-0, 0 points) vs San Diego Wave (3-1-0, 9 points)
When: Saturday, 10 p.m.
Where: Snapdragon Stadium, San Diego
TV: CBS Sports Network
As the Orlando Pride travel out west this weekend, here are five storylines to watch during Saturday's match against the San Diego Wave:
Riding the Wave
The Pride are unbeaten against the 2022-expansion side San Diego Wave. The last time the Pride traveled to San Diego, they cruised out of Torero Stadium with a 1-0 victory. The lone goal of the match came via penalty kick from Meggie Dougherty Howard, who now plays for the Wave, but has not seen any action so far this season due to injury.
In the return fixture, the Pride and Wave played to a 2-2 draw at Exploria Stadium with Dougherty Howard able to find the back of the net again against the Wave and Gunny Jónsdóttir tacking on the second goal for the home side.
PIERcing Through the Defense
In the last match against the Kansas City Current, defender Megan Montefusco completed 70 of her 82 passes attempted. This served as the second time the UCLA product has completed at least 70 passes in a match for the Pride, with the previous time coming on August 20, 2022, in a 2-1 win over NJ/NY Gotham FC where she completed 82 passes.
No other Pride player has completed at least 70 passes in a match since the start of the 2018 season.
Climbing the Cliffs
Pride captain Marta got the start in the Club's last match making it her 87th appearance for the Pride. The Brazilian international has now passed for Pride defender Ali Krieger for the third-most appearances in Club history.
In the offseason, Marta signed a new contract with the Pride keeping her in the City Beautiful through the 2024 season.
Building a (Sand) Castle
The match against the Current saw another Pride player make their professional debut when defender Brianna Martinez came on as a substitute in the 84th minute. Martinez becomes the sixth Pride player to make their professional debut this year across all competitions joining defenders Emily Madril and Tori Hansen, midfielder Summer Yates and forwards Messiah Bright and Maliah Morris.
The match also saw goalkeeper Carly Nelson make her first regular season start for the Pride and midfielder Jordyn Listro make her first start of the 2023 campaign.
Milestone Tracker
· Erika Tymrak is four appearances away from 175 across all NWSL competitions, and four from 50 with the Pride.
· Haley McCutcheon is nine appearances away from 100 in the regular season across her NWSL career.
· Marta is 13 appearances from across 100 in her NWSL career, all with the Pride.
