One Last Go at Home
Sunday’s match will be the Pride’s final home game of the 2022 NWSL regular season. Exploria Stadium has seen a couple exciting endings with the Pride scoring late stoppage-time goals to earn points. The first came with Toni Pressley scoring a 96th-minute penalty kick to earn a 2-2 draw against the Kansas City Current. That was followed by the Pride scoring twice in second-half stoppage time to earn a point with Mikayla Cluff scoring in the 95th and Darian Jenkins in the 98th minute, respectively. A few matches later, the Pride earned a point at home against Angel City FC courtesy of a Los Angeles own goal in the 90th minute.
Hoorah for Haley
Wednesday’s match against the North Carolina Courage saw Haley Bugeja make her NWSL and Orlando Pride debut when she came on in the 71st minute as a substitute. With the appearance Bugeja becomes the fourth youngest player to ever appear in an NWSL match, and the youngest player to ever feature for the Pride. The 18-year-old first signed with the Pride back on July 1 from Italian Serie A side US Sassuolo. The Maltese forward was named No. 3 on GOAL.com’s NXGN 2022: The 20 best wonderkids in women's football, her second-consecutive year on the list, and No. 15 on ESPN’s 21 Best Women Players 21 or Under.
Back to the City Beautiful
San Diego has four former Pride players currently playing for their Club. Forward Alex Morgan has been a big addition for San Diego this season, scoring a league-leading 15 goals. Morgan spent the last six seasons with the Pride appearing in 69 games and recording 23 goals and 10 assists for Orlando. Jodie Taylor will also be squaring off against the Pride as she appeared in 13 games and scored three goals while with the City Beautiful. Taylor Kornieck entered the NWSL with the Pride via the 2020 NWSL Draft and netted three goals in 26 games while with the Club. Emily van Egmond also had two stints with the Pride, spanning across multiple seasons.
We Appreciate You Fam!
To close out the last home game of the regular season, the Pride are celebrating you, our fans! Sunday night will serve as Fan Appreciation Night, presented by Publix, and all fans attending will receive a free t-shirt when they walk in. Posters will also be distributed throughout the stadium for fans to have and get signed by Pride players and coaches postgame. Nike items in The Den will be marked 50% off as well as many other various giveaways throughout the evening.
Making an Impact
Throughout the month of September, the NWSL and Nationwide are calling upon fans to vote on Twitter for the Nationwide Community Impact Award by mentioning their favorite team and using #NationwideImpactAward. On Monday, the league announced that the Pride are currently leading the fan Twitter vote, as ambassador Gunny Jónsdóttir and the Pride are trying to win a $25,000 total prize for their selected non-profit, Special Olympics Florida.
“The Futures Collection”
In a first-of-its-kind collaboration between a National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) team and a player, the Orlando Pride and Erin McLeod unveiled “The Futures Collection”, a clothing line driven and designed by the Pride goalkeeper. The collection contains a t-shirt, shorts, button down and bucket hat, which are all made from upcycled scrap materials, eliminating the need for fabric milling and reducing the climate impact from production. The Futures Collection pulls inspiration from McLeod’s many passion areas, from social justice and equality, to local ties to the Central Florida area and personal learnings. The Futures Collection is now available for purchase at ShopOrlandoPride.com.
Milestone Tracker
- Erika Tymrak is one goal away from 20 in her NWSL career
- Gunny Jónsdóttir is two appearances away from 100 across all NWSL competitions
- Darian Jenkins is one goal away from 10 across all NWSL competitions
