The Orlando Pride (0-6-1 1 point) lost to the Carolina Courage ( 2-2-3 9 points) to a in front of a crowd of 4, 427 fans at Orlando City Stadium on Saturday night.
The Pride are coming off of a 2-0 loss in Utah against the Royals last Saturday, who=ile the Courage lost 2-1 last week to the Seattle Reign. Carolina is coming off of a 4 game losing streak, while Orlando is still looking for their first win of the 2019 season.
Carolina was bolstered by a hat trick by forward Kristen Hamilton who scored in the 59th and 66th, and 85th minute of the match. She scored solo on her first goal, and was assisted by Leah Pruitt with goal number two, and Jaelene Hinkle on goal number three.
After the game, Pride coach Marc Skinner seemed happy that his team competed against the former champions.
“I think if you watch the game and see what the truth is in the matter, we’ve competed with the champions for 60 minutes and then the mistake and all of a sudden, they [we] have to attack from deep because they [North Carolina] can counterattack us because we need to go and get a goal.” said Skinner.
“I think that up until that point I was really proud of the girls and the effort they put in. It’s just always going to be a matter of quality and that’s the thing that has to improve. I’m pleased with them and what they give for the shirt, but there’s a quality issue, both boxes need work and that’s what we’re here to do.”
Both teams are missing key players who are out for international play with the Women’s world cup coming up. Orlando is missing a slew of key players, including Alex Morgan (USA), Ali Krieger (USA), Ashlyn Harris (USA), Emily van Egmond (AUS), Alanna Kennedy (AUS), Marta (BRA), Camila (BRA), Selina Zardinsky (CAN), and new signee Claire Emilie (SCO).
Carolina is missing key players Crystal Dunn, Abby Dahlkemper, as well as Jessica McDonald, and more, but still had more skill and speed as well as team cohesion in this match.
Carolina defeated Orlando 5-0 in their match earlier this season and once they scored thriller first goal, seemed to increase their aggressiveness to get there other two.
