(Photo by Victor Tan / New Day Review)
ORLANDO, Fla. – When it comes to the Orlando Pride’s defense, goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris is perhaps the last teammate the Central Florida team wanted to lose. Coming off a 2016 Goalkeeper of the Year season and entering the Pride’s second season as team captain, Harris has been an integral part of the Pride since their inception. Harris, who led the National Women’s Soccer League in Save of the Week honors in 2016 with eight, has already garnered the honor twice this season, winning in Week 1 and Week 4.
With the 31-year-old now sidelined for approximately eight weeks, the Pride look to their depth chart for someone to stand between the posts. That list includes second-year Pride goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe, very newly signed goalkeeper Caroline Stanley and developing third-stringer Hannah Seabert.
Stanley played in Orlando’s most recent match, a 1-1 draw with the Seattle Reign, because Bledsoe was sidelined for the match with a concussion-related injury. For head coach Tom Sermanni, there was no concern when Stanley was thrusted into the game.
“We’ve seen Caroline play. She’s been an established goalkeeper in the league and avery good goalkeeper,” Sermanni said before training Thursday. “So, I ddin’t have any concerns from her goalkeeping perspective. But you’ve got a player who comes in at 10 o’clock on a Friday night to the team and is thrown on the field after 25 minutes. It’s a little bit of a difficult adjustment.”
Now the Pride’s defense is tasked with another responsibility: integrating a new goalkeeper in competitive matches. Starting center-back and first-year Pride player Alanna Kennedy sees it as simply comforting whoever ultimately mans the spot.
“I think, for us as a back four, having Caroline come in on the weekend, it was important that we made her feel confident and comfortable coming into the game,” Kennedy said before training Thursday. “And she did a great job. She stepped up and played her role, so, yeah, I think, as I said, both her and Aubrey have the quality to step up even though they have big shoes to fill.”
One benefit that Sermanni sees with his 2017 squad is that players are able to “assimilate into it very, very quickly.” Integrating so many new players has been a task for the Pride, as Orlando welcomed nine new players to its 2017 roster.
“You know, I think the environment amongst the players is one that’s very welcoming,” Sermanni said. “So, new players coming in, I think and I hope, feel comfortable from the day that they come in. What we need to do this week is—with Aubrey and with Caroline—is give them as much goalkeeping action as we possibly can so we can get them really integrated into the sessions and get them as much practice as possible.”
Whoever steps between the posts on Saturday will have a task ahead of them. No. 3 Sky Blue FC touts one of the most efficient and accurate forwards in Samantha Kerr. In six appearances and 482 minutes, she has totaled the fourth-most shots on goal (11) so far this season with the fewest shots (15).
“Well I think Kerr is the key,” Sermanni said. “I mean, she’s the key person, and it’s just a question of our center-backs making sure that they’re really focused and disciplined in their defending job against Sam; to make sure that she doesn’t get, you know, run in behind them, to make sure that when she gets the ball that we’ve got players around her, pressing her to try and make sure she doesn’t get a chance at us and dribble at us… [S]he’s the main one we need to shut down.”
Kennedy welcomes the challenge of playing her fellow Australian women’s national-team teammate.
“Sam’s a great player. I actually enjoy playing against her,” Kennedy said. “It’s always a great challenge, but she’s hard to contain. Yeah, I guess both [left-back Steph Catley] and I know her well… They’ll be hard to contain, but, obviously, I think each week we’re getting better at the back, not just the back four but as a defense altogether.”
The Pride will be in New Jersey to face Sky Blue at 7 p.m. on Saturday. The game will be broadcast on go90.com.
Follow Victor Tan on Twitter at @NDR_VictorTan.
