(Photo by Victor Tan / New Day Review)
ORLANDO, Fla. – Shortly after a 4-1 thumping of FC Kansas City on July 15, Orlando Pride head coach Tom Sermanni said he wanted his team to use the victory as a foundation for the rest of the season. Unfortunately for Sermanni and the Pride, that momentum appeared to be short-lived. Orlando lost 2-1 to the Chicago Red Stars just one week later.
For Sermanni, the win over Kansas City is perhaps too far gone to siphon any remnants of momentum after the Chicago loss. The second-year boss is more concerned about consistency, now.
“I don’t know. [The FCKC win is] a couple weeks ago, now. I don’t tend to go back that far,” Sermanni said after training Thursday. “I think it’s just us playing consistently to win games. You know, when I look back at the Chicago game, you know, we could’ve won that game. I think that the frustrating thing is being that we’ve done enough in games to have that momentum, and we’ve just, you know, given up cheap goals.
“Haven’t made teams work hard enough to score goals against us… First and foremost, I think what we have to do to get on a run is to stop teams scoring easy goals against us. Because I think we’re a team that’s always going to score; we’re always going to create chances; we’re always gonna have possession and momentum in games. So, it’s not so much using the Kansas game. It’s us, now, sort of really focusing on making sure we make life more difficult for the opposition teams.”
As for some of the players, the Kansas City win still has significance. Midfielder Dani Weatherholt sees a connection between that last home match and the upcoming three-game home stand for the Pride.
“I think the Chicago loss—although we can’t blame it on our traveling delays and us being tired, but we did look very fatigued,” Weatherholt said after training Tuesday. “It’s not an excuse. We should have at least taken a draw out of that game. However, it will be nice to have three games at home, and we’re a team that really feeds off of our crowd, and—so, like, I think carrying that momentum from Kansas City is gonna come into the next week at being home again.”
Center-back Toni Pressley sees the Kansas City win as evidence and motivation for the kind of soccer the Pride can play. Pressley scored her first-ever Pride goal in a Goal of the Week effort in the win.
B💣💣M 😈 pic.twitter.com/PN8ppaapcN
— Orlando Pride (@ORLPride) July 16, 2017
“I think, you know, the positives to take away from that Kansas City game is the fact that we did play really good soccer,” Pressley said after training Tuesday. “So, we know that we’re able to do so and that we have the capability to do it, and we just have to focus on that. You know, after the Chicago game, we know…what we didn’t focus on and we need to work on…”
Unfortunately for the Pride, the start of the upcoming three-game home stretch could be marred by a dilapidated roster. Seven Pride players, the most from any National Women’s Soccer League side, were sent to the inaugural Tournament of Nations where Australian women’s national-team players Steph Catley and Alanna Kennedy recorded a perfect 3-0-0 record and the tournament win.
Additionally, the odds are stacked against the Pride, as Chicago has won every matchup with the Pride. Until the most recent loss on July 22, each loss to Chicago was a shutout, too.
For Pressley, those previous losses are serving as motivation to get a different result.
“Yeah, I think, you know, we lost to them twice previously, and I think, you know, we have a little bit of a fire under us,” Pressley said. “You know, we know that we need these points, and we have a great opportunity at home to do so.”
The Pride host the Red Stars Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
For more on the Pride as they vie for their first-ever win over the Red Stars, follow Victor Tan on Twitter at @NDR_VictorTan.
