ORLANDO, Fla. – Consider for a moment that the Orlando Pride were the No. 1-scoring side in the National Women’s Soccer League last season. They scored 45 goals, the second-highest team total in league history, behind two of the game’s best scorers in forwards Marta Vieira da Silva, who had 13 goals in 2017, and Alex Morgan, who had nine.
Fast forward to the 2018 season, and it would, perhaps, surprise almost every fan that the near-identical 2017 squad that added forward Sydney Leroux has only scored eight goals–or, more relevantly, the fifth-most goals in the NWSL–through eight games.
Perhaps even more intriguing is the Pride’s defensive play in 2018.
Of the four 2017 playoffs teams, the Pride narrowly beat the Chicago Red Stars for most goals allowed (31). In 2018, Orlando has, so far, allowed the fourth-fewest goals (seven) in the league, as goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris has made the seventh-most saves (20).
For the third-year Pride keeper, the team’s focus needs to shift to the attack.
“Yeah, I mean, we’ve been working a ton on defensive shape and how we collectively, as a team, want to defend,” Harris said before training on May 16. “I think, now, you’ll start seeing our focus being on how we attack; we gotta start scoring goals… So, for us to put points on the table, for us to get wins, we’re gonna have to start scoring a lot more goals…
“So that’s probably gonna be Tom’s shift moving forward ’cause we aren’t scoring enough goals…”
From the back line to the attacking front, the Pride have attributed their early-season defensive successes to a collective effort. That’s been led, in part, by third-year Pride coach Tom Sermanni’s veteran players and their versatility in the defensive third.
Center back Toni Pressley, for example, has played in the holding-midfield spot this season, and right back Ali Krieger has the ability to play on the flank or as a center back.
For Sermanni, he specifically credits his attackers’ efforts to play defense.
“No, it starts up front. That’s exactly where defending starts,” Sermanni said before training on May 21. “And I think, you know, we’ve been trying to preach that message this year, and the players have bought into it. The ethic from our strikers, then, sets the standard for the rest of the team.
“And I think, you know, if you ask what’s one difference between our team now and, say, at the same stage last year–or the last two years–we don’t look as vulnerable defensively as we have been.”
Leroux is one of those attacking players that has proven to be a tireless worker. Despite scoring six goals for FC Kansas City last season and adding four goals in three 2018 preseason games, the 28-year-old has yet to find the back of the net in regular-season play.
Even so, Leroux’s defensive efforts have caught the attention of one of her new teammates in just four games playing with her: midfielder Alanna Kennedy.
“Yeah, I think for a lot of strikers, the defensive role is something that they hate, and I think [Leroux] embraces that part of her game,” Kennedy said before training on May 21. “And, yeah, you know, that makes her an even better player with, you know, extra qualities.”
Said Morgan before training on May 21 on the team’s emphasis on attackers defending: “I want our forwards to stay connected with me, but, at the same time, we want to get scoring chances from defending higher up on the field, from forcing turnovers.
“And I think that’s been something that we’ve been able to do well this year more consistently throughout these games and why I think we’re coming out on top, whether that’s a tie or win, is because of our defensive presence.”
In the attack, Sermanni won’t give his players any new points of emphasis to produce more goals; he believes in what he and his staff have been focusing on all season, so far. Time is the biggest factor, now, for Sermanni.
Time also plays a factor in bringing back one of the Pride’s most dynamic players from 2017: midfielder Camila Martins Pereira. In 2017, she scored 4 four goals and added five assists before suffering season-ending knee injuries in the final regular-season game.
Combine the absence of Camila with a flurry of national-team call-ups that started during the preseason and only recently, temporarily ended in mid-April, and it seems the Pride’s relative lack of chemistry is only normal.
Fortunately for Orlando, the upcoming call-ups will only pull away some of the Pride’s Americans, as the United States women’s national team will play the Chinese women’s national team in two friendlies on June 7 and June 12.
“You know, it’s a time factor sometimes. And it takes a little bit,” Sermanni said before training on May 16. “Sometimes it all comes together really, really well–not that often–and it takes time; it takes work in the training field; it takes players playing together so they start to get on the same page as each other.
“And I think once we get that, then we’ve got players on this team that can’t not score goals.”
For Morgan, she has been pleased with the progress the team has made in reforming its chemistry. With new, experienced midfield players like 27-year-old Christine Nairn and 24-year-old Emily van Egmond, the Pride have found consistency, interchangeability and depth in their roster.
“I mean, I think we’re just getting used to the way that we’re playing, and, obviously, the different personnel that we do have within the forward line, the midfield line, the defensive line has been much more consistent…” Morgan said. “I feel like we definitely need this breaking out of getting a few goals on the score sheet rather than one or two or low-scoring ties.
“So, we’re still looking for that breakout, but we’re getting the results that we need to get. We’re grinding out results that could go either way…”
The Pride will have its hardened defense tested against the league’s best attacking team as well as come against one of the NWSL’s best defensive teams when they host the undefeated North Carolina Courage Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Orlando has won the last two meetings by a combined score of 6-3.
For more on the Pride, as they look to give the Courage their first loss of the season for the second-straight year, follow Victor Tan on Twitter at @NDR_VictorTan.
To contact Victor, you can email him at vtan@newdayreview.com.
