The XI for tonight’s playoff push matchup. #ORLvPOR | #JoinThePride pic.twitter.com/SicpE32SS5
— Orlando Pride (@ORLPride) August 11, 2018
ORLANDO, Fla. – Orlando Pride Head Coach Tom Sermanni didn’t hold back in his post-match press conference. After his Pride (8-7-6, 30 points) fell 2-0 to the Portland Thorns (9-6-5, 32 points) Saturday night at Orlando City Stadium, Sermanni said his team’s second-half performance was “abysmal.”
With the win, Portland leapfrogs the Pride into third place in the National Women’s Soccer League standings.
“I know that we’ve got a whole lot of perceived star players, but, to be honest, the second half was abysmal in every regard,” Sermanni said after the match.
The third-year Pride boss made a point to apologize to the 6,012 fans that attended the match, too. It was the second-highest crowd Orlando has drawn at home, so far, this season.
“To be honest, for most of that second-half performance, I’d like to apologize to the crowd for coming and keeping supporting us,” Sermanni said, “because our team on the field didn’t deserve that support second half. It was extremely poor.”
It was clear from the start of the second half that Portland was riding its first-half-ending momentum. After dominating the latter half of the opening period, the Thorns scored twice in the first eight minutes of second-half play to break a scoreless tie.
Thorns forward Tobin Heath initiated the first scoring effort with a short-corner delivery from the left. The ball was immediately played back to Heath, who crossed the ball to the near post. Heath’s delivery bounced once past forward Ana-Maria Crnogorčević and to the feet of midfielder Lindsey Horan for the 1-0 lead.
Six minutes later, Portland attacker Hayley Raso scored a goal she had fought for all match. A headed ball bounced around midfield before it was directed toward the Pride’s goal and Raso.
The 23-year-old, then, sped past Pride defenders Alanna Kennedy and Toni Pressley, took two touches and then fired a shot past a diving Ashlyn Harris for a 2-0 lead.
“In the first seven minutes of the second half, our defending’s embarrassing,” Sermanni said. “Our lack of willingness to actually, just simply defend is just so poor. And then we go in there malaise where nobody seems to be able to, you know, get the team, pick them up and get us back in the game.”
The Pride started the match on the front foot, but they ended the first half struggling to create chances to score. Within the first 10 minutes, Orlando tallied five corners. Portland, however, ended the opening period with a majority of the possession and a majority of half-ending threats.
In the 17th minute, Kennedy’s backward pass to Harris was slow enough for Raso to catch. Raso’s ensuing shot, then, went toward goal but banged off the near post.
Less than 20 minutes later, Orlando was, once again, saved by the woodwork. Raso was also on the delivering end of this threat, dropping in a cross from the right that ricocheted off the crossbar.
In total, Portland out-shot the Pride 17-13 (3-6, on-goal; 12-4 in the second half) and out-possessed the Pride 60.2 percent-39.8 percent, including 63.1 percent-36.9 percent in the second half.
“I think the first half we were really committed to the game plan, and our commitment to go forward and our commitment to defend was some of the best I’ve ever seen,” Harris said after the loss. “The unfortunate part about the game is if you don’t produce, and you don’t put chances away, this is what happens.
“We had them by the throat probably the first 10 minutes, and we just didn’t capitalize. And as we, you know, let the game wear on, wear on and wear on, the momentum clearly shifts, and we had one lack of concentration, and it costed us the game, and we just mentally crumbled.”
Portland’s physicality, perhaps, played a factor in the Pride’s loss. Orlando utility player Kristen Edmonds drew fouls in the 23rd and 31st minutes, as Heath and Horan each pushed Edmonds to the ground.
That kind of physicality is something Sermanni acknowledged Portland is known for. He simply didn’t see his players match it in the second half.
“That’s how Portland play, and that’s how our league is,” Sermanni said. “And the reality of being a footballer…that’s a critical part of the game. And you can’t get muscled out of the game. Or if you get muscled out of the game, you’re not gonna win games. And that, again, was, you know, partly what we were up against in there tonight…
“But you gotta tackle people; you gotta get in people’s face; you gotta put pressure on people. And, you know, as I say, especially in the second half, we just didn’t do that, and that’s, as I say, I don’t know. I really don’t know why.”
Who’s Next?
The Pride will travel to play the No. 1 North Carolina Courage (15-1-5, 50 points) on Aug. 18 for their second-to-last road game, third-to-last game of the 2018 regular season.
For more on the Pride, as they make their push for their second-straight playoffs appearance, follow Victor Tan on Twitter at @NDR_VictorTan.
To contact Victor, you can email him at vtan@newdayreview.com, or you can tweet at him.
