March 26, 2023 – National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) – Orlando Pride News Release
PORTLAND, Ore. – Orlando Pride (0-1-0, 0 points) suffered a 4-0 defeat to the Portland Thorns in its season-opening match of the 2023 NWSL season. This was the fourth time both sides have gone up against one another to open the NWSL regular season, making it the most common season opening pairing in NWSL history to start the season.
The match saw the four players make their Pride debut for the Club to start the season. 2023 NWSL Draft picks Emily Madril and Messiah Bright earned the start in the match. Brazilian Adriana also earned the start up top after joining the Club from Brazilian side Corinthians and had perhaps the best Pride opportunity with a 53rd-minute shot. Another 2023 NWSL Draft pick, Summer Yates, saw her first professional action in the match coming on as a substitute in the 53rd minute.
Pride goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse made a Club-high 12 saves on the night. This beats the previous Pride record held by Ashlyn Harris who made 10 saves on April 29, 2017 against the North Carolina Courage.
The Pride will return home to Exploria Stadium for their home opener next week as they welcome Angel City FC for a 5:30 p.m. ET kickoff. Tickets for the season opener are still available here.
Scoring Summary:
16′ Morgan Weaver – POR 1, ORL 0
The Thorns opened up the scoring with Christine Sinclair getting a good look on goal and firing a shot, which was saved by Pride goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse, but the rebound fell right to the feet of Morgan Weaver who was able to slot the rebound home for the goal.
22′ Sophia Smith (Christine Sinclair) – POR 2, ORL 0
Christine Sinclair was able to block an attempted clearance by the Pride defense and center the ball to the middle of the box and find Sophia Smith who got on the end of the pass for the finish.
49′ Hina Sugita – POR 3, ORL 0
The home side extended their lead after Thorns forward Sophia Smith struck a shot which was saved by Pride goalkeeper Moorhouse, but the rebound fell to the feet of Hina Sugita who was able to find the back of the net.
76′ Michele Vasconcelos (Sophia Smith) – POR 4, ORL 0
The Thorns scored their fourth after Sophia Smith centered the ball from the endline to the middle of the box, finding Michele Vasconcelos for the finish.
Head Coach Seb Hines:
“Obviously we are disappointed with the result and the goals we conceded, but I think there are a lot of positives to take away. We came here and tried to play the…