Orlando keeper Ashlyn Harris (Photo by Dante’y Buitureida).
Cary, N.C- The Orlando Pride met at Rio Tinto in Sandy as the Utah Royals provided the turf for their third consecutive home game. Both of these teams came off from a 2-0 victory, Utah was victorious over the Washington Spirit as the Pride defeated the Chicago Red Stars.
When these two teams previously met in March, the result was a 1-1 draw also after celebrating victories, the night was full of possibilities.
The first half didn’t prove to be hopeful for either side as both teams weren’t able to take a shot on the goal. Midfielder Diana Matheson, Goal of the Week for Week 6, did make her defensive mark with an impressively clean slide tackle to control the ball for the Royals.
This slide tackle from Matheson contributed to the majority of possession that Utah reigned in the first half although there was not much action.
The tables turned for both teams as they were eager to advance the score and in the 52nd minute, forward Chioma Ubogagu took a shot with her left that was hopeful, but was too wide from the target for the Pride.
Defender Becky Sauerbrunn worked well with the backline to avoid any opportunities on goal for Utah as she made a total of three clearances and four interceptions.
Utah recovered and Matheson crossed the ball to Amy Rodriguez in the box, but another shot was too wide.
As the end of the half was drawing near, Matheson was the middleman from Kelley O’Hara’s pass to forward Katie Stengel and was then deflected by Pride goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris.
Utah made their way down the field to give Harris a challenge when O’Hara made the run with Brittany Ratcliffe and then stepped off the field due to a re-occuring hamstring injury.
Stengel also had a promising shot in the final minutes to change the game for Utah, but as the others suffered, the shot was went wide.
The final whistle marked another draw for the Royals and the Pride with a scoreless outcome for Week 7. The result wasn’t what either team hoped for, but Utah maintained a 56.6 possession percentage of the ball where as the Pride had control of the ball for 43.4 percent of the match.
The Utah Royals have a break before their next match on May 19 at home. They will close their fourth consecutive home match as they face the Houston Dash before heading to Portland, Oregon.
SCORING SUMMARY: NONE
BOOKING SUMMARY:
UTA-Katrina Gorry, yellow card, 86’
UTAH ROYALS FC: #1-Abby Smith, #3-Becca Moros, #4-Becky Sauerbrunn, #2-Rachel Corsie, #13-Brooke Elby, #23-Gunnhildur Yrsa Jonsdottir, #11-Desiree Scott, #5-Kelley O’Hara (#15-Erika Tymrak, 90 + 1’), #19-Katrina Gorry, #10-Diana Matheson (#25-Brittany Ratcliffe, 84’), #8-Amy Rodriguez (#24-Katie Stengel, 76’)
Subs not used: #18-Nicole Barnhart, #6-Katie Bowen, #9-Lo’eau Labonta, #17-Sydney Miramontez
ORLANDO PRIDE: #24-Ashlyn Harris, #16-Carson Pickett, #4-Shelina Zadorsky, #21-Monica Hickmann Alves, #11-Ali Krieger, #17-Dani Weatherholt, #14-Alanna Kennedy, #5-Emily Van Egmond (#15-Rachel Hill, 70’), #6-Chioma Ubogagu (#13-Alex Morgan, 53’), #10-Marta Vieira Da Silva (#7-Christine Nairn, 86’), #2-Sydney Leroux
Subs not used: #19-Poliana Barbosa Medeiros, 12-Kristen Edmonds, #28-Haley Kopmeyer, #3-Toni Pressley
TOTAL SHOTS: UTA 13-5 ORL
SHOTS ON GOAL: UTA 1-2 ORL
FOULS: UTA 16-12 ORL
OFFSIDES: UTA 1-2 ORL
CORNER KICKS: UTA 6-2 ORL
SAVES: UTA 2-1 ORL
