Orlando City

Marta's Goal Splits Points Between Pride and Reign on Sunday

SEATTLE (May 21, 2017) — Orlando Pride (1-2-3, 6 points) battled to a hard-fought draw at Seattle Reign FC (2-1-3, 9 points) on Sunday evening with Marta scoring her second goal in purple to secure a point on the road. The win gave the Pride points in three straight matches, its last two against the league's top teams.

“We’re delighted to come [to Seattle] and come away with a point. [Memorial Stadium] is a bit of a fortress and Seattle have a great habit of scoring many goals so to come away with a 1-1 draw is a great result for us,” Pride Head Coach Tom Sermanni said.  “We had to hang on tight for the last 25 minutes but I thought we had great momentum at the start of the second half. I thought we defended valiantly and really toughed out the game.”
The Pride were able to hold a potent Reign offense to just one goal, fending off 12 shots including a late-game push from the home side.
Caroline Stanley, who was signed as a goalkeeper replacement after Aubrey Bledsoe was ruled out with a concussion, was called into action 26 minutes into the match after an injury to captain Ashlyn Harris. The former Reign and Sky Blue FC player was tested one minute into her Pride debut, punching away Jessica Fishlock’s header off a Megan Rapinoe cross. The University of Southern California product made two saves in her first match since September 4, 2016.
Defender Ali Krieger took the captain’s armband following Harris’ exit.
Seattle took a 1-0 lead into the locker room on a goal by Beverly Yanez. Stanley punched away an initial cross from the right side, but Rachel Corsie blocked the clearance and mis-hit a shot, but Yanez was able to redirect the ball on frame.
In the 52nd minute, Reign goalkeeper Haley Kopmeyer tried to play a quick goal kick into the middle of the pitch to Fishlock, but Camila stepped in to put on pressure and caused a turnover at the top of the Reign box. Camila slid a quick pass to fellow Brazilian Marta and the forward made no mistake, firing her second goal of the season to tie things up.
The Pride put chances on net late in the game, with Jasmyne Spencer, Camila and Marta all having opportunities but Orlando was unable to beat Kopmeyer a second time.
The Pride wrap up a two-game road trip next weekend, traveling to face Sky Blue FC on May 27 at Rutgers University. Orlando returns to Orlando City Stadium on June 3 to host the Boston Breakers at 4 p.m. ET.
Tickets to all Orlando Pride home matches are available at orlando-pride.com/tickets or by calling (855) ORL-CITY.

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