lost 1-0 to Boston Legacy FC<\/a> on Wednesday. Luana, Nicole Payne, Seven Castain, and Barbra Banda entered the starting lineup, replacing Ally Lemos, Solai Washington, Jacquie Ovalle, and Marta.<\/p>\n\u201cThe league is unforgiving at times and that\u2019s why you need a roster to supplement some of the fatigue with other players,\u201d Hines said about the changes. \u201cMake sure they\u2019re rested and ready to go. We have to be careful with certain players. Obviously, players coming back from injury and managing their minutes, but also fatigue. And we don\u2019t need any more injuries within the current squad.\u201d<\/p>\n
The back line in front of goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse included Oihane, Hannah Anderson, Zara Chavoshi, and Cori Dyke. Angelina and Haley McCutcheon were in the defensive midfield behind Castain, Luana, and Payne with Banda up top.<\/p>\n
This was a tough watch for Pride fans as the Royals dominated every facet of the game. The Pride didn\u2019t record a shot until the 52nd minute and, even worse, didn\u2019t come close to a chance at goal. The fact they only lost by one is an achievement as the Royals should\u2019ve won by multiple goals. But some poor finishing and a header off the post allowed the Pride to keep it close.<\/p>\n
Utah created the first shot of the game in the 14th minute when Ana Tejada played a ball forward that Cece Delzer tapped to Mina Tanaka. The midfielder driblbed across the box to find space and unleashed a shot that Moorhouse tipped over the crossbar.<\/p>\n
The ensuing corner kick was deflected, landing at Kiana Palacios\u2019 foot. The Mexican international turned to shoot, sending her attempt off target.<\/p>\n
Palacios received a ball at the top of the Pride box in the 23rd minute before cutting and slipping. But she was able to get the ball to Miyabi Moriya, who laid it off for Tejada. The Spanish international sent her attempt over the crossbar, creating little concern for Moorhouse.<\/p>\n
The 36th minute saw a seemingly innocuous situation turn into the game\u2019s opening goal. Tejada sent a long ball forward for Cloe Lacasse, whose shot was blocked. It fell to Moriya, who tried to shoot but stumbled over the ball. Instead, she played it central to Tejada, who continued the ball to Miyabi. The midfielder dribbled outside as she was defended by Angelina before lifting a cross into the box. However, it sailed over the Moorhouse\u2019s head and inside the far post to give the hosts the 1-0 lead.<\/p>\n
Miura sent Delzer down the right in the 42nd minute. As the attacker reached the end line, she attempted a cross that Chavoshi blocked out of play. Chavoshi then headed the corner kick out to Miyabi, waiting just outside the box. The Japanese international\u2019s second touch was a shot that sailed over the target.<\/p>\n
The final chance of the half came in the second minute of stoppage time when Moriya sent Delzer down the right. The midfieder spotted Tejada making a run to the top of the box, allowing the attacker to take a first-touch shot. However, the shot went off Palacios and wide of the goal.<\/p>\n
After 45 minutes, Utah had the advantage in possession (59%-41%), shots (7-0), shots on target (2-0), corner kicks (4-2), and passing accuracy (78%-62%). It was a dominant half that had the Pride down a goal and needing a major lift.<\/p>\n
Hines made three changes at halftime. Kerry Abello, Washington, and Lemos came into the game for Castain, Luana, and Oihane.<\/p>\n
The Royals started the second half on the attacking foot, taking their first shot less than a minute after the restart. Tejada played Tanaka into the Pride third of the field, and Tanaka tried to chip the ball over Moorhouse. However, she sent the attempt wide of the target.<\/p>\n
The Pride finally created their first shot of the game in the 52nd minute when they won a corner kick. The set piece was cleared away where Lemos took possession. She played it centrally for Abello. Since nobody stepped up to the defender, she attempted a shot through a group of players that was blocked.<\/p>\n
In the 54th minute, Payne sent a cross into the box for Banda. The striker tried to turn the ball on goal, but Kate Del Fava was there to block it. The ball went right back to Banda, who laid it off for Abello. But her shot was also blocked. With her back facing the goal, Banda turned and shot into Del Fava, allowing Utah to clear.<\/p>\n
A Tanaka cross in the 59th minute went right to Anderson, but the center back\u2019s clearance only went to the top of the box. Chavoshi blocked Tejada\u2019s first-touch shot and Lacasse\u2019s follow-up attempt as well.<\/p>\n
Hines made his fourth change of the night in the 61st minute, replacing Banda with Ovalle. The substitution was due to a minutes restriction on Banda, who continues to increase her minutes as she returns from a thigh injury.<\/p>\n
Dyke cleared a loose ball in the Pride third of the field over the end in the 65th minute as Lacasse chased it down. Tatumn Milazzo shook free of Lemos on the ensuing corner kick and sent her free header off the far post. It bounced off Delzer\u2019s shoulder, allowing Ovalle to clear the danger.<\/p>\n
Hines made his final change in the 74th minute as Julie Doyle came on for Payne.<\/p>\n
The Pride should\u2019ve had a good attempt at goal in the 84th minute when Angelina drew a foul and quickly played the ball to Abello. The defender sent it forward for Washington down the left with Doyle and Ovalle making runs. Washington sent the ball into the box, but her cross sailed over the crossbar. It was especially irritating to Ovalle, who had a step on her defender at the top of the six-yard box.<\/p>\n
At full time, Utah had the advantage in possession (57%-43%), shots (13-3), shots on target (3-0), corner kicks (6-5), and passing accuracy (77%-65%). Frankly, the Pride are fortunate they didn\u2019t lose by more as the post saved them from a two-goal loss.<\/p>\n
\u201cTough one. Tough defeat,\u201d Hines said. \u201cI thought the game was quite even. The goal is just one of those that, it\u2019s a cross that goes into the corner and they take the lead. The players gave absolutely everything. It\u2019s always tough, big turnaround from Wednesday night to come in here. The travel. We\u2019ve always said we\u2019re not going to look for excuses. We always look at what\u2019s in front of us and try our best and I think the players tried their best tonight, but it wasn\u2019t quite enough today.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Pride continue to struggle since returning from the FIFA World Cup break. They\u2019ve now lost three of their first four games since the restart, with the only win being a surprising 3-0 victory<\/a> over the Kansas City Current at home.<\/p>\nWhile the Pride are in a slump, it hasn\u2019t been the defensive unit\u2019s fault. Orlando has only conceded four goals in the last four games and has a clean sheet in that span. The last two losses have been narrow 1-0 defeats.<\/p>\n
\u201cDefensively, I thought we did everything in our power to try to stop clear-cut opportunities,\u201d Hines said. \u201cWe knew that Utah would use the space in behind and try to exploit that, use their goalkeeper. So we were patient within that. Structurally we were okay. We allowed certain players to have the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n
The main problem for the Pride has been finding goals. They\u2019ve only scored in one of their last four games. It\u2019s a problem that appeared tonight and is why they weren\u2019t able to get anything from the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe weren\u2019t quite threatening enough in transition,\u201d Hines said. \u201cWould\u2019ve like to have seen some better opportunities to go to goal, but it wasn\u2019t due to a lack of effort. The ball just ran out of play or we mishit it.\u201d<\/p>\n
This loss sees the Pride out of the playoff spots, landing in ninth with 20 points from 16 games. While they sit just one point behind the North Carolina Courage for eighth and two behind Angel City FC for seventh, they\u2019ve now played two more games than all of the teams around them. Denver Summit FC is just one point back, Bay FC is two back, and Seattle Reign FC is three back, with each holding two games in hand.<\/p>\n
The Pride will look to achieve a positive result on Friday when they welcome Chicago Stars FC to Inter&Co Stadium.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Orlando Pride (6-8-2, 20 points) fell 1-0 tonight to the Utah Royals (8-4-3, 27 points) at America…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":346174,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[139,141,140],"class_list":["post-346173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=346173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346173\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/346174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=346173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=346173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=346173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}