Exploria Stadium | Orlando, Florida – Sunday, April 2 at 5:30 PM ET
Players to watch:
Orlando goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse played in just her third career NWSL game in the club’s season opener loss against Portland, where she made 12 saves in a road loss against the Thorns. It was the most saves in a single game in Pride history, and the first time Moorhouse made double-digit saves in any league game since having 10 for Bordeaux against PSG in Division 1 Féminine in December 2021. Leading the team in shots was a four-way tie between Messiah Bright and Adriana—two newcomers—as well as returnees Mikayla Cluffand Julie Doyle (2).
Though the club suffered defeat in its opening game, Angel City FC forward Alyssa Thompson—who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NWSL Draft—opened her regular season account with a goal against Gotham FC. At 18 years and 139 days, Thompson became the second-youngest player to score on her NWSL debut, older than only Jaedyn Shaw (17y, 252d). Thompson and her teammates fired 11 shots at Gotham’s goal, five of which were on target, with forward Katie Johnson the only player to register more than one shot on goal.
Match facts: The Orlando Pride host Angel City FC for the Pride’s first home game of the season as the pair round out the weekend’s action on Sunday night. Both sides are entering off the back of losses in Week 1, with Orlando seeking home success and Angel City aiming to take advantage of its host of options in attack.
In Orlando’s season-opening 4-0 road loss to Portland, the club allowed 27 shots and 16 shots on target. That is the most shots on target allowed in a single game in league history, while it was also tied for the second-most shots allowed in team history (27 at Portland in 2022, 31 at North Carolina in 2019). The Pride have struggled in their last few outings against Portland, though, losing their last two games by a combined 10-0 scoreline.
On the other side, dating back to last season, Angel City has lost three consecutive league matches following its 2-1 loss to Gotham on opening weekend. It is the longest league losing streak in team history while also being the first time the team has conceded multiple goals in three straight NWSL matches. Sunday’s visitors were close to keeping momentum against Gotham FC last weekend, but after Gotham established a lead just after the hour mark, Angel City was unable to create enough going the other way to rescue a point.
Orlando scored a 1-0 road win against Angel City in the first meeting between the clubs last season. Then, the teams played to a 2-2 draw in Orlando in August. That tie was the highest-scoring draw by Angel City in its inaugural season.
