Exploria Stadium | Orlando, Florida – Saturday, April 15 at 7:00 PM ET
Players to watch:
Orlando Pride forward Messiah Bright has scored the lone goal of the Pride’s season so far, an equalizer in the second half of a 2-1 loss to Angel City that saw her also open her NWSL account. Bright was Orlando’s second round draft pick and No. 21 overall out of TCU, and was signed to a three-year deal before the beginning of the regular season. Fans will also be eagerly awaiting the full return of Brazilian legend Marta, whose 2022 season was wiped out by injury. The attacker went 53 minutes in the loss to Portland to start the year and did not feature against Angel City.
Gotham FC forwards Midge Purce and Lynn Williams have already shown flashes of being a dangerous duo up top, with their two goals lifting Gotham over Angel City in Week 1. Though neither were able to get on the scoresheet in the club’s most recent outing against OL Reign, their movement and ability to draw defenders to the ball and create space for other runners could prove a dangerous tactic throughout the season. Goalkeeper Abby Smith will be one to watch as the year rolls on as well. Smith helped Gotham to three points in Week 1 and still made three saves in the club’s loss to the Reign.
Match facts: The Orlando Pride host NJ/NY Gotham FC at Exploria Stadium for the third game of Saturday’s action and the third game of each team’s season to date. Orlando, who dropped both of their opening contests to Portland (4-0) and Angel City (2-1) will look to right the ship in its second straight home game, while Gotham FC aims to bounce back from a 2-0 loss to OL Reign in its home opener before the international break.
Orlando has not had an ideal start to the regular season, falling 4-0 to Portland in the season opener as the side attempted to gel together quickly. However, more promising signs followed in their 2-1 loss to Angel City the week after, including rookie attacker Messiah Bright’s first NWSL goal to equalize against the visitors. A resolute performance that saw the Pride attempt to stack up statistically to Angel City was not enough, though, with forward Katie Johnson sealing the victory for the Los Angeles-based side in the 10th minute of added time in the second half.
Gotham, meanwhile, have been more than entertaining to watch despite their split results to start the year. Playing the spoiler in their season opener, goals from forwards Midge Purce and Lynn Williams were enough to complete the comeback and defeat Angel City 2-1 to start the year. However, Gotham’s home opener in front of 7,500-plus fans at Red Bull Arena went almost entirely the way of OL Reign as their 2-0 win saw their defense limit Gotham to zero shots on goal despite duels, tackles, and possession all falling relatively even.
The pair met twice in the Challenge Cup group stage last year, with Gotham defeating Orlando in Orlando, 1-0, in late March before a 1-1 draw toward the end of April. Gotham then walloped Orlando, 3-0, at the beginning of May in back-to-back contests against the Pride (one Challenge Cup, one regular season). However, Orlando did get the better of Gotham in a 2-1 win in August 2022 as Ally Watt’s 73rd minute strike was enough to separate the two sides.
