Exploria Stadium | Orlando, Florida – Friday, August 25 at 7:00 PM ET
Players to watch:
Brazilians Rafaelle Souza, Marta, and Adriana each recorded a goal contribution for the Pride on Sunday in the club’s monstrous 5-0 win over Chicago. It marked the first time in NWSL history that three players from a country other than the U.S. contributed to at least one goal for a team in a single match.
San Diego midfielder Melanie Barcenas assisted the Wave’s game-winning goal over Gotham on Saturday. At 15 years and 293 days old, Barcenas became the youngest player in NWSL history to contribute to a goal in an NWSL match. Barcenas played in teammate Amirah Ali, who scored in the 85th minute in addition to Makenzy Doniak’s first half strike in a 2-1 win over Gotham.
Match facts: The Orlando Pride take on San Diego Wave FC at Exploria Stadium on Friday night, kicking off another full six-game slate around the NWSL this weekend. Orlando and San Diego are in the playoff hunt but sitting just inside the cut. Orlando in in 7th place with 22 points from 16 games played, while San Diego is in 6thwith 24 points from 16 games played.
Orlando defeated the Chicago Red Stars, 5-0, on Sunday, the most goals the Pride have scored in a single match since May 2018. The five-goal differential matched Orlando’s largest win in club history, also a 5-0 win over then-Sky Blue in August 2017. In addition, the win over Chicago marked a third-straight win for Orlando, the club’s best stretch of the year. Orlando can also match a season-long four straight unbeaten with a positive result against San Diego.
On Saturday, San Diego beat Gotham FC, 2-1, to end a nine-match winless run in all competitions (D3 L6), the worst stretch in club history. The previous nine matches more than doubled the longest previous winless streak in the Wave’s history: a four-match streak from May to June last year (D3 L1).
In three league matches, Orlando has beaten San Diego twice and drawn once. The single point collected by San Diego against the Pride is the team’s fewest against any single opponent in all competitions in the team’s NWSL history.
