Pride return to Exploria Stadium for next game of NWSL Challenge Cup
ORLANDO, Fla. – Orlando Pride (0-1-1, 1 point) returns home, welcoming NJ/NY Gotham FC (0-1-1, 1 point) on Wednesday, March 30, at Exploria Stadium. The match is set to kickoff at 7 p.m. ET and will stream in the U.S on Paramount+ and internationally on Twitch.
Tickets to the match, presented by Orlando Health, are available at Orlando-Pride.com or by calling (855) ORL-CITY.
“We both want to win, we both want a result. I think that’s the stage for that game, is two teams that really want to get on the scoreboard and get a good result,” said Head Coach Amanda Cromwell. “I think the positive is that we haven’t given up a goal in the run of play. Our team defense has been very good, we’ve worked very hard on that in transition moments, counter pressing. So I think if we keep that up and look to get one or two [goals], we’ll be in good shape.”
Both teams enter the match looking for their first wins of the 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup, with the Pride opening the tournament with a draw then a loss, while Gotham saw the opposite, losing their first match but picking up a point last week.
The Pride defense has held strong through the team’s first pair of games, not yet having allowed a goal in the run of play. Orlando will look to bounce back from a 1-0 defeat on Saturday at North Carolina, with the Courage having scored from the penalty spot in the 61st minute. The team will do so without the services of team captain Marta, who sustained an injury last week and has been ruled out of Wednesday’s match due to that injury.
Gotham, on the other hand, will look to build off of its first point, having drawn the Washington Spirit 1-1 on the weekend. Kristie Mewis, who was acquired by Gotham in a blockbuster trade ahead of this season, got her side on the board with a penalty goal in the 23rd minute but that was later negated with a 61st-minute Trinity Rodman goal.
The match will serve as the return to Central Florida for former Pride captains Ashlyn Harris and Ali Krieger, who were both traded to Gotham during the offseason in exchange for a 2022 NWSL Draft First Round pick, a natural 2023 NWSL Draft Third Round pick and $50,000 in Allocation Money.
Following Wednesday’s match, the Pride head back out on the road for a meeting with the Washington Spirit this Sunday, April 3. That match is set to kickoff at 4 p.m. ET from Audi Field and will be streamed on Paramount+.
