Haley McCutcheon scored early and Luana delivered late as the fourth-seeded Orlando Pride began their attempt to repeat as NWSL champions with a 2-0 victory over the visiting No. 5 Seattle Reign in the quarterfinals on Friday night.
In this playoff opener and matchup of clubs that just played to a 1-1 draw in the final weekend of the regular season, Orlando prevailed despite conceding 17 overall shots and eight on target to the Reign, who pushed hard for most of the second half but couldn’t get on the board. Orlando’s Anna Moorhouse made eight saves.
The Pride advance to the semifinals against the winner of Sunday’s Gotham FC vs. Kansas City Current quarterfinal match.
Orlando, playing without injured star Barbra Banda, had closed the regular season on a 3-0-2 run.
The Pride posted the first serious scoring threat in the 17th minute. However, Julie Doyle’s attempt from the center of the box, off a nifty Cori Dyke pass, skimmed the top of the crossbar.
Four minutes later, however, McCutcheon did not miss her opportunity on a one-touch beauty off a Doyle cross during the push.
Seattle nearly equalized just past the hour mark, but Sally Menti, who had just come on as a substitute, hit the crossbar on her free-kick chance from the front right of the box.
In the 76th minute, Moorhouse kicked-saved Maddie Mercado’s cross-body strike.
In the final seconds of the match, Orlando star Marta sprinted roughly 100 yards with the ball and was fouled in the box. That set up Luana to convert her penalty kick in the eighth minute of stoppage time.
Friday marked the last match for star Seattle defender Lauren Barnes, the NWSL’s record holder with 252 matches played, who announced she would retire following this season.
–Field Level Media
