ORLANDO, Fla. (July 3, 2022) – Orlando Pride (2-5-3, 9 points) overcame a two-goal deficit to earn a 2-2 draw in the inaugural DAYTONA SoccerFest against Racing Louisville FC (2-4-4, 10 points) on Sunday night at the iconic Daytona International Speedway.
The match saw Kylie Strom score her first-career NWSL goal, while Darian Jenkins notched a goal and an assist to lead the Pride comeback. Erika Tymrak also added an assist on the night, while Thais Reiss recorded her first NWSL start.
The Pride face a quick turnaround, set to host the Houston Dash on Friday, July 8 at Exploria Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. ET with tickets available here or by calling (855) ORL-CITY.
Orlando Pride Assistant Coach Seb Hines:
“I think the team showed a lot of courage to come back from 2-0 down, you know, we’ve been in this position too often. But I felt that we didn’t deserve to lose that game today. I think the players played terrific, they played how we wanted to play. We wanted to control the game with our passing and moving, create goal-scoring opportunities. Obviously we need to work on the last part of that but I can’t fault their attitude. Their attitude this week from Monday to the game day has been first class.”
Scoring Recap:
34’ Emina Ekic – LOU 1, ORL 0
The visitors got on the board thanks to a cross from Nealy Martin finding Emina Ekic at the back post, who was able to control it before slotting the ball into the back of the net.
51’ Savannah DeMelo – LOU 2, ORL 0
Racing Louisville doubled its advantage shortly after the halftime break thanks to a free kick effort from the left edge of the box by Savannah DeMelo, who was able to curl her finish through the Pride wall and into the top right corner of the net.
59’ Kylie Strom (Darian Jenkins) – LOU 2, ORL 1
The Pride answered with Kylie Strom finding Kerry Abello on the left flank, who sent a cross into the area. Following a poor clearance by the Louisville defense, Darian Jenkins was able to find Strom inside the edge of the area, who took one touch before curling her finish into the right side netting to halve the deficit.
69’ Darian Jenkins (Erika Tymrak) – ORL 2, LOU 2
Orlando leveled with Celia driving up the right flank, finding Erika Tymrak at the edge of the area, who was able to feed a ball in behind the Racing defense for Darian Jenkins, who hit it first time into the right corner to tie the game.
