ORLANDO, Fla. (July 8, 2022) – Orlando Pride (3-5-3, 12 points) earned its first home win of the season on Friday night, defeating the Houston Dash (4-3-4, 15 points) 1-0 at Exploria Stadium. This was the first game the Pride had played at Exploria stadium in six weeks after spending June on the road and playing in Daytona last week.
The game-winning goal on the night came courtesy of Pride defender Kylie Strom in the 79th minute. The goal marked her second of the season in as many games, the first time in her NWSL career that she has scored in back-to-back matches. Carrie Lawrence picked up her first assist of the season and her second across all NWSL competitions for the Club.
Pride goalkeeper Erin Mcleod tallied her second clean sheet of the season making two saves. Her first of the year came in the 1-0 win over Angel City FC. The shutout also marks the 10th of her NWSL regular season career.
Acting Orlando Pride Head Coach Seb Hines also earned his first victory at the helm. Hines joined the Pride coaching staff after playing for Orlando City SC of Major League Soccer in their inaugural season in 2015.
Acting Orlando Pride Head Coach Seb Hines:
“I think the players understood today that winning is hard. It is hard work and it was a collective effort. They had a real grit and determination on and off the ball. Houston causes some problems, like we had to try and figure it out. They clogged the middle and the areas that we like to exploit. We had to get some thinking at halftime about how we are going to create more goal scoring opportunities. We deserved a goal. It was a lucky goal, but we deserved it. We deserved to win last week and we deserved to win this week. A little bit of luck went on our side. Overall, I can’t talk about the players enough and say how well they did. The players that came on made a difference and they understand that it is a collective effort. It is not just individuals, it is a team.”
Scoring Recap:
79’ Kylie Strom (Carrie Lawrence) – ORL 1, HOU 0
The Pride earned the breakthrough after Carrie Lawrence put the ball back into the box following a clearance from the Houston defense and found Kylie Strom behind the back line. Strom was able to flick the ball with her head towards the goal and past a diving Dash goalkeeper into the back of the net.
