**LOS ANGELES, Calif.** – The Orlando Pride earned a table-shifting 1-0 shutout win over Angel City on Monday night, with Adriana’s 22 ^nd minute strike separating the two sides in the end. The result. The win is the ninth for Orlando on the year, the most since 2017, which is also the last season in which the club made a postseason appearance. The Pride are in 7 ^th place now, one place outside the playoffs, with 28 points from 20 games. Meanwhile, Angel City is in 9 ^th place with 25 points from 20 games played.
The hosts were first to create an opportunity when midfielder Savannah McCaskill drove a shot from distance that forced Orlando goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse into a save. Though McCaskill had plenty of power behind her effort, it was too direct at Moorhouse in the center of the goal resulting in a relatively routine save from the shotstopper.
After struggling to create much going forward, Orlando was able to get enough momentum behind a push forward to threaten the Angel City goal in the 22 ^nd minute. Working the ball down the right side of the field, Brazilian attacker Marta had a shocked blocked from inside the box that sent the ball flying back into the air. Catching it on the drop, fellow Brazilian Adriana was able to get her knee over the ball and fire a venomous volley toward the near post. Though Angel City goalkeeper Angelina Anderson was able to get a touch on the ball, she could not keep it out in the end and the visitors found themselves up a goal. With the tally, Adriana has now scored (3) or assisted (2) in each of Orlando’s last five goals.
Both sides threatened the opposition goal once more in the first half, with Angel City nearly finding their opener through defender M.A. Vignola in the 31 ^st minute before Adriana made Anderson work again on the other end in the 34 ^th minute. First, Vignola drove down the left side of the box and received a pass before firing toward the near post, which saw Moorhouse react in time to push the ball away. Three minutes later, Adriana again had a look on goal as she ripped an effort from distance, but this time Anderson was equal to it as she parried the shot to end any chance of a rebound.
At the break, though, the visiting Pride held onto a slim one goal lead.
Getting the second half going, Orlando had another look on goal in the 51 ^st minute when forward Ally Watt attempted to slide in behind two Angel City defenders and beat Anderson from just outside the box. Watt had been fed through just to the right of the center of goal, and as she approached the 18-yard box, she opted to pull up and test Anderson. Sending a strong drive toward goal, the ball would eventually clear the crossbar up and out of play without Anderson getting a touch on it in the end.
Adriana would then have another go around the hour mark, once again forcing Anderson into action, but that would be the last quality test on the Angel City goal the visitors would produce. As for the hosts, a long ball over the top in the 83 ^rd minute resulted in a VAR check for a handball in the box, but the officials determined it was not enough to award a penalty in the end.
Then, two chances for McCaskill in the 85 ^th minute and forward Sydney Leroux in the 86 ^th minute caused the Pride to bend but not break as another set of late pushes for an equalizer came about. McCaskill failed to redirect a Jun Endo cross from the left flank into the back of the net, as her first-time effort skimmed over the top of the crossbar and out of play. One minute later, Leroux got on the end of a deflection following a corner kick and caused Moorhouse to tip the ball over the bar and out of play.
Through eight minutes of added time, the Pride were able to hang on and earn a narrow 1-0 lead that keeps their playoff hopes alive with just two games remaining in the regular season.

Match Highlights

Match Highlights