**ORLANDO, Fla.** - The Orlando Pride earned a huge result in their search for a playoff position on Sunday night as they defeated the North Carolina Courage, 2-1, behind goals from Ally Watt and Adriana in the first half. The win stopped a two-game losing streak for Orlando as they returned to a good bit of form, while North Carolina are winless in five straight league games despite lifting the UKG Challenge Cup trophy following a cup final victory over Louisville last weekend.
Starting the match off with a bang, Orlando scored the fastest regular season goal in club history when forward Ally Watt bundled the ball past North Carolina goalkeeper Casey Murphy after just 40 seconds to take the lead. Watt had been played in by teammate Adriana, and she did well to keep her composure amidst both defenders and Murphy attempting to close her down. Watt then saw a partially stopped shot work its way over the goalline and in, though, sending the home crowd into a frenzy early on.
North Carolina attempted to respond quickly with a chance created for forward Tess Boade in the 13 ^th minute. Fellow forward Kerolin had received a pass on the right side of the field when she spotted Boade in the middle of the box and played to her. Boade then attempted to get her right foot over the cross as she sent her effort toward goal, but the shot landed high over the crossbar in the end.
Continuing on, Orlando were able to double their lead in the 32 ^nd minute as Adriana went on a breakaway solo run and beat Murphy at the far post with a calm finish to help her team’s momentum even further. Teammate Julie Doyle slid Adriana in behind the defense with a low pass, and the Brazilian did the work the rest of the way as she closed in on Murphy in goal and picked out the bottom far corner with aplomb.
North Carolina were able to respond early in the second half, though, with new signing Manaka Matsukubo finding a goal in the 52 ^nd minute to cut the deficit in half. Emily Fox was on the ball for the Courage out wide to the left when she rolled a cross back toward the edge of the penalty area. A smart dummy then left the ball for Manaka, who finished at the far post with a precise left-footed shot that beat Pride goalkeeper Carly Nelson in the end.
However, attempts for North Carolina to complete the comeback were in part faltered by a straight red card shown to defender Malia Berkely for the denial of a goalscoring opportunity via a challenge on Adriana in the 78 ^th minute. Adriana was prepared to break in on goal having gotten around Berkely following a clearance, but Berkely did her best to prevent the Brazilian from going clean through. However, in doing so, she produced a challenge that the center official deemed worthy of a red card and North Carolina was down to 10 players for the final 10-plus minutes.
Orlando would see one more great look on goal in the 82 ^nd minute when attacker Rafaelle Souza hit the post with a headed effort from a corner kick, but in the end the Pride would hold on to keep all three points and boost their odds of a late postseason push. The result leaves Orlando in 7 ^th place with 25 points from 19 games played, just one point off the playoff line, while North Carolina now sit in 4 ^th place with 28 points from 19 games played and in need of a positive result in their next time out.

Match Highlights

Match Highlights