Alex Morgan is going to get all the headlines.
She is the striker and perhaps the most recognizable player on the U.S. Women’s National Team. She is the one on all the team advertising and the biggest draw at the gate.
Her production will often dictate whether the Orlando Pride will mount any kind of attack. In the Pride’s two losses — on the road at Portland and Chicago — Morgan was largely inconsequential with defenders swarming her. In the home win against Houston, she was unleashed and wreaking havoc on the defense, opening them up.
She had two assists in the Pride’s 2-0 win over the two-time defending champion Seattle Reign, helping defeat national team goalkeeper Hope Solo in the process.
Undoubtedly, Morgan will remain an integral part of the Pride’s offensive attack. Perhaps the most important part.
So too will Ashlyn Harris in goal behind her and that back line keeping track of everything else in front of them.
The 2-0 win Sunday at Camping World Stadium was Orlando’s first clean sheet as a franchise. Harris has continued to look really strong in net making big saves. But she needed her defense to step up in a big way Sunday to preserve the victory.
The Reign’s first shot on goal came in the 83rd minute. Harris had to go sprawling to deflect the shot into the crossbar. Reign defender Michelle Cruz collected the rebound but missed the shot and barreled into Harris, leaving her limping as she got up.
Harris, currently the backup for the national team, told the Orlando Sentinel she was OK after the game. But she and her defense stood tall throughout the game.
“The shutout came from a collective group of players willing to put everything on the line,” Harris told Alicia DelGallo of the Orlando Sentinel. “Especially at the end when I was hobbling around, people went beyond their role.
“That’s what separates good goalkeepers from great; it’s not touching the ball for 80 minutes and having to make one save that makes the difference.”
That defense will continue to be something to watch. As Luis G. Hernandez of The Mane Land put it in his takeaways from the game: the defense was good but still has room for improvement.
There is certainly still some growing to do for this expansion team.
But the expansion team also took down perhaps the league’s best team to earn a second home win. The Pride are proving themselves to be a formidable opponent, if not one still working on some things as an expansion franchise.
