Orlando Pride seek defensive answers in final playoff push against Chicago

With three games left in the regular season and a playoff berth on the line, the Orlando Pride still are trying to figure out what makes their defense tick.

Orlando averaged 1 goal ceded per game in the first seven games of interim coach Becky Burleigh’s tenure. But the Pride gave up 6 goals in their last two games as they dropped out of playoff contention for only the second time this year.

Ahead of Wednesday night’s match against the Chicago Red Stars, the Pride are hard-pressed to solidify their defensive system as they make one final push for their first playoff berth since 2017.

“The challenge is no matter what you do defensively, you give up something,” Burleigh said. “It’s just trying to put our players in the best position possible for the gifts that our players have. We went too passive in the last game and now we have to figure out ways to step that up a little bit harder.”

The Pride coughed up all 3 goals scored by Gotham FC last Saturday within the first five minutes of a half — one in the first, two in the second.

Burleigh said they came out flatter than anticipated, sagging quickly under the pressure from Gotham to shift too deep into the field to reasonably threaten.

The coach said a lack of sustained possession, worsened by the team’s disjointed passing, caused the Pride’s shape to fall apart.

“We were a little bit too passive, especially in the first half in that game,” Burleigh said. “We never intended to play a low block. It was a mid block that turned into a low block. So we need to figure out why that block sunk and how we can be a little bit more aggressive.”

Burleigh said their energy was partially affected by the toll of the last two weeks, which included postponed matches following the firing of Paul Riley by North Carolina amid a league-wide reckoning over sexual abuse and harassment of players.

Both teams stopped play at the six-minute mark of Saturday’s game to reflect and protest league inaction. Although the moment was powerful for the players’ movement, Pride stars like Alex Morgan said it was difficult to continue play following the stoppage.

“In the end, are we professionals? Yeah, but we’re also humans,” Burleigh said. “And I think that’s tough because it affects everyone very differently.”

With the remainder of the roster fully available, the Pride will make a final bid after tumbling down the table in the last two months.

Meggie Dougherty Howard will be suspended due to yellow-card suspension. Midfielder Jade Moore continues to recover from a knee injury and is unlikely to feature in the rest of the regular season.

Although the Pride re-signed Emily van Egmond at the end of September, the midfielder will not be available and is unlikely to feature in Saturday’s game against Racing Louisville. The club still is attempting to secure a P-1 visa for the Australian, who is hopeful to return to Orlando in time for the final regular season match.

The Pride will look to leading scorer Sydney Leroux and striker Alex Morgan to spark the attack against the Red Stars.

Wednesday night’s match, which kicks off at 8 p.m. ET with a live broadcast on Twitch, is the first of two matchups against Chicago. Separated by only a point, the Pride must beat Chicago both times to vault into playoff contention.

“When you get to this part of the season, every game matters,” Burleigh said. “Everyone has an acute awareness of that.”

This article first appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com. Email Julia Poe at jpoe@orlandosentinel.com.