Pride, Washington Spirit honor Orlando tragedy victims

Sprits comes away with 2-0 win after emotional match

BOYDS, Md. – Saturday's match between the Orlando Pride and Washington Spirit was more than a soccer game as the teams honored the victims of the recent tragedies in Orlando.

The ball was passed back to Pride goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris in the 49th minute. The team said both teams paused play for 60 seconds to honor the 49 victims of last weekend's tragedy in Pulse nightclub.

The teams also donned purple #OrlandoUnited shirts during opening ceremonies.

"The beauty of (soccer) is it brings people together," said Harris, who formerly played for Washington. "That's why we do what we do. Today, if you look in the crowd, there's not Washington Spirit fans versus Orlando Pride fans. Today, we were just one collective group coming together to celebrate the lives of the people who didn't make it out of Pulse and the victims' families. Today was just about honoring them and taking a few moments out of our game to pay respect and be grateful that we are still here, getting to do what we love everyday. It was more than just about us. It was about bringing this entire place together."

Added Orlando Pride Head Coach Tom Sermanni: "It was an emotional night. It's been a tough week in Orlando as everybody can imagine. But we had to go out there and play a game of soccer tonight and you've got to turn up and do that. So congratulations to the Washington Spirit, they were the better team tonight and deserved the win."

Washington opened the scoring nine minutes into the match after Alyssa Kleiner sent a low cross into the box from the left side. The ball found Estefania Banini in the middle and the Argentinian midfielder beat one Pride defender before tucking the ball into the right side netting to make it 1-0.

The home team doubled its lead just before halftime when Francisca Ordega stole the ball from Laura Alleway on a tackle that caused the Australian to exit the game early. Officials said Alleway was replaced by Kaylyn Kyle after the 40th-minute goal.

"It's very important (for us to represent the city) because our team and our club is very much a part of the community and attached to the community," Sermanni said. "The tragedies that hit Orlando last weekend hit the whole community and that, by definition, hits the club, as well."

Orlando will return to Camping World Stadium for two matches next week, first welcoming the Houston Dash at 7:30 p.m. Thursday followed by Portland Thorns FC at 5 p.m. Sunday.


Recommended Videos