Photo Copyright: Nick Tre. Smith for USA TODAY Sports
All throughout Saturday night’s titanic, battle-of-unbeatens class at CPKC Stadium, the feeling in the air was similar to that of a final. The building was rocking, the soccer was cagey at first, chippy throughout, and wildly entertaining to the finish. When the match was over and the Orlando Pride had earned a 2-1 victory during which they grabbed the tiebreaking goal while playing with 10, players stormed off the bench to celebrate. They had just won arguably the most anticipated regular season match in National Women’s Soccer League history yet the reaction added to the narrative that there had been a finals vibe.
“It wasn’t something that obviously we were happy with but it’s something we will definitely remember,” Current coach Vlatko Andonovski said about the Pride’s ebullient reaction to the result. “They deserved to celebrate. I thought that was a big win for them, especially a player down. Congratulations.”
Emotions ran high throughout the…
