Know Your Foe: Orlando Pride with Sean Rollins from The Mane Land

The Mane Land is an SB Nation Soccer site dedicated to covering both Orlando City SC and the Orlando Pride. Sean Rollins is an Editor and Senior Columnist.

I wanted to include a little preamble prior to this post. I think it is of note that Louisville owes quite a bit to Orlando when it comes to soccer. Louisville City moved from Orlando to begin playing in 2015. Minority owner of Orlando City Wayne Estopinal was instrumental in the relocation. Orlando kept its formal association with LouCity for about a year, and the purple color scheme remains an enduring reminder of the association. LouCity's success led to the building of Lynn Family Stadium, without which there would be no Racing Louisville FC. This connection is important and one day, maybe can even lead to an eventual friendly rivalry, maybe even one that honors the late Mr. Estopinal. I am slowly learning not to force things with this club, so I will leave it at tbis: One day I hope this league is full of natural rivalries that mean something to the fans, and I think this match-up could be one of them.

Now onto the main event:

The Pride were at the top of the table for a while this season. Is that the expectation, to finish top and win the league?

Since the Pride joined the NWSL in 2016, they've had high expectations. Big names have been in the team every season, but the only playoff appearance came in 2017. Marc Skinner took over in 2019 and began to build the team around non-internationals, players they wouldn't lose for major tournaments. This has increased expectation that the Pride will continue to play well during the Olympics and not fall apart as they did during the 2019 World Cup.

How do you expect Orlando to deal with missing players during the Olympics?

The Pride are well-prepared to handle the absences during the Olympics. Skinner showed his plan two weeks ago against Kansas City when he left forward Alex Morgan, midfielder Marta, and right back Ali Riley out of the lineup. Ali Krieger has played a lot of right back in the past, they recently signed England center back Amy Turner, and Sydney Leroux will move up to the forward position. They won't be as strong without Morgan, Marta, and Riley, but they should be able to handle the absences must better than they have in the past.

On a recent trip through Orlando, Racing's players noticed the Orlando City/Pride pub at the airport. Have you visited it, and if so what did you think?

The club has opened a pub at Orlando International Airport and on Church Street in downtown Orlando. I haven't visited the pub in the airport but it was created as a part of Flavio Augusto da Silva and Alex Leitao's plan to expand the club's brand globally.

How long did it take for Orlando to stop feeling like an "expansion team"?

The Pride joined the NWSL at an interesting time. The Boston Breakers were on the verge of folding and the league was looking to expand. The club also made big moves by bringing in Ashlyn Harris and Alex Morgan in 2016 and Marta in 2017. I'd say that they no longer felt like an expansion team in 2017, the team's second season.

Whom should Racing fans pay special attention to on Friday night?

Defensively, Ashlyn Harris has been incredible this year in goal. Courtney Petersen can be a handful at left back when at her best. On the attacking side, the two players to watch are Sydney Leroux and Taylor Kornieck. Fans of the USWNT will remember what Leroux can do and Kornieck has had a breakout year in the attacking midfield.

You can follow Orlando Pride News on Twitter @TheManeLand.