Zambia’s Chilufya gutted Orlando Pride scored one goal in Utah Royal’s draw

Zambia women’s national team player Prisca Chilufya believes Orlando Pride deserved more from their 1-1 National Women’s Soccer League draw against Utah Royals at Inter&Co Stadium on Sunday.

The Copper Queens forward came off the bench to level the match with a goal in the 72nd minute, notching her second of the season and her first at home. It also marked the second time this year the forward had scored a second-half equaliser for Orlando.

“It was a tough game. Going in, I knew it wasn’t going to be an easy game. You know, playing a team that’s like at the bottom of the table, they have nothing to lose. So, they always come at you with everything they have. It wasn’t easy at all. It wasn’t an easy game. But we just look forward to the next task that’s ahead of us and just see how we can get the points that we need,” Chilufya told Orlando Pride Media.

On her mindset entering the match, she said: “In my mind, I only had one thought, which was, ‘What can I do to change the faces of the fans? What can I do to give hope to my fellow teammates?’

“That was the only thing that was on my mind. I was just thinking, ‘let me do my part.’ But I wanted the opponent to feel that something had changed. So, my focus was just on helping the team and at least giving some hope to the fans so that they keep cheering us on.”

On dealing with the pressure from Utah, Chilufya explained: “I feel like we did very well towards the end of the game. I think we did a lot that we were supposed to do in the first half, just putting pressure on them.

“So, I didn’t feel any kind of pressure from the opponents, especially when I went in because we had more control of the game. I think we had more rhythm than the opponent. It’s just unfortunate that we only had one goal.”

Chilufya’s goal was assisted by Simone Jackson, who came on as a substitute and recorded the first assist of her professional career after making her NWSL debut in the Pride’s last match. Another Zambia international Barbra Banda featured in the game but was yellow carded.

The draw helped Pride to stay second with 26 points, 10 fewer than leader KC Current.