The Orlando Pride struggled to finish in front of a hostile crowd, falling 2-0 in their National Women’s Soccer League opener Saturday.

The Pride had their best chances to score during the first 12 minutes of each half, during which Thorns goalkeeper Adrianna Franch and her defenders struggled to take care of the ball. Orlando forced turnovers and earned promising looks but could not finish.

Orlando coach Tom Sermanni saw many missed opportunities, but he was upbeat because the revamped Pride roster shined at times. And it doesn’t hurt that Brazilian superstar Marta is expected to join the lineup ahead of the next game once her visa paperwork is processed.

“We had a lot of promising moments in the game,” he said. “. . . Particularly the first part of the second half, I thought we dominated the game. We had some good opportunities. The things that we needed to do a little bit better was the quality when we go into the final third. … Need better decision-making there.”

The Pride looked like the stronger team at the start of the match.

In the sixth minute, Chioma Ubogagu, Dani Weatherholt and Steph Catley worked together to weave through the Portland defense. Catley fired a cross toward the middle of the box, but it was just out of forward Jasmyne Spencer’s reach.

Orlando’s top look came in the 10th minute when the Pride knocked the ball away from Franch and Camila fed it to Spencer. The Orlando forward rushed her shot and it sailed wide left.

Sermanni conceded the loud announced home crowd of 16,145 and national television audience on Lifetime could have been a factor in the early miscues.

“That’s the thing that we can work on as the season progresses,” he said. “The players will get more comfortable and a little less nervy. ... We created some chaos and did have some chances.”

Portland midfielder Allie Long said the stage of the game impacted the Thorns as well.

“I think anyone coming into this environment is going to be so hyper,” she said. “We just wanted to weather the storm a little bit and just settle down.”

The Pride would earn more looks and enjoy long stretches retaining possession, but no one could put the ball in the back of the net.

Portland, meanwhile, regrouped and relied on its physical style of play to help knock Orlando off track.

Spencer took numerous hard hits throughout the match, but none translated to fouls or penalties that could have changed momentum of the game.

“The difficulty is Jas is such an honest player, she doesn’t make the most of the hits she gets,” Sermanni said. “She tries really hard to pop back up immediately and get back to playing, so people may not understand how much of a toll the game takes on her.”

In the 32nd minute, Orlando was called for a hand ball in the box. Nadia Nadim lined up for the penalty kick. She teased Pride goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris in one direction, then fired the other way to give Portland a 1-0 advantage.

After the Pride dominated possession early in the second half, Long forced a key in turnover in the midfield. She rumbled up field and hit Christine Sinclair, who pushed the ball past Harris to give Portland a 2-0 lead and knock the air out of Orlando’s attempts at a rally.

“Overall, Portland is not just a quality team, but a very stable team,” Sermanni said. “They’ve had virtually the same lineup for several years, so that gives them a big advantage. It was a good test.”

After dealing with arguably the most hostile crowd in NWSL, the Pride return home for their debut match in Orlando City Stadium. Orlando will take on the Washington Spirit at 3:30 p.m. April 22. The club is pushing to set a new league attendance record and expects Brazilian superstar Marta to join the lineup after her visa paperwork clears.

“Overall, we’re in a positive position and very excited to be playing this next one at home,” Sermanni said.

ilimon@orlandosentinel.com