Orlando Pride
Orlando Pride Trade Sydney Leroux to Angel City
The Orlando Pride have traded forward Sydney Leroux to Angel City FC in exchange for ACFC’s natural first-round pick in 2024, $75,000 in Allocation Money, plus the potential for an additional $10,000 in 2022 Allocation Money and another $10,000 in 2023 if the forward meets certain performance-based criteria.
Leroux’s departure continues the roster gutting that began this past off-season. The House of Pride has been just about leveled to its foundation for this rebuild, but for that to happen, the club has got to start bringing in talent with the Allocation Money raked in from multiple deals and signing players who will be part of the team’s new core.
“Sydney gave all she could for the club every time she pulled on the jersey. We want to thank her for everything she has done for both our team and our community,” Orlando Pride General Manager Ian Fleming said in a club press release. “We’ll miss having Sydney and her family here in Orlando, but we believe this trade is best for all parties. We wish Syd the best of luck in this next chapter.”
“I’d like to thank the club, the fans and the community for embracing me and my family over the past five seasons,” Leroux said in the club’s release. “We had many exciting memories and moments throughout my time here, and I always will remember my time in Orlando fondly.”
Leroux, 32, was acquired from the Utah Royals on Feb. 2, 2018 in exchange for a first-round pick in 2019. The club re-signed Leroux on Feb. 3, 2021 to a new three-year deal with a club option that could have kept her in Orlando through the 2024 season. At the time, it was the maximum length deal available to NWSL teams and its players in a league that didn’t often sign players for more than one to two seasons.
During her time in Orlando, Leroux made 63 appearances (54 starts) across all competitions, playing 4,936 minutes, while scoring 18 goals and adding five assists.
In her first season in Orlando, Leroux was the Pride’s top goal scorer, finding the net six times and adding two assists in 20 appearances (15 starts), missing just a few games due to an illness and a concussion. However, those six goals came in just four different matches. She led the team in shots on target and tied Morgan for the most shots, but more was expected and she earned a rating of 6.5 out of 10 from The Mane Land that season in our end-of-year Pride player grades.
For most of the 2019 season Leroux was on maternity leave while ushering her second child into the world. As a result, she appeared in just three matches that year (no starts) and played only 28 total minutes as she worked her way back. She did not score or assist on a goal or even register a shot attempt in her limited action. As a result of playing so few minutes, she did not qualify for a TML player grade for the 2019 season.
As the Pride played only in the NWSL Fall Series in 2020, Leroux didn’t see a lot of action the following year either, playing in three games (all starts) for a total of 270 minutes. She scored one goal with no assists.
The following year was Leroux’s best in Orlando. She scored one goal in four appearances in the 2021 NWSL Challenge Cup in all four of the club’s matches (all starts), playing 351 minutes. During the regular season, Leroux returned to the top of the Pride’s goal-scoring list, netting eight goals to go along with two assists in 23 of the team’s 24 games (all starts), logging 2,018 minutes. The Mane Land gave Leroux a good rating of 7 out of 10 for her 2021 campaign.
After a fairly quiet 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup (no goals or assists in three games — all starts — playing 270 minutes), Leroux was the Pride’s co-leader in goals so far in 2022, with just two, tying with Mikayla Cluff, adding one assist in her seven appearances (six starts), as she played 568 minutes.
It was thought that adding the forward to a roster featuring attacking talent like Marta and Alex Morgan would elevate the Pride the season after the club’s only NWSL playoff appearance — a one-and-done postseason that saw Orlando ousted by the Portland Thorns. Leroux was also a player that could provide some cover while some of the team’s attackers were away on international duty.
Rather than improving and becoming an even bigger contender for a league title in 2018, the Pride’s fortunes turned the other way. Orlando went just 8-10-6 that year, which included a six-game winless skid to close the season, burying any hopes of a second consecutive playoff appearance. The Pride were terrible in 2019, going just 4-16-4 and finishing that year on a seven-match skid (0-5-2). The 2020 Fall Series saw the team go 0-2-2 in four matches, running the winless streak to 0-7-4 and covering more than a full calendar year.
Orlando finally won again in the third match of the 2021 NWSL Challenge Cup, with Leroux providing the only goal in a 1-0 win over the Washington Spirit, snapping the club’s 0-8-5 record across all competitions. The Pride got off to a great start in the 2021 regular season, with a club-record, seven-match unbeaten streak to begin the year (4-0-3). The roof caved in a bit once rumblings surface of then-coach Marc Skinner entertaining the idea of returning to England to manage Manchester United. The team righted the ship a bit in midseason under interim coach Becky Burleigh, but again the Pride fizzled down the stretch, finishing with five consecutive losses to fall out of playoff contention and turn a 7-5-7 record into a dismal 7-10-7 campaign.
A poor 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup (0-4-2) indicated things weren’t likely going to get better, particularly after an off-season of unloading veteran players without bringing in proper reinforcements to replace them. But the team got off to a solid 2-1-1 mark to begin the regular season and things were potentially looking up until the suspension of Head Coach Amanda Cromwell and Assistant Coach Sam Greene.
What It Means for Orlando
As one of the veterans that the Pride didn’t move in the off-season, Leroux was one of the faces of the team in 2022 and, outside of Marta, who was injured during the Challenge Cup prior to the regular season, she was the highest profile player on the squad. On the field, Leroux’s work rate was an important part the Pride’s play. Losing her at this point in the season likely won’t make anything too much worse in the win/loss column. The team may score slightly fewer goals, but results are unlikely to change much until the roster can be improved.
For her part, Leroux has not finished at a high enough rate in 2022. She has gotten herself into good scoring positions with the ball several times this season in which she should have done better. During those moments, she’s either hit her shot directly at the goalkeeper’s chest or missed the net entirely. All strikers go through periods where they aren’t lethal enough, but the Pride needed more from a player of her stature.
The team seemed to fracture around the time of the Cromwell and Greene suspensions and results have gotten worse. In the wake of those suspensions, the club subsequently bought out the contract of defender Amy Turner, who had a solid 2021 season on the Pride’s back line but inexplicably couldn’t find her way onto the field in 2022. Speculation has run rampant that whatever Cromwell and Greene are being investigated for, it may have been related to Turner not being on the field. We won’t speculate on that in this space; however, it wasn’t a good look for the team when Leroux was liking fans’ social media posts asking why Turner wasn’t in the lineup in Chicago — a game for which the Pride had no center backs on the bench.
The thin Orlando roster now gets stretched even further without a player of Leroux’s caliber. That in itself isn’t a reason to keep a player if they are creating or enhancing divisiveness in the locker room — and I want to stress that we have no evidence (even circumstantial) that this was the case. The team will have even more available money to make roster improvements, but it’s worth noting that having Allocation Money or the means to add players hasn’t been the issue since the Wilf family took over ownership. The front office simply hasn’t gotten the job done, regardless of the reason.
The roster — at forward and elsewhere — is not likely to improve until the Cromwell situation is resolved. It’s much easier to bring in players if they know who who they’ll be playing for when they arrive. The Pride have a lot of holes to fill on the roster and the means to do it, which was true before trading Leroux, but the coaching situation makes things more difficult in the short term.
In the end, Orlando loses a player who led the team in scoring for both of the seasons in which she was available for most of the scheduled games. She was also popular with the fans, which won’t help the club with marketing efforts or ticket sales, although those effects might be minimal in the end.
Ultimately, this move will be judged by what the team adds with the resources it received — most notably the draft pick, for which the team will have to wait until 2024, unless it uses that asset to address needs sooner. Less obvious will be how the Allocation Money ends up being spent as it has simply been added to a growing pool that has yet to be used.
Orlando Pride
Orlando Pride vs. Kansas City Current: Final Score 3-0 as Pride Bounce Back with Win
The Pride take all three points at home against the red-hot Current.
A strong defensive effort and some moments of attacking quality earned the Orlando Pride all three points in a 3-0 win over the Kansas City Current at Inter&Co Stadium tonight. It was especially fitting that the Pride earned a clean sheet on goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse’s 100th appearance with the club.
The Orlando Pride (6-6-2, 20 points) bounced back from a difficult result in LA in convincing fashion against a tough Kansas City Current (8-6-0, 24 points) team. The match started off fairly even, but Orlando was organized and disciplined in this match and ultimately prevailed with goals from Marta, Barbra Banda and Hannah Anderson.
Orlando Pride Head Coach Seb Hines deployed his typical 4-2-3-1 formation in the team’s return home. The back line in front of Moorhouse was made up of Kerry Abello, Anderson, Zara Chavoshi, and Cori Dyke. Haley McCutcheon and Ally Lemos served as the defensive midfielders, with Angelina, Marta, and Jacquie Ovalle taking up the attacking midfield roles. Solai Washington serving as striker.
“Zara’s been out for majority of the season, and we know her qualities,” Hines said said of his defensive players after the match. “With young players, you have to find out what they’re made of as well, and so she really stepped up into the challenge —Hannah and Zara — because they’ve been patient and been waiting for this opportunity since the start of the year. Hannah is such a threat off set pieces. Talk about Cori. She’s she’s been brilliant as well. Wherever we’ve put her in that back line, she’s been so consistent. We have to consistently have those desired behaviors to not concede, and that gives you the platform to go on and win the game.”
Kansas City came out quickly, testing Moorhouse in the first minute with a cross from Amelia White that Moorhouse got to just ahead of Haley Hopkins.
At the other end, Dyke took Orlando’s first shot from the top of the box in the sixth that looked more like a cross than a shot, and Marisa Jordan saved it with ease.
In the seventh minute, Angelina got the ball wide to the right side to Ovalle, who sent it back to Angelina, who then fired high.
Orlando put together a decent buildup down the left in the ninth minute by Abello and Washington, who centered it for Marta. Marta passed back to Angelina, who fired well wide to the left. Orlando went forward again in the 11th minute, with Marta out wide sending a ball over the 18-yard box that Dyke collected and then worked back out to Angelina. The Brazilian crossed it in to Abello, who headed it off target at the back post.
Izzy Rodriguez stripped Mart of the ball in the 13th just outside the Orlando 18-yard box, allowing Debinha to find Hopkins with a centering pass, but the Current attacker fired wide right. Croix Bethune tried her luck from long distance in the 16th minute, but the effort went straight at Moorhouse.
Orlando had a well-worked buildup through the middle in the 17th minute, with Dyke advancing up the right and sending a ball to Lemos, who found Dyke again for a cross in to Washington — but her shot sailed over the crossbar. Washington and Marta traded passes in the 19th before Washington attempted a right-footed cross into the box that Jordan intercepted easily.
As the teams continued battling back and forth, White worked her way around Abello in the 22nd minute and picked out Debinha with a cross, but her effort went straight at a well-positioned Moorhouse. Bethune found Hopkins in the 23rd, but Lemos cut off her ball through the box, sending it behind for a corner. McCutcheon headed away the ensuing corner, earning Kansas City another corner. Hopkins headed the the entry cross over the bar, handing Orlando a goal kick.
Kansas City nearly broke through three minutes later, on a mistake by the Pride defense on a ball over the top to Debinha. Chavoshi attempted to shepherd the ball out for a goal kick, but she was too far from the end line. Debinha got past her to the ball and sent it in front to Hopkins for the tap-in. But the goal was chalked off for offside on the initial ball. It was a close play.
Rocky Rodriguez’s cross found Bethune in the 30th minute, and the midfielder outjumped Abello, got her head on it, and placed the effort well, but the shot had little pace to it and Moorhouse collected it.
Lemos made a nice driving run in the 33rd minute and fed Washington, whose cross was cut out by Laney Rouse. The loose ball found Angelina before it was eventually cleared following some back-and-forth changes of possession just outside the Current’s box.
Some gritty midfield work from Abello — who picked up a knock to her wrist on the play — saw her strip the ball from the Current in the 38th minute and advance it to Washington, who worked her way to the end line and passed back to Ovalle. The Mexican international’s shot was right at Jordan. Abello received treatment, left the field briefly, and returned to the match in the 41st minute after the mandatory one-minute wait for receiving attention.
Orlando won a throw-in in the 42nd minute, and Washington worked her way down the left before delivering a cross that Jordan stopped, colliding with Kayla Sharples in the process. Neither was injured in the tangle.
Orlando was able to maintain sustained possession for several minutes and spent that time trying to fashion a shot but never created anything threatening. Kanasas City pounced on a McCutcheon attempted pass, and broke down the pitch through a Bethune ball over the top to Debinha, who had to wait for reinforcements. Lo’Eau Labonta arrived and Debinha fed a ball she popped up which was defended away by McCutcheon but back out to the Current. Kansas City worked it back to Labonta, who then sent the ball over the crossbar. It was the last action of the first half.
Orlando held the lead in possession (51%-49%) and both teams managed six shots. Kansas City led in shots on target (3-1), corner kicks (2-0), and passing accuracy (88%-86%).
Kansas City subbed on the dangerous Temwa Chawinga for Debinha after the break, and the Current started off the second half aggressively. Marta had other plans though and, in the 49th minute, she scored her 50th goal for the Pride from about 30 yards out. Ovalle took the ball down Orlando’s left side, worked her way central, and passed back to Marta. Kansas City applied absolutely no pressure on her, so she blasted a long-range shot past a diving Jordan.
Hines made his first substitution of the game in the 53rd minute, bringing on Hailie Mace for Abello. Orlando earned a corner moments later through Marta, and the Pride doubled their lead on the ensuing set piece. Lemos sent a good cross to the back post and Anderson met it with a header, placing it perfectly past Jordan to make it 2-0.
The Current won a corner of their own in the 59th minute, but Orlando defended it away. It only as far as Chawinga, whose follow-up shot was blocked by Anderson.
Hines turned to his bench again in the 65th minute, sending on Luana for Angelina and Julie Doyle for Ovalle. Bethune worked her way into Orlando’s box in the 67th and fired from close range, but at a tight angle, and sent her effort straight at Moorhouse, who parried it behind for a corner. Moorhouse punched the corner clear, and the danger was eventually cleared over the crossbar for an Orlando goal kick.
Orlando was content to sit back and defend from that point. Bayley Feist made a slow-rolling effort in the 72nd that was easily gathered by Moorhouse, and Mace had a shot of her own in the 73rd that didn’t overly test Jordan. The Current responded in the 74th through Gianna Paul, but Moorhouse collected her effort without much trouble.
Hines made his final change in the 76th minute, bringing on Banda for Marta and Oihane for Washington. Banda’s first involvement came in the 77th, when she fired over the bar, and she got in behind again in the 78th and tried to chip Jordan — but the ball drifted past the far post with no one on hand to finish it off.
The Current had back-to-back chances in the 80th minute. Chawinga’s tepid effort was saved comfortably by Moorhouse, and moments later, Bethune pounced on an ill-advised pass from Anderson, only for Moorhouse to deny her as well. Paul’s cross into the box in the 83rd was collected just as easily.
Banda put the result beyond doubt in the 85th. Mace sent a ball over the top and into acres of space behind the Current’s back line. Jordan came rushing out to beat Banda to it, but she made only glancing contact with the ball on her volley attempt to clear it. The ball squirted behind Jordan. Banda easily beat Jordan to the loose ball and slotted it into an empty net for her 12th goal of the season, making it 3-0.
“We felt our structure and our engagement line was probably better to be a little bit lower to kind of take away the space that she could exploit and not let just one ball beat us.” Hines said of his strategy to deal with Chawinga’s threat. “A little adjustment that we made going into this game was just dropping Haley McCutcheon into the back line and covering those distances and the shifting across, but also trying to be aggressive to still press in the right position.”
The Current continued to press in the 90th minute, with Chawinga carving out her best look of the night, cutting left to right and smashing a hard shot just wide of the right post, handing possession back to Orlando. Moments later, Chawinga headed over the bar on the match’s final scoring chance.
Orlando’s defensive posture for much of the second half flipped the stats firmly in the visitors’ favor. Kansas City led in possession (55%-45%), shots (20-11), shots on target (9-5), corner kicks (4-1), and passing accuracy (88%-83%).
“Really good result. You know, especially after we come from a loss in LA,” Marta said. “It’s been like a tough season this year, ups and down[s], and we need to take a chance, especially when we play home. So, I’m really happy with the result tonight. Some days you wake up and then you just say to yourself, ‘It’s today, you know. Today you’re gonna play your best game.'”
The Pride next face the Boston Legacy at home on Wednesday.
Orlando Pride
Orlando Pride vs. Kansas City Current: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
The Pride return home tonight as they welcome the Kansas City Current to Orlando.
Welcome to your preview and match thread as the Orlando Pride (5-6-2, 17 points) return home to face the Kansas City Current (8-5-0, 24 points). This is the first of two meetings between the two teams with the return game in Missouri scheduled for Sept. 11.
Here’s everything you need to know about tonight’s game.
History
The Current joined the NWSL in 2021 after the team’s ownership group bought the Utah Royals and relocated the club to Kansas City. It’s the second NWSL team in the city — FC Kansas City played there from 2013 to 2017 before moving to Utah — and the team was known as NWSL Kansas City for its inaugural season.
The Pride and Current have played 10 games against each other in the regular season and once in the playoffs. Orlando has a 3-3-4 record in the regular-season series (1-2-2 at home) and 4-3-4 in all competitions (2-2-2 in Orlando).
The two teams last met on Aug. 16, 2025, in Kansas City. While the Current outshot the Pride 16-5, each team only put one on target in a scoreless draw. On May 16 at Inter&Co Stadium, Temwa Chawinga was the difference, scoring the game’s lone goal in a 1-0 win by the Current.
The first game in 2024 was on July 6 in Kansas City, Barbra Banda gave the Pride the lead, but the hosts responded two minutes later through Chawinga. Despite a second yellow card for Carrie Lawrence dropping the Pride to 10 players just before halftime, Marta converted a second-half penalty, lifting her team to a 2-1 win.
On Sept. 13 in Orlando, the teams combined for 27 shots, but neither converted as the game ended in a scoreless draw. The final meeting of the season came on Nov. 17, 2024, in the NWSL semifinals in Orlando. Debinha gave the Current the lead and Haley McCutcheon equalized just before halftime. Banda made it 2-1 in the second half and Marta doubled the advantage late in normal time. Vanessa DiBernardo got one back deep in stoppage time from the penalty spot, but it wasn’t enough as the Pride won 3-2 to advance to the NWSL Championship in the Current’s home stadium.
The first time the teams met in 2023 was on April 23 at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City. It was scoreless after an hour before the Current got a quick flurry of goals by Debinha and CeCe Kizer, lifting Kansas City to a 2-0 win. On June 23, 2023 in Orlando, the visitors took the lead through Debinha, and Kizer doubled the advantage just before halftime. Marta converted a penalty to pull one back, but the Pride fell 2-1.
The first meeting in 2022 took place May 14 at Exploria Stadium. The Pride took the lead early in the second half on a Gunny Jonsdottir goal. Elyse Bennett scored late in the second half, and the visitors appeared to win the game a minute into injury time through Kristen Hamilton. However, Kylie Strom was pulled down in the box five minutes later, resulting in a penalty. With Marta injured, the only player willing to step up to take the penalty was center back Toni Pressley, who drilled the ball into the roof of the net, pulling out a 2-2 draw.
Their second meeting in 2022 came on July 31 in Kansas City while the Pride were in the middle of their seven-game unbeaten run. The Pride opened the scoring when Erika Tymrak found Celia, whose header made it 1-0, and doubled the lead just after halftime through Julie Doyle. The Current stormed back with goals by Bennett and Kizer, pulling out a 2-2 draw.
The teams played twice during the 2021 NWSL season, with the first game occurring May 30 at Exploria Stadium. Courtney Petersen found Alex Morgan just outside the six-yard box and the striker headed in the game’s lone goal as the Pride won 1-0.
The Pride and Current met again on June 23 at Legends Field in Kansas City. The Pride had a weakened squad as then-coach Marc Skinner left some key players at home, preparing to lose them to the Olympics. It looked to be costly when Mariana Larroquette gave the hosts the lead late in first-half injury time. But the Pride responded well. Two minutes after Larroquette’s goal, Sydney Leroux’s shot took a deflection off a defender and went in to make it 1-1. Shortly after halftime, Leroux scored on a great individual effort from just outside the box. Marta then scored the goal of the game, beating Kansas City goalkeeper Abby Smith from the top of the center circle, lifting the Pride to a 3-1 win.
Overview
It’s been an up-and-down season for the Pride this year. The lowest point occurred in mid-May when they lost back-to-back games to expansion sides Boston Legacy FC and Denver Summit FC away from home. It appeared as though they had righted the ship just before the World Cup break, winning back-to-back games against San Diego Wave FC and Bay FC.
Unfortunately, the return to action went about as poorly as you’d fear. Despite being on the road, they were facing an Angel City team that fired its coach prior to the break. However, the Pride spent nearly the whole game on their heels, falling 2-0.
The back line of Kerry Abello, Rafaelle, Cori Dyke, and Hailie Mace played well in the two victories, but they struggled to get the ball out of their own end in LA. It was a significant reason why they conceded twice.
The attack has been led yet again by Banda, who leads the league with 11 goals in 12 games. But the Zambian international missed the last game with a thigh injury.
On the postiive side, Jacquie Ovalle returned to the team in LA after missing the previous seven games. While she didn’t have the attacking impact she had early in the season, the midfielder’s presence will likely be felt when Banda returns as the two have made a dangerous pair.
The Current were the class of the league last season, winning the NWSL Shield by an astounding 21 points. They struggled out of the gate this year but have been on fire since the beginning of May. They’ve won six of their last seven games, with the only loss coming on May 20 to Angel City in LA. Most recently, they dominated the Summit in Denver 3-0.
The slow start can be attributed to a change of coach. Vlatko Andonovski stepped down from his coaching duties to become the club’s full-time sporting director. Chris Armas took over after being fired by the Colorado Rapids and it seemed early on like it might’ve been a mistake. But it now appears as though they could be the team to beat in the second half of the season.
The recent surge in victories has lifted the Current to fifth in the NWSL standings. That’s mostly due to their offensive prowess. The team has scored 21 goals in its first 13 games, tied with the Wave for second and three goals behind the Portland Thorns. Meanwhile, they’re 10th in goals conceded, having given up 17 goals.
Unsurprisingly, the Current are led by Chawinga, who has eight goals in nine games this year. Michelle Cooper has four goals, followed by Haley Hopkins and Croix Bethune with two goals each. Bethune leads Kansas City with five assists, followed by Cooper with three and Izzy Rodriguez and Chawinga with two each.
While the Current will have most of their attack, Cooper is out tonight with a thigh injury. Given her goals and assists, it’s something that could have an impact on tonight’s game. Especially with veteran center back Rafaelle missing.
“It’s always a good match against KC, whether it’s home or away. Two teams that have consistently been at the top of the table. The last two shield winners as well,” Pride Head Coach Seb Hines said about tonight’s game. “So we expect a competitive game, both teams going after it. Obviously they’ve got new management, a couple of new players as well. But within their style of play and principles, it’s very similar to what they’ve shown in the last couple of years.”
The Pride will play tonight without Kylie Nadaner (maternity leave), Rafaelle (hip), and Viviana Villacorta (knee). The Current will be without Ellie Bravo-Young (thigh), Alana Cook (knee), Cooper (thigh), Clare Gagne (head), Mary Long, and Lorena (hip). Additionally, Katie Scott is away with the U.S. U-20 National Team.
Official Lineups
Orlando Pride (4-2-3-1)
Goalkeeper: Anna Moorhouse.
Defenders: Kerry Abello, Hannah Anderson, Zara Chavoshi, Cori Dyke.
Defensive Midfielders: Haley McCutcheon, Ally Lemos.
Attacking Midfielders: Angelina, Marta, Jacquie Ovalle.
Forward: Solai Washington.
Bench: Cosette Morche, Hailie Mace, Oihane, Nicole Payne, Luana, Julie Doyle, Seven Castain, Summer Yates, Barbra Banda.
Kansas City Current (4-2-3-1)
Goalkeeper: Marisa Jordan.
Defenders: Izzy Rodriguez, Kayla Sharples, Gabrielle Robinson, Laney Rouse.
Defensive Midfielders: Rocky Rodriguez, Lo’eau LaBonta.
Attacking Midfielders: Debinha, Croix Bethune, Amelia White.
Forward: Haley Hopkins.
Bench: Kaylin Williams-Mosier, Meila Brewer, Elizabeth Ball, Kolo Suliafu, Vanessa DiBernardo, Bayley Feist, Gianna Paul, Penelope Hocking, Temwa Chawinga.
Referees
REF: Nabil Bensalah.
AR1: Jake Brochu.
AR2: Ben Rigel.
4TH: Elvis Osmanovic.
VAR: Anya Voigt.
AVAR: Katarzyna Wasiak.
How to Watch
Match Time: 8 p.m.
Venue: Inter&Co Stadium — Orlando.
TV: None.
Streaming: Prime Video.
Social Media: For live updates and rapid reaction, follow @themaneland.bsky.social on Bluesky and the Orlando Pride’s official Twitter (@ORLPride) or Bluesky (@orlpride.com) feed.
Enjoy the game. Go Pride!
Orlando Pride
Orlando Pride vs. Angel City FC: Final Score 2-0 As Pride Are Dominated In California
The Pride returned to action from the summer break, falling 2-0 to Angel City.
The Orlando Pride (5-6-2, 17 points) returned from their month-long World Cup break, falling 2-0 to Angel City FC (5-6-1, 16 points) at BMO Field in Los Angeles, CA. A first-half goal by Maiara Niehues and a second-half strike by Sveindis Jonsdottir was the difference, although the game was thoroughly dominated by the hosts.
Pride Head Coach Seb Hines deployed his typical 4-2-3-1 formation in the team’s return to action. However, they were without Barbra Banda, who was out with a thigh injury. The back line in front of goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse was made up of Kerry Abello, Rafaelle, Cori Dyke, and Hailie Mace. Angelina and Ally Lemos were the defensive midfielders behind Jacquie Ovalle, Haley McCutcheon, and Luana with Julie Doyle up top.
This was one of the worst performances by the Pride this year. With Banda missing, the team was unable to get anything going offensively, alhough that might not have mattered as Orlando couldn’t get the ball out of its own end. The 2-0 scoreline is a generous one for the Pride, who could’ve easily lost by more.
Ally Sentnor, who joined Angel City during the break, tried to make something happen early during her debut. Inside the first minute, the U.S. international made a run to the top of the box before dribbling inside. The attacker struggled to find space before finally shooting, but Dyke was there to block the attempt.
The Pride had their first chance in the seventh minute when Rafaelle played a ball forward to Luana over the midfield stripe. The Brazilian took the space the defense gave her, dribbling near the top of the box before unleashing a shot. It initially appeared to be on target, but began curving, hitting the outside of the post and going out of play. That was about as close to scoring as Orlando came all night.
The hosts threatened to take the lead in the 14th minute when Jun Endo sent a dangerous ball into the six-yard box. Sentnor got on the end of it, but Dyke, Mace, and Moorhouse were all in front of the goal to keep it out.
Evelyn Shores received a pass on the left in the 17th minute before playing it to Endo, who was making an overlapping run. The Japanese international took a hard shot from a tight angle, but Moorhouse had her near post covered, catching the attempt.
In the 25th minute, Luana slid to keep possession from an Abello clearance, trying to play it back to McCutcheon. Unfortunately, it went straight to Jonsdottir instead. Jonsdottir immediately played the ball to Sentnor, who dribbled into the Pride box before sending a low shot wide of the far post.
Shores fought through a pair of defenders in the 31st minute to get the ball to Niehues. The Brazilian attempted a low cross that McCutcheon cleared but only to Shores at the top corner of the box. The left back took a touch around Mace to create space for a shot, sending her attempt over the target.
The Pride struggled to clear in the 35th minute when Sentnor played a ball to Endo, who was making an underlapping run. Angelina chested down Endo’s cross in an attempt to clear, but it didn’t go far. Gisele Thompson was able to tap it to Jonsdottir, whose shot went wide.
A minute later, the Pride were unable to clear again, resulting in the game’s opening goal. Dyke got in front of Thompson’s ball into the box, but she knocked it to Ary Borges, who took a shot that Dyke blocked again, but she failed to get it out of the box. The rebound fell straight to Niehues, who curled a shot out of Moorhouse’s reach and into the corner to give Angel City the 1-0 lead.
“You’ve got to defend the cross, so stop the cross. And then you’ve got to defend the cross, and we don’t quite clear our lines,” Hines said. “We talk about clearing it out of dangerous areas. It lands at Ary Borges. She has a shot, it deflects, and then we don’t close the next shot from Niehues. We speak about that a lot. The closer you are, the less chance they are of scoring, and we stood off them. They took that opportunity really well, but we feel that with our standard and our level, we should be doing better.”
The Pride continued to play on the back foot, defending desperately as Angel City created chances. In the 38th minute, Borges picked out Niehues near the top of the Pride box. The attacker shot as McCutcheon closed her down, sending her attempt wide of the near post.
Angel City continued on the attack, keeping the ball in the Pride half as they struggled to clear. In the 42nd minute, Jonsdottir tried to chip Moorhouse from outside the Pride box, but the Pride goalkeeper made the easy catch.
Angelina took the ball away from Borges in the first minute of first-half stoppage time 30 yards from goal. The midfielder lifted an overly ambitious attempt toward Angel City goalkeeper Angelina Anderson for her team’s second shot of the game. However, it didn’t cause any trouble.
It was a dominant 45 minutes for Angel City. While the Pride had more possession (54%-46%), most of it was in their own half. The hosts had more shots (10-2), shots on target (3-0), crosses (10-3), and corner kicks (2-0). Both teams completed 77% of their passes in the first half.
Hines made a pair of changes during the break as his team looked to get back into the game. Marta and Nicole Payne entered the contest for Luana and Mace. Despite the changes, it was Angel City that continued to be the more threatening team.
A poor Orlando clearance in the 47th minute allowed Shores to keep the ball in the Pride third. She found Carina Lageyre near the top of the box, but the shot was right at Moorhouse.
The Pride won a throw-in in the 55th minute that quickly turned into a disaster. McCutcheon played the ball back for Rafaelle, who was immediately put under pressure from Jonsdottir. The Icelandic international blocked the defender’s pass and sprinted to the end line before beating Moorhouse from a tight angle to give the hosts a 2-0 lead.
“It starts with a throw-in. So the ability to keep possession from a throw-in is really important,” Hines said. “You know, we have a couple of objectives from that, and it’s just details, right? Weighted pass, make your choice to the correct forward. If you’re going to go long, you’ll sort of take away the deflection from the forward. So yeah, another moment where we felt we’re in control, and we give them an opportunity to counter and go straight to goal from that.”
Hines made two more changes in the 62nd minute, replacing Abello and Ovalle with Zara Chavoshi and Solai Washington.
As the game entered the final 20 minutes, the Pride started to gain more possession and create more chances in the final third. However, they still were unable to create any clear-cut opportunities or cause Anderson any trouble.
In the 77th minute, a pass to Lemos hit the referee, causing a stoppage in play. Hines took the opportunity to make his final change, replacing Rafaelle with Hannah Anderson.
Neither team had taken a shot since the 55th-minute goal, when Angel City created a chance in the 78th minute. A long goal kick by Anderson bounced over Chavoshi’s head, allowing Endo to get into the Pride third. She shot from outside the box, forcing Moorhouse to dive to her right and make the stop.
The Pride finally got their first shot on target in the 80th minute when Washington flicked a long ball forward and fought through a pair of defenders. She dribbled into the box from the left and fired for the near post, where Anderson was waiting to block the ball out of play.
Anderson came out to punch away the ensuing corner kick, running over Chavoshi. The ball went toward her own goal, forcing Sarah Gorden to head it off the line. McCutcheon tapped the ball back to Angelina at the top of the box and the midfielder sent it back in. It fell for Anderson behind the back line at the top of the six-yard box, but Shores was able to stick a foot in and clear it over the end line. Angel City cleared the second corner kick and ended the threat.
As the game entered two minutes of stoppage time, Chavoshi sent a low cross to the top of the six, where Washington was making a run. The second-half substitute tried to backheel the ball on goal, not getting much on it and allowing Anderson to make the easy stop. That was the final chance for either team as Angel City saw out the victory.
The Pride ended the game with more possession (57%-43%) and better passing accuracy (79%-75%), but Angel City led in every other statistical category. The hosts had more shots (15-4), shots on target (6-1), crosses (18-11), and corner kicks (5-3).
“Never good enough to lose a game 2-0,” Hines said. “Two things in this league that you have to deal with, one is direct play. You have to deal with teams who are going to be really aggressive and try to get back to front really quickly. And you have to be prepared for transition. We can’t allow gifts in this league, and we gave Angel City two gifts. And they capitalized on those moments. We had some good possession, but didn’t create anything up until probably the last 10 minutes of the game.”
“Definitely frustrated, disappointed,” Dyke added. “We know that was nowhere near our best night, but we’ve just got to learn from it and then turn the page, because we know we have (another) big game coming up as well.”
The loss keeps the Pride in eighth, one point ahead of Angel City. To make matters worse, they’ve played a game or two more than all the teams around them, so they could fall down the standings in the near future.
The Pride will have to put this game behind them quickly as they return home to face the Kansas City Current on July 10.
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