Orlando Pride

Orlando Pride vs. Houston Dash: Player Grades and Player of the Match

Published

7 years ago

April 25, 2018

Sometimes the little things just don’t add up, and when that happens, you need the luck of a free kick. Christine Nairn provided that kick on Sunday and found Chioma Ubogagu in the second half to keep the Pride unbeaten at home in nine games.

Once again, it’s time to break down the team’s and each player’s performance and find our Player of the Match.

Starters

GK, Ashlyn Harris, 6 — I thought this was probably Harris’ best game so far in this young season, and not just because of the shutout. She finally laid off the long balls to nowhere and let the defense play it out. I think that helped with possession quite a bit against a Houston team that, in my opinion, has excelled in the midfield at times. She wasn’t truly tested in the net, but even if you are only called upon twice, you’ve gotta step up, and she did.

D, Ali Krieger, 6.5 — Orlando came out with three defenders, and this kept Ali on defense most of the match where she did quite well. She put a stop to a number of attacks and the highlight for me was when she battled Thembi Kgatlana in the box for what seemed like forever as both teams looked on. She came out on top and got the ball clear. She was the main defender in getting the ball forward, and had quite a few laser passes to the midfield to push possession into the attack. Jane Campbell had a fingertip save in the 82nd minute to keep Krieger from sliding one into the net. I think this too, was her best game yet.

D, Shelina Zadorsky, 6.5 — Shelina played the central defender and although she had a slow start in terms of seeing action, each and every time Houston threatened she played a part in breaking it down. She won a fantastic ball near the end of the match and put it in a great spot for Alex Morgan to go 1-v-1 against Amber Brooks, which unfortunately didn’t pan out.

D, Toni Pressley, 6 — Toni had a solid game too, but I’m putting her slightly lower because she trailed the other two defenders in passing and couldn’t get the ball forward as much as I’ve seen her do in previous games.

MF, Kristen Edmonds, 5.5 — Like Carson Pickett, Edmonds was allowed to get involved a bit more due to the 3-5-2/3-4-3 that the Pride played in, which relieved a bit of pressure. But just a bit. She was great on dropping back to help out on defense but in getting the ball forward — or being the one to get forward — it just wasn’t there. A better pass from Chi at the end of the first half would have put Kristen in a 1-v-1 with Jane Campbell, so that is unfortunate. She had the lowest amount of touches in the midfield again (out of players going the full 90 minutes) with 48 compared to Nairn’s 80, and Dani Weatherholt’s 79.

MF, Dani Weatherholt, 8 (PotM) — That’s right, an 8. And I might be doing her a disservice. You could honestly make a 10-minute highlight reel out of what she did on the pitch Sunday. As mentioned above, she had one less touch than the team high of 80. She had a stellar passing rate of 92.1 (on 63 passes!). Not a single player on the pitch matched her intensity and although she doesn’t have the assist or the goal, the Pride walked away with three points because of Weatherholt.

Go find the game on the NWSL website. You should watch the entire match and focus on her, but if you are short on time, find the 52:20 mark. This will give you time to settle in for the Dani Weatherholt show. You will see after a few seconds the Pride forwards just watching Houston kick it around and build possession. Weatherholt bursts into the camera frame and immediately wrecks possession. Houston bailed themselves out by lobbing it 20 yards and as soon as it settled on the feet of the Houston player, Weatherholt was already there disrupting that ball. Alex Morgan was nearby but just watched instead of making it a 2-v-1 situation. At that point, Weatherholt was finally put on the ground, and Morgan decided to finally help. But Weatherholt did this all match, with the notable exception of the 78th minute, when she stood on the sideline to clear up a bloody nose. Slacker.

She covered so much ground with so much pace that it was incredible to watch, and I’m glad I gave the game a second watch to really appreciate this. Hopefully Jill Ellis does this at some point, too.

MF, Christine Nairn, 6.5 — All the numbers are there for Nairn: Team high in touches, team high with her three chances created, and the all-time assist leader notched another one on a great free kick. And the rest of her set pieces were a lot better than in previous matches, too. The only knock would be the 76.9% passing, but I also give Houston a bit of credit for clogging that midfield and causing havoc all day.

MF, Carson Pickett, 5.5 — Like I said with Edmonds, moving Pickett up the field took a bit of pressure off her and allowed her to settle into the game a bit more. It still wasn’t great, but she had a few good moments that should have unlocked the offense with a bit more luck. She had a great steal in the 29th minute and then put it forward to Morgan, and right before she was subbed out in the 64th, she put a stellar ball forward that Morgan should have buried.

F, Chioma Ubogagu, 6 — What can I say that hasn’t already been said? This season, she’s been a bit messy with the ball at her feet, and the passes, although great looks, are always just a bit off so the play dies. But her effort is always there. We see so much (for better or worse) in regards to Chi’s game, because she’s almost always involved. If she could play facing the goal a bit more, I know we’d see some drastic improvement. She played 10 fewer minutes but only had two fewer touches than Sydney Leroux, and had five more touches than Morgan. Even with all the poor touches and poor passes, she was the hero of the day once again, and now has one more goal than the rest of the team combined, which was a Marta penalty in the season opener. Love the effort.

F, Alex Morgan, 4 — As always after a match like this, I hear excuses in regards to the service not being there for Morgan, that she was making runs that no one saw. I didn’t see that on Sunday, or my rewatch. A shot in the 63rd minute that she never misses sailed over the net. She then fired one off late in the game that gave some poor soul Carlos Rivas flashbacks. She had 39 touches, the lowest passing percentage at 44%, and her two shots were way off target. Amber Brooks had a good game against her, but she absolutely has to start delivering. She did give good pressure at times during the match, which was nice to see.

F, Sydney Leroux, 4 — Pretty much the same story as Morgan. I’ll add here that the two of them clearly have chemistry, because there were a lot of good looks from each one to the other. None of them worked out, but if they can start clicking completely, the results will come. Her wide-open miss in the 84th minute was the capper on a very uneventful day for Leroux.

Substitutes

F, Rachel Hill (64’), 4.5 — Hill wasn’t able to get involved too much, and when she was, Kristie Mewis was there to ruin the day. But it took a solid 10 minutes of her being in before she got that first solid touch down the side.

MF, Abby Elinsky (81’), N/A — Elinsky once again saw a bit of time and, although it wasn’t much, I saw some good positioning from her to relieve pressure from others. Not much else to say unfortunately, which is a shame because what I’ve seen from her so far has been fun and promising. Now with most of the other players coming back, it could be the last time we see her for a while.

F, Danica Evans (90+1), N/A — This was a “run out the clock” sub in exchange for Leroux. Evans finished with four touches and completely nailed her one pass for a 100% rating! In all seriousness though, she always pushes, no matter the time given.

There you have it. That’s my assessment, and as always, I’d love to hear what you saw and let me know what I got wrong (or right!) And of course, be sure to vote below on your Player of the Match.

Polling Closed

Player	Votes
Ashlyn Harris	4
Ali Krieger	10
Shelina Zadorsky	2
Dani Weatherholt	28
Christine Nairn	6
Chioma Ubogagu	4
Other (comment below)	1

Related Topics:Player Grades SBN_migrated

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Orlando Pride

Orlando Pride Transfer Adriana to Saudi Side Al Qadsiah FC

The club has secured one of the highest transfer fees in NWSL history for the Brazilian attacker after she requested a transfer.

Published

14 hours ago

January 30, 2025

Michael Citro

Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

The Orlando Pride announced today that the club has secured a club-record transfer fee from Al Qadsiah FC of the Saudi Women’s Premier League in exchange for Brazilian international attacking midfielder/forward Adriana. The club announced that the sale was one of the three highest in NWSL history, with Jeff Kassouf of The Equalizer reporting the fee as $500,000.

“We are incredibly grateful for Adriana’s contributions to the club, and while we will miss her presence both on and off the pitch, we are happy to support her in this next chapter of her career,” Orlando Pride Vice President of Soccer Operations and Sporting Director Haley Carter said in a club press release. “At the Pride, we believe in empowering our players to pursue opportunities that align with their personal and professional goals. The record transfer fee we received reflects both Adriana’s exceptional talent and our commitment to building mutually beneficial relationships in the global transfer market. These resources will help us continue to attract world-class talent to Orlando as we build for the future. We wish Adriana all the best and she will always be part of the Pride family.”

The move, which was requested by Adriana, comes shortly after the start of training camp as the Pride prepare to defend their NWSL Shield and NWSL Championship titles.

“I want to thank the Orlando Pride, my teammates, and especially our amazing fans for making Orlando feel like home,” Adriana said in the club’s release. “This club gave me an incredible opportunity to grow as a player and person, and I will always be grateful for my time here. The Pride organization has been very supportive of my desire to take on this new challenge overseas. They worked hard to make this move possible while ensuring it benefited everyone involved. Orlando will always hold a special place in my heart, and I look forward to watching the club continue to grow and succeed.”

The Pride signed Adriana almost exactly two years ago on Jan. 19, 2023, from Brazilian giants Corinthians. That deal was through the 2025 season, meaning her contract would have been up at the end of this year. As Orlando typically extends players’ deals before they expire, the timing makes some sense, despite it happening during the Pride’s preseason.

In two seasons with Orlando, Adriana was a key player for the Pride with the versatility for Seb Hines to deploy her in multiple ways. She was primarily used as a winger during her time in Orlando, appearing in 46 NWSL regular-season games with 38 starts, logging 3,333 minutes. She scored six goals and added four assists, sharing the team lead in those categories in 2023. Her contributions in 2024 raised her career regular-season totals with the Pride to 12 goals and five assists across two seasons.

Adriana appeared in all three of the Pride’s playoff games during her stay in Orlando, starting two and logging 197 minutes. She did not make a goal contribution, attempting six shots with only one of those hitting the target. She tallied five key passes and one successful long ball in the Pride’s run to the title.

Additionally, the Brazilian made one appearance in the NWSL Challenge Cup, playing just eight minutes off the bench in 2023 without a goal contribution. She was on international duty during four of the Pride’s six matches in that competition. Adriana was away at the Olympics during the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup, so she did not play in that competition.

What It Means for Orlando

Losing a player of Adriana’s caliber does not make a team better, but the club got a big return for an attacking piece that had started splitting time with Summer Yates during Orlando’s final stretch of the season in 2024. The Pride’s younger players are starting to demand more minutes with their performances, and while the team’s depth takes a hit with Adriana’s departure, the club has the resources to find a roster replacement.

Someone will have to replace Adriana’s six goals per year. Yates scored five in her second season in the league, but a jump to 11 in her third year seems unrealistic. However, more minutes for Yates may mitigate some of Adriana’s lost offense. Others who can contribute to replacing those goals include Grace Chanda, Simone Charley, Ally Watt, and Julie Doyle. The first two on that list are talented, but still have yet to play their first game for the Pride. It’s also conceivable that Barbra Banda can score more goals in her second NWSL season.

In Adriana, the Pride also lost one of the team’s better penalty takers. Adriana was two-for-two from the spot in 2024. Someone else will need to step up and take up the secondary penalty-taker role (to Marta) in 2025.

Opinion

Three Orlando Pride Games to Circle on the Calendar

Let’s take a brief look at three games to pay extra attention to during Orlando’s upcoming NWSL campaign.

Published

7 days ago

January 24, 2025

Ben Miller

Image courtesy of Orlando Pride

We got the release of the Orlando Pride’s 2025 schedule on Wednesday, which means we’re that little bit closer to the start of the season on March 7. The nature of the 14-team National Women’s Soccer League means that there are fewer scheduling quirks than with the 30-team Major League Soccer, with each team playing the other 13 clubs twice each. Still, there’s plenty to dig into with regards to how the scheduling shakes out, and now that I’ve had time to examine what 2025 holds, I’ve got three games in particular that I’ve got circled on my match calendar. Behold.

March 7 — vs. Washington Spirit

You had to know this was coming, right? There’s so much to like about this game. Not only is it the home opener, but as the NWSL Challenge Cup match, it’s also a chance to win another piece of silverware in a rematch of last year’s NWSL Championship game. This game sells itself on just about every level imaginable. The Pride return almost everyone from a wildly successful 2024 season, and while there aren’t a ton of new signings to familiarize ourselves with, getting healthy versions of Grace Chanda and Simone Charley is essentially like getting two brand new players. It’ll be our first chance to gauge where the Pride stand as they try to continue on from the high standards that were set last year, and we should also get a couple new banners hoisted into the rafters. You can hardly ask for more than all that.

Aug. 16 — at Kansas City Current

The Current were excellent in 2024, finishing fourth and boasting the league’s best attack, with 57 goals scored in 26 games, for an over two goals per game average. The Pride, meanwhile, had the league’s third-best attack, with 46 goals, and the joint-best defense with just 20 conceded. Orlando never lost to Kansas City in 2024, as the Pride drew and won the regular-season contests and then won again in the semifinal matchup between the two teams. The pair have made a habit of putting on entertaining affairs, and with the match placed as one of the first ones to occur after the league’s July break, it might go a long way towards setting the tone for the back half of Orlando’s season.

Nov. 2 — vs. Seattle Reign

The NWSL is bringing back Decision Day this year, and the Pride have been blessed with a home game on the league’s final day of regular-season play. On paper, Orlando has also been handed a favorable matchup against a Seattle team that struggled last year and is in the midst of a rebuild. Given how tight the margins tend to be in the upper reaches of the league, every point takes on added importance, and playoff scenarios can swing wildly when everyone is playing at the same time. It’s always nice to be able to play at home in a situation that variable, and it can make for a truly memorable atmosphere that will (hopefully) set Orlando up for another postseason run on the right note.

It feels a little cheap to highlight the first and last games of the season, but I can’t help liking what I like. Are there any games that you’re especially looking forward to this season? Be sure to have your say down in the comments. Vamos Orlando!

Orlando Pride

A 2025 Orlando Pride Wish List

Four things I want for the Orlando Pride in 2025.

Published

1 week ago

January 23, 2025

David Rohe

Image courtesy of Orlando Pride

I know that it probably seems greedy to ask for anything more after the Orlando Pride won both the NWSL Shield and the NWSL Championship in 2024, but I’m still going to do so. If the Pride want to repeat their success in 2025, they will need a little bit more than in 2024. Let’s look at my wish list for the defending champs.

No Banda Slump

Barbra Banda scored 12 goals with five assists in her first 12 matches with the Pride. She then scored one goal with one assist in the next 10 regular season matches. I know that players have slumps. Strikers in particular tend to be streaky when it comes to goal contributions. I’m just asking that Banda not have another slump quite that big in 2025.

It might be that teams did a better job of double- or triple-teaming her on defense. Perhaps she just got a little unlucky during the slump. Whatever the reason, I hope that her familiarity with her teammates, the league, and Seb Hines’ style of play allows her to significantly increase her goal contributions this season.

A Healthy Chanda and Charley

Neither Grace Chanda nor Simone Charley were able to see the pitch much for the Pride last season. That hopefully changes in 2025. Adding these two players is almost like signing new players, except they’ve been there for everything. There’s no need to adapt to the culture of the club, as they are already a part of it all.

Chanda not only brings international experience, but she has played with Banda for the Zambian National Team. I expect she’ll be able to make an immediate impact when she integrates into the attack. As for Charley, she will be yet another speedy striker the Pride can utilize in their potent attack.

Adding Depth Contributions

The 2024 season saw some players step up a level. Ally Watt had one of her best seasons, Summer Yates impressed everyone, and Cori Dyke earned a starting spot after an appearance on SkoPurp Soccer: An Orlando Pride PawedCast. If we can have other young players make the same type of jump in 2025, it bodes well for the club.

Despite having the best defense in the league, the Pride are a little light along the back. I’d like to see Brianna Martinez and new signee, Zara Chavoshi, make some noise on the back line when they get some minutes. There’s also the possibility of a non-roster invitee impressing enough to get a contract. Depth is incredibly important for a team looking to repeat.

Overcoming History

Winning back-to-back anything in any sport is difficult. Every other team will bring their best against you. The weight of expectations can also be very heavy. That being said, if any club can do it, this Pride team can.

The coaches and players already dealt with the pressure of the undefeated streak last season. They dealt with the pressure of winning the NWSL Cup after winning the NWSL Shield. They have dealt with plenty of pressure. Now, they will need to find the proper motivation to propel them to the top yet again. There will be no sneaking up on the league this year.

Those are some of the things I want to see in 2025, but I want to know your thoughts on these points. Perhaps you have some wishes of your own. Let me know in the comments below. Vamos Orlando!