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

A 2025 Orlando Pride Wish List

Four things I want for the Orlando Pride in 2025.

Published

2 hours 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!

Orlando Pride

Orlando Pride Announce 2025 NWSL Schedule

We now know who, where, and when the Pride will play in 2025 as they seek to defend their two shiny trophies.

Published

23 hours ago

January 22, 2025

Michael Citro

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC

The National Women’s Soccer League schedule was released this afternoon, telling us who, where, and when the Orlando Pride will play this year as they look to defend their NWSL Shield and NWSL Championship. The 2025 season once again includes a balanced schedule with each team playing the other 13 teams once at home and once away. As previously announced, the Pride will take part in the NWSL Challenge Cup against the Washington Spirit on March 7 at 8 p.m. at Inter&Co Stadium prior to the regular season.

The Pride will open the season at home against the Chicago Red Stars at 8 p.m. on Friday, March 14. The first road contest will take place on Sunday, March 23 at NJ/NY Gotham FC. Like last year, the season will end with a Decision Day matchup at home against Seattle Reign FC on Sunday Nov. 2 at a time to be announced later.

The postseason will start with the quarterfinals taking place Nov. 7-9, with matches televised on ESPN/ABC, CBS/Paramount+, and Prime Video. The semifinals will be played the weekend of Nov. 14-16 and broadcast on CBS/Paramount+ and ESPN/ABC. The final will take place in primetime and will air on CBS and stream on Paramount+.

The Pride’s longest homestand this season will be just two games, which happens four times if counting the Challenge Cup match against the Spirit and season opener against the Red Stars. Orlando will host Washington and Angel City on April 19 and 25, respectively; the Utah Royals and Racing Louisville on Aug. 3 and 9, respectively; and Bay FC and the North Carolina Courage on Sept. 13 and 19, respectively.

The longest road trip this year will also be two games, occurring four times: at Portland and North Carolina May 3 and 10, at Bay FC and Louisville June 13 and 20, at Kansas City and Angel City Aug. 16 and 21, and at San Diego and Houston Sept. 26 and Oct. 3.

There are no regular-season matches scheduled in July, meaning the league is taking a break for any potential summer international friendlies/tournaments or an as-yet-unannounced cup competition. The Pride’s busiest month will be August, in which they’ll play five matches, with three at home and two on the road. There will be four Pride matches in March (counting the Challenge Cup), May, and September; three each in April, June, and October, and one — the regular-season finale — in November.

Here’s the month-by-month breakdown for the regular season:

March – 3 (plus the Challenge Cup)
April – 3
May – 4
June – 3
July – 0
August – 5
September – 4
October – 3
November – 1

The most common day the Pride will play this year will be on Friday (11 times, or 12 times counting the Challenge Cup), including four consecutive Friday games late in the season. They’ll play 10 Saturday games, four Sunday matches, and once on Thursday (at Angel City Aug. 21).

Here is the Pride’s schedule by day in the regular season:

Friday – 11 (plus the Challenge Cup)
Saturday – 10
Sunday – 4
Thursday – 1

Pride games will air on various platforms again in 2025, including Prime Video, ESPN 2, ESPN, ION, NWSL+, Paramount+, CBS, and CBS Sports Network.

A new NWSL Rivalry Weekend has been added to the schedule in 2025. While the Pride have some rivalries growing naturally against Kansas City and Washington, they have been pitted against Racing Louisville for some reason. Both teams wear purple, I guess.

Fans who support both Orlando City and the Pride will be interested to know the teams play on the same day eight times this season, but only twice do the game times overlap — on May 3, when the Pride play at 7:30 p.m. at Portland and the Lions play at 8:30 p.m. at Chicago; and on May 10, when the Lions host New England at 7:30 and the Pride and Courage kick off in North Carolina at the same time. However, the teams cut it close a couple other times, with the Pride hosting the Washington Spirit at 5 p.m. April 19 and the Lions playing at Montreal at 7:30 p.m.; and on Sept. 13, with the Pride hosting Bay FC at 5 p.m. and Orlando City facing D.C. United at 7:30 p.m. The other four times the teams play on the same day, the kickoffs are at least three hours apart and as many as 10.5 hours apart (March 29).

2025 Orlando Pride Schedule (All Times Eastern)

Friday, March 7 — vs. Washington Spirit, 8 p.m. (Prime Video) – NWSL Challenge Cup
Friday, March 14 — vs. Chicago Red Stars, 8 p.m. (Prime Video)
Sunday, March 23 — at NJ/NY Gotham FC, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)
Saturday, March 29 — vs. San Diego Wave, 12 p.m. (ESPN)
Saturday, April 12 — at Seattle Reign FC, 7:30 p.m. (ION)
Saturday, April 19 — vs. Washington Spirit, 5 p.m. (ION)
Friday, April 25 — vs. Angel City FC, 8 p.m. (Prime Video)
Saturday, May 3 — at Portland Thorns, 7:30 p.m. (ION)
Saturday, May 10 — at North Carolina Courage, 7:30 p.m. (ION)
Friday, May 16 — vs. Kansas City Current, 8 p.m. (Prime Video)
Friday, May 23 — at Utah Royals, 9:30 p.m. (NWSL+)
Saturday, June 7 — vs. Houston Dash, 7 p.m. (NWSL+)
Friday, June 13 — at Bay FC, 10 p.m. (Prime Video)
Friday, June 20 — at Racing Louisville, 8 p.m. (NWSL+)
Sunday, Aug. 3 — vs. Utah Royals, 6 p.m. (NWSL+/Paramount+)
Saturday, Aug. 9 — vs. Racing Louisville, 7:30 p.m. (ION)
Saturday, Aug. 16 — at Kansas City Current, 4 p.m. (CBS)
Thursday, Aug. 21 — at Angel City FC, 10:30 p.m. (CBS Sports Network)
Friday, Aug. 29 — vs. NJ/NY Gotham FC, 8 p.m. (Prime Video)
Sunday, Sept. 7 — at Chicago Red Stars, 3 p.m. (NWSL+/Paramount+)
Saturday, Sept. 13 — vs. Bay FC, 5 p.m. (ION)
Friday, Sept. 19 — vs. North Carolina Courage, 7:30 p.m. (NWSL+)
Friday, Sept. 26 — at San Diego Wave, 10:30 p.m. (NWSL+/Paramount+)
Friday, Oct. 3 — at Houston Dash, 8 p.m. (Prime Video)
Friday, Oct. 10 — vs. Portland Thorns, 8 p.m. (Prime Video)
Saturday, Oct. 18 — at Washington Spirit, 12:30 p.m. (CBS)
Sunday, Nov. 2 — vs. Seattle Reign FC, TBA (broadcast platform TBA)

Orlando Pride

Orlando Pride Announce 2025 Preseason Camp Roster

Published

3 days ago

January 20, 2025

Michael Citro

Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

The Orlando Pride have announced the club’s 2025 preseason roster consisting of 30 players, with one of those (Mariana Larroquette) currently out on loan in Argentina. Another player, forward Amanda Allen, was formerly on loan with the USL Super League’s Lexington Sporting Club, but that loan was terminated when Allen was placed on the Season Ending Injury list on Dec. 9, 2024, with a torn labrum.

The Pride return all of their core players from the 2024 team that won the NWSL Shield and NWSL Championship, including 98% of the player-minutes from last season and all of the team’s goal-scoring from a year ago. Almost all of the players who competed in the team’s incredible season are back from a team that broke league records for points, wins, clean sheets, consecutive shutout minutes, consecutive wins, and consecutive games unbeaten.

New faces for 2025 include two off-season signees — goalkeeper Kat Asman and defender Zara Chavoshi, the first player the Pride signed directly out of college since the league’s removal of the NWSL Draft.

The roster is made up of four goalkeepers, just eight defenders (compared to 12 a year ago), nine midfielders, and nine forwards. One of those forwards, Larroquette, is on loan with Newell’s Old Boys Women of the Campeonato de Fútbol Femenino in Argentina’s top flight.

The 30-player roster includes three non-roster invitees: goalkeeper DeAira Jackson, midfielder Aryssa Mahrt, and forward Simone Jackson.

DeAira Jackson was the 2024 WAC Goalkeeper of the Year and a member of the All-WAC first team following her last collegiate season. After playing two seasons at Cal State Fullerton, she transferred to Grand Canyon University and became the school’s all-time shutout leader with 16 in just two seasons. Nine of those came in her senior campaign, which set the school record for most clean sheets in a season. She was also the Outrigger No Ka Oi Tournament MVP and a two-time WAC Player of the Week in 2024. The Fontana, CA native appeared in 43 matches for Grand Canyon across two seasons, compiling a record of 25-11-7, the aforementioned 16 shutouts, a 0.89 goals-against average and a save percentage of .781, facing 415 shots in 3,754 minutes.

Mahrt played three seasons at the University of Wisconsin, appearing in 62 games (61 starts) and playing 4,503 minutes. The Milwaukee, WI native scored 21 goals and added 15 assists, putting 78 of her 114 shots on target. Eight of her goals were game winners. Mahrt started all 21 games in her senior season, leading the Badgers in goals (10) and assists (4). She has represented the United States at the youth level with both the U-14 and U-16 sides. Her soccer lineage includes a great grandfather who played for the Malaysian National Team.

Simone Jackson is a Redondo Beach, CA native who played four seasons at USC, appearing in 73 games (51 starts), scoring 22 goals, and adding 13 assists. In 4,204 career minutes, she fired 192 shots, putting 88 on target and scoring six game winners. She was a member of the All-Big Ten third team following the 2024 campaign, a first-team All-Pac-12 selection in 2022, a third-team All-Pac-12 selection in 2023 and 2021, and a 2021 Pac 12 All-Freshman Team honoree. She has represented the U.S. at multiple youth levels, including at the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, in which she scored for the United States in a 3-1 loss to Japan. Jackson has also participated at every level starting at U-14.

Simone comes from a family with a tremendous athletic pedigree. Her grandfather, John Jackson, was USC football’s running backs coach and offensive coordinator from 1976-81; her father, John Jackson Jr., played both football and baseball at USC from 1986-89 before brief stints with four NFL teams in the 1990s and playing minor league baseball. Her brother, John Jackson III, played wide receiver at USC and is currently with the Chicago Bears organization.

The club’s two Zambian players — Barbra Banda and Grace Chanda — are the only ones listed as internationals. Unlike previous years, no players are listed as not yet reported.

The Pride will kick off their 2025 campaign with a rematch of the 2024 NWSL Championship as they face the Washington Spirit in the 2025 NWSL Challenge Cup on March 7.

2025 Orlando Pride Preseason Roster (as of Jan. 20, 2025):

Goalkeepers (4): Kat Asman, McKinley Crone, Anna Moorhouse, DeAira Jackson (NRI).

Defenders (8): Kerry Abello, Zara Chavoshi, Cori Dyke, Brianna Martinez, Carson Pickett, Rafaelle (SEI), Emily Sams, Kylie Strom.

Midfielders (9): Angelina, Grace Chanda (INTL – Zambia, SEI), Morgan Gautrat, Ally Lemos, Luana (SEI), Aryssa Mahrt (NRI), Marta, Haley McCutcheon, Viviana Villacorta.

Forwards (9): Adriana, Amanda Allen (SEI), Barbra Banda (INTL – Zambia), Simone Charley (SEI), Julie Doyle, Simone Jackson (NRI), Mariana Larroquette (LOAN), Ally Watt, Summer Yates.

Key

INTL: International Player
NRI: Non-Roster Invitee
NYR: Not Yet Reported
SEI: Finished 2024 on the Season-Ending Injury list
LOAN: On loan