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Orlando Pride Media Day Highlights

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6 years ago

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We’re just a month out from the Orlando Pride’s 2019 NWSL season opener against the Portland Thorns and the team held its annual preseason Media Day event at Orlando City Stadium. The event featured a press conference with Pride GM Erik Ustruck and Head Coach Marc Skinner, with six players made available to the media in a roundtable format.

The players who spoke to media members today were almost all internationals, with former USWNT automatic selection Ali Krieger being the only player of the six not currently involved in her national team setup. The five current internationals were Ashlyn Harris and Alex Morgan of the U.S., Alanna Kennedy of Australia, Marta of Brazil, and Chioma Ubogagu, who has recently been getting England call-ups.

The players unanimously lauded the atmosphere, attitude, and attention to detail that Skinner has brought to the Pride this preseason and seemed energized.

Here are the highlights from today’s event.

Ustruck/Skinner Press Conference

  • Skinner said he was “over the moon” at being selected as the Pride’s head coach and said he was “proud and privileged to be here.”
  • Initial interviews with players are nearly complete, as Skinner is finally getting to sit down with the international players who were late to arrive.
  • The buzz around camp, according to Skinner, is “really, really something that energizes you as a person.”
  • Skinner said he’s identified his targets and what his ideal team would look like, however, he said he’s still identifying the abilities of his players and giving players an opportunity to show what they can do.
  • Although Skinner said Tom Sermanni is a wonderful person and is sure he’ll do well at New Zealand, he’s here to bring a new direction to the club and said he coaches to allow his players to make decisions on the field because they have to know what they’re doing even when they can’t hear the coach in hostile environments.
  • Skinner spoke often of getting to know the players’ character, as well as treating the players as people first, and players second, regardless of whether they’re stars. He said he thinks of the players as he would if they were his daughters, and works with them to make them as successful as possible.
  • Ustruck said he hasn’t yet spoken with club partner Wolfsburg on the women’s side. He said he’d like the Pride to explore options such as bringing them over during their preseason period or to look at potential player loan opportunities.
  • Skinner, who has watched all of last year’s games, said the team was far off from performances last season but not far off in results. He stressed that there is some time involved in getting the team to play the way he wants it to play and that it might seem a bit high risk at first.
  • Both Skinner and Ustruck said the team will play an attractive brand of football and the GM said he expects that will help bring more fans to the stadium.
  • Skinner said the athleticism in the NWSL is massive but the transition part of the game could be better. “We have to re-educate players or just switch on their senses to do that. That’s what we’ll be doing in training.”
  • “I’m 100 percent sure that our players will love how we’re asking them to play,” Skinner said. “But they have to be brave. If you want to do something different and you want success to come to Orlando then they’re going to have to be brave. And that’s how I will expect them to be. My job is to support them through that process.”
  • Skinner said he’s not just here to coach players to win, but to improve as players.
  • The idea of having North Carolina (on the preseason schedule) was to get the Pride up to speed in playing an NWSL team, said Skinner.
  • “We will play fixtures that will challenge the players in different ways,” Skinner said of the preseason schedule. Ustruck said the full preseason schedule will be out in the next few days.
  • Ustruck mentioned that the North Carolina game in preseason would give the club an opportunity to learn how far they still need to go to get to the level of the defending champs.
  • Ustruck said the idea of a preseason invitational tournament would be difficult due to the MLS side having started its season but it’s something the club might look into if they can find the right location or if the stadium was available.
  • Skinner said his team likes to play tactically and force the other team into playing a way in which is to Orlando’s advantage.
  • Ustruck said Camila is still in Brazil because she’s working on getting her green card. Her interview was scheduled for today and she’s expected back by the weekend.
  • There will be a recognized Orlando Pride supporters group this year, said Ustruck. He said he wasn’t at liberty to speak about it just yet, however.
  • “There needs to be patience for this team to understand what we want them to do,” Skinner said. He added that he’s seen a desire from the players to buy into that.

Ashlyn Harris

  • “I have to say that I’ve been blown away by Marc,” Harris said about her new coach. “I’m very, very impressed with what he has brought just in the short amount of time that I’ve met him.”
  • Harris said the spark and enjoyment are back at training this preseason. “It’s like a breath of fresh air. This is a chance for people to start over and have new energy and a new opportunity.”
  • Harris said Skinner demands excellence and is detail-oriented. “He’s very organized and very, very specific about things.”
  • Harris said the international players are used to being in and out of the lineup but admitted this year would be challenging due to the time demands of the World Cup.
  • Last year is in the past for Harris and she wants to focus all her energy on 2019 and not what didn’t work in 2018. “We have a fresh start and I want to enjoy that taste in my mouth.”
  • “Marc is going to bring an element to this organization that people are going to be proud of and I’m excited to be on that train,” Harris said.
  • Harris said that Skinner sent her video clips from every touch from every game with notes attached, he has drones flying overhead every practice to record the players, and he frequently texts with thoughts as they occur.
  • Harris said that the feeling of unity hasn’t quite been there the last few years but that’s what Skinner is restoring in Orlando.

Ali Krieger

  • Krieger said that players can only change the culture of a team by bringing their best and control their work ethic and attitude each day.
  • “I think it’s so great to have somebody come in that makes every player feel like they’re the most important player,” Krieger said of Skinner. “I think that if we continue to create that positive atmosphere that will translate for sure on the field.”
  • Krieger said last year the team played more individually than as a collective group and expects the opposite this year.
  • Skinner creates an atmosphere where everybody feels important, said the veteran defender.
  • “Little specific movements, footwork stuff, the way your body is angled, or the pace of your pass,” – Krieger on the details that Skinner notices and brings to the team.
  • Skinner is “bringing the fun back into the game.”
  • Krieger reiterated Skinner’s statements in the presser about treating each person individually based on their needs.
  • “I don’t mind playing the underdog role,” she said. “If people think they’re going to come in here and it’s going to be easy-breezy, then good on them because we’re going to just crush it.”
  • Having a new coach will be an advantage for the Pride because no one in the league is going to know what to expect from Orlando.

Marta

  • “I like it here,” the Brazilian legend said. “I like the club. I like the atmosphere we have here. I like the city, the players. I think we have so much potential to [have] a very good season.”
  • Marta said her first impression of Skinner was good. “I see the energy he brings to the training and the ideas he brings to the players [are] good.”
  • Sermanni and Skinner are different. Skinner wants to keep the ball more and having the ball more means more opportunities to score.
  • “It’s about how we work together when we have the ball and when we don’t have the ball,” Marta said of the team’s philosophy.
  • Marta said players have to play hard and do their best for their club or they risk not being ready when called up to the national team. So there is no benefit in taking things easy with the club side to stay healthy for the World Cup.
  • When asked if she would continue to play internationally after this World Cup, Marta responded, “Let’s live day after day, you know?” She said if she feels good with her club and her teammates she can continue to do so with Brazil, too.
  • Marta said she was a little sad to see Monica and Poliana leave the club and hopes that they find a good new club to play for because that’s also important for the Brazilian national team.
  • When asked if she had any goals for the season, Marta replied, “Make more goals!”
  • Marta said Skinner’s system allows the freedom to roam and feel the game, so that she can play as both a midfielder and a forward, moving to spaces wherever she’s needed. “Not whatever I want,” she laughed, “but to produce good for the team.”

Alex Morgan

  • “I’m just eager to be coached by [Skinner], and for him to just implement his style, and for us to apply that in games,” Morgan said.
  • Morgan said she was happy with Ustruck’s decision to bring in Skinner to take the job.
  • “In previous years, just playing college teams is really difficult because that’s a hard gauge to see on like where we are in terms of how ready we are for the season,” Morgan said of the preseason. “So going in and playing North Carolina, obviously having them be the reigning champions from last year, it’s going to be just right away we’ll know what we still need to work on, where we are in terms of fitness, and in terms of Marc’s style being adapted by the team. So I’m really happy we’re making this trip.”
  • The team not having a lot of turnover is a good thing, Morgan said.
  • Morgan said the challenge for the Pride is the number of international players leaving for a big chunk of the season.
  • Younger players can learn from the internationals’ professionalism and they have to be eager to learn.
  • Morgan lauded France’s acceptance of women in sport as “exciting to see” and was glad to see the number of tickets sold for the World Cup games.
  • “I’m hopeful that we look very organized and have clear direction,” she said.
  • Morgan said she was impressed with Ustruck and his ability to bring in someone like Skinner.
  • She said she feels there’s still room for her to learn and grow as a player and she’s looking forward to Skinner helping her do that.

Alanna Kennedy

  • “I really like his direction and his philosophy,” Kennedy said of Skinner. “It’s something that’ll make all of us better, hopefully, as a collective.”
  • Kennedy talked about having surgery “thrown in there” during a six-week break. She said she’d played about 80 games in the previous 12 to 18 months. She said she’s now feeling good and is excited to be back in Orlando.
  • “When you’re in a positive environment, your well-being is taken care of, that’s when you’re able to thrive on the field,” she said. “I’ve loved every minute of the couple days I’ve been here.”
  • Kennedy said she thinks that with the style of play Skinner will have, she’ll be able to play both midfield and defense. She said she loves her midfield role but also loves her role on defense with Australia, because that’s where the team needs her and she can thrive there.
  • Kennedy noted the team has always had the personnel to succeed but needed to have more of an identity.
  • “To know your role and to know what’s expected of you every minute is important and that’s something Marc will bring with his experience and his personality,” she said.
  • “You don’t really” get used to all the international travel, Kennedy said. But she added that it’s helpful when you have people in place to take care of you, as the Pride have.

Chioma Ubogagu

  • When asked what kind of Chioma Ubogagu the Pride are getting back, as opposed to the one who left to go play in Australia at the start of the off-season, she replied, “I think just someone who understands even more now the definition of being a professional.”
  • She said she learned more about recovery, watching film, and working on details while playing in Australia.
  • Ubogagu said that coming in from overseas, she was expected to be an impact player in the W-League, and that challenged her and she learned how to deal with pressure.
  • Having three nationalities — English, American, and Nigerian — she said all three are very important to her and she feels connected to all three and they combine equally to make her who she is.
  • “That experience to put on the England kit and represent the Lionesses is something I’ll never forget,” she said of her time with the England national team.
  • Ubogagu said she got the call on her birthday that she’d be getting her first call-up to England and it was the best birthday gift ever.
  • She said her national team coach, Phil Neville, texts the whole team and he told her to train hard this preseason.
  • Ubogagu said she met with Skinner yesterday. She said he’s very intelligent and noted that he showed her an iPad with screen shots and detailed notes on it.
  • “I think everyone has been really impressed with training sessions and the detail and energy,” she said “[Skinner is] always saying ‘brains over brawn.’ He wants us to make sophisticated decisions with the ball.”
  • “I don’t want to label myself a leader because I think I’m learning every day,” she said.
  • “Last year, if we’re going to be frank [the North Carolina Courage] killed everyone in the league. They scored the most goals. I think they had the fewest goals against. They had this confidence, this swagger on the field that you weren’t going to touch them when you’re on the field,” Ubogagu said. “So I think that’s awesome that one of our first preseason games is going against the defending champions. We’re going to see what we’re about early on in the preseason. It’ll be really cool to see how we adapt and how we come out against a team like that.”
  • Ubogagu said she wanted to help with the game so she became the players union representative for the Pride. She said her main job was to bring information back to the club so the players had a voice on things like, for example, when the league would break for the World Cup.

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Orlando Pride at North Carolina Courage: Final Score 1-1 as Pride Score a Late Equalizer

The Pride continue to struggle scoring goals, but earned a point on the road thanks to Prisca Chilufya’s stoppage-time goal.

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1 day ago

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May 10, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride, Jeremy Reper

The Orlando Pride (5-2-1, 16 points) scored a second-half, stoppage-time goal to steal a point on the road against the North Carolina Courage (2-3-3, 9 points) in Cary, NC. The home team took the lead in the first half on a goal from Felicitas Rauch. Fortunately for the Pride, Prisca Chilufya scored her first NWSL goal late to keep the Pride from losing two in a row.

“I thought we actually deserved more, considering the dominance in the game, the passes, the chances created,” Orlando Pride Head Coach Seb Hines said after the match. “Obviously, they scored in the first half, but we had really good momentum. I thought we played extremely well today both in possession and out of possession.”

Hines made three changes to the team that lost to the Portland Thorns a week ago. Emily Sams got a rest, with Kylie Nadaner getting the start. Morgan Gautrat and Angelina returned to the starting lineup in the midfield. The back line in front of goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse was made up of Kerry Abello, Nadner, Zara Chavoshi, and Oihane. Carson Pickett joined Gautraut, Haley McCutcheon, and Angelina in the midfield, with Marta and Barbra Banda up top.

The Pride came out aggressively early in the match. They made things difficult for the Courage, taking the ball back whenever North Carolina managed to gain possession. Orlando generated a few chances, but the shots were either blocked, wide of target, or straight to North Carolina goalkeeper Casey Murphy.

Disaster struck in the 27th minute, when the Courage scored the first goal of the match against the run of play. Rauch brought the ball up the left in transition and centered it for Manaka Matsukubo to shoot. Moorhouse made a huge 1-v-1 save, but the rebound went right back to Rauch, who put it past Chavoshi for the goal.

North Carolina almost made it two in the 28th minute, but the ball went wide left. The Pride continued to press the Courage, sometimes resulting in a giveaway. Abello lost the ball in the 33rd minute, and earned a yellow card when she committed a professional foul to stop the counterattack. Banda also suffered some fouls as the team pushed forward.

In the 42nd minute, Manaka chested a cross at goal, but Moorhouse was right there to make the easy save. The Courage tried going over the top, but Moorhouse came out to collect the ball after a brief hesitation. On the other end, Angelina put the first shot on target for Orlando in the 45th minute, but it went right to Murphy.

After the first half, the Pride had the advantage in shots (8-5) but the Courage had more shots on target (2-1). The Pride had the advantage in possession (68%-32%) and corners (3-1), but the Courage had the lead. Orlando’s game plan was working in every part of the match except in front of goal — on both sides of the pitch.

The second half started much like the first. The Pride hounded the Courage whenever they managed to have the ball. Despite that, North Carolina was able to generate some chances. In the 53rd minute, Moorhouse came off her line to punch out the ball but she ran into Oihane, hitting her in the head. Oihane needed to be attended to by the trainers since she took a blow to the head, but she was able to continue.

In the 58th minute, Banda finally managed a shot on goal. Marta stole the ball and sent a pass to Banda, but the Zambian international’s shot was pushed over the bar for a corner kick. The Pride had another chance in the 61st minute on a free kick. Pickett put the ball across the face of the goal, but neither Banda nor Oihane were able to get on the ball. In the 67th minute, Hines subbed Emily Sams on for Oihane and Ally Watt for Abello.

In the 77th minute, Ally Lemos came on for Pickett, and Chilufya came on for Gautrat. The Pride kept pushing for the equalizer. Watt attempted a long-distance shot in the 78th minute, but it was blocked. In the 84th minute, Cori Dyke came on for Chavoshi. Referee Brad Jensen indicated there would be at least five minutes of stoppage time.

The equalizer finally came in the third minute of added time. Angelina delivered a corner into the box, and Chilufya sent a looping head over Murphy’s fingertips and into the back of the net.

“It is a long-awaited goal,” Chilufya said. “I feel very happy. I am very excited. I am just looking forward to moments like this when the team needs me most and to just turn up and do what you can and pick everybody’s spirit up. Going in, [Pride Goalkeeper Coach] Paul [Crichton] told me to just go in and get in the box and do what I can. When I was going to the front post, it may sound crazy, but I envisioned it. Like, what if I just go up front and maybe just jump and flick my head. Who knows, I might get a touch on the ball. I did what I was thinking, and with God’s plan, it worked. I can’t believe it, but I did it.”

“A well-deserved goal towards the end. We have this mentality that we never give up, we never say die and we pile the pressure on,” Hines said. “It’s come off a set piece and Prisca [Chilufya] takes it well and gladly it falls into the back of the net.” 

The match ended very strangely. A North Carolina player went down outside the area, but no foul was called. Play continued for a bit, before the referee blew the whistle to stop play. He then indicated the video assistant referee was checking something, but he then called full time. The Pride avoided a second loss thanks to Chilufya’s late equalizer.

At full time, the Pride had the advantage on shots (15-7), shots on target (3-2), possession (63%-37%), corner kicks (8-2), and passing accuracy (88%-76%). Good defending by North Carolina, offset a dominating — but wasteful — performance by the Pride.

“We stuck to the gameplan, and we caused North Carolina a lot of problems at their home field,” Hines said. “I think there is a part of us that is disappointed that we are walking away with a point, but on the road, you will take it.”

At least for the tonight, the Pride are back on top of the standings. Orlando returns home on Friday to face the Kansas City Current.

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Orlando Pride vs. North Carolina Courage: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

The Pride look to bounce back from a tough loss in Portland when they visit the North Carolina Courage Saturday.

Published

2 days ago

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May 10, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

Welcome to your match thread as the Orlando Pride (5-2-0, 15 points) face the North Carolina Courage (2-3-2, 8 points) in Cary, NC. This is the first of two games the teams will play this season. The return game in Orlando is scheduled for Sept. 19.

Here’s everything you need to know about tonight’s game.

History

The Pride and Courage have played 26 times since the Western New York Flash moved to North Carolina and became the Courage in 2017. The Pride are 6-13-7 in those games (6-10-2 in the NWSL regular season, 0-0-2 in the Fall Series, 0-3-2 in the NWSL Challenge Cup, and 0-0-1 in the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup.)

The most recent meeting between the two teams was on July 20, 2024, in the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup in North Carolina. Manaka Matsukubo gave the hosts the lead just before halftime before Celia equalized late for the Pride. The game went into penalties where the Courage won 5-4. 

The Pride were the better team on June 15, 2024, with more possession, shots, and shots on target, but the game ended in a scoreless draw. While they were disappointed with the result, the Pride were the first team to take points in North Carolina in 2024. Earlier in the season, on May 1 in Orlando, Barbra Banda and Ally Watt started up top together for the first time, a move that paid off in the game. Banda set up Watt for the opener in the first half, and Watt repaid the favor just over 10 minutes later, as the Pride went up 2-0. Julie Doyle added a goal just before halftime, giving the Pride a commanding lead. Emily Sams’ own goal was the only scoring for the Courage and Banda’s second of the night gave the Pride a 4-1 win.

The first game between the Pride and Courage in 2023 was on April 19 in Orlando. The Pride took the lead after halftime when Summer Yates set up Watt for the opening goal, but Denise O’Sullivan equalized in the ninth minute of second-half injury time, resulting in a 1-1 draw. On June 17 in North Carolina, it was all Courage. Kerolin and Meredith Speck gave the hosts a 2-0 lead before a Haley McCutcheon own goal made it 3-0 to North Carolina.

The Pride didn’t show up for the July 29 Challenge Cup contest in North Carolina, getting demolished by the Courage. Brittany Ratcliffe and Malia Berkely gave the hosts a 2-0 halftime lead before Frankie Tagliaferri made it three, and a late brace by Haley Hopkins completed the 5-0 result. The Pride finally got a win that year on Sept. 17, 2023 at home. Watt got the Pride off to a great start, scoring inside the first minute. After assisting on the first goal, Adriana doubled the lead before halftime. Manaka Matsukubo got one back for the visitors, but it wasn’t enough and the Pride won 2-1.

The first meeting in 2022 came on May 18 in North Carolina. The Pride got off to a great start in that game, with Sydney Leroux scoring early. Mikayla Cluff doubled the lead with her first professional goal. A late goal by Brianna Pinto got the Courage back within one, but it wasn’t enough as the Pride took the 2-1 win. On Sept. 21, 2022, at Exploria Stadium, it was the Courage that got off to the better start when Debinha scored in the second minute. The Brazilian then assisted Tess Boade in first-half injury time to double the lead, and later added another, dooming the Pride to a 3-0 defeat.

The Pride and Courage were placed in the same division for the 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup, so the teams played twice before the regular season started. The first game was on March 26 in North Carolina. Merritt Mathias converted a penalty after Gunny Jonsdottir was called for a handball in the box, lifting the hosts to a 1-0 win. The return match in the tournament took place on April 16 in Orlando. The Courage got off to a fast start, scoring three goals in the first nine minutes. Darian Jenkins netted a brace to make it 3-2, but a late Debinha goal put the game away and North Carolina won 4-2.

The teams played three times during the 2021 NWSL season. On May 22 in North Carolina, goals by Leroux and Alex Morgan gave the Pride a 2-0 lead late into the game. Jessica McDonald scored late to pull one back but the Pride held on for a 2-1 win. On July 4 in Orlando, Debinha and Havana Solaun goals helped the Courage take home a 2-0 win. The final game was played July 31 in North Carolina. Leroux opened the scoring but Brittany Ratcliffe equalized moments later and the teams drew 1-1.

The two teams were also matched up in the 2021 NWSL Challenge Cup but they only played once in that tournament. Neither team was able to find the back of the net in that game in a scoreless draw.

Similar to the Challenge Cup, the teams were in the same group of the 2020 Fall Series, meeting twice. The first was on Sept. 19 in North Carolina and ended in a scoreless draw. The second was on Oct. 17 at Exploria Stadium. Led by a Debinha brace, the Courage went up 3-0. But the Pride came back with goals by Marisa Viggiano, Kristen Edmonds, and Ally Haran for an exciting 3-3 draw.

The Pride and Courage played three times during the 2019 season. The first game was on April 17 in North Carolina. The Courage took a 1-0 lead into halftime but scored four times in the second half to win 5-0. They played a second time on June 1 in Orlando. Again, it was a dominant performance by the Courage as the Pride fell 3-0. The final meeting that year was another thrashing by North Carolina. The Pride got a goal in that one but still fell 6-1.

The teams also met three times in 2018 but the results were much closer. On May 23 in Orlando, goals by Alanna Kennedy and Rachel Hill saw the Pride come back from a 3-1 deficit. But McDonald scored a winner in the 90th minute and the Courage won 4-3. The Pride went down by three goals in the final two games that season, but were unable to come back and fell 3-0 in both contests.

The 2017 season saw the teams meet for the first time. The Courage took the first game 3-1 on April 29 in North Carolina. They played a second time two weeks later in Orlando when the Pride took the 3-1 win. The final meeting in 2017 came in the final game of the season on Sept. 30. The Pride took a 2-0 lead but the Courage came back to even it at 2-2. It looked headed for a draw until Kennedy netted a late winner, leading the Pride to a 3-2 win.

Overview

This season certainly isn’t the record-breaking start the Pride had last year, but they’re still one of the teams to beat in the NWSL. The defending champions won their first four games before falling 1-0 to the Washington Spirit in a disappointing performance. It looked like they would see their first losing streak when they fell behind 2-0 to Angel City FC, but scored three goals in the final 20 minutes to take all three points.

Unfortunately, the winning didn’t last long. The Pride followed the come-from-behind win with a trip across the country to face the Portland Thorns. With a long flight and on artificial turf, Pride Head Coach Seb Hines made several changes to the team, including giving rookie Zara Chavoshi her first start. Reyna Reyes’ goal was the difference as the Pride fell 1-0 for their second loss of the season.

Despite the loss, the Pride remain in first place, tied with the Kansas City Current on points, goals scored, and goals conceded. This is the finale of a two-game road trip before they return home to face the same Current team in a highly anticipated Friday night clash at Inter&Co Stadium.

The Pride are led offensively by Banda with four goals. Marta follows with three goals, McCutcheon has two, and Watt has one goal. The assists have been spread evenly with Marta, Oihane, Morgan Gautrat, and Banda all recording one.

The defense has been the strong point for most of the season, recording shutouts in three of the first four games. The 3-2 win over Angel City is the only time the Pride have conceded multiple goals in a game, with the two losses being 1-0 results.

There was a question who would start in goal tonight, as starting goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse left the game in Portland with a head injury. McKinley Crone did well in her place, playing nearly the entire second half. But Moorhouse is not on the availability report and is expected to return to action tonight.

The Courage currently sit in ninth, three points below the final playoff spot. They got off to a slow start but have been hot in recent weeks. It started with a 3-2 win on April 26 over the then-undefeated Current for their first win of the season. They followed that with a 2-0 win over the Utah Royals on May 3.

Despite having firepower with the likes of Ashley Sanchez and Jaedyn Shaw, the Courage have struggled a bit offensively, scoring eight goals in seven games. They’ve been much better defensively. They’ve conceded nine goals this year, but five of those were against the Current and NJ/NY Gotham FC, two of the best attacking teams in the league.

Sanchez leads the team with two goals this season. Ryan Williams, Kaleigh Kurtz, and Riley Jackson have one each. Williams, Speck, O’Sullivan, and Matsukubo lead the team assists so far this season, but each has just one.

The big concern for the Pride entering tonight’s game is on the offensive end. While they lead the league with 14 goals scored, six of those came in the season opener against the Chicago Stars. Meanwhile, they’ve been kept off the scoresheet in two of the last three games. To claim three points away from home, they’ll have to beat one of the league’s top goalkeepers in Casey Murphy. 

“Always a difficult place to go play historically. It’s always been a challenge there, the way that North Carolina likes to play,” Hines said about tonight’s game. “They’ve found some form in the last two games as well. We’re looking to bounce back from our recent result as well, so it’s an exciting game.”

The Pride go into this game with an unchanged availability report. They remain without Simone Charley (ankle), Luana (illness), Amanda Allen (shoulder), Aryssa Mahrt (knee), Julie Doyle (knee), Rafaelle (thigh), and Summer Yates (ankle).

The Courage will be without Berkely (leg), Sydney Collins (ankle), Hensley Hancuff (excused absence), and Olivia Wingate (leg). Speck (lower body) is listed as questionable.

Projected Lineups

Orlando Pride (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Anna Moorhouse.

Defenders: Kerry Abello, Kylie Nadaner, Emily Sams, Cori Dyke.

Defensive Midfielders: Haley McCutcheon, Morgan Gautrat.

Midfielders: Angelina, Marta, Prisca Chilufya.

Forward: Barbra Banda.

North Carolina Courage (3-4-3)

Goalkeeper: Casey Murphy.

Defenders: Natalia Staude, Kaleigh Kurtz, Maycee Bell.

Midfielders: Feli Rauch, Riley Jackson, Denise O’Sullivan, Ryan Williams.

Forwards: Shinomi Koyama, Manaka Matsukubo, Ashley Sanchez.

Referees

REF: Brad Jensen.
AR1: Katarzyna Wasiak.
AR2: Melissa Beck.
4TH: John Rush.
VAR: Danielle Chesky.
AVAR: Kevin Huet.

How to Watch

Match Time: 7:30 p.m.

Venue: First Horizon Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park — Cary, NC.

TV: Ion.

Streaming: Prime Video.

Social Media: For live updates and rapid reaction, follow our David Rohe on Bluesky or the Orlando Pride’s official Twitter feed (@ORLPride).

Enjoy the game. Go Pride!

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Orlando Pride

Pride Opponents Reducing Barbra Banda’s Available Space in 2025

How changes in the opposition’s defensive strategies have led to a decline in Barbra Banda’s statistics.

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4 days ago

on

May 8, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

A few years ago, I heard a basketball analyst talking on a podcast about Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors and how his shooting prowess completely changed the geometry of how his opponents were trying to defend him. Geometry, as you all remember from high school, is the area of mathematics that is focused on understanding space and the positions of items in space.

As a mathematician, my ears perked up, since geometry is rarely referred to on NBA podcasts, and I immediately understood his point was that because Curry was such an offensive shooting threat, the opposition had to think differently about their positioning than they would with just about any other player, and they could not afford to give Curry any space on the court or else he would punish them with his proficiency at shooting the basketball.

Basketball is a much different game than soccer, in particular because hoops shots from behind the arc are worth three points while shots from inside the arc are worth two. Defenses have to consider the talents of their opponents at shooting three-pointers and adjust accordingly. Curry is the only player in NBA history with more than 4,000 made three-pointers made during the regular season (4,058), and is nearly 1,000 ahead of the next player on that list, James Harden, who has made 3,175. It can be argued that the only person to make better use of an arc than Curry was Noah, but that is for another article.

What does any of this have to do with Barbra Banda? Well, nothing and everything. I have no idea what kind of basketball player Banda is, but I know that just as defenses in basketball have had to dramatically change their normal styles to defend Curry, so too have they changed in how they defend Banda. If we take a look at some of Banda’s style-of-play statistics from the 2024 regular season and compare them to 2025, we can see the evidence of how defenses are clearly making changes to their positioning and to the space they are allowing Banda to operate in on the field (all data is from fbref.com, all metrics are on a per-90-minute basis except shot distance and expected goals, which are per shot taken):

Metric20242025Difference
Passes Received22.715.7-31%
Progressive Passes Received7.416.57-11%
Shots5.234.14-21%
Shot Distance in Yards14.615.6+7%
Expected Goals0.140.12-14%
Progressive Carries5.803.71-36%
Attempted Take-Ons5.233.14-40%
Touches in the Attacking Third21.918.0-18%
Touches in 1810.68.0-25%
Shot-Creating Actions4.603.58-22%

I called these her style-of-play statistics because I think these describe what she is doing on the field and where she is doing it, or in this case, not doing it as much as she was doing it in 2024.

Let’s start with the top two: passes received and progressive passes received per 90 minutes. The Pride are completing nearly the same number of passes per 90 minutes in 2025 (357.3) as they did in 2024 (364.4), but Banda is receiving 31% fewer passes this season than she did last season. She is also receiving 11% fewer progressive passes, which are passes of 10 yards or more that move the ball closer to the goal in the attacking area of the field. Banda is healthy and still in her athletic prime, so it is not that she has lost a step and is unable to run as she did in 2024, but it is clear that opponents are making concerted efforts to track her more closely and deny her the ball all over the field.

Receiving the ball less often certainly contributes to taking fewer shots, and, unsurprisingly, Banda is taking approximately 1.1 fewer shots per 90 minutes thus far this season. In addition, she is, on average, taking her shots from 7% farther (not further, thank you, Finding Forrester) away from the goal and from areas of the field which historically have produced fewer goals, as evidenced by the decrease in expected goals per shot. I did not include her conversion rates on her shots in this table, because that is not about style of play and rather about her proficiency. It is interesting, however, to note that her proficiency is nearly exactly the same: shots on target percentage of 44.6% in 2024 and 44.8% in 2025 and a slight increase in goals per shot from 13% in 2024 to 14% in 2025. It is not that Banda’s skill has diminished, it is how her opponents are changing the geometry of their defense.

The biggest drops from year to year tie right into this, which are Banda’s 36% decrease in progressive carries per 90 minutes (progressive carries are the dribbling equivalent of progressive passes received, when a player dribbles the ball for 10 or more yards towards the goal in the attacking area of the field) and 40% decrease in attempted take-ons. Teams are simply not allowing her to get a head of steam and get into space like they did last season, to the tune of two fewer progressive carries per 90 minutes and two fewer attempted take-ons PER MATCH. Banda has actually been slightly more successful in her take-ons in 2025 (50% success vs 47.5% success in 2024), but as teams are working to have her receive the ball in less dangerous places she is choosing not to try to take on a defender as often and is less often able to receive the ball and turn on the burners towards the goal.

With fewer passes received and fewer progressive carries she is also not touching the ball as often in the opponents’ attacking third and 18-yard box, which ties back to the reduction in shots taken, and also the final metric, shot-creating actions. Banda was fourth in the NWSL last season with nearly five shot-creating actions per game, and she has dropped to 16th this season with only 3.58 thus far. Being in the top 20 is still excellent, but goals generally come from shots, and Banda’s shot creation is down through seven games. The eye test does not reveal a player who is tentative or shying away from trying to create. I think she is just being defended differently, and as yet she has not unlocked a good counter.

Even with all of this said, it is not like Banda is having a bad year or is in any danger of losing her starting role. She has dropped in shot-creating actions, but she is making use of the ones she does create, ranking fourth in goal-creating actions by averaging 0.72 per 90 minutes. She is also fifth in goals scored per 90 minutes and third in goals scored. Her goal output is also lower in 2025 than it was in 2024, but as I noted, it is still better than most of the league’s offensive players.

Increasing her output is partly on her and partly on her teammates, as they need to work together to counteract how Banda is being defended by making some changes of their own. The losses of Adriana to a new team and Julie Doyle and Summer Yates to injury have hurt the offense, as the attack cannot build on all the cohesion that those players built with Banda last season, and Ally Watt and Angelina have not contributed as much as was expected, at least not yet. As The Mane Land’s Dave Rohe said on this week’s SkoPurp Soccer podcast though, all of this is true and the team is still tied for first place and tied for the league lead in goals scored.

The Pride have two tough games coming up — on the road at North Carolina, always a tough opponent, and then at home against Kansas City, the team currently tied with Orlando at the top of the table. Winning both games will be an acute challenge, but if the Pride can do that they will create a degree of space at the top of the table, though it would be more of an algebraic than a geometric sequence, since they would be adding three points and then another three points.

Whether algebraic or geometric, the Pride will continue to work to calculus, sorry…calculate, how best to sequence their offense to unlock Banda and improve an offense that, excluding own goals, has scored only six times in their last six games. They will surely be considering all the angles in practice this week, but let’s hope that in the end the angle they choose to go with for their offensive strategy is right.

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