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Orlando Pride vs. Washington Spirit: Final Score 4-3 as Pride Earn First Home Points of 2019

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5 years ago

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With the return of the majority of the international players, the Orlando Pride (2-8-2, 8 points) finally found their offense. The Pride found the back of the net four times as they beat the Washington Spirit (5-3-3, 18 points) 4-3 in front of 3,703 fans in Exploria Stadium. Rachel Hill opened her 2019 scoring account, Marta netted a brace, and Chioma Ubogagu got her third goal in as many games.

“You can't keep conceding three goals and scoring four at home,” Orlando Pride Head Coach Marc Skinner said. “I know American sports loves the drama and it’s all well and good but, guys, we can’t concede three goals at home and win every game. I thought we were very, very dangerous today in possession. I thought out of possession we were quite controlled and had moments of madness. I’m pleased with all the girls’ attitudes and I'm pleased they got the win, for them.”

The head coach was not on the field during the game. Instead, he was upstairs in one of the boxes. Skinner said that this is something that he has wanted to do all season, and it helps him see the game more tactically. He said he prefers to be upstairs because he “has to see the game,” and went down at halftime to share with the team what he saw.

“I need to see the game tactically,” said Skinner. “For me, I need to be calm and make decisions, not react off emotions. I’ll marry that information with the information I have, keep calm, and put it together.”

Alanna Kennedy, Shelina Zadorsky, and Emily van Egmond came right back from France and into the starting lineup. Morgan Reid swapped out for Zadorsky as the rest of the back line remained the same. Both of the Australians played in the midfield with Joanna Boyles and Marta, Ubogagu, and Hill led the forward line. 

After a 50-minute weather delay, the game started fast and furious. Both teams needed just a handful minutes to get into the game, and the rest of the half was filled with goals. 

“Honestly, I don’t really like when all that happens,” Marta said of the weather delay through an interpreter. “We always just keep waiting and keep waiting and that’s not really good at times. But I think also it helped cool down, and we played really well so I think it was great for us.”

After just seven minutes, Washington took the lead. After a good spell of possession, Cheyna Matthews got down the line. She beat Toni Pressley and sent a low cross into the box. Bayley Feist somehow flicked it between her legs, while falling down, and got the game’s first goal. 

The Pride looked out of the match after the opening goal. The Spirit held possession well, and Orlando was chasing the game. Marta changed that in the 21st minute.

The Brazilian created space for herself and played the ball to Boyles. Boyles used a one-touch pass over the top, and Ubogagu was then one-on-one with former Pride goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe. Chi dribbled right around the ‘keeper and leveled the game at one. 

Just five minutes later, the Pride took the lead. Hill forced a turnover and immediately got down the field. Kennedy and van Egmond passed among themselves, got down the field, and van Egmond played a perfect through ball to Hill. The striker took one touch and powered the ball in off the crossbar as Orlando went up 2-1.

“Obviously they’re top class, they’re great players and they know the game well,” Hill said about the international players returning. “It brings a lot back into our team. Obviously we worked a lot while they were gone and they’re adapting to that, kinda forgetting about the whole World Cup and what their national teams do. They’re back here and fitting in really well. It’s definitely helped us and they’ve done well.”

“It feels good,” Hill said of scoring her first goal of the season. “It’s a relief in a sense. As a forward you obviously always want to score but it feels even better to get that win.”

The lead did not last long, and four minutes later, in the 30th, Washington tied it. Tori Huster sent the ball from her own half, and Matthews blew by Zadorsky. Matthews took one touch to create more space and sent the ball into the back of the net with her second. 

Not much happened for the remained of the half. Both teams had a few chances but nothing too threatening. Kennedy could have scored, but her shot was way too close to Bledsoe. In the dying minutes of the half, Haley Kopmeyer punched the ball, and it hit Greening in the head. The ball luckily rolled harmlessly out for a corner. 

Washington took more shots in the half (7-5), but Orlando had a better conversion rate putting three on target, compared to the Spirit’s two. Washington led the possession battle (59%), but it was mostly in its own half. 

The second half got off to a firing start. Washington won a foul in the opening seconds, and the free kick was headed just wide of the post. Orlando got right down the field then and retook the lead. Greening sent in a low cross towards Marta. The Brazilian struggled to control it at first but stuck with it before calmly sending the ball into the side netting.

The goal put Orlando up 3-2. The three goals were the most that Orlando has scored since June 16, 2018, when the Pride beat Sky Blue by that same scoreline. 

The game settled down after that goal. Both teams had looks on the net, but the game was played mainly in the middle of the field. 

Bledsoe again came up huge in the 60th minute. Hill sent in a perfect cross to Pressley. The defender headed it towards the goal, but Bledsoe used a potential Save of the Week to deny Pressley her second of the year. 

Three minutes later, Huster should have tied the game. She was all alone in the box with time and space but sent her shot directly into Kopmeyer’s chest. 

Marta got her brace in the 78th minute. Zadorsky stood over a free kick in Orlando’s half. The defender rocketed the ball downfield, Marta got on the end of it and behind the defense, and did what she does best. That was Marta’s third goal of the season, all in the last two games after returning from the World Cup. 

The Pride should have gotten a fifth goal when Ubogagu was sent down the left flank and crossed to second-half sub Marisa Viggiano with the entire net to shoot at. The rookie lost her composure and fired well over the net.

Washington got a late consolation goal in stoppage time. Orlando failed to clear the ball, and then five Pride players closed in on Jordan DiBiasi. They somehow all failed to clear the ball, DiBiasi got past them all, and she beat Kopmeyer to the near post. 

The Spirit finished the game with more shots (19-15) but the Pride had more shots on target (8-5). Washington also edged out in the possession battled with 56%, but the Pride were ahead with the final scoreline. The four goals scored were the most by Orlando in a game since May 26, 2018, when the Pride beat the Chicago Red Stars 5-2.

“I think we [have improved] on how our coach wants us to play,” Marta said. “We still lost points in the past games. But I think, for example, in this first half we lacked defensive and we need to get better and get those mistakes fixed.”

The Pride are back in action on Sunday, July 14 when they travel to Providence Park to take on the Portland Thorns.

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2024 Orlando Pride Season in Review: Kylie Strom

In her fourth season in Orlando, the veteran changed positions to help the NWSL’s best defense.

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22 hours ago

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December 21, 2024

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride

The Orlando Pride originally signed Kylie Strom from Atletico Madrid in July 2021. Prior to her time overseas, Strom spent the 2016 and 2017 seasons in the NWSL with the Boston Breakers. Her initial contract in Orlando was through 2022 with an option for 2023 that was exercised prior to that year. Despite being briefly out of contract this past off-season, Strom, now 32 years old, re-signed for the Pride, extending her stay in Orlando through the 2026 season. This ended up as one of the most important moves of the off-season, as Strom went on to partner Emily Sams in the league’s best defense, earning an NWSL Defender of the Year nomination and playing in all but one game of the 2024 season.

Let’s take a look back at Kylie Strom’s 2024 season, her best in Orlando so far.

Statistical Breakdown

Strom made 25 appearances for the Pride in the NWSL regular season, starting 24 times and playing 2,158 minutes, less than 200 minutes from playing the entire regular season. Most of the game time she missed was due to the red card and one-match ban she picked up on opening day at Louisville. Strom only took six shots in the regular season with two on target and no goals scored. She contributed her lone assist against Gotham at home in September. In possession, Strom completed 1,298 of her 1,503 passes (86%), the highest number of completed passes in the squad and the third-highest completion percentage among the regular starters, closely following Sams and Morgan Gautrat. She recorded 10 key passes, no completed crosses, and 46 successful long balls. Defensively, she succeeded in 20 of her 40 tackles (50%), contributed 39 interceptions, and won 73 headed duels. She was fouled 23 times, committed 17 of her own, and earned two yellow cards in addition to the previously-mentioned red card.  

Strom started and played every minute of Orlando’s three NWSL playoff wins (270 minutes). She attempted no shots but did provide an assist for Barbra Banda’s goal against the Kansas City Current. In the playoffs, Strom completed 144 of her 169 pass attempts (85%), with one key pass, no completed crosses, and four successful long balls. In defense, she added four tackles and six interceptions without committing a foul, suffering a foul, or receiving a card. 

Strom also started all three matches in the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup, playing 239 minutes in total. She did not take a shot and thus could not score a goal in the tournament, nor did she record an assist. The defender completed 136 of her 158 passes (86%) without a key pass or successful cross, but she managed 11 accurate long balls. She added three tackles in four duels (75%) and four interceptions with one headed duel won on the defensive end. She also committed two fouls and was on the receiving end of two herself, but she was not shown a card.

Best Game

Looking at her availability, passing, and defending, Strom was remarkably consistent in 2024, across all competitions. This makes it difficult to pick one game from the bunch, so it would be tempting to pick any shutout against high-profile opponents, such as the NWSL Championship game or the NWSL Shield-clinching game, both wins against the Washington Spirit. Instead, the best game and best representation of Strom’s work was the 1-0 victory over the struggling Utah Royals on the road in April, the first win of the year.

In the victory over Utah, Strom completed 61 of her 68 passes (90%). She also added two tackles and four interceptions en route to holding Utah to just 0.1 expected goals per FBRef.com. With Marta coming off the bench in this match, this was also the first time Strom wore the captain’s armband for Orlando, though she went on to wear it for six additional starts in the NWSL. 

Final Grade

The Mane Land staff gave Strom a composite grade of 7.5 out of 10 for the 2024 season, a significant improvement over her score of 6 out of 10 in 2023. Previously,  Strom received a grade of 4.5 in 2022 and an incomplete during what was a rough stretch run in 2021 after joining the club midseason.

Going into the 2024 season, it was assumed that Rafaelle would be the primary center back partner for Sams, and Strom would play at fullback, her natural position to that point in her career. Instead, Rafaelle struggled with injuries, including at the start of the year, so Strom paired with Sams for four of the first five games, with the Pride having to employ a four-fullback back line in the second game due to player unavailability. Rafaelle then played with Sams in the middle for one match, before Seb Hines pushed Sames out to right back with Rafaelle and Strom paired together for the next five matches. From that point on, it was Sams and Strom in the middle the rest of the year.

The new position suited Strom and accentuated her strengths as a soccer player. She defended well as a unit with Sams and the fullbacks, using her physicality to win many tackles and headed duels while cutting out the mistakes she’d previously made when playing out wide. In possession, she was steady in building play through short- and medium-distance passes without taking too many risks. She was a vocal leader on the pitch and adept at snuffing opposition attacks before they could materialize. That she was able to adapt so quickly to a new role in the latter stages of her career is all the more impressive.

2025 Outlook

Strom has two more years on her contract going into 2025. Orlando will hope to get healthier in defense in the off-season and may sign some reinforcements, as both Megan Montefusco and Carrie Lawrence retired. But Strom has earned the starting center-back spot next to Sams. Given Cori Dyke’s late emergence at right back, there is less of a need to move Sams out wide. At the same time, Kerry Abello’s Best XI Second Team performance throughout 2024 would make it difficult to move Strom back to fullback on the left. It will be interesting to see how a position group that has become a strength of the team.

Regardless of how it unfolds, the goal for Strom moving forward should be to continue to play at the level she did during Orlando’s championship season, and given her consistency all year, this is a reasonable expectation for the player.

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2024 Orlando Pride Season in Review: Adriana

The Brazilian attacker was a key player in the Pride’s magical 2024 season.

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2 days ago

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December 20, 2024

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Mark Thor

The Orlando Pride signed Brazilian international Adriana on Jan. 19, 2023 to a three-year contract through the 2025 NWSL season. One of the brighter spots of the Pride during the 2023 season, it seemed Adriana was on the verge of becoming a dominating NWSL player. Seb Hines again deployed her mainly as an attacking player, particularly on the wing, but sometimes as a second forward. While she was still a key player for the Pride in 2024, there were some bumps in the road when she would disappear from games and consistency was sometimes an issue.

Let’s take a look at Adriana’s second NWSL season.

Statistical Breakdown

Adriana appeared in 23 regular-season games, starting 19 and playing a total of 1,688 minutes. She scored six goals, which was third most on the team, and added one assist. It is notable that two of her six goals came from the penalty spot, where she went two-for-two in the regular season. She completed 71% of her 557 passes, which was a slight dip from a year ago, with 31 key passes, seven completed crosses, and 14 successful long balls. Defensively, Adriana chipped in nine tackles, 13 interceptions, and 18 headed duels won. She committed just 10 fouls while drawing 30 on the opposition, and she did not receive a card.

In the playoffs, Adriana appeared in all three of the Pride’s games, starting two and logging 197 minutes. She did not make a goal contribution, attempting six shots with only one of those hitting the target. Her passing wasn’t up to its usual level in the postseason, as she connected on just 63.9% of her 36 passes, including only two of nine in the NWSL Championship. She tallied five key passes and one successful long ball, but no accurate crosses. On defense, she finished the postseason with three tackles and an interception. The Brazilian international committed five fouls, suffered two, and was not booked.

Adriana was away at the Olympics during the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup, so she did not play in the competition.

Best Game

Adriana had several big games in 2024, but perhaps her best was Orlando’s 2-0 home win over Gotham FC. She scored both Orlando goals in the match, lifting the Pride to their 19th straight game without a loss, tying the club’s single-season record for home wins (7), and pushing Hines past Tom Sermanni and into sole possession of the most coaching wins in club history (26). It didn’t take long for her to get involved, scoring just five and a half minutes after the opening kickoff. Angelina’s ball into the box was knocked into the air, and Adriana ran onto it and volleyed a blast into the net to make it 1-0 with one of the most impressive Pride goals of the season.

Not content with just one goal, Adriana struck again in the 19th minute. Summer Yates switched the play to send Adriana down the right side, where she took on USWNT defender Jenna Nighswonger, then used Barbra Banda’s presence in the box to create space for her shot, which she placed perfectly inside the left post to make it 2-0.

Adriana played the full 90 minutes in the match and fired six shots in all against Gotham that night, putting all six of them on target and giving her a season high in the latter statistic. She led all players in the match in both categories. She completed 87% of her 23 passes on 48 total touches, with one key pass, one accurate cross, and two successful long balls. Defensively, she made three recoveries, and she committed one foul while drawing two and did not pick up a booking. It was a great performance by the attacking midfielder against one of the NWSL’s elite defensive clubs.

2024 Final Grade

The Mane Land staff gives Adriana a composite score of 7 out of 10 for her 2024 campaign. This is a slight dip from the 7.5 we gave her last season, but there were times when she struggled to find her game in 2024. When she was on her game, she was outstanding, but there were games and even stretches of matches when she didn’t provide her usual quality. Her form isn’t the only reason she was dropped at times from the starting XI, because some of her teammates elevated their own, but it was a factor. While she increased her goal total by one, it came in more appearances and minutes, and her assist total fell, despite having a better cast around her. The Brazilian is capable of more, but the staff still felt it was a solid season.

2025 Outlook

Like her Brazilian teammate Rafaelle, Adriana’s contract runs through the 2025 season, so she’ll be working hard to earn a new deal beyond the upcoming season. If she starts the season well, the Pride will no doubt offer a new contract midseason if there’s not already a new deal in place before opening day. At 28 years old, Adriana is in the prime of her career and can still be an effective player. With the Pride improving, she’ll need to play more consistently or at a higher level to keep starting with this club, but she’s capable, and I expect her to fight to hold onto her starting spot in Hines’ XI.

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2024 Orlando Pride Season in Review: Marta

Marta showed why she’s the GOAT in her eighth season with the Pride.

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3 days ago

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December 19, 2024

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

In case you forgot, Marta first signed with the Orlando Pride way back in 2017. She has been the constant for the club through ups and mostly downs. That all changed this season as she captained her club to two trophies. Back in 2022, she signed a new two-year contract, taking her through 2024.

Marta may not be as young as she once was, but she definitely made you forget it often enough this season. It was undoubtedly the best she’s performed in a few years, and it made a difference in the standings. Let’s take a look at the GOAT’s latest season in Orlando.

Statistical Breakdown

Marta was the leader and the heart of this year’s Orlando Pride team. Her teammates wanted to win, but they also wanted to win for Marta. She played most of the regular-season games, but missed the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup because she was with Brazil at the Olympics. 

Marta made 23 appearances in the NWSL regular season, starting 19 games and recording 1,739 minutes. Marta was second on the team with nine goals on 40 shots, 18 of which were on target. Additionally, she completed 648 of her 878 passes (74%), including one assist, 52 key passes, nine successful crosses, and 75 completed long balls. Defensively, Marta posted 16 tackles, 27 headed duels won, and 12 interceptions on the year. She committed 12 fouls, suffered 45, and was booked four times (all yellow cards).

In the playoffs, Marta started all three games, recording 267 minutes. She scored two goals on 12 shots with five on target, and she completed 86 of her 108 passes (80%) without an assist, although she recorded six key passes, three accurate crosses, and 14 completed long balls. She was also active defensively in the postseason, with six tackles and two interceptions. She committed three fouls in the playoffs, suffered four, and was not booked.

Best Game

You might think that the one match in which Marta scored a brace would be her best match, but that isn’t the case. That match was the 6-0 beatdown of the Utah Royals, who were bottom of the table. I’m going with her performance in the 3-2 playoff semifinal victory over the Kansas City Current.

That goal summed up Marta’s season for me. She was not going to let this team lose when the Pride were so close to the championship. When needed, she could find the speed — even late in a match — and put two defenders on the ground in unison. It was a goal she willed to happen against one of the best teams in the NWSL.

In this match, Marta took four shots, with two on target, scoring the aforementioned goal. She completed 29 of her 38 passes (77%) on a total of 74 touches, and took all three Pride corner kicks. Defensively, she contributed four tackles and two interceptions. She committed one foul, did not suffer any fouls, and was not booked. She simply displayed the full range of her skill and leadership qualities, helping her team reach the final.

2024 Final Grade

The Mane Land staff gave Marta a composite grade of 8 out of 10 for her eighth season with the club. Her passion, drive, and leadership were a major reason why the club won the NWSL Shield and the NWSL Championship. This was the best Marta we’ve seen for several seasons, and she wanted to win more than almost anyone else in any given match. To illustrate how much better she was, we gave Marta a grade of 6 out of 10 last season. That came on the heels of an incomplete grade in her injury-shortened 2022 season. She also received a 6 in 2021 and a 6.5 in 2019. This year is the closest Marta has come to the 9 out of 10 we gave her back in 2017, when she had 19 total goal contributions and finished second in the league in both goals and assists. She turned back the clock and gave us much more of the vintage Marta in 2024 than we’d seen in a long time, which is why we considered her one of the best players on the team.

(Note: If you’re wondering why 2020 wasn’t mentioned, its’ because we did not give out grades because the Pride only participated in the Fall Series during that lost season because of the pandemic.)

2025 Outlook

Marta’s contract expired after the 2024 season, but she has stated that she wants to keep playing one or two more years. She will be 39 years old at the start of the 2025 season but had a very good 2024 season. I think that she wants to retire with the Pride, and I feel that the club will offer her a one-year contract. The Pride indicated in their postseason roster status update that the club was in negotiations with her about returning. If a new deal happens, and if she can keep up her current form, she will find a way to contribute as the Pride look to defend their titles. She will have to hang up the boots at some point, but I don’t think it will be this coming season.

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