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Orlando Pride Must Stop Budding Trend of Allowing Late Goals

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5 years ago

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There’s something to be said for scoring late goals. The Manchester United of old is famous for the “Fergie Time” magic. Orlando City tends to bring back memories of the Cardiac Cats. Teams that have that ability to keep fighting until the last kick of the match bring something special. 

It is an entirely different story when a team allows goals in the last minutes of a game. And if that becomes a trend, that team might seem destined to fail. Through the first two matches of the 2021 NWSL Challenge Cup, the Orlando Pride are cruising on that trajectory.

Orlando is 0-1-1 through two games of the tournament. The Pride first tied Racing Louisville FC 2-2 on opening weekend. Then, Orlando lost 1-0 to NJ/NY Gotham FC at home.

Louisville was the better team for stretches in the first match, especially the opening 15 minutes, and Orlando easily could have been down a few goals by the end of the first half. It was a different story a few days later. The Pride came out on the front foot on Wednesday. While Orlando struggled to keep possession, the Pride quickly hit on the counter and created a few opportunities. 

While the style of play was slightly different, both matches ended the same way — with the Pride allowing a late goal. 

“It’s just part of this league and we have to learn from it, move on, and kind of get better at those moments,” Marc Skinner said after the loss to Gotham. “Finish the game. If we are up in the game it looks different for us, so we need to get up in games and make sure we convert our chances.”

Orlando put itself in a position to win both matches. Abi Kim scored in the 88th minute against Louisville. All the Pride had to do was hold off for the last few minutes of stoppage. Then, a reckless foul and poor defending on the resulting set piece led to an equalizer. 

The Pride took 17 shots against Gotham. They continued to get balls into dangerous areas but could not finish. Courtney Petersen summed it up perfectly after the match. The Pride had many chances and were dictating the tempo early on. All that effort did not mean much, though, as Orlando could not score.

“At the end of the day, we have to put the ball in the back of the net if you want to win,” Petersen said.

Aside from the first-half penalty kick for the visitors, which Ashlyn Harris stopped, the Pride did not give up any real chances in the match until the 79th minute, when Orlando got hit on the counter attack. 

This inability to close out games has cost Orlando tremendously. The Pride could have had four points through two matches, which would have placed them in first place with a chance to win the group. Now, while mathematically still possible, the Pride have little hope of winning the group. 

Orlando’s schedule for the Challenge Cup gets progressively more difficult. Louisville and Gotham were the teams that Orlando was most likely to get points from. Now, the Pride must face Washington and North Carolina. The Pride cannot continue to allow late goals. There are a few ways to prevent this.

First, as the game winds down, players naturally become more tired. As they get tired, they need to play smarter. The Pride gave up a free kick and were beat on the counter in the two games. After the Louisville game, Skinner said that his team “has to manage the situation” better. This means not giving up a foul in that situation. But even before it got to that point, when the Pride had the ball, the team must maintain possession, take it to the corner, and kill off the game. Instead, they sent in a cross, lost possession, and Gotham got down the field and won the free kick. 

Another aspect is to prevent tired legs in the first place. Teams have five substitutions a game in the Challenge Cup. Skinner used a total of five substitutions through the first two matches. Of those five, two of them were likely a direct result of players who picked up a knock. 

Skinner gave an interesting take on his choice of going to the bench after Wednesday’s game. He said he was waiting for the right moment to put in his “game-changers.” 

“If you look at the balance of the game, if we score when we’re on top, the game changes,” Skinner said. “So, yes, we might look a little bit heavier as we go forward because we’re chasing the game. So, you know, your players are chasing and they’re running harder to get to near where you need them to be to score an opportunity. So, the game balances. Once we score those chances, we can sit and counter and pick the times we choose to punish the opposition for what they give us. We just haven’t put ourselves in that position the last two games. Even against Louisville, where you go one down, and then late we go one down here [against Gotham], your game changes.

“So, we felt comfortable at that point, and we had game changers ready to come in, but we were just waiting for the moment for that to happen. And then, when they score, you know, we have to adapt and we have to evolve, so then that’s when we introduced fresh legs. But I don’t think it was that tonight. I really don’t. I actually feel that we were good control considering they haven’t played, so they should be super fresh. So, to rotate those five players in, you know — we were the fresher team than them and then we just need to take the chances when we’re on top and that’s what we didn’t do, and that’s what we’ve got to do.”

He took out Petersen in the 73rd minute for Erika Tymrak. The midfielder had an immediate impact on the match and was able to contribute in the Pride’s attack. After Gotham scored, Skinner made his second substitute — Marisa Viggiano went out for Abi Kim. Meanwhile, Gotham used all five substitutes.

Orlando was the better team for most of the match, until somewhere between the 60th and 70th minute. A significant point during that period is that Gotham made two changes. Just 10 minutes later, in the 77th minute, Gotham made another two substitutions, and its attack strengthened even more. This led to the goal in the 79th minute. 

The opposite occurred against Louisville. Skinner brought on Kim in the 78th minute. Kim did well and scored a go-ahead goal 10 minutes into her debut. 

Another part in preventing late goals will only come in time. It is how well the players play together and how comfortable they are with each other. This is a team that just started to play together. It will take time to get that familiarity with each other. It also doesn’t help that it has young and inexperienced players in key areas as well. There will be growing pains, and this is part of the growth of the players and team. 

“I think the thing for us was that against Louisville we weren’t happy with the control moments. We conceded late in the game — and should have won the game, but then conceded,” Skinner said. “So, I’m reminded of the amount of new players playing together. It’s only (the) second competitive match. So, for us, we felt like we had control, but what it’s important to do is learn from what we’ve done in the last game, and build on it, not just learn one and then forget everything else. And I know when I reflect on this game the control elements, if we score those chances then it’s a different game. Goals change games, you know, the old cliche. We will learn a lot from the last few games.”

The positive for Orlando is that at least they are in the games until the end. In the last full season — 2019 — the Pride were often out of the game by the hour mark. This year’s team has a new fight to them and is much stronger all around. None of that matters if the late goals don’t stop. There will be growing pains, but the late goals must stop. 

In the past week, there has been a common theme with Skinner and the players. It has not been so much as how to prevent late goals. Instead, the talk has been on the other side of the ball. If the Pride convert their chances in front of goal, these goals are less impactful. Teams never want to allow a late goal, but if that team is up 2-0, it can still come out with a win.

“Tough result, especially because I think we did create chances,” said Viggiano after the loss to Gotham. “Going forward, we just have to focus on that final third and maybe connecting one more pass. And just finishing, and, you know, it’s there. I think we saw bits and pieces tonight, which is something positive to take out of it.”

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2025 Orlando Pride Season In Review: Haley McCutcheon

The midfielder reached a career high for goal contributions while providing solid defense and leadership as a vice-captain.

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5 hours ago

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December 4, 2025

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Image of Haley McCutcheon scoring the opening goal in Orlando's home playoff win over Seattle.
Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

The Pride acquired Haley McCutcheon (née Haley Hanson) in a midseason trade with the Houston Dash on Aug. 18, 2022. Following the 2022 season, the University of Nebraska product signed a new contract through 2024, which the club then extended through 2026 a year later on Dec. 20, 2023. Earlier this year, on June 25, the Pride extended McCutcheon again, and she is now under contract with the Pride through the 2028 season.

Though she joined the Pride having primarily played on the back line while with Houston, during the past two seasons she has played almost exclusively as a defensive midfielder, providing a strong bridge between the defensive and attacking groups.

Let’s take a look back at the midfielder’s fourth season with the Pride.

Statistical Breakdown

McCutcheon started and went the full 90 minutes in the NWSL Challenge Cup game against Washington, playing alongside Morgan Gautrat in the middle of the field in the beginning of the game but moving to right back in the second half. The one shot she took did not hit the target but nearly every pass she played did, as she completed 92% of her passes with one key pass late in the game that nearly led to a Barbra Banda goal. She also added two tackles on defense and committed one foul. She was not booked.

In NWSL regular-season play McCutcheon appeared in all of Orlando’s 26 matches, starting 25 and playing a total of 2,177 minutes, which was third most on the team. She put nine of her 25 shots on target and converted three of them into goals — a career high. The former first-round draft pick completed 77% of her passes with a team-leading and career-high four assists (tied for 11th most in the NWSL) from her 16 key passes and four successful crosses. On the defensive side, she compiled a team-high 56 tackles, while also tallying 22 interceptions, seven blocked shots, and 75 clearances. She committed 33 fouls, suffered 13, and received two yellow cards.

McCutcheon went the distance in both of the Pride’s playoff games, playing all 180 minutes. As compared to the regular season, she was considerably less accurate with her passing, completing only 67% of her passes with one key pass, but she rose to the moment by opening the Pride’s playoff scoring account with a goal against Seattle. That goal came on her only shot on target during the playoffs out of her three attempts. She was an active defender though, contributing five tackles, five interceptions, two blocked shots, and three clearances. She committed four fouls, suffered none, and was not booked.

Seb Hines rested McCutcheon for most of the Concacaf W Champions Cup, playing her in only one game and for 45 minutes. McCutcheon came off the bench in the final group stage game against Pachuca and took an off-target shot, completed 17 of her 20 pass attempts (85%), and did not contribute any defensive statistics of the few that were tracked during that competition. She was not booked.

Best Game

McCutcheon’s most prolific game of the season came in a loss, so I will honor her one goal and one assist game against Chicago by mentioning it,, but for her best game I am going to go with the the playoff-opening 2-0 win over Seattle, when McCutcheon once again became McClutcheon, scoring the game’s opening goal and her third playoff goal in her fourth playoff appearance for the Pride.

That goal was huge, but just as huge was the defensive effort put forth by McCutcheon after scoring, as she contributed a season-high eight interruptions (tackles + interceptions), as well as a blocked shot and two clearances. Seattle outplayed the Pride for most of the game, nearly doubling the Pride in shots taken and more than doubling them in expected goals from open play, but Orlando’s defensive effort, led by McCutcheon, the team leader in both tackles and interceptions, kept the visitors off the scoreboard. It was a strong all-around performance by the midfielder in a do-or-die game, and I believe it was her best of the 2025 season.

2025 Final Grade

The Mane Land staff gave McCutcheon a composite grade of 6 out of 10, a slight step down from the 6.5 we gave her last year. It matches the 6 we gave her in 2023 and is much better than the 5 out of 10 grade she received in her first season in Orlando in 2022. She increased her goal contributions but slightly declined in her pass completion percentage, defensive interruptions per 90 minutes, and touches per 90 minutes — all critical areas for a defensive midfielder. On the whole, it was a solid season for the midfielder, but there were some consistency issues, and like many of the Pride’s players, there was a slight bit of regression from 2024 to 2025.

2026 Outlook

The Pride signed McCutcheon through 2028 earlier this season, so unless they trade her in the off-season she will be back with the club in 2026. Since joining the Pride in 2022, she has started nearly every NWSL game, and that likely will continue next season as well. The Pride’s issues this season were more offensive than defensive, and with nearly every key defensive player coming back, the team will plan to rely on that continuity and stability in the back while trying to figure out how to execute better on the attacking side of the field.

McCutcheon figures to be alongside Angelina in the central midfield for many of the Pride’s games next season, and the club will hope that she can replicate her offensive output while continuing to be a defensive destroyer. She is still in her prime, so I expect that she will play heavy minutes again in 2026, while reaching 100 games played with the club (she is currently at 89), and she will be one of the Pride’s key players as they target another run at the NWSL championship.

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2025 Orlando Pride Season In Review: Kerry Abello

The left back wasn’t able to “Vamos!” as much in 2025.

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7 hours ago

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December 4, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Mark Thor

The Orlando Pride selected Kerry Abello 24th overall in the 2021 NWSL Draft, but she didn’t sign her contract until Jan 28, 2022, as she decided to return to Penn State for a fifth season. On Feb. 23, 2023, the Pride re-signed Abello to a new two-year contract through 2024 with an option for 2025, and on March 1, 2024 they re-signed her to a new three-year contract through the 2026 season.

Like many of her teammates, Abello’s 2025 fell short of her 2024 season, when she was named to the NWSL Best XI Second Team. That is not entirely surprising given how the team and the players performed in 2024, but it is still somewhat disappointing. Let’s take a look at Abello’s 2025 season. Vamos!

Statistical Breakdown

Abello made her 2025 debut in the NWSL Challenge Cup against the Washington Spirit. She started at left back and played the full 90 minutes. Abello completed 28 of her 40 passes (76%). She had 56 touches and did not take any shots or have a goal contribution. Defensively, she recorded a tackle and two interceptions.

In the NWSL regular season, Abello played 23 games (18 starts) and recorded 1,552 minutes. She completed 680 of her 863 passes (78.7%) but did not record an assist. She scored one goal on 10 shots, three of which were on target. Defensively, Abello recorded 31 tackles, eight interceptions, 34 clearances, and one block. She committed 14 fouls, drew six on the opposition, and picked up two yellow cards.

The defender started both playoff games, recording 180 minutes. She completed 48 of her 65 passes (73.8%) without a key pass or an assist. She took one shot but she did not score a goal. Defensively, Abello made five tackles while recording one interception, one block, and seven clearances. She committed three fouls, drew one on her opponents, and was not booked in the postseason.

Abello did not appear for the Pride in the Concacaf Women’s Champions Cup, though she was on the bench for the Pachuca match.

Best Game

Oftentimes we will designate a defensive player’s best game as one when they score a goal. Kerry Abello did score a goal this season, and it was a doozy. The problem is she scored an own goal a few minutes earlier, so I will not in good conscience make the 3-2 win over the Washington Spirit her best game. However, here is that goal.

Instead, I will give it to her defensive performance in the 1-0 win over the Portland Thorns on Oct. 11. In her 90-plus minutes of action, Abello recorded 71 touches and completed 39 of her 50 passes (78%), including three of her six long balls (50%) and 10 passes into the final third. She also took one shot that was blocked. Defensively, she shined with five tackles, two clearances, and four recoveries. Additionally, she won seven of her eight duels (88%) and her only aerial duel (100%). She did what a defender is supposed to do — keep a clean sheet.

She also earned Player of the Match on SkoPurp Soccer: An Orlando Pride Podcast for her efforts in the 2-0 loss to Racing Louisville on June 6, and the 1-0 loss to Angel City on Aug. 21, but I still felt the Portland game was her best.

2025 Final Grade

The Mane Land staff gave Abello a grade of 6 out of 10 for the 2025 season. This is a drop from the 7 out of 10 she received for her 2024 performance. It’s still an improvement over her 5.5 out of 10 from 2023, and 5 out of 10 from 2022. As you can see, it’s not that she had a bad year, but rather a slight regression from her best professional year in 2024.

2026 Outlook

Abello is signed through the 2026 season, and I expect that she will remain with the club. She showed in 2024 that she can contribute consistent defense on a championship squad. There may be some competition for the starting role depending on who the Pride bring in on defense. The addition of Hailie Mace on the right might push Cori Dyke over to the left. There’s also the possibility that Kylie Nadaner moves out from center back to the left creating competition for the spot.

Abello will be playing for a new contract or auditioning for her next stop if she doesn’t re-sign. I expect she’ll up her game in 2026 as the Pride look to return to the mountain top. As of now, I still have her as the presumptive starter at left back though there’s a lot that can happen between now and the start of the new season.

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Orlando Pride Sign U.S. International Defender Hailie Mace

Former Kansas City Current defender signs a three-year deal through 2028.

Published

2 days ago

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December 2, 2025

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Image of Hailie Mace playing for Kansas City.
Image courtesy of Lathe Cobb/ Kansas City Current

The Orlando Pride continued their roster building ahead of the 2026 season today by adding defender Hailie Mace. The club announced today that the former Kansas City Current player has signed a three-year contract that will keep her in purple through 2028.

“We are thrilled to have Hailie join our squad and contribute to this team both on and off the field,” Orlando Pride Head Coach Seb Hines said in a club press release. “Hailie is exactly what we look for when we want to bring players in with her versatility, quality on the ball and experience in this league. Really excited to see what she is able to bring and can’t wait for her to get integrated with the squad.” 

The 28-year-old native of Ventura, CA spent the last five seasons with the Kansas City Current, where she scored five goals and added 11 assists in 95 appearances (79 starts), logging more than 7,000 minutes played. She was originally drafted out of UCLA by Sky Blue FC (now NJ/NY Gotham FC) with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 NWSL College Draft but opted not to sign and instead started her professional career with Melbourne City in Australia’s top flight as a guest player, scoring a goal in her debut against the Newcastle Jets. After two appearances as a guest player, Mace signed with FC Rosengard in Sweden’s Damallsvenskan in February of 2019, where she played in 16 games and scored four goals. Rosengard won the Damallsvenskan on Oct. 30, 2019.

Following her contract in Sweden, Mace signed her first NWSL contract in after Sky Blue traded her rights to the North Carolina Courage in exchange for midfielder McCall Zerboni. The UCLA product registered an assist on a Debinha goal in her first match with the Courage in the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup. She played only six matches with the Courage, scoring two goals, before going on loan to Kristianstads DFF in Sweden from August to November 2020, helping the club finish in the top three, qualifying for the UEFA Women’s Champions League. She scored five goals in 10 matches with Kristianstads.

The Courage sent Mace to Kansas City on July 22, 2021, in a blockbuster trade, along with Kristen Hamilton and Katelyn Rowland, in exchange for Amy Rodriguez and $60,000 in Allocation Money. Her debut with Kansas City coincidentally came against her old Courage teammates on July 23, 2021. Mace re-signed with the Current on Dec. 19, 2022 to a three-year contract that expired at the end of the 2025 season. She announced on social media in November that she would not return to the Current, and now she’s landed in Orlando.

Mace is tied for the Current’s career assist record (11), and she is coming off a season in which the club won the Supporters’ Shield while setting NWSL single-season records in clean sheets (16), consecutive shutout minutes (869) — breaking the record Orlando set in 2024 — and consecutive shutouts (9). She was named to the NWSL Best XI Second Team after the 2025 season, in which she appeared in 24 matches (including playoffs), starting 16 and playing 1,639 minutes. She did not score a goal in 2025 on just five shots (one on target), but she recorded five assists for the Shield winners. Mace completed 80% of her passes in 2025, with 93 accurate long balls (46.7%), nine key passes and a successful cross.

Adept with the ball at her feet, Mace was successful on 59.1% of her dribble attempts. She won 35 tackles on the year, won 51.8% of her duels, and racked up 42 interceptions and six blocks. Mace committed 24 fouls, won 17 from the opposition, and was booked twice.

On the international stage, Mace has earned nine caps with the United States Women’s National Team, debuting on April 8, 2018, in a friendly against Mexico — a wild 6-2 win. Mace was the only college player named to the 20-player roster for the 2018 Concacaf Women’s Championship, playing 90 minutes in a shutout win over Panama en route to the U.S. winning the tournament. She previously has participated in U.S. Youth National Team camps at the U-20 and U-23 levels.

Mace played both as a forward and a defender at UCLA, and competed at Inter&Co Stadium (then known as Orlando City Stadium) previously in the 2017 Women’s College Cup, where she was an All-Tournament selection for the NCAA women’s soccer tournament. Mace’s UCLA side lost the final 3-2 to rival Stanford in the final. During her four years at UCLA, Mace made 79 appearances (74 starts), playing 6,342 minutes, scoring 24 goals, adding 12 assists, and putting 76 of her 148 shots on target. She was a MAC Hermann Trophy semifinalist in 2017.

What It Means for Orlando

The addition of Mace is a good one, as she’s a skilled player, but it’s also not in an area of need. Mace has versatility, but projects mainly as a defender at the professional level (she moved from center back to forward during her UCLA career). She has played a lot of right back and some center back in a three-player back line — a position in which the Pride currently have Oihane and Cori Dyke, with Emily Sams also playing there at times.

It’s possible this is a signing with another roster move already in mind, which we’ll find out in due time. The Pride are up to 24 players under contract after yesterday’s roster status update. Unless there are more moves to come, it appears that Orlando will continue forward with Kerry Abello at left back, with Dyke or someone else serving as the backup in that spot following Carson Pickett being out of contract.

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