Connect with us

Orlando Pride

Orlando Pride vs. Portland Thorns: Final Score 2-1 as Pride Extend Unbeaten Streak to Three

Published

5 years ago

on

The Orlando Pride hosted the Portland Thorns and came away with a 2-1 victory in front of 3,407 fans in Exploria Stadium. Alex Morgan and Sydney Leroux both scored for the Pride (2-0-1, 7 points) for the second straight game, as Orlando’s undefeated streak to start the season stretched to three matches (2-0-1). The Pride temporarily move into first place in the league, albeit with an extra game played, by beating the Thorns (1-2-0, 3 points) for just the second time in the all-time series.

“I think tonight’s win is bigger than a result on a field,” Orlando Pride Head Coach Marc Skinner said after the game. “It’s a moment when a group are choosing to come together and choosing that their destiny lays within their own hands. And they’re putting performances on where we might not necessarily be the best footballing team at times but we are grinding together, we are working together, and those are the foundations we want in order to have the football future we know we’re going to have.”

The Pride came out with exactly the same lineup as they used Saturday night at North Carolina, save for goalkeeper. Ashlyn Harris went back into the net for Erin McLeod. The rest of the XI was unchanged and can be viewed below.

It was all Portland to start the match. Orlando had a few moments, but the Thorns were mainly in control. Orlando looked content to sit a bit deader and defend.

The first real chance for the Pride came in the 19th minute. Marta used some superb footwork to create space and sent in a cross. Taylor Kornieck headed it to the back post, but it sailed just a bit wide.

Minutes later, Kornieck and Morgan connected on a likely NWSL Goal of the Week candidate. Kornieck flicked the ball over the Thorns’ defense. Morgan picked her head up and smashed the ball into the far netting for the match’s first goal. It was Morgan’s third consecutive game with a goal.

“Taylor has an immense ability with the football,” said Skinner. “She’s gonna get better. I mean, if you see the goal — she’s chipped the ball over in a 15-yard (area), with the right spin, the right distance, so that Alex [Morgan] can let the ball come across a body to finish it like she did. So, it’s the detail of that quality that she has that you wouldn’t expect for somebody who’s so tall.”

Crystal Dunn had a chance to get Portland on the board in the 32nd minute. The ball went off of Phoebe McClernon, and Dunn was there to pick it up. The USWNT regular should have done better with the chance, but Harris was still forced to make a good save.

Portland found the equalizer in the 42nd minute. Natalia Kuikka won back the ball for the visitors and sent a perfect cross to the back post. Simone Charley jumped before Ali Riley could and headed it past Harris to bring the score level at 1-1.

“We weren’t happy with the press. We weren’t happy with the pressure and the time that they got. We weren’t happy with the give-and-go aspects that they had,” said Skinner. “And look, it’s a great header. She’s jumped early. It’s a wonderful, wonderful header. But we’ve got to stop the ball coming into the box.”

That was the end of the half. Portland dominated possession early on, but things evened out. Orlando ended the half with 47% of the ball. The Thorns had more shots (9-3) and shots on goal (5-1) than Orlando. The Pride did well on the counter and were threatening in the final third.

“There was some yelling, there was some anger,” said Leroux about what happened at halftime. “We knew that we had to come out and we had to come out strong and early. It always feels good to get a goal early and then you’re able to play a little bit more. So, we were on the front foot for, I mean, the 45th minute on.”

The Pride came out of the half on the front foot. After a long ball forward, Leroux was fighting for the ball with Kelli Hubly. Hubly won the battle, got the ball, and dribbled back towards her own net. Running out of options, it appeared Hubly would try to send the ball back to goalkeeper Adrianna Franch. But Leroux got to the ball first, sliding and stabbing the ball past Franch and into the net. Orlando took a 2-1 lead.

Portland almost equalized moments later. Halftime substitute Sophia Smith had space inside the box. She fired a shot that had Harris beat but also went wide of the post.

Portland kept the pressure on the Pride. The Thorns were unable to get past Orlando’s back line, as McClernon and Ali Krieger defended well and kept the Thorns attackers in check.

As the half went on, Portland made more and more attacking substitutions and forced the Pride to defend closer to their goal. Orlando had fewer opportunities on the counter as a result.

“Of course, we took some pressure in maybe the last 20 minutes. But I think we dealt with it well and our defense has been great,” Leroux said.

Ally Haran came in for Marta in the 85th minute. This was Haran’s regular season debut for the Pride. She dropped in at center back, and Orlando played with a back five to see the match out. Everyone was back defending for Orlando, except for Morgan, who remained at the halfway line for a potential counter opportunity.

“Yeah, it’s really tough, especially when you go into a back five,” said Krieger about handling Portland’s pressure. “You need to really focus and you need to be prepared for different players running in. You have, you know, their three 10s running into pockets and you have their wide players dumping balls into the box. So, you have to be in the right spots and make sure that you’re covering for each other, you’re holding the line, you’re dropping together. It’s a lot of little details that you have to focus on. And I think we did a great job.”

The referee awarded six minutes of stoppage time. The majority of it was played in Orlando’s half. Harris killed as much time as she could when Orlando had goal kicks, and after almost seven and a half minutes of stoppage time, the match ended, and Orlando beat the Thorns, improving to just 2-9-1 in the all-time series and scoring more than one goal against Portland for just the third time in their 12 meetings.

Portland dominated the stat sheet. The Thorns had more shots (21-12), shots on target (8-3), duels won (59-56), passes (428-355), and possession (55%-45%) than Orlando.

The Pride are back in action on Sunday at home against Kansas City at 6 p.m.

Related Topics:
Continue Reading

Orlando Pride

Orlando Pride Announce 2026 NWSL Schedule

We now know who, when, and where the Pride will play during the 2026 NWSL regular season.

Published

9 hours ago

on

January 15, 2026

By

Image courtesy of Orlando City SC

The National Women’s Soccer League schedule was announced this morning, telling us who, where, and when the Orlando Pride will play this year. The 2026 season will once again feature a balanced schedule with all teams playing the other 15 teams once at home and once on the road. The addition of Boston Legacy FC and Denver Summit FC will see each team play 30 games, making it the longest regular season in league history.

The Pride will begin the season at home, facing the Seattle Reign on March 15. This season begins with a two-game homestand, ending with the club’s first-ever match against the Summit and the return of Ally Watt. The first road game will occur on March 25 when the Pride face Chicago Stars FC in Evanston, IL.

The Pride’s home schedule will end on Oct. 25 when they face NJ/NY Gotham FC. They’ll then travel west to face Seattle on Decision Day in the return game on Nov. 1, concluding the team’s 11th season in existence.

Orlando’s games this year are well distributed among the league’s various broadcast partners. The Pride will play nine times on Victory+ — the league’s new free streaming partner. Additionally, they’ll play six times on Prime Video, five times on Ion, twice on CBS Sports Network, once on ESPN, and once on ESPN2. The remaining games will be available on NWSL+.

Should the Pride qualify for the playoffs for the third consecutive year, the quarterfinals will take play Nov. 6-8, followed by the semifinals on Nov. 14-15. The championship game will take place on Nov. 21 at a location yet to be determined.

The longest homestand this year is two games and will occur three times. As previously mentioned, the Pride begin with a pair of home games against Seattle and Denver on March 15 and March 20, respectively. They’ll host the Washington Spirit and North Carolina Courage on May 2 and May 8, respectively; the Kansas City Current and Boston on July 10 and July 15, respectively; and Utah Royals FC and the Houston Dash on Aug. 29 and Sept. 6, respectively.

The longest road trip this year is a three-game swing in May. Orlando will face Boston at Gillette Stadium on May 12, Denver on May 16, and San Diego Wave FC on May 24.

The league will take a month-long break during June as the country hosts the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The Pride’s final game before the break is on May 29 at home against Bay FC and they will return to action on July 3 against Angel City FC in Los Angeles.

The busiest months of the season will be May and July, when the Pride will play six times in each month. They’ll play four times in March, August, and September, three times in October, twice in April, and once in November.

Here’s a month-by-month breakdown of the regular season:

  • March — 4
  • April — 2
  • May — 6
  • June — 0
  • July — 6
  • August — 4
  • September — 4
  • October — 3
  • November — 1

The most common day the Pride will play this year will be Friday (11 times), the same as last year. They’ll play nine games on Sunday, seven on Saturday, two on Wednesday, and one rare Tuesday match.

Here’s the Pride’s breakdown by day for the regular season:

  • Monday — 0
  • Tuesday — 1
  • Wednesday — 2
  • Thursday — 0
  • Friday — 11
  • Saturday — 7
  • Sunday — 9

For fans that follow Orlando City and the Pride, the teams will play on the same day five times. However, two of the days won’t see the games overlap. On May 2, the Pride hosts the Spirit at 4 p.m. and the Lions face Inter Miami away at 7 p.m. On Sept. 19, the Pride host the Portland Thorns at 4 p.m while City plays at the New England Revolution at 7:30 p.m. 

The teams’ games will overlap on three occasions, but they never start at the same time. On May 16, Orlando City hosts Atlanta United at 7:30 p.m. before the Pride play in Denver at 8:45 p.m. On Aug. 15, Orlando City hosts FC Cincinnati at 7:30 p.m. and the Pride play in Portland at 8:45 p.m. On Aug. 29, the Pride host the Royals at 7 p.m. and Orlando City faces Minnesota United FC away at 8:30 p.m.

2026 Orlando Pride Schedule (All Times Eastern)

  • Sunday, March 15 — vs. Seattle Reign FC, 4 p.m. (Victory+)
  • Friday, March 20 — vs. Denver Summit FC, 8 p.m. (Victory+)
  • Wednesday, March 25 — at Chicago Stars FC 8 p.m. (Victory+)
  • Sunday, March 29 — at NJ/NY Gotham FC, 7 p.m. (Victory+)
  • Friday, April 3 — vs. Angel City FC, 8 p.m. (Prime Video)
  • Friday, April 24 — at Racing Louisville FC, 5:30 p.m. (Victory+)
  • Saturday, May 2 — vs. Washington Spirit, 4 p.m. (ION)
  • Friday, May 8 — vs. North Carolina Courage, 8 p.m. (Prime Video)
  • Tuesday, May 12 — at Boston Legacy FC, 8 p.m. (Victory+)
  • Saturday, May 16 — at Denver Summit FC, 8:45 p.m. (ION)
  • Sunday, May 24 — at San Diego Wave FC, 7 p.m. (Victory+)
  • Friday, May 29 — vs. Bay FC, 7 p.m. (NWSL+)
  • Friday, July 3 — at Angel City FC, 10 p.m. (Prime Video)
  • Friday, July 10 — vs. Kansas City Current, 8 p.m. (Prime Video)
  • Wednesday, July 15 — vs. Boston Legacy FC, 7 p.m. (NWSL+)
  • Saturday, July 18 — at Utah Royals FC, 8:45 p.m. (ION)
  • Friday, July 24 — vs. Chicago Stars FC, 8 p.m. (Victory+)
  • Friday, July 31 — at North Carolina Courage, 8 p.m. (Prime Video)
  • Saturday, Aug. 8 — vs. Racing Louisville FC, 7 p.m. (NWSL+)
  • Saturday, Aug. 15 — at Portland Thorns, 8:45 p.m. (ION)
  • Sunday, Aug. 23 — at Washington Spirit, 4 p.m. (ESPN2)
  • Saturday, Aug. 29 — vs. Utah Royals FC, 7 p.m. (NWSL+)
  • Sunday, Sept. 6 — vs. Houston Dash, 7 p.m. (Victory+)
  • Friday, Sept. 11 — at Kansas City Current, 8 p.m. (Prime Video)
  • Saturday, Sept. 19 — vs. Portland Thorns, 4 p.m. (ION)
  • Sunday, Sept. 27 — at Bay FC, 5 p.m. (ESPN)
  • Friday, Oct. 2 — vs. San Diego Wave FC, 8 p.m. (Prime Video)
  • Sunday, Oct. 18 — at Houston Dash, 1 p.m. (CBSSN)
  • Sunday, Oct. 25 — vs. NJ/NY Gotham FC, 3 p.m. (CBSSN)
  • Sunday, Nov. 1 — at Seattle Reign FC, 5 p.m. (TBD)
Continue Reading

Orlando Pride

How the Orlando Pride Can Return to the Mountaintop

What needs to happen for the Pride to win hardware in 2026?

Published

10 hours ago

on

January 15, 2026

By

Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

A fall-off after winning the double in 2024 was probably inevitable, yet the Orlando Pride still managed to come within minutes of playing in a second straight NWSL championship match. Many of the pieces are still there, and there are resources to get more. However, there have been some big changes in personnel on and off the pitch.

What needs to happen for the Pride to challenge for another double in 2026?

Reinvigorate the Attack

The return of Barbra Banda is the balm to soothe the worries of Orlando Pride fans. Even when the Pride struggled before she was injured, Banda scored plenty of goals. The biggest problem is she was left on an island as the team tried lobbing the ball up the field to her, hoping she’d do it all herself. Jacquie Ovalle didn’t take the NWSL by storm as we hoped, but it sometimes takes time for a player to adjust to a new league and club. If they had been able to work together, it’s likely the Orlando attack wouldn’t have faltered. Ovalle’s ability to deliver the ball into the box, combined with Banda’s ability to put the ball in the net, is a dangerous combo.

Of course, the Pride will need more than the two of them if the club is to win some trophies in 2026. I made this point several times last season, but Marta needs to find her form from 2024. With Banda and Ovalle in the attack, it should allow Marta the freedom she needs to be creative without having to carry the offense. Additionally, the Pride need other attackers to also find their 2024 form. I’m looking at Julie Doyle and Summer Yates in particular.

Fill the Roster

Haley Carter didn’t leave the cupboard bare when she departed for the wicked Washington Spirit. As such, Seb Hines and new Pride Vice President of Soccer Operations and General Manager Caitlin Carducci don’t have too much to do. But, the transfer of Emily Sams did create a need at center back. Fortunately, the Orlando Pride received $650,000 in intraleague transfer funds for Sams. That kind of cash can go a long way to filling the gaps in the roster.

With Kylie Nadaner on maternity leave and Rafaelle seemingly always on the verge of injury, finding a replacement for Sams is a priority. Some might point to Zara Chavoshi, but unless she levels up quickly, Carducci will need to look elsewhere. Offensively, as important as Banda is, adding another striker is necessary for quality depth. The departures of Ally Watt and Prisca Chilufya mean there’s a spot for an even better backup striker. I’m also not opposed to a quality left back.

Find the Grit

In 2024, the entire Pride team was personally offended if the opposition scored a goal. The level of defending up and down the pitch was a big factor in breaking records and winning hardware. The players need to pick up the chip and put it back on their metaphorical shoulders. I somewhat addressed this with the need to replace Sams, but there’s more to it than that. The Pride wore teams down over the course of a match, meaning it wasn’t necessary to score tons of goals. Of course, it’s not just the back line that needs to be better, but the entire team. Fortunately, Hines knows a thing or two about defenses. The Pride still have Marta to motivate them, and that — while not everything — is not a small advantage.

Those are the things I will be looking for in 2026. Let me know your thoughts or ideas in the comments below. Vamos Orlando!

Continue Reading

Orlando Pride

Orlando Pride Name Caitlin Carducci Vice President of Soccer Operations and General Manager

Caitlin Carducci leaves the Kansas City Current to become the Pride’s new vice president of soccer operations and general manager.

Published

2 days ago

on

January 13, 2026

By

Dan MacDonald, The Mane Land

The Orlando Pride have found their replacement for Haley Carter, naming former Kansas City Current general manager Caitlin Carducci as the club’s new vice president of soccer operations and general manager. Carducci arrives in Orlando after helping assemble the Current squad that broke some of the Pride’s league records set in 2024, moving from the 2025 NWSL Shield winners to the 2024 NWSL Shield Winners.

“Caitlin is a proven leader whose experience across every level of women’s soccer and history of building championship-caliber rosters set her apart,” Orlando Pride Owner and Chairman Mark Wilf said in a club press release. “She emerged as the clear choice in our search with her deep expertise, strong reputation, and a vision that aligns with our culture. Caitlin is the ideal person to elevate the strong foundation we have established and position the Pride for sustained success.”

The Pride used Bloom Sports Partners to assist in the club’s search for Carter’s replacement. Carter left behind a team that won the double in 2024, capturing both the NWSL Shield and NWSL Championship, and came tantalizingly close to a second straight appearance in the NWSL final last season. Carducci, who helped architect the team that won another trophy in 2024 — the 2024 NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup — now inherits the club Carter left behind on Nov. 18 of last year to take a job with the Washington Spirit.

“I’m incredibly honored and excited to take on this role and help elevate the strong foundation that the club’s players, staff, and supporters have already created,” Carducci said in the club’s release. “The chance to work with the Wilf family, whose leadership and investment reflect their commitment to a world-class organization, along with a championship-level roster and technical staff, made this an easy decision. I’m eager to begin this next chapter, strengthen the inclusive and ambitious culture that defines this club, and help push the Pride toward new heights.”

Carducci spent the last three seasons with Kansas City, serving multiple roles, most recently as the Current’s general manager. She joined Kansas City in 2023 as director of soccer operations, becoming interim general manager in May of 2024. Carducci became the club’s GM later that season. Her key accomplishments include bringing in the final piece of the Current’s puzzle — Brazilian international goalkeeper Lorena, who broke Pride goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse’s short-lived NWSL single-season record for shutouts. Carducci also acquired Ally Sentnor during the 2025 season from the Utah Royals. She was also instrumental in the Current re-signing star players Debinha, Temwa Chawinga, Michelle Cooper, and Lo’eau Labonta.

That Current team set new league single-season records for most wins (21), points (65), and shutouts (16), and won the NWSL Shield faster than any previous winner in NWSL history.

During her playing days, Carducci played at Ashland University. The Central Ohio native later served as an assistant coach at Ohio Northern University while completing her law degree.

Like Carter, Carducci has a varied background and numerous skillsets that will serve her well in her new position. She served as a compliance officer at Xavier University and as manager of member programs for U.S. Soccer, overseeing professional player registration and FIFA compliance and acting as the primary point of contact for organization members, including state associations and professional leagues. She returned to U.S. Soccer in 2022, where she became vice president of member programs and stakeholder engagement.

What It Means for Orlando

In the short term, hiring a general manager should help fill out a roster that came close to a second consecutive NWSL final, despite being without star striker Barbra Banda for the final weeks of the season and all of the postseason. That roster needs immediate help at center back after Emily Sams recently requested and received a trade to Angel City. There aren’t a lot of holes in the Pride roster, but the center back group needs help and more production and depth are needed in the attack.

Overall, this seems on the surface to be an addition that mirrors the Pride bringing Carter to Orlando in 2023. She brings a variety of experiences that will help the club in multiple ways. From her law degree to her compliance background to evaluating talent and luring those players to non-marquee market teams, Carducci seems to check all the boxes. It’s easy to understand how the club arrived at this decision. Ultimately, how Carducci’s tenure in Orlando goes will depend on what the club does on the field and how well it develops talent.

Continue Reading

Trending