Friday night, nearly 10,000 fans packed Inter&Co Stadium to watch the much-anticipated rematch of two of the top teams in the NWSL. After a red card, a road win, and exuberant celebrations by the Orlando Pride at the Kansas City Current, the latter hoped for revenge in Orlando. Instead, the match played out more like a finely balanced chess match before the points were shared.

So, just how did a match featuring the two golden boot leaders in the NWSL, sitting on a combined 27 goals, end scoreless?

Slowing the Current

As it had been for most of the previous 19 matches of the season, defense was the star of the show for Orlando once again. This had to be the case for Orlando, considering the firepower Kansas City has on its roster. Below are the up-to-date goal contribution tallies for the Current, showing just how many players can hurt the opposition. Despite the potency of the Kansas City attack, the Pride were able to extend their clean sheet streak to four consecutive matches, with only one goal against in the past eight games, which was scored by the Current in Kansas City.

Player	Goals	Assists
Temwa Chawinga	15	6
Bia Zaneratto	5	4
Lo’eau LaBonta	5	1
Vanessa DiBernardo	4	5
Debinha	1	4

While Temwa Chawinga would have been top of mind for Orlando’s coaches while preparing for this matchup, they designed a comprehensive game plan for limiting the opportunities of the NWSL’s most potent attack that included all 11 positions on the pitch.

As Player of the Match Cori Dyke put it, “She’s obviously a player that demands a lot of respect. [She is] a really talented player. We did a lot of preparation this week, watched a lot of film, and went through a lot of defensive strategies.” 

First among these defensive strategies was the high press that Head Coach Seb Hines employs against many opponents. Against the Current, the Pride began each defensive sequence from the front, engaging the Kansas City back line in a 4-2-4 pressing structure. In this formation, Summer Yates, Barbra Banda, Marta, and Adriana were each responsible for covering a counterpart in the opposition back line, limiting their options for easy passes. Then, when a defender played a ball back towards the keeper, Marta or Banda would trigger a more aggressive press and attempt to close down the ball and generate turnovers.  

This high-press strategy often disrupted the flow of the game for Kansas City, but it can be a high-risk, high-reward strategy. If the Pride forced the Current to turn the ball over near their goal, it would create a dangerous chance for Orlando. On the other hand, if the press was unsuccessful, Kansas City could have numerical advantages on the other end of the pitch. 

When Kansas City was able to play out from the back and around the Orlando press, the Current more often than not played it towards Chawinga on their left wing to drive towards the Orlando goal. In this match, she received the ball and carried it forward more often than an average match for her, but this is where the Pride had another strategy for limiting her chances. To slow Chawinga, they used Dyke as the primary defender, tasked with marking the golden boot pace-setter closely and had Emily Sams as secondary cover. 

Dyke’s job was to push tight to Chawinga when she received the ball, enough to slow her down and give additional defenders time to engage. For Sams, the job was to cheat several yards back towards her own net when the Current possessed the ball, so as to not get beaten by Chawinga’s pace. When the ball did reach Chawinga, Sams would rush to double-team Chawinga and force the turnover or get the ball away from the Current’s most dangerous player. This tactic ensured that while Chawinga could not be completely prevented from influencing the play, it would be difficult for her to keep an attack headed towards Anna Moorhouse’s net. 

The last key defensive tactic for the Pride in this match had just as much to do with Kansas City’s lack of endeavor as it did the Pride’s play. Kansas City knew coming into the match that it would be difficult to get a result in Orlando, so the visitors did not attack with the same conviction as they’ve become known for, instead focusing on transition and counterattacks to generate chances without opening the match up for the Pride to do the same. 

Because of Kansas City’s offensive setup, the Pride were able to keep much of the game inside the Current’s half. With the distances reduced, the Pride front line and midfield were able to cover more players and passing lanes. So, when the Current progressed the ball initially, they were quickly covered again by an onrushing Angelina, Marta, or Banda, making life more difficult.

While Chawinga was able to create some threat for the Current — to the tune of five shots with two on target — the rest of the Kansas City squad only managed one shot on target. Vanessa DiBernardo, Lo’eau LaBonta, and Debinha all ended the match well below their season averages for shots, touches, and take-ons, a statistic showing how many times a player attempts to beat the opposition off the dribble. Beyond that, Kansas City only generated two corner kicks and four free kicks, resulting in minimal opportunities to commit bodies forward and create more than half chances. As the match progressed, it often seemed Kansas City wouldn’t be too bothered to play out a scoreless draw.

Pride Attack Stifled

Despite the fact that Orlando and Kansas City met as recently as July, a lot has changed in defense for the Current. Since that match, they have added center backs Alana Cook and Kayla Sharples and goalkeeper Almath Schult. These acquisitions were made to shore up several positions of weakness with an eye towards the NWSL championship. In just their second match as a new defensive unit, they played well, limiting Orlando’s chances. The Pride attack has experienced a bit of a drought in recent weeks, as analyzed by The Mane Land’s Andrew DeSalvo in a recent article. So, it is worth looking at what the Current did to stifle the Pride, and how the Pride could have found a way to win the match.

The Current’s defensive game plan against Orlando was simple, but it was effective. For the full 90 minutes of the match, when the Pride possessed the ball, the Current played a high defensive line and didn’t press the Orlando defenders, trying instead to create a congested middle of the pitch. This can be seen in the passing numbers for the Pride defenders, which were well above average in both number and accuracy of passes since there was absolutely no pressure on these players from the opposition.

On the other end of the pitch, Kansas City doubled up against Banda, with the goal of taking her influence out of the game. As a result, Banda had arguably her quietest night in a Pride jersey so far. On average, the Pride are able to find a pass to Banda 22 times per 90 minutes. Against Kansas City, this number was down to just 14 times. When Banda did receive a pass, she was hounded by defenders and unable to progress the ball into dangerous areas. While she averages an astounding six progressive carries per match, she only completed two against the Current. Without the ball, and unable to progress it into dangerous areas, Banda only took three shots versus her usual 5.5, and one was a speculative long-range effort that could’ve been better as a pass to Adriana.

In response to Kansas City’s defensive setup, the opportunities for Orlando came from the wide areas of the pitch. Because of the attention paid to clogging up the middle and double-teaming Banda, Orlando created many one-on-one matchups for Adriana against the opponent. Unfortunately, Hailie Mace defended superbly from the left back position and Adriana could not get anything going. While Adriana possessed the ball roughly twice as much as Banda, she was unable to create opportunities to score. She attempted eight take-ons against Mace, but beat her once, and by the end of the match she had only managed one shot on target and was largely ineffective.

On the other wing, Yates did not have much more success, despite receiving the ball about as many times as Adriana in only 59 minutes. Off the left wing, she similarly only beat her opponent once out of five attempts. Yates was replaced by Evelina Duljan without registering a shot. Duljan, for her part, was quite lively after her introduction. In her 31 minutes, she was able to beat her opponent three times in one-on-one situations, and her progressive carries led to several dangerous situations for the attack in the closing minutes. 

In addition to Duljan, the other offensive standout for the Pride was Marta. Of all Orlando’s players, she looked the most likely to create the chance that would’ve won the game. Despite the Current’s tactic of compressing the pitch and clogging the middle, Marta’s movement off the ball and exceptional footwork meant she was able to find pockets of space to receive a pass, turn out of trouble, and transition into attack. As a result, Marta received 51 passes in the match, more than double the next highest tally from front-line players, often because she dropped deep to receive. From there, her 43 completed passes also doubled the tally of any other attacker. Each of the two times she took on a defender, she was able to beat them. Finally, Marta accounted for three of Orlando’s five shots on target, all of which were taken outside the box and required diving saves from Schult. 

In the end, Hines said it best, “Kansas were a tough nut to crack at times. You know, they got a lot of bodies behind the ball. They made it very difficult for us to try and create anything. I also think there was quite some good opportunities to score as well.”

Missed Opportunities

As Hines said, despite the solid defending by the opposition, there were a few ways that the Pride weren’t as effective in their attacking play as the coaching staff has come to expect. Some of these missed opportunities were mentioned above, like the wingers not winning their individual matchups against the opposing defense. Another way the Pride could have created chances for themselves, but didn’t, was the high pressing discussed above. While the Current showed a solid game plan for preventing chances when Orlando built from the back, turnovers created in the defensive third can shred a game plan and yield scoring chances. Unfortunately, Orlando was not able to generate a killer turnover in this match.

Another missed opportunity was the lack of threat from set plays. Orlando generated many set pieces, including eight corners and 11 free kicks in total, but these also did not yield a goal. Many times, corners were lofted into an area where the keeper was always favored to reach the ball. Better delivery could have seen a winning goal from Banda, who is already the all-time leader in headed goals for the Pride. Other times, the ball just did not bounce the right way for a rebound. A few of the chances that did come from these set plays fell to Haley McCutcheon, but the defensive midfielder was not able to put any of her four shots on frame. 

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Holding a talented opponent scoreless is always an accomplishment that requires a good plan, good execution, and sometimes a bit of luck. Fans in Inter&Co stadium didn’t get to see a goal, but they did see interesting tactics and great defense. While this may be biased towards the team in purple, the Pride generally seemed the more likely to come out victorious in this matchup as they had more possession, shots, shots on target, and set-piece opportunities than the opposing Kansas City Current.

At the end of the day, the points were split, and this too may lean in the favor of the Pride. For the Current, one point meant falling behind Gotham in the standings. They may also be running out of time to catch back up to the NWSL shield leaders after leading the league for much of the first half of the season. For Orlando, a point means a continuing undefeated run that now stretches to 21 matches. However, after the Spirit defeated the Houston Dash, Orlando’s lead at the top of the table now sits at four points, and a match between the top two teams is just a few weeks away.

The Orlando Pride (14-0-6, 48 points) saw their six-game winning streak come to an end, but extended their unbeaten run tonight with a scoreless draw against the Kansas City Current (11-3-6, 39 points) at Inter&Co Stadium.

Pride Head Coach Seb Hines deployed the same lineup as the previous two games, wins over NJ/NY Gotham FC and the Chicago Red Stars. It’s the first time Hines has used the same lineup in three consecutive games since a three-game stretch last year from April 29 to May 14. Anna Moorhouse started in goal behind a back line of Kerry Abello, Kylie Strom, Emily Sams, and Cori Dyke. Haley McCutcheon and Angelina were the defensive midfielders behind Summer Yates, Marta, and Adriana with Barbra Banda up top.

The Current are a good transition team and put most of their players behind the ball looking for the counterattack. This strategy made them hard to break down, so quality chances for the Pride were hard to come by. Despite finding Kansas City hard to break down, the Pride were able to create several decent looks. The Current also found opportunities on counterattacks, and nearly scored before halftime, but the Pride were able to come away with a clean sheet.

“It’s incredibly tough,” Hines said about the Current playing behind the ball. “Kansas are a great team. They’ve got a lot of players who could really hurt you in transition, and obviously we were mindful of that. We probably weren’t as brave as we usually are in the middle to attacking third. But I thought, again, we created enough opportunities to try to win it. I think, you know, Kansas’ game plan was trying almost a smash-and-grab kind of game plan. Try to be defensively solid and hit us on the counterattack. There was probably one or two moments where we lacked a little bit of concentration, but nothing resulted in a goal, which was pleasing.”

The Pride got off to an attacking start, getting into the Kansas City box inside the first minute. Banda’s cross was blocked but not cleared. Adriana took possession, playing it back to Yates, who found McCutcheon at the top of the box. The midfielder took the game’s first shot, but Debinha got in front to block it.

The Current got their first chance of the game in the 12th minute when Debinha played Ellie Wheeler wide on the right. Hailie Mace was making a run with space towards the back post where Wheeler sent the cross. The Kansas City defender attempted to volley the ball on target but missed wide.

Marta took the game’s first shot on target in the 17th minute. Receiving the ball while pushing forward, the Pride captain shot from distance between a pair of defenders. It was a solid strike but too close to Current goalkeeper Almuth Schult, who made the easy stop.

A minute later, Banda got her first attempt at goal. Shielding Vanessa DiBernardo, the striker was aiming for the near post but missed wide.

On the other end, DiBernardo got a shot for herself, Kansas City’s first attempt on target. The midfielder’s shot from outside the box was curving away from Moorhouse and towards the far post, but the Pride goalkeeper was able to dive to her right and push the ball away.

The Current created an attack in the 23rd minute when Debhina received a pass, spun her defender, and played Temwa Chawinga forward. The league’s top goal scorer quickly found Nichelle Prince to her right, and the Canadian took Sams into the box. However, the Pride center back did well to stay in front of the attacker, blocking the eventual shot.

The visitors nearly had a dangerous chance in the 27th minute when Sams knocked the ball off of Prince’s foot, but the forward got a fortunate bounce. Chawinga was making a run to the top of the six and Prince played the ball in for her. However, Strom got to it first, clearing the ball away to end the threat.

The Pride went the other way and Adriana put the Pride’s second shot on target in the 28th minute. Receiving a pass forward from Marta, the midfielder had Banda making a run into the box. It looked like she would play her teammate through, but took a long-distance shot instead. It was on target, but didn’t cause any trouble for Schult.

Chawinga had a chance in the 31st minute after taking possession just inside the Pride half of the field. The striker dribbled to the top of the box and took a touch inside to lose Dyke. She had just enough space to get a shot off and put it on target, but the low attempt was easily collected by Moorhouse.

The Current got a breakaway in the 40th minute when Prince tried to play the ball over the back line. It fell for Sams, who misplayed it, enabling Chawinga to get in on goal. As Chawinga dribbled around Moorhouse, Dyke retreated to the goal line. Chawinga let the ball get a little too far in front of her, missing wide of the near post.

Sooooo close! Chawinga rounds the keeper but can't get her shot on frame 😱 pic.twitter.com/h9dgj1EQ7I

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) September 14, 2024

The Pride players felt they should’ve had a goal in the 43rd minute when Strom’s cross into the box was too close to Schult. While her teammates couldn’t reach it, the ball sailed to the goal line. Schult caught the ball right in front as Banda and Yates threw their arms up, claiming the ball crossed the line. However, it was clearly still in play.

In the 45th minute, Banda found Adriana to her right. The midfielder looked to take Mace into the box one-on-one, but shot from distance instead. The ensuing corner kick was played short and ruled to be offside on the return pass, the last action of the half as the referee blew for the break with no stoppage time.

While the Pride had more possession (53%-47%), corner kicks (4-0), crosses (12-3), and slightly better passing accuracy (86%-85%), the Current recorded two more shots (7-5) and both teams put two chances on target.

“We just needed to stay locked in,” Dyke said about the halftime message. “With the way they were sitting off, we know that they were just waiting for their moment to pick us off and go. So, just going into the second half, being super disciplined. But also, we wanted a goal. We wanted those three points. So to still go at them and bring that high energy in the second half.”

It looked like the Current had a great chance to open the scoring in the 46th minute when Debinha played Prince behind the back line. The forward shot for the far post and Moorhouse just got a touch on it and tipped it wide. However, the flag went up as Prince was well offside when the ball was played through.

Banda nearly gave the Pride the lead in the 52nd minute when she won the ball from Lo’eau LaBonta, tapped the ball around Alana Cook, and fired on target. It took an excellent save from Schult to tip the ball over the crossbar and keep the game scoreless.

Barbra Banda's impressive effort is juuuuust saved by Almuth Schult 😳 pic.twitter.com/TPP5dLnNFi

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) September 14, 2024

The ensuing corner kick was cleared away to Dyke, who played it back outside for Marta. McCutcheon met the Brazilian’s second cross but sent her header wide of the near post.

In the 56th minute, LaBonta lifted a pass just over the foot of McCutcheon to Chawinga near the top of the box. The striker took a touch inside to get space from Dyke and shot on goal. The shot was heading inside the near post, but Moorhouse tipped it wide. The ensuing corner kick was cleared and the game remained scoreless.

Hines made his first change of the game in the 60th minute. It was a somewhat surprising one as Yates and Julie Doyle tend to replace each other around the hour mark. However, this time it was Evelina Duljan coming on for Yates.

Bia Zaneratto, who came on when the Pride made their substitution, played the ball forward for Chawinga in the 64th minute. The striker got behind Dyke and sent a low shot for the far post. Moorhouse was unable to get down to get a piece of it, but the ball rolled wide of the target anyway.

During the buildup, Angelina went down and required medical attention. It was a scary moment for the Pride as the midfielder suffered an injury earlier this year. Fortunately, she was able to get up on her own and continue.

The crowd buzzed with excitement in the 67th minute when Duljan played Banda into the opposing third of the field. However, the striker was the only player in purple near the ball while the Current had several defenders back. The Zambian sent a weak ball towards goal that rolled wide without causing any problems for Schult or the Kansas City defense.

The Pride had a great opportunity in the 71st minute when Wheeler went over Duljan, giving the Pride a free kick just outside of the box. Angelina tapped the ball so Marta could shoot, but the Pride captain didn’t get much on it and the Current were able to clear.

Shortly after the set piece, Hines made his second change of the night as Morgan Gautrat, fresh off her new contract, came on for Angelina.

Marta showed her skill in the 80th minute with a stepover that left DiBernardo injured on the ground. The veteran took a long-distance shot for the far post, but Schulte dove and knocked it wide.

Almuth Schult is doing her best impression of a brick wall tonight! 🧱 pic.twitter.com/uJMdwOCd8S

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) September 14, 2024

The Current cleared, but the Pride quickly regained possession. Receiving the ball from Banda outside the box, Marta took another shot from distance, forcing Schult into another diving save. This time the goalkeeper was able to hold onto the ball.

Desiree Scott upended Strom in the 85th minute, causing the center back to flip and land on her back. Strom required some medical attention after the hard fall, but she was eventually able to continue. In the meantime, the Pride were awarded a free kick.

Marta sent the set piece into the box where McCutcheon beat Michelle Cooper to the ball. She tried to flick the header to the far post and it got past a diving Schult, but the ball bounced just wide.

The Current went the other way and created a chance of their own. Chawinga dribbled forward and played a give-and-go with Zaneratto. She had space for a shot but was too far in front of the ball and fell over while attempting to shoot, sending her shot wide.

The fourth official showed eight minutes of stoppage time and that was enough for the Pride to create a pair of chances. In the sixth minute, Banda dribbled into the opposing third and found Adriana to her right. She laid it off for the midfielder, who shot but sent the attempt over the crossbar.

Duljan tried to create something in the eighth minute with some fancy dribbling, getting past two defenders. Cook blocked the shot, sending it straight to McCutcheon for a second attempt that went wide. That was the final chance for either team as the game ended scoreless.

At full time, the Pride had more possession (52.1%-47.9%), shots (15-12), shots on target (5-3), crosses (18-6), and corner kicks (8-2), and better passing accuracy (88.3%-84.4%). However, despite their statistical advantages, they weren’t able to find a winning goal.

“I think every game, especially at home, we want to walk away with three points. Kansas were a tough nut to crack at times. You know, they got a lot of bodies behind the ball. Very difficult for us to try and create anything,” Hines said about the game. “But I also think there was quite some good opportunities to score as well. I thought their keeper was phenomenal. I thought she was busy enough to try and keep them in the game. But yeah, we’ll take the positive. Another clean sheet, another great defensive display, and we move on. We move forward.”

The clean sheet by Moorhouse is her 11th of the year, tying a league record held by AD Franch and Casey Murphy. It’s her 17th clean sheet as a member of the Pride, extending her team record.

The Pride have now claimed clean sheets in six of their last seven games and four straight. The last time they conceded was to Chawinga on July 6 in the Pride’s 2-1 win in Kansas City. The four straight shutouts breaks a Pride team record and leaves them one short of the league record.

“I think it’s just the heart of this team,” Dyke said about the team’s recent defensive success. “Like everyone is just willing to work so hard for each other. And I think that’s what drives us.”

“I think the stats speak for themselves. You know, I think oftentimes the defense are the unsung heroes, but we take a lot of pride in that,” Abello added. “And, like I said, the clean sheets speak for themselves. And at the end of the day, that’s what’s winning us games and that’s what’s putting us at the top of the table. Yes, we’re dangerous in the attack and yes, we’re putting goals on teams, but being number one in goals conceded, or fewest goals conceded, I think that’s the difference for us so gotta hand it to the back line.”

While the draw ends the Pride’s six-game win streak, it extends their unbeaten run to 20 games this season and 21 games dating back to last year. If you include the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup, the Pride have now gone 24 games unbeaten in all competitions.

The Pride remain in first place, extending their lead over the second-place Washington Spirit to seven points. However, the Spirit play the Houston Dash Sunday with a chance to get within four points.

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As for the Pride, they’ll head back out on the road, taking on Bay FC on Friday, Sept. 20 in San Jose, CA.

Welcome to your match thread as the Orlando Pride (14-0-5, 47 points) welcome the Kansas City Current (11-3-5, 38 points) to Orlando in a matchup between two of the best teams in the NWSL. This is the second and final time the two teams will face off in the 2024 NWSL regular season.

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

History

The Current joined the NWSL in 2021 after the team’s ownership group bought the Utah Royals and relocated the club to Kansas City. It’s the second NWSL team in the city — FC Kansas City played there from 2013 to 2017 before moving to Utah — and the team was known as NWSL Kansas City for its inaugural season.

The Pride and Current have played seven games against each other, all in the regular season. Orlando has a 3-2-2 record in the series and are 1-1-1 at home.

The two teams last met on July 6 in Kansas City. Barbra Banda gave the Pride the lead, but the hosts responded two minutes later through Temwa Chawinga. Despite a second yellow card for Carrie Lawrence dropping the Pride to 10 players just before halftime, Marta converted a second-half penalty, lifting her team to a 2-1 win.

The first time the teams met in 2023 was on April 23 at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City. It was scoreless after an hour before the Current got a quick flurry of goals by Debinha and CeCe Kizer, lifting Kansas City to a 2-0 win. On June 23, 2023 in Orlando, the visitors took the lead through Debinha, and Kizer doubled the advantage just before halftime. Marta converted a penalty to pull one back, but the Pride fell 2-1.

Their first meeting in 2022 came on July 31 in Kansas City while the Pride were in the middle of their seven-game unbeaten run. The Pride opened the scoring when Erika Tymrak found the head of Celia and doubled the lead just after halftime through Julie Doyle. The Current stormed back with goals by Elyse Bennett and Kizer, pulling out a 2-2 draw.

The first meeting in 2022 was on May 14 at Exploria Stadium. The Pride took the lead early in the second half on a Gunny Jonsdottir goal. Bennett scored late in the second half, and the visitors appeared to win the game a minute into injury time through Kristen Hamilton. However, Kylie Strom was pulled down in the box five minutes later, resulting in a penalty. With Marta injured, the only player willing to step up to take the penalty was center back Toni Pressley, who drilled the ball into the roof of the net, pulling out a 2-2 draw.

The teams played twice during the 2021 NWSL season, with the first game occurring May 30 at Exploria Stadium. Courtney Petersen found Alex Morgan just outside the six-yard box and the striker headed in the game’s lone goal as the Pride won 1-0.

The Pride and Current met again on June 23 at Legends Field in Kansas City. The Pride had a weakened squad as then-coach Marc Skinner left some key players at home, preparing to lose them to the Olympics. It looked to be costly when Mariana Larroquette gave the hosts the lead late in first-half injury time. But the Pride responded well. Two minutes after Larroquette’s goal, Sydney Leroux’s shot took a deflection off a defender and went in to make it 1-1. Shortly after halftime, Leroux scored on a great individual effort from just outside the box. Marta then scored the goal of the game, beating Kansas City goalkeeper Abby Smith from the top of the center circle, lifting the Pride to a 3-1 win.

Overview

The first meeting this year between the Pride and Current was a matchup of the only two undefeated teams in the NWSL. Since then, the teams have gone in different directions. The Pride won the next three games, extending their winning streak to six and their unbeaten run to a league-record 20 games.

The growth of the Pride was seen in their most recent contest against the Chicago Red Stars away from home. Last year, the team couldn’t find the back of the net despite dominating play for 90 minutes. The Red Stars scored on a counterattack, pulling out a 1-0 win. The Pride learned from those mistakes Sunday night when Marta gave the visitors the lead in the 37th minute. Pride Head Coach Seb Hines addressed last year’s game prior to the start and they were able to keep Chicago off the score sheet, winning 1-0.

The most impressive part of the Pride’s season has been their defense. The back line has seen multiple changes, including an Olympic injury to center back Rafaelle, causing Emly Sams to move inside and rookie Cori Dyke starting the last three games at right back. However, the teamwide defending has kept their opponents from scoring, resulting in the Pride conceding the fewest goals in the league.

The last meeting between the Pride and Current was the last game before the Olympic break. The Current had extended their unbeaten run to 17 games, a new league regular-season record. The Pride’s win in Kansas City matched that feat and they surpassed it the following game.

The Current have struggled since the Olympics ended, losing their first two games — 4-1 to the Washington Spirit and 2-1 to the North Carolina Courage. They returned home on Sept. 7, where they beat the last-place Utah Royals 1-0. 

Despite their recent struggles, the Current are still in third place and contenders for the NWSL Shield, sitting three points behind the Spirit and nine points behind the Pride. They’ve had the most potent attack this season, scoring a league-high 43 goals. The biggest offensive threat has been Chawinga, who leads the league in goals this year with 15 in 19 games. She’s three ahead of second-place Banda, who has scored 12 goals in 15 games. The 15 goals scored by Chawinga is 10 ahead of Bia Zaneratto and Lo’eau LaBonta, who have five goals each.

In addition to scoring frequently, Chawinga has been the primary provider for the Current, tallying a team-high six assists, one ahead of Vanessa DiBernardo. Zaneratto has also been a significant factor in goal contributions, adding four assists to her five goals.

Stopping Chawinga will be the primary task for the Pride tonight. Their 12 goals conceded this year is the fewest in the league and they’re coming off a similar game where they had to shut down a player who posed the most significant threat. The Pride kept Chicago’s Mallory Swanson off the score sheet and the attacker only took two long-distance shots.

“Competitive game. Both teams want to go after it,” Hines said about tonight’s game. “I think, for us, like you said, quick turnaround from the game on Sunday against Chicago to playing against Kansas, who are also trying to win the shield this season. So I expect a competitive game on Friday. We have to focus on ourselves. We’re obviously coming to our own place in front of our own fans, and we want to continue that momentum. For us, it’s another game. It’s the next game in the schedule, and we want to continue to keep winning and keep that separation from the pack that’s trying to chase us.”

The Pride are without seven players tonight due to injury, including Grace Chanda (thigh), Simone Charley (ankle), Mariana Larroquette (thigh), Luana (illness), Sofia Manner (concussion), Megan Montefusco (heel), and Rafaelle (foot). Additionally, Ally Lemos is with the U-20 USWNT at the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.

Kansas City is without Alex Pfeiffer (knee), Gabrielle Robinson (knee), and Mallory Weber (knee) due to injury. Claire Hutton is on international duty with the U.S. U-20s and Michelle Cooper (ankle) is listed as questionable.

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Official Lineups

Orlando Pride (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Anna Moorhouse.

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

Defensive Midfielders: Haley McCutcheon, Angelina.

Midfielders: Summer Yates, Marta, Adriana.

Forward: Barbra Banda.

Bench: McKinley Crone, Morgan Gautrat, Ally Watt, Carrie Lawrence, Brianna Martinez, Julie Doyle, Carson Pickett, Evelina Duljan, Celia.

Kansas City Current (4-3-3)

Goalkeeper: Almuth Schult.

Defenders: Elizabeth Ball, Kayla Sharples, Alana Cook, Hailie Mace.

Midfielders: Debinha, Vanessa DiBernardo, Lo’eau LaBonta.

Forwards: Ellie Wheeler, Temwa Chawinga, Nichelle Prince.

Bench: AD Franch, Bia Zaneratto, Desiree Scott, Stine Ballsager, Michelle Cooper, Izzy Rodriguez, Bayley Feist, Kristen Hamilton, Hildah Magaia.

Referees

REF: Alyssa Nichols.
AR1: Brian Marshall.
AR2: Ben Rigel.
4TH: Alejo Calume.
VAR: Shawn Tehini.
AVAR: Matthew Rodman.

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How to Watch

Match Time: 8 p.m.

Venue: Inter&Co Stadium — Orlando.

TV: None.

Streaming: Amazon Prime Video.

Twitter: For live updates and rapid reaction, follow @TheManeLand and the Orlando Pride’s official Twitter feed (@ORLPride).

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Enjoy the match. Go Pride!