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Orlando Pride vs. Angel City FC: Final Score 1-0 as Pride Claim First Win of 2022

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3 years ago

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The Orlando Pride (1-1-0, 3 points) held onto a 1-0 lead for 87 minutes to beat Angel City FC (1-1-0, 3 points) for the team’s first win of 2022. Sydney Leroux scored the game’s lone goal in the third minute, giving Amanda Cromwell her first NWSL win as head coach and ending the club’s 12-game winless streak in all competitions.

Cromwell made two changes to the team from last week’s 3-0 loss to NJ/NY Gotham FC. Carrie Lawrence re-entered the starting lineup in place of Angharad James, who suffered an ankle injury against Gotham. Additionally, Leroux got her first start since March 30 against Gotham FC in the Challenge Cup. She took the place of rookie Kerry Abello who played well in Leroux’s absence.

The team also had a significant change by moving starting center back Megan Montefusco into the midfield. Lawrence, who played outside back during the Challenge Cup, joined Toni Pressley as a center back.

“Amanda texted me and was just like, ‘Can you do it?’ Montefusco said about the change. “And I just said without a doubt and I know that she believes in me in every way and that belief gives me confidence. So I was excited to do it and it was a fun night.”

The Pride have been good in the first 15 minutes of games this season and got off to their best start in this one. In the third minute, Gunny Jonsdottir sent a low cross into the Angel City box. Goalkeeper DiDi Haracic mishandled the ball, allowing Leroux to get a chance at goal. While it appeared to be a tap-in, Angel City defender Morgan Reid got a piece of it before it went in, knocking it over the line.

“Last week was an eye opener for us,” Leroux said about the three late first half goals scored by Gotham FC last weekend. “Obviously, having three goals scored against us in the first 45 is a really big hill to climb so we wanted to come out very strong. And that’s exactly what we did.”

Despite Reid getting the last touch, the official scorer gave the goal to Leroux, as the shot was headed in even without hitting the defender. It was the third-fastest goal in Pride history — the team scored a pair of second-minute goals in 2018. It was also the fifth time that the Pride have scored within five minutes of the start of the game.

Angel City got its first chance of the game three minutes later. A Cari Roccaro header found Tyler Lussi inside the box. The midfielder attempted a first-touch flick, trying to beat Erin McLeod to her far post. However, the ball was just off target and the Pride survived a potential equalizer.

Leroux had her second chance of the game in the 16th minute. A dangerous run into the box saw her sprint past two Angel City defenders. It appeared as though she’d get a shot off, but she took too long, allowing Vanessa Gilles to come across and knock the ball out of play.

The ensuing corner went all the way across the box to Leroux at the back post. She quickly played a nice ball in for striker Leah Pruitt. Unfortunately, the header went just wide and the Pride missed their second great opportunity to double their lead.

Leroux nearly doubled the lead herself in the 20th minute. A good run by Darian Jenkins on the right saw the midfielder send a low ball through the legs of the defender to Leroux near the penalty spot. Having lost her defender, Leroux had an open chance on goal but sent the shot high.

It appeared as though the Pride had paid for their missed chances in the 27th minute. Savannah McCaskill’s flicked header sent Christen Press behind the Pride defense and the forward beat McLeod to the far post. However, the flag was up as Press was deemed to be just offside.

Back the other way, a turnover on the Angel City side of the field in the 40th minute resulted in a Pride break. Jenkins took control of the ball and darted up the right as two teammates ran alongside, waiting for a ball through. But Jenkins held onto it too long, allowing Roccaro to get back and win the ball off the Pride midfielder.

A minute later, Jun Endo sent Press through on goal. After being judged offside the first time, Press was onside this time. Toni Pressley attempted a slide tackle but Press evaded the challenge, creating a one-on-one opportunity with the goalkeeper. McLeod was up to the challenge on the second attempt, closing down the attacker and making a huge save.

The final chance of the half was for Angel City and was a good one. The hosts’ corner kick went back to Endo who sent a quick pass to Lussi. The midfielder sent a high ball toward the back post where Gilles beat three Pride defenders to the ball. Fortunately, the header went high and the Pride were able to make it to the half with a 1-0 lead.

The Pride dominated the first half hour but the final 15 minutes were all Angel City. At the break, the Pride had more possession (53.6%-46.4%), shots (6-3), corners (6-2), crosses (16-6), and passes (168-152). However, the Pride only put one of their six shots on target, which is why it remained a one-goal game.

After controlling most of the first half, the Pride just tried to hold onto the lead in the second 45 minutes. As a result, Angel City had more possession and more chances in the second half. The first chance for the hosts came just two minutes into the half when Endo set up Press at the top of the box. The forward took a shot on goal but it was wide left of the target.

They had a second opportunity 10 minutes later when Press took another shot from distance. McLeod initially looked as though she would catch the rolling ball but it appeared to take a weird hop just before reaching her and bounced off the goalkeeper’s shoulder. However, it hit her hard enough that the Pride were able to clear it away.

A minute later, it was Lussi taking a shot from distance. While Angel City was taking multiple shots on target, all were long enough that they didn’t cause much trouble. The third shot of the half was right at McLeod and the Canadian easily collected it.

While Angel City had most of the second-half chances, the Pride did have some opportunities to double their lead. The first came in the 66th minute through Leroux. Pruitt found the midfielder to her left and Leroux beat former Pride player Jasmyne Spencer to get a shot on goal. Leroux tried to hit it above the hand of Haracic and beat the goalkeeper, but the ball glanced off the top of the crossbar and went out of play.

Five minutes later, poor play by the hosts gave Leroux another chance. After Haracic rolled the ball out for McCaskill, the usually dependable midfielder immediately lost it to Cluff. The rookie found Leroux entering the box, but Gilles came in to make another good block.

It looked like Angel City might finally convert in the 76th minute when Press sent a ball toward the far post between two Pride defenders. The U.S. international had McCaskill at the back post, but the ball was just a bit too high, going over her head and out of play.

The hosts had another great opportunity in the 90th minute when a quick one-two between Endo and McCaskill allowed the former to send a low cross to the near post. Endo’s ball found the foot of Lussi who redirected it on target, but McLeod made an excellent reaction save to keep the Pride’s 1-0 lead.

Angel City continued to pressure the Pride as the clock continued through injury time. The hosts had a late claim of handball in the box by Leroux but replays showed that it never hit the arm or hand of a defender. They eventually were able to clear and hold on for the 1-0 win.

While the Pride led most statistical categories at the half, Angel City’s second-half dominance resulted in the game being very even. The teams both had 10 shots and possession was 51.3% to 48.7% for the Pride. The Pride had more corners (8-6) and crosses (23-15). However, the Pride only put one shot on target while Angel City put four on frame.

“First win feels great,” Cromwell said after the game. “Starting the game like we did, scoring early, keeping the pressure on, almost getting another one, and creating corner kicks and just being dangerous in the attack. I thought our midfield played great with new players in there. With Megan playing as a six and Mikayla and Gunny in there. Their ball winning and their work rate was tremendous. Carrie played a new position at center back, the whole back line. Erin, I can talk about Syd, Darian, and Leah. Everyone had such an important role and they stepped up in a big way.”

“I think it was extremely important for us to come back and show what we’re capable of. And I think we showed that today,” Leroux added. “It was a tough 90 minutes and everyone came to play today. So I’m very happy for the team and I think we deserve that.”

“Amanda said at the end of the game we fought and we fought together. And the key word was together,” Montefusco also said about the game. “This team has it in them. And we always have. It’s just a matter of putting the pieces together. And tonight we showed that we could do that.”

With the team scoring three minutes into the game and missing several chances throughout the first 30 minutes, the final hour was primarily spent defending. Everyone tracking back into the box allowed the team to hold on for 87 minutes and claim the season’s first win.

“I think that’s a big reason why we won,” Leroux said about the defensive effort. “I mean, we track back..I think I was playing center back for the last 10 minutes but we’ll do whatever we need to do to put our team in the best position to win.”

“We knew we needed everyone and we needed everyone in the box fighting until the very last minute,” Montefusco said about the team defense. “We looked at the stats from when we were conceding in the last games and it happened to be the first five minutes or the last five minutes of a half. And we knew that going into this game, so we were constantly checking in with each other and making sure that everyone was fighting and everyone was getting back.”

The win is the first for Cromwell in her first season as an NWSL head coach. It also breaks a 12-game Orlando winless streak that dates back to Sept. 11, 2021, when the Pride beat Racing Louisville 3-1 at Exploria Stadium.

With their first win under their belts, the Pride will return to Exploria Stadium next weekend when they face the Kansas City Current.

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

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

Published

2 days ago

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May 10, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride, Jeremy Reper

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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2 days ago

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May 10, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

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

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

History

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Overview

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Projected Lineups

Orlando Pride (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Anna Moorhouse.

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

Defensive Midfielders: Haley McCutcheon, Morgan Gautrat.

Midfielders: Angelina, Marta, Prisca Chilufya.

Forward: Barbra Banda.

North Carolina Courage (3-4-3)

Goalkeeper: Casey Murphy.

Defenders: Natalia Staude, Kaleigh Kurtz, Maycee Bell.

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

Forwards: Shinomi Koyama, Manaka Matsukubo, Ashley Sanchez.

Referees

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

How to Watch

Match Time: 7:30 p.m.

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

TV: Ion.

Streaming: Prime Video.

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

Enjoy the game. Go Pride!

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Pride Opponents Reducing Barbra Banda’s Available Space in 2025

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

Published

4 days ago

on

May 8, 2025

By

Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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