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Orlando Pride vs. North Carolina Courage: Final Score 2-1 as the Pride Win Their Second Game of the Season

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4 years ago

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The Orlando Pride (2-1-1, 7 points) used an early goal by Sydney Leroux and a late first-half goal by Mikayla Cluff to beat the North Carolina Courage (0-2-0, 0 points) 2-1 in Cary, NC. Brianna Pinto scored a consolation goal late to give the hosts a chance, but the Pride held on for their second win of the season, extending their unbeaten streak to three games (2-0-1).

With the North Carolina Courage losing several key players to injury and COVID protocol, Pride Head Coach Amanda Cromwell made some significant changes to the lineup. Kylie Strom, Viviana Villacorta, Jordyn Listro, Abi Kim, and Julie Doyle all entered the lineup, replacing regular starters Darian Jenkins, Gunny Jonsdottir, Courtney Petersen, Toni Pressley, and Leah Pruitt. Additionally, Angharad James returned from an ankle injury and started the game on the bench.

While the lineup changes can be somewhat attributed to Courage absences, Cromwell spoke last week after the game about the team’s tired legs. This game was an opportunity to give some of the most used players some much-needed rest.

This game got off to a similar start as the Pride’s 1-0 win against Angel City FC. In the fourth minute, Cluff got on the end of a cross but it was saved by Casey Murphy. The Courage goalkeeper wasn’t able to block it far away, sending it right to Leroux, who put it into an empty net.

“The ball just happened to kind of pop out to me,” Cluff said about her involvement in the opening goal. “I was waiting for the second ball and I was able to get good contact on it. She made a great save and then Syd was there to bail me out and put it away for us.”

The Pride have now scored inside the first five minutes of both regular season road games. In Los Angeles, Leroux scored a similar goal in the third minute, giving the Pride a very early lead against the NWSL newcomers. Tonight, they did the same thing, just a minute later.

“It’s huge,” Cluff said about scoring early on the road. “We talked about the big moments in the game and the times that we let them get shifted. The first five minutes of the game is some of the biggest parts. So it’s nice when we’re able to come out and get a strong start.”

“Scoring that early allows us to just play and be calm,” Listro added. “Sometimes at the start of the game it’s super frantic. But when we get that first goal, we can take a breath and then just play our style of soccer.”

The Courage got their first chance in the ninth minute when Diana Ordonez found Rylee Baisden at the top of the box. The midfielder took the host team’s first shot at goal, but it was blocked and the Pride began to head the other way.

The Pride had a great chance to double their lead in the 20th minute. Kim’s cross made it through the box for Ryan Williams, whose poor clearance went right to Cluff. The rookie quickly shot on goal but it was going wide the whole way and didn’t cause any trouble for Murphy.

They had another chance in the 22nd minute when Strom sent a long ball into the box for Doyle. The forward got her head to the ball but it was too soft and Murphy made an easy save.

North Carolina got one of its best first-half chances in the 24th minute from a smart play by Debinha. Meredith Speck played the ball to her right and Debinha, knowing that Ordonez was making a run behind her, let it go. Ordonez took the ball towards the end line and sent in a cross. However, Megan Montefusco did well defensively and blocked the cross. It went out for a corner but McLeod punched the ball away on the ensuing set piece and the Pride were able to clear.

Kim created another chance in the 27th minute when a run to the end line saw the midfielder lift a short cross to the front of the six-yard box. The ball appeared to be a little behind Cluff as she attempted to put it on goal. As a result, she didn’t get much on it resulting in an easy save for Murphy.

In the 30th minute, a misplayed goal kick was won by Listro. She immediately was able to get the ball to Leroux, who took a couple of dribbles and fired on goal from the top of the box. However, the shot was a little wide.

Three minutes later, the Courage had a great chance when Williams sent a cross into the box. Ordonez received the low pass and laid it back for Baisden, who was a couple of yards behind her. Baiden’s first touch was a hard shot, but Carrie Lawrence did well to get in front and block it away.

The Courage got another good chance two minutes later when Taylor Smith got sent in behind the Pride defense. Fortunately, the ball was a little too far for her and McLeod came well off her line to clear it.

Debinha continued her dangerous play from the left with a pair of crosses in the 37th and 41st minutes. The first one was cleared away by Lawrence but the second found a teammate at the back post. Ordonez and Jorian Baucom were charging at the post and Ordonez was first to reach the ball. It was a little high so she wasn’t able to get much on the header that went wide. It was fortunate for the Pride, as Baucom was right behind her and seemed in a good position to get a better shot on target.

While North Carolina looked more dangerous as the game neared halftime, it was the Pride that scored. In the 44th minute, Celia sent a long ball for Doyle. It looked as though the ball would go out of play but Doyle didn’t give up and slid to save it. The ball went back to Leroux who looked to redirect it towards goal but Williams came across to block it. The ball went right to Cluff near the penalty spot who put the ball past Murphy, doubling the Pride lead. It was her first career NWSL goal.

“I can’t remember who crossed it, but I saw the ball getting crossed in and I’m just trying to get into the box,” Cluff said about her goal. “And luckily Syd kind of put her body on the line for us, got the deflection, and I happened to be in the right place at the right time.”

After being a part of the buildup for the second goal, Celia took her own shot three minutes into first half injury time. The shot looked to be going just inside the far post, but Murphy did well to get down and tip it wide of the goal.

The Pride were the better team in the first 45 minutes, with more shots (7-4) and shots on target (4-0). The Courage did have plenty of chances, with more possession (55.6%-44.4%), corners (4-2), and crosses (12-7), but the Pride took advantage of their chances, ending the half with a 2-0 lead.

The Pride made a few changes at the end of the first half and early in the second half. A surprising substitution was Kerry Abello coming on for Doyle a minute into first-half injury time. Jenkins and James both came on at halftime for Kim and Viviana Villacorta, and Pruitt replaced Cluff in the 61st minute.

After the team’s 2-2 draw with the Kansas Current over the weekend, Cromwell spoke about the team not being aggressive enough after taking the lead in the 51st minute. That wasn’t a problem as the second half began with the Pride pushing forward. They weren’t able to create any shots in the opening minutes of the half, but did win a corner kick in the 54th minute.

Both teams had several chances in the first half, but the first good second-half chance didn’t come until the 73rd minute. After winning the ball back inside her own box, Lawrence sent a long ball for Leroux, looking for a fast break. Leroux tried to play it through the legs of Kaleigh Kurtz but the ball bounced off her legs and right back to the forward. Leroux continued on, beating Kurtz and Malia Berkely to find space for a shot. Unfortunately, the shot was just wide of the post, stopping what would’ve been one of the goals of the season.

Playing from two goals behind, the Courage didn’t get their first shot of the second half until the 75th minute. After coming on at halftime, Havana Solaun had to come off due to an injury and was replaced by Pinto. The new addition to the game took a shot seconds after coming on but it was well high of the goal.

The Courage had another chance in the 82nd minute when Jaelene Daniels made a long run into the Pride box after a short pass by Carson Pickett. She did well to find some space but ran out of energy, sending the ball well wide of the target.

As time wound down, the Pride fell into more of a defensive shape, looking to see out the win. But the hosts got one back in the 85th minute. Pinto got a chance from the top of the box but her shot was blocked. The ball went back to Williams on the right who quickly played it back to Pinto. A slick spin opened up some space for the attacker to get a shot on goal. The ball was heading right to McLeod, but took a slight deflection off Montefusco, going inside the near post.

Up a goal and with time winding down, the Pride just wanted to hold onto the lead. Cromwell made one defensive change in the 89th minute, bringing Courtney Petersen on for Abello. The head coach said she would’ve liked to have made one more defensive change near the end. However, the Pride did well to hold onto the one-goal lead.

“North Carolina has a great attack, especially in transition. So we just tried to communicate as much as possible and keep our shape for the last 30 minutes,” Listro said about the final defensive effort. “And I think we worked really hard as a team and tried to win all our one-v-one battles and that showed and we came out with a win.”

The Courage continued to push hard for an equalizer as the game entered injury time and came very close. Three minutes into injury time, Berkely sent Ordonez through behind the Pride defense. She put the ball past McLeod and into the net but was judged to be offside.

While Ordonez was clearly offside, the second one was close. Five minutes into added time, Pickett sent a long ball into the box for Brittany Ratcliffe. Her first touch was over McLeod and in for what North Carolina thought was the equalizer. However, the linesman’s flag was up and, again, the Courage player was judged to be in an offside position.

Shortly after the offside call on Ratcliffe, Pinto tried to send Daniels through but she was the third offside call in injury time for the Courage. The final whistle final blew and the Pride were able to hold on for a 2-1 win.

After being held to four shots in the first 75 minutes, the Courage had six shots and three offside calls in the final 15 minutes plus injury time. They ended the game with more shots than the Pride (10-8) but, while the Pride put four shots on target, North Carolina only put one on frame. The final 15 minutes also allowed the Courage to end the game with more possession (54.4%-45.6%), corners (4-3), crosses (22-10), and passes (454-390).

“Very exciting. My adrenaline was going from those last six minutes of injury time,” Cromwell said after the game. “Obviously North Carolina is a very good team. They won the Challenge Cup. They have a lot of great attacking pieces. So holding on to a lead was really, really hard but important to do and I was just really proud of our efforts.”

“What we’ve been working on is a little bit of mentality, a little bit of having courage,” Cromwell continued. “And one of the quotes I said to them at the end tonight is, ‘Fortune favors the brave.’ And I thought we were brave tonight. I think some players have stepped up to be brave in communication, to be brave on the ball.”

The win pushes the Pride all the way up to second place, just two points behind San Diego Wave FC atop the NWSL standings. However, the Pride have played more games than anyone else and two more than some teams.

After securing seven points in their last three games, the Pride will return home Sunday night to face the Chicago Red Stars in the final match of the three-game week.

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Orlando Pride vs Angel City FC: Final Score 2-1 as McCutcheon’s Brace Lifts Pride to Win

Three goals in the last 15 minutes thrilled the crowd in Orlando as the Pride picked up their first home win of the season and ended Angel City’s perfect start.

Published

2 weeks ago

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April 3, 2026

By

Dan MacDonald, The Mane Land

The Orlando Pride shut down March NWSL Player of the Month Svendis Jonsdottir and got a brace from Haley McCutcheon in a 2-1 win over Angel City in front of 8,040 fans at Inter&Co Stadium tonight. Orlando (2-1-2, 8 points) picked up its first home win of the season, extended its unbeaten run to four games (2-0-2), and snapped the perfect start to the season for Angel City (3-1-0, 9 points)

“If we have a good defensive structure, that makes us have more possibilities of winning games, of having more chances in the front,” midfielder Angelina said after the match. “We’re going to be confident on the back and gaining the ball high up the field. The last few games, we’ve done a good job of that — lowering the chances of the opponent to just hit the target.”

The Pride came out the aggressors in the first half but it wasn’t enough to put anything on the scoreboard. The second half was heading toward a scoreless draw until the last six minutes of normal time, when the teams engaged in a mad scramble to see who could put the decisive winning goal in after trading opening goals in an eight-minute span.

Pride Head Coach Seb Hines rolled out the same lineup as Sunday in the scoreless draw against NJ/NY Gotham FC. This was the first time this season the Pride were able to put together a grouping that had played together in a match in 2026.

Anna Moorhouse started in goal behind a back line of Cori Dyke, Hailie Mace, Rafaelle, and Oihane. Ally Lemos and Angelina lined up in the defensive midfield behind an attacking midfield line of Jacquie Ovalle, Haley McCutcheon, and Solai Washington. Barbra Banda started up top looking to add to her total of three goals.

“Chemistry is always helpful” McCutcheon said. “It helps to be able to get that communication and trust that people are going to do their jobs.”

Both teams traded empty possessions for the first 10 minutes of the game until Angelina turned Banda loose on a long ball for the first shot of the game. The Zambian got behind the back line but did not make good contact on her shot, sending it at Angel City goalkeeper Angelina Anderson. McCutcheon got on the end of an Ovalle cross but headed it over the bar one minute later. There was a scramble off a free kick that Lemos fired off a defender and, on the rebound, Banda put it well wide in the 13th minute.

Angel City had its first significant offensive chance when Rafaelle fouled Jonsdottir in the 20th minute, leading to a free kick from 30 yards out. However, Kennedy Fuller sent it into the defense.

Savy King was booked holding back Ovalle in the 21st minute, giving the Pride a 30-yard free kick, but Angelina sent it straight into the wall. It was into the head of Maiara Niehues, who needed a couple of minutes after to recover.

Shortly after that, Dyke was fooled on a dummy by Gisele Thompson that turned Fuller loose into the box. However, Rafaelle blocked Fuller’s attempt on goal. Banda won a corner kick in the 30th and Ovalle sent the ball across the goal mouth to Rafaelle, who put the header on goal, but Anderson made a big save, deflecting it out for another corner. Angelina took the next corner, which Rafaelle put into the net but the Pride center back was called for a push on the play, nullifying the goal.

The Pride left Jonsdottir alone at the top of the 18 in the 35th minute, but she shot the ball well high. In the 41st, McCutcheon fouled Thompson on the right side, leaving a 25-yard free kick, which Fuller sent long and it turned into nothing.

Banda worked herself free outside the left corner of the box in the 45th minute, but she wasn’t able to get anything on the attempt to Anderson. The two teams closed out the half without any significant action and headed into the locker room scoreless.

Even though Angel City dominated possession in the first half (66%-34%), the Pride were certainly the more dangerous team. The Pride attempted more shots (9-3), with seven of those from inside the box but couldn’t score on any. Banda continued to prove to be her dangerous self with four shots (two of them forcing a save) and had support from her teammates, yet nothing ended up on the scoreboard. On the other side of the matchup of league-leading forwards, Orlando limited Jonsdottir’s touches in dangerous areas.

After a long kickoff out of bounds by Angel City to open the half, McCutcheon put Banda through on goal, but she was on the right from a difficult angle, and her shot was straight at Anderson. Oihane won a corner a minute later, but Ovalle sent it too long and over the goal line. In the 49th minute, Ovalle crossed the ball to McCutcheon, but she couldn’t put it on frame, sending it well wide.

Lemos sent a dangerous pass forward in the 52nd minute to Banda, who put it across the goal mouth and McCutcheon put it into the goal, but the flag came up immediately as the ball went in, as the Pride midfielder was a step offside. Washington was held by Thompson on the left side of the box at the 55-minute mark, leading to an Orlando free kick. Angelina sent a hard cross to Banda in the box on the set piece, and it deflected out to Dyke, who saw her shot easily blocked, igniting the Angel City counter.

Jonsdottir picked up the loose ball and sprinted down the field, muscling her way past Ovalle and then nutmegging Mace before turning a shot loose that went wide of the right post. It was a disastrous play for the Pride, as Ovalle remained down for a while after grabbing her hamstring. She was carried off the field by trainers and replaced by Summer Yates.

In the 60th minute, Oihane and Jonsdottir banged heads, leading to a long free kick by Angel City, which turned into a harmless header over the end line.

Angelina received a yellow card in the 62nd minute 40 yards, out but Kennedy Fuller wasn’t able to connect with anyone on the set piece. Banda picked up a booking of her own in the 65th trying to swim past Sarah Gorden.

Both teams brought on a sub in the 66th minute, with Marta taking Washington’s place and Taylor Suarez subbing in for Nealy Martin.

Shortly after the restart, Oihane worked her way into the box and King knocked the ball out for a corner in the 70th minute. Marta had her first significant contribution with the corner delivery, which sent the ball pinging around, leading to an open shot at the penalty spot by Angelina, who was wide open but put it over the bar, wasting a golden opportunity to open the scoring.

Jonsdottir floated a ball from deep left that almost caught Moorhouse off her line, but she scrambled back and just got a hand to it. It came off yet another deep throw-in, where Angel City interestingly has Jonsdottir take, even though she’s clearly the team’s most dangerous attacker.

Oihane went down injured in the 75th minute, leading to an eventual substitution with Hannah Anderson replacing her. It was deemed a concussion substitution due to the previous contact, sparing Orlando a sub.

At this stage of the game, Orlando was getting sloppy with its passing and struggling to keep possession, and all the attacking pressure started to come from Angel City. However, it was the Pride that broke the scoreless deadlock.

Banda worked in from the left side and put the ball across the goal mouth where it bounced around and ended up in front of McCutcheon, who put one in that counted. It was a team effort as Lemos, Rafaelle, Marta, and Hannah Anderson all moved the ball around and kept Angel City from escaping with it. McCutcheon’s 84th-minute strike was reviewed for a possible offside, but the replay was inconclusive and the goal stood.

“We brought in Marta, put her at the 9, and shifted Barbra wide,” Hines said about his late-game tactics, which led to the goal. “Get her directness dribbling at people, receiving the ball facing forward, taking players on. A great cross into a dangerous area with her left foot. We discussed as a staff that it’s a great idea to put her more on that left side to receive it and get away from players like Gorden and Emily (Sams).”

Dyke picked up a booking in the 89th minute for a tough challenge that the referee let play on and came back to give her the caution. Angel City then subbed Evelyn Shores on for King and Prisca Chilufya for Fuller.

Rafaelle was given a yellow card for a handball near the left sideline in the first minute of added time, leading to a free kick from next to the sideline. Shores put the kick in front of the goal, which Tiernan passed out to the top of the box. Thompson then blasted the ball off the underside of the crossbar and just over the goal line to even the score up. It was Angel City’s only shot on target, tying the game in the second minute of stoppage time.

Angel City stayed on the front foot after the goal, looking for a late winner. But again, it was Orlando that went the other way and found the back of the net.

The Pride won a corner on a drive into the box. Marta put the corner on the far post, where Hannah Anderson kept it alive, knocking it back in front. The ball pinged off a couple of bodies before falling to McCutcheon again, who poked it home in the eighth minute of stoppage time.

There were 10 minutes of stoppage time originally added, but the game went 14 minutes beyond the 90th. However, the Pride were able to see out one final scramble in front of goal, in which Moorhouse came off her line but was beaten to the ball by former Pride striker Chilufya. Angel City could not work through the traffic in front, and Orlando held on for the win.

At full time, Angel City held the advantage in possession (63%-37%) and passing accuracy (83%-77%), but the Pride had more shots (17-15), shots on target (6-1), and corner kicks (5-3).

It was a big win for Orlando, which finally sent the supporters at Inter&Co Stadium home happy. The Pride continue to play standout defense, limiting Angel City to one shot on target and only a few threatening looks at goal for a team that entered with a top-tier attack.

The Pride are off for three weeks for the international break before traveling to Kentucky to take on Racing Louisville on April 24. Orlando has never won at Louisville.

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Orlando Pride vs. Angel City FC: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

The Pride return home looking to keep up their positive momentum after a strong road trip.

Published

2 weeks ago

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April 3, 2026

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

Welcome to your preview and match thread as the Orlando Pride (1-1-2, 5 points) welcome league-leading Angel City FC (3-0-0, 9 points). This is the first of two meetings between these two teams this year, with the return game in California scheduled for July 3.

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

History

Angel City was one of the NWSL’s two expansion teams entering the league in 2022. As a result, the Pride have only played tonight’s opponents eight times. The Pride are 4-2-2 in those games, all in NWSL regular-season play. While the Pride have a 3-1-0 record against Angel City in Los Angeles, they’re only 1-1-2 at home.

The most recent matchup between these two teams took place on Aug. 21, 2025 in Los Angeles. The hosts dominated possession and the number of chances as the game appeared to be heading to a scoreless draw. But Alyssa Thompson converted in the 86th minute as Angel City took all three points.

The first game last year between the two teams occurred on April 25 in Orlando. The visitors got off to a great start with first-half goals by Riley Tiernan and Katie Zelem. But the Pride took over in the second half. Marta got one back midway through the second period, and Barbra Banda equalized four minutes later. An own goal by M.A. Vignola in the third minute of stoppage time gave the Pride a 3-2 win.

The first of two meetings in 2024 took place on March 22 in Orlando. Former Pride attacker Claire Emslie gave the visitors the lead from the penalty spot, and it looked as though the Pride would drop their first game of the season. But Marta volleyed home an equalizer from an Angelina corner kick late, pulling out a 1-1 draw. On June 30, 2024 in Los Angeles, Adriana gave the Pride the lead early and scored a second goal six minutes later. Banda netted a goal of her own six minutes into stoppage time, leading the Pride to a dominating 3-0 win.

The first meeting of the 2023 season took place April 2 in Orlando. Emily Sams took down Thompson in the first half, giving the visitors a penalty. Emslie stepped up and converted to give her team a 1-0 lead. Messiah Bright responded just after halftime to make it 1-1, and the game appeared to be heading for a draw. But Katie Johnson scored the winner in the 10th minute of second-half injury time. On Oct. 2, 2023 in Los Angeles, an Adriana volley beat Angel City goalkeeper Angelina Anderson to her near post for the only goal as the Pride won a crucial late-season game.

The first-ever game between the teams took place on May 8, 2022 in Los Angeles. In the third minute, Gunny Jonsdottir’s cross was tipped by Angel City goalkeeper DiDi Haracic, but it went right to Sydney Leroux. The Pride striker fired right at Morgan Reid standing in front of goal. The ball bounced off the defender and went in to give the Pride an early lead. The hosts controlled the final hour, but the Pride held on for 87 minutes to claim their first win of the season.

The teams met again on Aug. 7 in Orlando. Former Pride defender Ali Riley opened the scoring with a wonderful strike from the left side. The Pride responded in the second half through Julie Doyle, three minutes after she entered the game, to even it at 1-1. The visitors took another lead when Cari Roccaro beat Viviana Villacorta to a corner kick, putting it past Erin McLeod. The Pride equalized for a second time in the 90th minute when Doyle and Paige Nielsen raced for a Thais Reiss cross, with the defender reaching it first. But Nielsen’s attempted clearance went into her own net, allowing the Pride to claim a 2-2 draw and extend their unbeaten run to five games.

Overview

The Pride return home tonight after a two-game road trip in which they claimed four points. They had a dominant performance in Chicago on March 25, defeating the Stars 3-0. Banda, Jacquie Ovalle, and Hannah Anderson scored in the first half and the Pride held onto that lead in the second 45 minutes to claim their first win of the season.

It was a quick turnaround as they played defending champion NJ/NY Gotham FC Sunday night in New Jersey. The hosts dominated possession in the game, but the Pride were able to keep the opposition from creating too many opportunities, pulling out a scoreless draw.

Sunday night’s draw saw Banda’s three-game goal streak come to an end. However, after conceding three goals in the first two games, the Pride recorded their second consecutive clean sheet, something Head Coach Seb Hines is very happy with.

Another positive was that Rafaelle played all 90 minutes. The Brazilian has had constant injury issues since joining the Pride in 2023, which seemed to return when she was listed as questionable for the game in Chicago. The center back came on in the second half of that game and started against Gotham, providing a solid performance.

While the Pride are pleased with their performances away from home, they need to play better at home. The team has now played four games with new players like Hailie Mace and Hannah Anderson, so they’ll be expecting better results than the first two games, although they dominated those matches and created lots of scoring chances.

That will be difficult tonight as the Pride welcome the league-leading Angel City. The California-based team had an eventful off-season, losing Thompson to Chelsea FC and Riley and Christen Press to retirement. Meanwhile, they added Ary Borges and former Pride center back Emily Sams.

Angel CIty has been terrific offensively this season, scoring multiple goals in all three games. However, tonight’s visitors have only played Chicago, Bay FC, and the Houston Dash, three of the worst teams in the league. Additionally, two of those three games were at home and the other was in California.

Tonight will be a much harder challenge. The Pride are widely expected to be a team challenging for at least a top four spot. They’re a stronger team offensively and defensively than the teams Angel City have played this year.

Angel City is led in the attack by Sveindis Jonsdottir, who has three goals in her first three games of the season. She’s the only player on the team with multiple goals. Tiernan, Gisele Thompson, Evelyn Shores, Maiara Niehues, Kennedy Fuller, and Ary Borges each have scored one goal. Jonsdottir and Fuller lead the team in assists with two each.

Defensively, Angel City has a solid center back pairing of Sams and Savy King, who returns after missing most of last season after suffering a cardiac issue on the field. They’ll line up in front of Anderson, who returns as the starting goalkeeper.

“I think with Angel City, they’re a team that’s got a lot of good momentum right now,” Hines said ahead of the match. “Obviously, sitting top of the table. Three wins after three games. They’ll come with the expectation that they’ll go four for four, and we want to stop that of course. We want to get off to a good start as well, being back at home in front of our own fans. We’ve had a good road trip as well, four points in two games. So, to finish this part of the season with a win at home is where our minds are at right now.”

The Pride are still without Kerry Abello (hip), Zara Chavoshi (lower leg), Cosette Morche (ankle), Kylie Nadaner (maternity leave), and Viviana Villacorta (knee). Angel City will be without Karsyn Cherry (thigh), Emslie (maternity leave), Jun Endo (knee), Leroux (excused absence), Rajanah Reed (ankle), and Hina Sugita (knee).

Official Lineups

Orlando Pride (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Anna Moorhouse.

Defenders: Cori Dyke, Rafaelle, Hailie Mace, Oihane.

Defensive Midfielders: Ally Lemos, Angelina.

Midfielders: Jacquie Ovalle, Haley McCutcheon, Solai Washington.

Forward: Barbra Banda.

Bench: Cara Martin, Hannah Anderson, Reagan Raabe, Luana, Summer Yates, Seven Castain, Marta, Julie Doyle, Simone Jackson.

Angel City FC (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Angelina Anderson.

Defenders: Savy King, Sarah Gorden, Emily Sams, Gisele Thompson.

Defensive Midfielders: Ary Borges, Nealy Martin.

Midfielders: Riley Tiernan, Maiara Niehues, Kennedy Fuller.

Forward: Sveindis Jonsdottir.

Bench: Hannah Seabert, Faith Nguyen, Sophia Mattice, Evelyn Shores, Carina Lageyre, Taylor Suarez, Casey Phair, Prisca Chilufya.

Referees

REF: Jeremy Scheer.
AR1: Kendall McCardell.
AR2: Race Williams.
4TH: Stefan Perri.
VAR: Elijio Arreguin.
AVAR: Karen Coulson.

How to Watch

Match Time: 8 p.m.

Venue: Inter&Co Stadium — Orlando.

TV: None.

Streaming: Prime Video.

Social Media: For live updates and rapid reaction, follow @themaneland.bsky.social on Bluesky and the Orlando Pride’s official Twitter (@ORLPride) or Bluesky (@orlpride.com) feed.

Enjoy the game. Go Pride!

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The Pride’s Offense Often Relies on Bank of Banda for a Bailout

A look at how Banda-dependent the Pride’s offense has been this season, and how that compares to prior seasons and the rest of the NWSL.

Published

2 weeks ago

on

April 2, 2026

By

Image of Barbra Banda celebrating a goal.
Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

It feels like Orlando City’s season has been going on for months and the Orlando Pride’s season just started. But all of a sudden, the Pride are already four games into the new season, with their fifth match — the same number of games as Orlando City has played — coming on Friday night. The Pride are off to a better start than the Lions, both in the standings and in how they have looked on the field, and the basis behind their better start is brought to you by the letter B, and Barbra Banda.

While the Pride are off to a better start than Orlando City, they are not off to a bodacious beginning (all right, all right, enough with the “b”words), as they have only earned five points from their four games played and are currently seventh in the league standings. With league leaders Angel City coming to Inter&Co Stadium on Friday night it is possible that by the end of the weekend Orlando will drop out of the playoff spots, but even if they do, they will probably not be too worried, as the Pride had a difficult schedule in their opening five games and Marta has only been on the field for a total of 18 minutes through the first four.

The Brazilian superstar’s absence has deprived the Pride of the opportunity to roll out an offense with Banda, Marta, and Jacquie Ovalle all on the field together for the first time, but with Marta working her way back to fitness, that is going to happen soon. It may not happen against Angel City, but with a long break between that game and the next game against Racing Louisville on April 24, it seems likely that soon we will finally see the attacking group that Pride fans have been excited about ever since the acquisition of Ovalle last August.

La Maga (the magician) joined the Pride right after Banda’s season-ending injury last summer, and she looks much more comfortable this season than she did during the closing months of the 2025 season. She scored her first goal of the season last week against Chicago and she has two assists as well, which ties her for the team lead in goal contributions with Banda, who picked up right where she left off and is leading the team — and the league — in goals scored with three.

The Pride have only scored five goals on the season for an average of 1.25 goals per game, and Banda’s three gives her 60% of their goals scored. Four games is a small sample size, only 13% of the season, so Banda’s high share of the goals scored is not a huge concern this early in the year. What is a bit of a concern, however, is Orlando’s reliance on the Zambian for so much of its offensive threat.

The scatterplot below is from the past three NWSL seasons and shows the 246 players who took at least 12 shots during each season (I chose 12 shots because of a limitation in Microsoft Excel that does not allow more than 255 dots on a scatterplot; if you were wondering, 826 players have taken at least one shot during any of the last three seasons). Most of the dots are from 2024 and 2025, but there are four players in 2026, Banda included, who have already taken at least 12 shots this season. I put a purple circle around Banda’s 2024, 2025 and 2026 seasons.

Scatterplot showing percentage of a team's goals scored on one axis and percentage of a team's shots taken on the other. Banda's 2024, 2025, and 2026 numbers are all in the upper right quadrant, meaning high percentage in both categories.

There is no official measure for “reliance,” but the location of Banda’s three pairings for the percentage of goals scored (excluding opposition own goals) and the percentage of shots taken show just how much the Pride rely on her to generate offense, how much more that is than many teams, and how they rely on their top attackers. It is strongly unlikely that Banda’s percentages in 2026 will stay as high as they have been through four games, especially when Marta is back to full health, but by looking at 2024 and 2025, it is unlikely that she is going to see a drastic reduction either.

Banda will miss a few games later this summer when she goes to Morocco to represent Zambia during the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON), but she also missed nearly half of the 2025 season and still ended up as Orlando’s leading scorer and shot taker by wide margins (twice as many goals scored and shots taken as her next closest teammates).

Seb Hines and the Pride’s coaching staff would probably prefer a more balanced set of numbers long before her departure, as it is harder to defend multiple threats than one, but in the end, they will not care who scores as long as the Pride score enough goals to win games. The early dependency on Banda is not yet majorly alarming, especially considering that she is one of the best strikers in the world. I am somewhat concerned about her share of both shots taken and goals scored though and am hoping to see some other players step up their offensive contributions as the season progresses.

Friday night will be a big test for Orlando against Angel City and its NWSL-leading (only two goals allowed through three games) defense. Stopping Banda will be the clear priority, but that is a lot easier said than done. Solai Washington has looked good during the last few games and Ovalle is playing well also, and Marta will likely play for as many minutes as the training staff clears her for. Hopefully, between those three, Angelina, Ally Lemos, Haley McCutcheon, and any defenders who creep up into the attacking third of the field, they can either draw enough attention that Banda can get free, or use the open space that exists because of the gravity around the Zambian international to their advantage and put some shots into the back of the net.

Either way, the offense will need to deliver against Angel City, whether they are using Plan A or Plan B(anda).

Vamos Pride!

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