This week, we learned that it is possible to pepper a goal without making the goalkeeper have to do anything, as the Orlando Pride sent dozens of shots at Chicago Stars FC netminder Katie Atkinson, who barely had to move to stop any of the ones on target. Sure, there was a step and a half to her right to stop Marta’s penalty, but other than that, her toughest save came off the face of her own teammate, which she swatted off the crossbar with a desperate, flailing lunge.

Aside from that, the Pride were content to fire shot after shot right at Atkinson’s torso.

Eventually, Julie Doyle managed to hit the target without hitting Atkinson, saving the Pride from wasting a dominant performance in almost nearly every other aspect of the match. We look back at a frustrating win (victories are not supposed to be frustrating!), review our score predictions, and make our selections for Player of the Match.

We also touched on Seven Castain’s new contract and subsequent loan to Dallas Trinity. Hopefully, Castain will get minutes and develop her skills to be able to contribute at an NWSL level while Orlando has her under contract.

This week’s mailbagbox pitted the Pride against Barbra Banda, asked how the Pride won the double two years ago, and more. Remember, you can ask us anything by hitting us up on Twitter at either @TheManeLand or @SkoPurpSoccer and using the hashtag #AskSkoPurp. You can use that same hashtag and hit @TheManeLand.bsky.social up on Bluesky. Or you can visit our show page, scroll down, and fill out the handy form. We’d also appreciate any ratings or reviews you can leave wherever you get your podcasts, and if you do that on Apple Podcasts, we’ll find them easily and read them on the show.

Finally, we looked ahead to Friday’s road battle against the North Carolina Courage. The Pride may need to find the net twice to beat North Carolina in its own stadium, and that has proven to be difficult even when Banda isn’t playing in international tournaments with Zambia. Where the goals will come from is anyone’s guess, but we reviewed the series history, provided our key matchups for the game, and tried our luck at predicting the final score.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.

Here’s how Episode 131 went down:

0:15 – The Pride snapped their two-game losing streak, but it wasn’t pretty, and it wasn’t nearly as easy as the number of shots suggest it should have been.

21:44 – The mailbagbox rarely complains after a win, but…

42:24 – Orlando heads north to play the Courage. We preview!

Orlando City is coming off its best week of the season after going on the road and beating the Western Division co-leaders (second on goal differential, technically) and returning home a few days later to beat the MLS Supporters’ Shield leaders. It was something we didn’t see coming, and even the most optimistic fans out there didn’t likely expect six points out of six this week, despite the presence of Antoine Griezmann.

We break down both matches, discussing the key players, moments, and plays, as well as the new tactical setup of the team. We touch on Bernardo Rhein signing a Homegrown Player deal ahead of Saturday’s match. And we look back on our understandably pessimistic score predictions and make our selections for Man of the Match for both outings.

Our mailbagbox asked us about Orlando City left backs from now until the end of the season, and more. Remember, if there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the show, just ask us by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC, or hitting us up on Bluesky Social with that same hashtag.

After the mailbagbox, we go through the OCB minute, as the Young Lions are struggling offensively and were fortunate to lose only 1-0 at home on Sunday against Huntsville City. We also look ahead to OCB’s trip to CT United FC.

It’s All-Star Week, and there’s no doubt Orlando fans will be keeping an eye out to see how well Maxime Crepeau plays after his fantastic week in which he kept the team’s first two MLS clean sheets in over a year.

Finally, we look ahead to Orlando City’s matchup on the road against the New York Red Bulls on Saturday night. Can Martin Perelman and Antoine Griezmann keep the good vibes going in the final game before the Leagues Cup kicks off? We look at the history of the series, present our key matchups, and make our score predictions.

Be sure to rate and review our show wherever you get your podcasts. Remember, we’ll read any five-star reviews we get on Apple Podcasts on the next show.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.

Here’s how No. 544 went down:

0:15 – Orlando City played two games against two of the three best teams in MLS and beat them both without allowing a goal. That was…unexpected.

40:07 – The mailbagbox is left-handed.

50:51 – OCB was bad on Sunday, but another match awaits on Saturday. Meanwhile, the senior Lions will be on the road in New Jersey.

A week ago, we got to talk about how the Orlando Pride bounced back from their worst performance in a long time in their 2-0 road loss at Angel City to beat the Kansas City Current 3-0 in one of their best games of the year. The worm turns quickly, as the Pride followed up an impressive win with two listless performances just a few days apart, losing both by 1-0 final scores. Getting swept by expansion Boston was particularly galling, but the loss away to the Utah Royals over the weekend was nearly as maddening.

We treated them as one long, bad performance, discussing the games, looking back at our stupidly optimistic score predictions, and somehow coming up with selections for Player of the Match in a pair of outings that hardly seemed worthy of picking one.

We also discussed Barbra Banda’s selection to the Zambian Women’s National Team ahead of their run in this year’s Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, as well as Giles Barnes’ departure from his assistant coaching position with Orlando to take over at Al Qadsiah in Saudi Arabia.

This week’s mailbagbox asked whether the Pride will have more games played without Banda while she’s away at WAFCON than team goals scored in that time, whether we can generate any mojo for the club to acquire Emma Sears, and more. Remember, you can ask us anything by hitting us up on Twitter at either @TheManeLand or @SkoPurpSoccer and using the hashtag #AskSkoPurp. You can use that same hashtag and hit @TheManeLand.bsky.social up on Bluesky. Or you can visit our show page, scroll down, and fill out the handy form. We’d also appreciate any ratings or reviews you can leave wherever you get your podcasts, and if you do that on Apple Podcasts, we’ll find them easily and read them on the show.

Finally, we looked ahead to Friday’s matchup with the Chicago Stars. The Pride will be at home, but over the years, being at home against Chicago has not been a recipe for success. We look back at the series history, give our unanimous key matchup to the game, and try to predict the final score. We are not as optimistic as last week. Do with that information what you will.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.

Here’s how Episode 130 went down:

0:15 – The Pride played in two matches and that’s about all that can be said in a positive (or even neutral) light about them.

27:06 – The mailbagbox asks us an easy question and also wants us to get metaphysical.

35:36 – A look ahead to the Chicago Stars, a team seemingly there to be beaten, but then again, can the Pride even score?