Orlando Pride
Orlando Pride Trade Sydney Leroux to Angel City
The Orlando Pride have traded forward Sydney Leroux to Angel City FC in exchange for ACFC’s natural first-round pick in 2024, $75,000 in Allocation Money, plus the potential for an additional $10,000 in 2022 Allocation Money and another $10,000 in 2023 if the forward meets certain performance-based criteria.
Leroux’s departure continues the roster gutting that began this past off-season. The House of Pride has been just about leveled to its foundation for this rebuild, but for that to happen, the club has got to start bringing in talent with the Allocation Money raked in from multiple deals and signing players who will be part of the team’s new core.
“Sydney gave all she could for the club every time she pulled on the jersey. We want to thank her for everything she has done for both our team and our community,” Orlando Pride General Manager Ian Fleming said in a club press release. “We’ll miss having Sydney and her family here in Orlando, but we believe this trade is best for all parties. We wish Syd the best of luck in this next chapter.”
“I’d like to thank the club, the fans and the community for embracing me and my family over the past five seasons,” Leroux said in the club’s release. “We had many exciting memories and moments throughout my time here, and I always will remember my time in Orlando fondly.”
Leroux, 32, was acquired from the Utah Royals on Feb. 2, 2018 in exchange for a first-round pick in 2019. The club re-signed Leroux on Feb. 3, 2021 to a new three-year deal with a club option that could have kept her in Orlando through the 2024 season. At the time, it was the maximum length deal available to NWSL teams and its players in a league that didn’t often sign players for more than one to two seasons.
During her time in Orlando, Leroux made 63 appearances (54 starts) across all competitions, playing 4,936 minutes, while scoring 18 goals and adding five assists.
In her first season in Orlando, Leroux was the Pride’s top goal scorer, finding the net six times and adding two assists in 20 appearances (15 starts), missing just a few games due to an illness and a concussion. However, those six goals came in just four different matches. She led the team in shots on target and tied Morgan for the most shots, but more was expected and she earned a rating of 6.5 out of 10 from The Mane Land that season in our end-of-year Pride player grades.
For most of the 2019 season Leroux was on maternity leave while ushering her second child into the world. As a result, she appeared in just three matches that year (no starts) and played only 28 total minutes as she worked her way back. She did not score or assist on a goal or even register a shot attempt in her limited action. As a result of playing so few minutes, she did not qualify for a TML player grade for the 2019 season.
As the Pride played only in the NWSL Fall Series in 2020, Leroux didn’t see a lot of action the following year either, playing in three games (all starts) for a total of 270 minutes. She scored one goal with no assists.
The following year was Leroux’s best in Orlando. She scored one goal in four appearances in the 2021 NWSL Challenge Cup in all four of the club’s matches (all starts), playing 351 minutes. During the regular season, Leroux returned to the top of the Pride’s goal-scoring list, netting eight goals to go along with two assists in 23 of the team’s 24 games (all starts), logging 2,018 minutes. The Mane Land gave Leroux a good rating of 7 out of 10 for her 2021 campaign.
After a fairly quiet 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup (no goals or assists in three games — all starts — playing 270 minutes), Leroux was the Pride’s co-leader in goals so far in 2022, with just two, tying with Mikayla Cluff, adding one assist in her seven appearances (six starts), as she played 568 minutes.
It was thought that adding the forward to a roster featuring attacking talent like Marta and Alex Morgan would elevate the Pride the season after the club’s only NWSL playoff appearance — a one-and-done postseason that saw Orlando ousted by the Portland Thorns. Leroux was also a player that could provide some cover while some of the team’s attackers were away on international duty.
Rather than improving and becoming an even bigger contender for a league title in 2018, the Pride’s fortunes turned the other way. Orlando went just 8-10-6 that year, which included a six-game winless skid to close the season, burying any hopes of a second consecutive playoff appearance. The Pride were terrible in 2019, going just 4-16-4 and finishing that year on a seven-match skid (0-5-2). The 2020 Fall Series saw the team go 0-2-2 in four matches, running the winless streak to 0-7-4 and covering more than a full calendar year.
Orlando finally won again in the third match of the 2021 NWSL Challenge Cup, with Leroux providing the only goal in a 1-0 win over the Washington Spirit, snapping the club’s 0-8-5 record across all competitions. The Pride got off to a great start in the 2021 regular season, with a club-record, seven-match unbeaten streak to begin the year (4-0-3). The roof caved in a bit once rumblings surface of then-coach Marc Skinner entertaining the idea of returning to England to manage Manchester United. The team righted the ship a bit in midseason under interim coach Becky Burleigh, but again the Pride fizzled down the stretch, finishing with five consecutive losses to fall out of playoff contention and turn a 7-5-7 record into a dismal 7-10-7 campaign.
A poor 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup (0-4-2) indicated things weren’t likely going to get better, particularly after an off-season of unloading veteran players without bringing in proper reinforcements to replace them. But the team got off to a solid 2-1-1 mark to begin the regular season and things were potentially looking up until the suspension of Head Coach Amanda Cromwell and Assistant Coach Sam Greene.
What It Means for Orlando
As one of the veterans that the Pride didn’t move in the off-season, Leroux was one of the faces of the team in 2022 and, outside of Marta, who was injured during the Challenge Cup prior to the regular season, she was the highest profile player on the squad. On the field, Leroux’s work rate was an important part the Pride’s play. Losing her at this point in the season likely won’t make anything too much worse in the win/loss column. The team may score slightly fewer goals, but results are unlikely to change much until the roster can be improved.
For her part, Leroux has not finished at a high enough rate in 2022. She has gotten herself into good scoring positions with the ball several times this season in which she should have done better. During those moments, she’s either hit her shot directly at the goalkeeper’s chest or missed the net entirely. All strikers go through periods where they aren’t lethal enough, but the Pride needed more from a player of her stature.
The team seemed to fracture around the time of the Cromwell and Greene suspensions and results have gotten worse. In the wake of those suspensions, the club subsequently bought out the contract of defender Amy Turner, who had a solid 2021 season on the Pride’s back line but inexplicably couldn’t find her way onto the field in 2022. Speculation has run rampant that whatever Cromwell and Greene are being investigated for, it may have been related to Turner not being on the field. We won’t speculate on that in this space; however, it wasn’t a good look for the team when Leroux was liking fans’ social media posts asking why Turner wasn’t in the lineup in Chicago — a game for which the Pride had no center backs on the bench.
The thin Orlando roster now gets stretched even further without a player of Leroux’s caliber. That in itself isn’t a reason to keep a player if they are creating or enhancing divisiveness in the locker room — and I want to stress that we have no evidence (even circumstantial) that this was the case. The team will have even more available money to make roster improvements, but it’s worth noting that having Allocation Money or the means to add players hasn’t been the issue since the Wilf family took over ownership. The front office simply hasn’t gotten the job done, regardless of the reason.
The roster — at forward and elsewhere — is not likely to improve until the Cromwell situation is resolved. It’s much easier to bring in players if they know who who they’ll be playing for when they arrive. The Pride have a lot of holes to fill on the roster and the means to do it, which was true before trading Leroux, but the coaching situation makes things more difficult in the short term.
In the end, Orlando loses a player who led the team in scoring for both of the seasons in which she was available for most of the scheduled games. She was also popular with the fans, which won’t help the club with marketing efforts or ticket sales, although those effects might be minimal in the end.
Ultimately, this move will be judged by what the team adds with the resources it received — most notably the draft pick, for which the team will have to wait until 2024, unless it uses that asset to address needs sooner. Less obvious will be how the Allocation Money ends up being spent as it has simply been added to a growing pool that has yet to be used.
Orlando Pride
Orlando Pride vs. Angel City FC: Final Score 2-0 As Pride Are Dominated In California
The Pride returned to action from the summer break, falling 2-0 to Angel City.
The Orlando Pride (5-6-2, 17 points) returned from their month-long World Cup break, falling 2-0 to Angel City FC (5-6-1, 16 points) at BMO Field in Los Angeles, CA. A first-half goal by Maiara Niehues and a second-half strike by Sveindis Jonsdottir was the difference, although the game was thoroughly dominated by the hosts.
Pride Head Coach Seb Hines deployed his typical 4-2-3-1 formation in the team’s return to action. However, they were without Barbra Banda, who was out with a thigh injury. The back line in front of goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse was made up of Kerry Abello, Rafaelle, Cori Dyke, and Hailie Mace. Angelina and Ally Lemos were the defensive midfielders behind Jacquie Ovalle, Haley McCutcheon, and Luana with Julie Doyle up top.
This was one of the worst performances by the Pride this year. With Banda missing, the team was unable to get anything going offensively, alhough that might not have mattered as Orlando couldn’t get the ball out of its own end. The 2-0 scoreline is a generous one for the Pride, who could’ve easily lost by more.
Ally Sentnor, who joined Angel City during the break, tried to make something happen early during her debut. Inside the first minute, the U.S. international made a run to the top of the box before dribbling inside. The attacker struggled to find space before finally shooting, but Dyke was there to block the attempt.
The Pride had their first chance in the seventh minute when Rafaelle played a ball forward to Luana over the midfield stripe. The Brazilian took the space the defense gave her, dribbling near the top of the box before unleashing a shot. It initially appeared to be on target, but began curving, hitting the outside of the post and going out of play. That was about as close to scoring as Orlando came all night.
The hosts threatened to take the lead in the 14th minute when Jun Endo sent a dangerous ball into the six-yard box. Sentnor got on the end of it, but Dyke, Mace, and Moorhouse were all in front of the goal to keep it out.
Evelyn Shores received a pass on the left in the 17th minute before playing it to Endo, who was making an overlapping run. The Japanese international took a hard shot from a tight angle, but Moorhouse had her near post covered, catching the attempt.
In the 25th minute, Luana slid to keep possession from an Abello clearance, trying to play it back to McCutcheon. Unfortunately, it went straight to Jonsdottir instead. Jonsdottir immediately played the ball to Sentnor, who dribbled into the Pride box before sending a low shot wide of the far post.
Shores fought through a pair of defenders in the 31st minute to get the ball to Niehues. The Brazilian attempted a low cross that McCutcheon cleared but only to Shores at the top corner of the box. The left back took a touch around Mace to create space for a shot, sending her attempt over the target.
The Pride struggled to clear in the 35th minute when Sentnor played a ball to Endo, who was making an underlapping run. Angelina chested down Endo’s cross in an attempt to clear, but it didn’t go far. Gisele Thompson was able to tap it to Jonsdottir, whose shot went wide.
A minute later, the Pride were unable to clear again, resulting in the game’s opening goal. Dyke got in front of Thompson’s ball into the box, but she knocked it to Ary Borges, who took a shot that Dyke blocked again, but she failed to get it out of the box. The rebound fell straight to Niehues, who curled a shot out of Moorhouse’s reach and into the corner to give Angel City the 1-0 lead.
“You’ve got to defend the cross, so stop the cross. And then you’ve got to defend the cross, and we don’t quite clear our lines,” Hines said. “We talk about clearing it out of dangerous areas. It lands at Ary Borges. She has a shot, it deflects, and then we don’t close the next shot from Niehues. We speak about that a lot. The closer you are, the less chance they are of scoring, and we stood off them. They took that opportunity really well, but we feel that with our standard and our level, we should be doing better.”
The Pride continued to play on the back foot, defending desperately as Angel City created chances. In the 38th minute, Borges picked out Niehues near the top of the Pride box. The attacker shot as McCutcheon closed her down, sending her attempt wide of the near post.
Angel City continued on the attack, keeping the ball in the Pride half as they struggled to clear. In the 42nd minute, Jonsdottir tried to chip Moorhouse from outside the Pride box, but the Pride goalkeeper made the easy catch.
Angelina took the ball away from Borges in the first minute of first-half stoppage time 30 yards from goal. The midfielder lifted an overly ambitious attempt toward Angel City goalkeeper Angelina Anderson for her team’s second shot of the game. However, it didn’t cause any trouble.
It was a dominant 45 minutes for Angel City. While the Pride had more possession (54%-46%), most of it was in their own half. The hosts had more shots (10-2), shots on target (3-0), crosses (10-3), and corner kicks (2-0). Both teams completed 77% of their passes in the first half.
Hines made a pair of changes during the break as his team looked to get back into the game. Marta and Nicole Payne entered the contest for Luana and Mace. Despite the changes, it was Angel City that continued to be the more threatening team.
A poor Orlando clearance in the 47th minute allowed Shores to keep the ball in the Pride third. She found Carina Lageyre near the top of the box, but the shot was right at Moorhouse.
The Pride won a throw-in in the 55th minute that quickly turned into a disaster. McCutcheon played the ball back for Rafaelle, who was immediately put under pressure from Jonsdottir. The Icelandic international blocked the defender’s pass and sprinted to the end line before beating Moorhouse from a tight angle to give the hosts a 2-0 lead.
“It starts with a throw-in. So the ability to keep possession from a throw-in is really important,” Hines said. “You know, we have a couple of objectives from that, and it’s just details, right? Weighted pass, make your choice to the correct forward. If you’re going to go long, you’ll sort of take away the deflection from the forward. So yeah, another moment where we felt we’re in control, and we give them an opportunity to counter and go straight to goal from that.”
Hines made two more changes in the 62nd minute, replacing Abello and Ovalle with Zara Chavoshi and Solai Washington.
As the game entered the final 20 minutes, the Pride started to gain more possession and create more chances in the final third. However, they still were unable to create any clear-cut opportunities or cause Anderson any trouble.
In the 77th minute, a pass to Lemos hit the referee, causing a stoppage in play. Hines took the opportunity to make his final change, replacing Rafaelle with Hannah Anderson.
Neither team had taken a shot since the 55th-minute goal, when Angel City created a chance in the 78th minute. A long goal kick by Anderson bounced over Chavoshi’s head, allowing Endo to get into the Pride third. She shot from outside the box, forcing Moorhouse to dive to her right and make the stop.
The Pride finally got their first shot on target in the 80th minute when Washington flicked a long ball forward and fought through a pair of defenders. She dribbled into the box from the left and fired for the near post, where Anderson was waiting to block the ball out of play.
Anderson came out to punch away the ensuing corner kick, running over Chavoshi. The ball went toward her own goal, forcing Sarah Gorden to head it off the line. McCutcheon tapped the ball back to Angelina at the top of the box and the midfielder sent it back in. It fell for Anderson behind the back line at the top of the six-yard box, but Shores was able to stick a foot in and clear it over the end line. Angel City cleared the second corner kick and ended the threat.
As the game entered two minutes of stoppage time, Chavoshi sent a low cross to the top of the six, where Washington was making a run. The second-half substitute tried to backheel the ball on goal, not getting much on it and allowing Anderson to make the easy stop. That was the final chance for either team as Angel City saw out the victory.
The Pride ended the game with more possession (57%-43%) and better passing accuracy (79%-75%), but Angel City led in every other statistical category. The hosts had more shots (15-4), shots on target (6-1), crosses (18-11), and corner kicks (5-3).
“Never good enough to lose a game 2-0,” Hines said. “Two things in this league that you have to deal with, one is direct play. You have to deal with teams who are going to be really aggressive and try to get back to front really quickly. And you have to be prepared for transition. We can’t allow gifts in this league, and we gave Angel City two gifts. And they capitalized on those moments. We had some good possession, but didn’t create anything up until probably the last 10 minutes of the game.”
“Definitely frustrated, disappointed,” Dyke added. “We know that was nowhere near our best night, but we’ve just got to learn from it and then turn the page, because we know we have (another) big game coming up as well.”
The loss keeps the Pride in eighth, one point ahead of Angel City. To make matters worse, they’ve played a game or two more than all the teams around them, so they could fall down the standings in the near future.
The Pride will have to put this game behind them quickly as they return home to face the Kansas City Current on July 10.
Orlando Pride
Orlando Pride vs. Angel City FC: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
The Pride return to action tonight as they head back to the West Coast to face Angel City in Los Angeles.
Welcome to your match preview as the Orlando Pride (5-5-2, 17 points) return to action, facing Angel City FC (4-6-1, 13 points) in Los Angeles. This is the second and final time these two teams will meet during the 2026 NWSL regular season.
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 nine times. The Pride are 5-2-2 in those games, all in NWSL regular-season play. While the Pride are only 2-1-2 at home, they’re 3-1-0 in Los Angeles.
The most recent matchup between these two teams took place on April 3 in Orlando. Haley McCutcheon gave the Pride the lead in the 84th minute, but the game appeared headed for a devastating draw when Gisele Thompson equalized two minutes into stoppage time. However, McCutcheon came to the rescue again, scoring in the eighth minute of stoppage time to secure a 2-1 win for the hosts.
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. 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 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 Alyssa 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 just 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 are in the middle of their most challenging season in three years. They’ve struggled defensively following the trade of Sams and an injury to Kerry Abello that’s kept her out for most of the season so far. They’ve also struggled to score outside of Banda, though that’s been the case the last couple of seasons.
The team hit its lowest point in mid-May, losing back-to-back games to expansion sides Boston Legacy FC and Denver Summit FC. But the Pride bounced back strongly, defeating San Diego Wave FC 1-0 away and Bay FC 3-1 at home, creating some momentum heading into the World Cup break.
There were a lot of questions about how Banda would return this season after suffering a season-ending injury last year. But she’s been dominant, leading the league in scoring with 11 goals and in shots on target with 27. She has a commanding four-goal lead in the race for the scoring title.
Defensively, the team has struggled at times, notably giving up seven goals in two games as the calendar turned from April to May. But Head Coach Seb Hines made a good decision to switch Hailie Mace and Cori Dyke, moving Mace back to her natural right back position and Dyke to center back. In the five games since, the Pride have conceded three times once, twice once, and recorded two clean sheets.
Tonight, the Pride return to action as they head back out to the West Coast to face Angel City FC. The Southern California-based team sits 12th in the NWSL standings on 13 points, four behind the Pride for the final playoff spot. That makes tonight’s game crucial as we near the midway point in the season.
While the Pride come into this game on a two-game winning streak, Angel City has lost its last two. Tonight’s hosts fell 2-1 to the Houston Dash away and 2-1 to the North Carolina Courage at home. However, these teams haven’t played since the end of May, so it’s difficult to say how much that form will affect them tonight.
Unlike the Pride, Angel City has spread out its goals this year. While the club doesn’t have anyone challenging for the golden boot, Gisele Thompson, Maiara Niehues, and Sveindis Jonsdottir all lead the team with three goals. Kennedy Fuller is right behind with two.
The assists are also spread out, with Evelyn Shores, Jonsdottir, and Fuller all tied on two. Five other players are just behind with one each.
Defensively, Angel City has remained consistent with its back line, which consists of Shores, Sarah Gorden, Sams, and Gisele Thompson. Meanwhile, Anderson continues to be the team’s number one choice at goalkeeper.
However, Angel City has been busy since it last played. On June 17, the club traded Fuller to Bay FC for transfer funds and allocation funds. The same day, it fired Head Coach Alex Straus, handing the reins to Assistant Coach Leif Gunnar Smerud on an interim basis.
The following day, the LA-based side agreed to a trade with the Kansas City Current for U.S. international Ally Sentnor, sending $850,000 in intraleague transfer funds the other way.
“There’s a lot of unknowns with a new coach coming in, new feelings, new vibes. They’re not content about where they are in the league, so they’ll be wanting to move up,” Hines said about tonight’s game. “I think looking at personnel can tell you a lot about how they play. They have some great athletes in their team. They’ve got a very quick back line. When the availability comes out, that can also tell you a lot about how they’re going to play. They’ve got some key personnel missing out on the last couple of games. So that’s also important to take into account. They’ve got some players coming back from injury. So, we’ll analyze it when we get the availability report. But it’s also about ourselves. We’ve been working hard these last three weeks on being back to who we are, and it’s going to be great to be tested in LA in front of their own crowd. And I know everyone’s really itching to get back onto the field. So we want to set the tone early on in the game and hopefully we can set that out to the final whistle and come home with three points.”
The Pride will take the field tonight without Banda (thigh), Kylie Nadaner (maternity leave), Oihane (lower leg), and Villacorta (knee). Angel City will be without Prisca Chilufya (knee), Savy King (foot), Leroux (excused absence), and Hina Sugita (knee).
Official Lineups
Orlando Pride (4-2-3-1)
Goalkeeper: Anna Moorhouse.
Defenders: Kerry Abello, Rafaelle, Cori Dyke, Hailie Mace.
Defensive Midfielders: Angelina, Ally Lemos.
Attacking Midfielders: Jacquie Ovalle, Haley McCutcheon, Luana.
Forward: Julie Doyle.
Bench: Cosette Morche, Hannah Anderson, Solai Washington, Zara Chavoshi, Seven Castain, Summer Yates, Simone Jackson, Nicole Payne, Marta.
Angel City FC (4-3-3)
Goalkeeper: Angelina Anderson.
Defenders: Evelyn Shores, Sarah Gorden, Emily Sams, Gisele Thompson.
Midfielders: Ally Sentnor, Carina Lageyre, Ary Borges.
Forward: Jun Endo, Sveindis Jonsdottir, Maiara Niehues.
Bench: Karsyn Cherry, Claire Emslie, Nealy Martin, Sophia Mattice, Faith Nguyen, Casey Phair, Hannah Seabert, Taylor Suarez, Riley Tiernan.
Referees
REF: Mark Verso.
AR1: Bruno Rizo.
AR2: Alexandra Arita.
4TH: Trevor Wiseman.
VAR: Joshua Encarnacion.
AVAR: Melissa Beck.
How to Watch
Match Time: 10 p.m.
Venue: BMO Stadium — Los Angeles, CA.
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!
Orlando Pride
Orlando Pride vs. Angel City FC: Three Keys to Victory
What do the Pride need to do to earn all three points against Angel City?
The Orlando Pride are back in action Friday night against Angel City FC at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. It’s been over a month since we’ve seen any NWSL regular-season matches, and I am excited for the season to resume. The Pride were on a two-match winning streak before the break and will want to regain that momentum. What must the Pride do to earn all three points against Angel City?
Shake off the Rust
The Pride last played a competitive match on May 29. That essentially makes this break another off-season. That is a good thing and a bad thing. It’s a good thing because the Pride definitely needed to work on some issues, especially on the defensive end. It’s a bad thing because the team had won two in a row. Getting back to full match speed after a month can be a challenge.
Fortunately, it’s a challenge that Angel City shares. Angel City was probably grateful for the break given the team was 1-3-1 in its last five matches and had dropped two straight before the break. Both teams will need to shake off some rust, and whichever team is able to do so more quickly and more effectively will have an advantage.
Banda-less Scoring
As we heard on SkoPurp Soccer: An Orlando Pride PawedCast, Seb Hines is being cautious when speaking about Barbra Banda’s availability for this match. That may indeed be the case, or Hines may be playing coy about the Pride striker’s availability. If it’s the former, then the Pride need to find goals without the league-leading scorer on the pitch.
There’s a good chance we’ll see Marta and Jacquie Ovalle on the pitch at the same time. While it would be better to have Banda out there for those two to feed, I’ll take defenses having to deal with them coming from either side of the box any day. It may be that they are able to play off each other to create and finish the chances the Pride need to win the match. Of course, I won’t argue with other Orlando attackers getting in on the fun.
Clean (Moor)house
The Pride have four clean sheets so far this season despite the defense not looking as solid as it has in the past. I’m hopeful that the team used the break to figure out the best back line with the available players. The Pride are still missing a true center back to pair with Rafaelle, though Cori Dyke has been adequate in recent matches. Angel City added Ally Sentnor to the roster and her first match for the club is against the Pride. It’s important for the defense to stop her, as she will want to put on a show in her debut.
Anna Moorhouse needs to switch back on. Statistically, she was one of the NWSL’s best goalkeepers during the 2024 season. That is not the case this season, as Andrew DeSalvo outlined in our subscriber newsletter. Moorhouse has a chance to get things back on the right track following the break, and it starts with a clean sheet against Angel City Friday.
That is what I will be looking for on Friday night. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Vamos Orlando!
Orlando Pride vs. Angel City FC: Final Score 2-0 As Pride Are Dominated In California
Orlando Pride vs. Angel City FC: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
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