The Orlando Pride hosted the Seattle Reign for the second consecutive weekend and there was a lot more on the line the second time. The Pride scored a well-worked goal in the opening 21 minutes, defended like hell, and rode the sheer force of Marta’s will to a late insurance goal to beat the Seattle Reign 2-0 at home Friday to advance to the NWSL playoff semifinals. It was a match reminiscent of last year’s playoff run with Haley McCutcheon opening the scoring and the Pride putting the clamps on the opposition’s offense.

We look back at a huge win in the playoff opener, McCutcheon going full McClutcheon, Marta’s refusal to be denied, and the emotional finish with Luana’s first Orlando Pride goal to cap things off. We also checked back on our score predictions and made our selections for Player of the Match.

After our Seattle playoff rewind, we dive into a gigantic mailbagbox. Our listeners wanted to know how embarrassed the Kansas City Current should be after losing at home to Gotham FC, whether Seb Hines was snubbed for an end-of-season award, who the Pride should court for a leg sleeve sponsor, whether a certain former-player-turned-pundit should shut up, 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.

After our mailbagbox, we previewed Sunday’s semifinal match at home against Gotham FC. The Pride fell into a second postseason home match in the 2025 playoffs, and now they have an opportunity to take advantage of playing in front of their own fans with a trip to a second straight league final on the line. Gotham isn’t a normal No. 8 seed, so there’s no room for taking Sunday’s visitors lightly, especially after they ousted the seemingly unbeatable Current.

We look at the series history, provide our key matchups, and try our best to predict 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 109 went down:

0:15 – The Pride put a crooked number on the board Friday and didn’t allow a goal, so based on that math, you can surmise Orlando won its playoff game over Seattle. We discuss it.

19:53 – Our mailbagbox is absolutely supersized and presents a lot of questions and comments at the expense of the Kansas City Current.

46:51 – Gotham slew the dragon in Kansas City and will visit the Pride on Sunday in the NWSL semifinals. We preview.

We may be in our off-season schedule here on The Mane Land PawedCast, but as promised, we are back when there is news, so here we are. For this episode, we open with a discussion of Alex Freeman’s year-end awards, with the 21-year-old fullback picking up MLS Young Player of the Year and becoming the first Lion to grace the MLS Best XI. It’s been a phenomenal breakout season for Freeman, who was also just recently called up again by the USMNT, so Orlando fans can hop on I-4 and go see him play in Tampa later this month.

After our Freeman discussion, we chatted about the Lions who were called up for the November FIFA window, including four players at the youth level. There was a time not long abo when Orlando City academy players weren’t getting a sniff by the youth national teams, but those days are in the past. Congrats to Tahir Reid-Brown, Justin Ellis, Colin Guske, and Jacob Ramirez.

David Brekalo and Tyrese Spicer will also be with their national teams in the upcoming window.

This week’s mailbagbox asked about whether Michael Halliday should get another look from Orlando after being let go by Houston, 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.

Finally, we discussed Pedro Gallese’s departure from Orlando City. El Pulpo was one of the faces of the franchise for the past six seasons and it’s hard to imagine anyone else being the No. 1 for the Lions, but that’s the new reality. In addition to reminiscing about Gallese’s play, we talked about how he’s almost certainly going to have his name in the Legends Terrace in the future, and we pontificated about where he’ll turn up next. We also discussed Orlando City being at a crossroads on the backend, as the team not only needs to replace Gallese, but Rodrigo Schlegel and a pair of defensive midfielders are out of contract, Robin Jansson has an option year remaining, and so does Eduard Atuesta. Plus, Freeman will be courted by European teams, so the back half of the lineup could look extremely different in 2026.

Note: we are now in our off-season podcast schedule, which is guaranteed to give you at least one episode per month but we will only be weekly if/when news warrants it.

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. 511 went down:

0:15 – Alex Freeman broke out in just about every way imaginable: MLS All-Star, MLS Best XI, Young Player of the Year, and now getting regular call-ups by the USMNT. Deservedly so.

14:52 – You get a guest voice in this week’s mailbagbox!

29:38 – We will miss your time-wasting antics and your spectacular saves, El Pulpo.

The Orlando Pride hosted the Seattle Reign Sunday on the final matchday of the 2025 NWSL regular season. The Reign spoiled things by scoring just three minutes after Orlando’s late goal, preventing the Pride from finishing third. However, the club still managed to snare a top-four position in the final standings. As a result, these same teams will play Friday in the NWSL playoff quarterfinals.

We discuss the Decision Day matchup, including the last-minute change Seb Hines had to make at the top of his formation, Orlando’s continuing struggle to score goals, and the decisive plays late in the game. We also looked back at our score predictions and make our selections for Player of the Match.

After our Seattle rewind, we dive into our mailbagbox. Our listeners wanted to know about Carson Pickett at striker, which team we don’t want to win the NWSL championship, 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.

After our mailbagbox, we discuss the NWSL playoff bracket, which does not include re-seeding after the quarterfinals. As a result, top seed Kansas City, should it win, will face either the No. 4 or No. 5 seed in the semifinals, even if the Nos. 6 and 7 seeds pull off upsets on the other side of the bracket. Is that fair? We think not. We’re not weeping for the Current, but we know we wouldn’t like it if it happened to Orlando.

Finally, we chat about Friday’s playoff game. The schedule forces Seattle to choose between flying back and forth across the country before Friday or staying on the road in Orlando. We know the teams just played, but we still have your key matchups and score predictions for the match.

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 108 went down:

0:15 – As has been the most common result between the teams, the Pride and Reign split the points. These teams historically haven’t liked picking a winner when they square off. If that happens Friday, it’ll mean a penalty shootout.

22:33 – Our mailbagbox has questions about ChatGPT and other stuff.

32:32 – Pride and Reign Round 3 has much more on the line than the first two rounds.