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Orlando Pride vs. North Carolina Courage: Final Score 3-0 as Pride Shut Out for Third Straight Game

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3 years ago

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The Orlando Pride (5-9-6, 21 points) fell 3-0 to the North Carolina Courage (8-8-4, 28 points) in their penultimate home game of the season, continuing their free fall with a fourth consecutive loss and the third straight without scoring. The visitors were led by their Brazilian star, Debinha, who scored a brace and assisted Tess Boade’s late first-half goal.

Pride Interim Head Coach Seb Hines made seven changes from the team that lost 2-0 to Racing Louisville over the weekend. Erin McLeod returned to the lineup for the first time in three games after sitting out due to concussion protocol. Mikayla Cluff had been starting in place of the injured Viviana Villacorta but was out for this game with an ankle injury. Ally Watt received her first start as a member of the Pride and Carrie Lawrence returned to the starting lineup in place of Toni Pressley.

The back line in front of McLeod consisted of Kylie Strom, Lawrence, Megan Montefusco, and Celia. Haley Hanson played as the six with Leah Pruitt, Gunny Jonsdottir, and Jordyn Listro in front of her. The team went with two up top in this game in Kerry Abello and Watt.

While there were noticeable changes in the lineup, the biggest move was Hanson playing in the midfield. She’s played that position before, but has spent her NWSL career as an outside back.

“We knew that she (Hanson) was capable of playing that position and she was more than willing to do it,” Hines said about playing Hanson further up field. “We were short on midfield options. Viviana’s been out and then Mikayla picked up an injury, so we had to get someone to fill that hole.”

While the Pride were already eliminated from playoff contention coming into this game, the Courage are still fighting for a playoff spot. The two teams played to their situations as the Pride looked defeated for most of the game and the Courage played with hunger.

The Pride got the first chance of the game inside the first minute off a North Carolina mistake. Merritt Mathias tried to make a simple pass to Kaleigh Kurtz but it was off target, allowing Pruitt to take control. Instead of going for goal, the forward played it across for Watt, who sent a low cross through the box. However, nobody could get on the end of it.

“It’s a moment where Haley Hanson gets the ball, she gets a cross, it deflects, and Ally’s there,” Hines said about the early chance. “It was a tap-in moment.”

Just a minute later, the Courage opened the scoring. Kurtz played a long ball forward looking for Debinha. Montefusco had a bead on the ball and it looked like she would clear. But the header went to where Debinha was running through instead of outside. McLeod was caught on the right side of the six-yard box, expecting the header to come her way. Instead, it continued on for Debinha who tapped it in, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead.

“Obviously, unlucky to start,” Hanson said about conceding so early. “And that’s kind of been the theme of, I would say the last couple games. Just unlucky.”

The Courage had another chance in the fifth minute when Debinha attempted to send Boade through. It looked like the midfielder would get a shot on goal, but Lawrence did well to get in the way and block it out of play.

In the 12th minute, Debinha played a nice ball down the right for Rikke Madsen. It appeared that the forward’s ball into the box was behind everyone, but Boade came back for it and got a shot off from near the penalty spot. It didn’t look as though Lawrence was aware of the situation, but she was in the right place at the right time as the ball bounced off her, allowing the Pride to clear.

As the half continued, the rains came in, soaking the field. It rained hard for a good period of the first half before lightening up as the game approached halftime. Once the rain arrived, the chances became fewer for both teams.

In the 28th minute, Watt had a chance to the left of goal but her shot hit the side netting and the assistant raised the flag for offside anyway. Eight minutes later, a turnover by Meredith Speck created a chance for the hosts. Jonsdottir played the ball forward for Pruitt, providing a chance in the box, but the shot was wide of the near post.

There was only one minute of first-half stoppage time but that was enough for the Courage to double their lead. Abello carried the ball across the field and looked to pass to Jonsdottir, but the ball was behind her and was taken away by Boade. The midfielder immediately played it forward to Debinha, who flicked it on for Boade, who continued her run into the box. The midfielder slipped the ball past McLeod, giving the Courage a 2-0 lead with almost the last touch of the first half.

“It’s a punch in the face, really,” Hines said about conceding so late in the first half. “Because I felt like we were growing into that, let’s say, second half of the first half of the game. And we had good momentum. We started to have more courage and bravery on the ball and it just came at such a bad time for us. You go into halftime 1-0 down you go, ‘We can go. We can get after them,’ and that was our message as well. It’s only 2-0. Stranger things have happened. We’ve been here where we were 2-0 down in the 90th minute and managed to get a tie. So yeah, it was disappointing to concede so late on, but like I said, it’s a game, it happens, and you get to recognize who we are in that moment as well.”

After 45 minutes, the Courage had more possession (61%-39%), shots (5-4), shots on target (3-0), and corners (1-0). Both teams had five crosses in the first half of play.

The start of the second half was similar to the start of the first half with a flurry of chances taking place. In the 50th minute, Darian Jenkins, who came on at halftime for Abello, found Watt in the box. The forward turned and shot but it was right at Courage goalkeeper Casey Murphy.

Three minutes later, Montefusco knocked a Courage cross out of play for a corner kick. The ensuing corner was cleared to the far side by Celia, but fell to Debinha. The first-half goal scorer had Speck and Boade at the far post and sent the ball in that direction. Whether it was a cross or a shot, the ball sailed over the defensive players and landed inside the far post for her second goal of the game, giving North Carolina a commanding 3-0 lead.

Hines made an attacking pair of changes in the 60th minute, looking for a spark to get the team back into the game. Erika Tymrak came on for Watt and Meggie Dougherty Howard entered the game for Celia.

Just after the substitutions, North Carolina nearly made it four. Jaelene Daniels sent a long ball down the left for Boade but Montefusco beat her to it. However, Montefusco sent a weak pass for either McLeod or Lawrence, allowing Boade to win it back. She shot for the far post from close distance, but McLeod stuck her foot out and knocked it away.

On the other end, Jenkins found enough space to take shots for herself. After the Pride only took two shots in the first 45 minutes, Jenkins took three in her first 20 minutes on the field. However, only one of those three shots was on target and it was right at Murphy.

In the 71st minute, the Pride brought on 18-year-old striker Haley Bugeja. The teenager was signed by the club on July 1 but this was her first appearance for the team. Her debut made her the fourth-youngest player to enter a game in NWSL history.

“I’m just happy to get my first game out of the way obviously,” Bugeja said about her debut. “It’s quite a surreal moment for me and I’m sure my family back home are watching, even though it’s like two in the morning for them. I’m just super happy and hopefully now we can kick on and obviously I’m very grateful for the faith that Seb has showed in me.”

The Pride nearly got one back in the 72nd minute when Tymrak found space from the right side of the box and shot on goal. The shot forced Murphy to tip it over the bar, giving the Pride their first corner kick of the night. The ensuing corner resulted in a chance for Dougherty Howard, but her attempt was off target, allowing the Courage to clear.

The Courage nearly got a fourth goal in the 84th minute when a good buildup set up substitute Brittany Ratcliffe for a chance. Brianna Pinto’s pass to Boade was quickly flicked forward for Ratcliffe. The substitute timed her run perfectly, getting behind the Pride defense for a shot. She aimed for the far post but missed just wide.

The Pride had some chances in the final minutes but were unable to get anything on target. Meanwhile, the Courage played to see out the game, holding onto possession in the dominating win.

In the end, the Courage had more possession (60%-40%), shots on target (5-4), and corners (5-2). The Pride had more shots (16-8), but only four of those shots were on target. The number of off-target shots was a big factor in this game as the Pride had nine shots off target and the Courage only had one off frame.

“Defined by three moments really,” Hines said after the game. “It’s always difficult when you go down a goal so early on, but I felt like we didn’t really get out of control. I didn’t think the game really got away from us. I mean, it was defined by a couple of moments that North Carolina took. And we had chances. We had chances to attack and get something on frame and could be a completely different result if we take them moments.”

After their seven-game unbeaten run, the Pride have now lost four consecutive games and three of those games were at Exploria Stadium. They’ve been outscored in those four games 8-1, failing to get on the scoreboard in the last three.

The Pride will look to end their losing streak on Sunday night when they welcome San Diego Wave FC to Exploria Stadium for their final home game of the 2022 NWSL season.

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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.

Published

3 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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