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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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4 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

Orlando Pride vs. Portland Thorns FC: Final Score 4-1 as Pride Get Punished at Home

Pride see short unbeaten run snapped at home as Thorns overrun Orlando’s defense to hand Yolanda Thomas her first loss.

Published

3 days ago

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September 19, 2026

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Image of Solai Washington playing the ball against Portland.
Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

The Orlando Pride (9-13-3, 30 points) were undone by a slow start, profligate finishing, poor defending, and a pair of late daggers in a 4-1 home loss to the Portland Thorns FC (12-7-6, 42 points) on Saturday at Inter.co Stadium. If not for a few vital saves, a post, and a few misses, the final score could have been a lot worse for a Pride team that missed several chances as well.

Nina Nijstad’s third-minute opener and a Sophia Wilson penalty put Portland up two goals inside the first half hour, and although Ally Lemos pulled one back before the break, the Thorns pulled away for good in the final 20 minutes on goals from Morgan Weaver and Renee Lyles.

Orlando Pride interim head coach Yolanda Thomas sent the Pride out in a 4-2-3-1, with goalkeeper Cosette Morché behind a back line of Hailie Mace, Hannah Anderson, Cori Dyke, and Oihane. Haley McCutcheon and Ally Lemos served as the defensive midfielders, with Solai Washington, Luana, and Summer Yates taking up the attacking midfield roles and Barbra Banda up top.

The match opened with some early back-and-forth, though the visitors started much more quickly and were more dangerous. Dyke conceded a corner just seconds after the opening kickoff, and Morché took a shot to the back while claiming the delivery with no foul given. Orlando tried to respond moments later when Oihane whipped in a cross looking for Banda, but the Spaniard sent her effort too close to Portland goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold.

Portland broke through late in the third minute. Wilson played a cutback into the middle, and a wide-open Nijstad fired it home from outside the box as the Pride back line got itself pulled apart to make it 1-0.

Orlando had a golden chance to answer almost immediately. In the sixth minute, Washington created space and squared the ball for McCutcheon from close range, but Reyna Reyes got across to block the shot before it could reach Arnold, denying a good opportunity.

Banda tested the Thorns defense again in the 11th minute, latching onto a pass from McCutcheon and firing from just outside the box, but she sent her shot right at Arnold.

McCutcheon turned the ball over in the 14th minute, and Morché had to come up with a save on a shot from the top of the box to keep the score at 1-0. Portland kept coming. Wilson forced two saves out of Morché in the 17th and 18th minutes to keep the deficit at one goal.

Reilyn Turner beat Mace down the right flank in the 20th minute to win a corner, which Jessie Fleming delivered. Anderson headed it clear.

The match turned in the 25th minute. Jayden Perry hauled down Banda to stop a clear run in behind, and while Orlando felt the challenge deserved more than a caution, referee Elvis Osmanovic showed only yellow. Banda would have had a step on the other center back and would easily have reached the ball first, but the decision stood at just a yellow. The Pride could do nothing with the long-range set piece.

Two minutes later, Caiya Hanks charged into the box down the left, and Oihane made a foolish decision to go to ground and lunge at the ball, catching Hanks and conceding a penalty. Wilson converted in the 28th minute, doubling Portland’s lead to 2-0.

Orlando players huddled after the penalty and seemed to wake up — a bit late — playing well for the rest of the half. The Pride answered Wilson’s penalty kick goal two minutes later. Washington cut in from the left and squared the ball across the top of the area for Lemos, whose first-touch strike curled inside the top-left corner. Arnold got a hand to it but couldn’t keep it out, and it was 2-1 in the 30th minute on a play that looked similar to Portland’s opening goal.

The Pride searched for a quick equalizer. Yates headed a McCutcheon cross just wide of the right post in the 32nd minute, and Oihane survived a scare a minute later when she lost possession to Hanks in her defensive end, but the Pride recovered before any damage was done. Washington nearly created another chance in the 34th minute, but her cross was too high for Banda.

Yates forced another save out of Arnold in the 35th minute, drilling a high shot the goalkeeper tipped over the bar for a corner. She delivered the resulting set piece herself, but Portland cleared the danger. Two minutes later, Orlando worked a good move down the right through Oihane, but McCutcheon’s eventual effort from the top of the box lacked the pace to trouble Arnold.

Banda drew a foul well outside the box in the 39th minute — Perry’s second foul on her of the afternoon — setting up a free kick that Arnold punched clear.

Oihane won a corner in the 41st minute. That led to a deflection off McCutcheon that Arnold easily collected. Yates was run over at the top of the box in the 45th minute with no whistle, and if there was a second look by the video assistant referee, it was a quick one.

Despite three first-half goals, including a long delay for a penalty, the first half ended after just one minute of stoppage time with Portland ahead, 2-1.

The Pride led in shots (9-7) and possession (54%-46%), while the Thorns held the edge in shots on goal (7-5), and passing accuracy (88%-87%). Both teams won two corners.

Portland came out the sharper side to start the second half, much like the first. Hanks tested Morché from outside the area in the 46th minute, and the goalkeeper answered with a diving save to keep the deficit at one.

Orlando had a couple of half-chances of its own soon after — a tight-angle Washington effort that was palmed away, and Yates’ follow-up attempt that was blocked — before a whistle went against Banda in the box to end the sequence in the 47th minute.

Orlando nearly broke clear in the 50th minute when Banda ran onto a Yates pass and reached the end line, but her cutback deflected off a teammate and the chance died.

Wilson fired wide two minutes later at the end of a Portland transition.

Banda was fouled again in the 54th minute as Fleming went through the back of her just outside the Portland box. She needed treatment before continuing. Luana stepped up to the resulting free kick in the 57th minute, but it deflected off Weaver in the wall and out for a corner. A foul by Washington wasted the ensuing set piece.

Thomas then made a double substitution, sending on Angelina and Jacquie Ovalle for Luana and Yates.

Washington drove past her defender and into the box from the left in the 61st minute, but her effort drifted wide right, as Orlando was more wasteful in the second half.

Orlando kept pressing. Washington won a corner in the 66th minute after driving down the left and forcing a deflection behind. Ovalle’s delivery off the ensuing corner drew a lengthy review for a potential handball in the box. After a long look, no penalty was given, and the sequence continued as a corner.

Marta entered for Lemos in the 69th minute, and Orlando strung together a flurry of set pieces. Anderson rose for a header at the back post and put her shot on goal, but it was right over Arnold, who tipped it over for another corner. Ovalle’s follow-up effort on the next delivery was blocked and out of play rather than finding the target.

Portland nearly doubled its cushion back to two in the 71st minute when Wilson got a shot away, but Oihane made a vital block to deny her.

Washington then made another good individual move to create a look in the 73rd minute but yet again she couldn’t direct her effort on target, missing wide again.

Portland got its insurance goal in the 74th minute. Following a turnover, Anderson gave Weaver too much space, and she struck a well-taken effort from long range into the upper-right corner past Morche.

Orlando kept probing — Ovalle fired wide in the 76th minute off a Marta pass — but Portland was always a threat on the counter. Lyles picked up a yellow card in the 78th minute for a hard foul on Dyke, and Wilson fired off target a minute later after another Orlando giveaway.

The Pride caught a break in the 80th minute, but it only prevented the final score from being worse. Wilson got in behind, rounded Morché after the goalkeeper came off her line, and looked certain to score into an empty net. However, the USWNT star fired her shot off the left post. The rebound came back to her but struck her arm before she could get another shot away, and the handball ended the threat.

Washington won a corner at the other end in the 81st minute, and Marta’s delivery found Anderson at the back post, but the defender’s header sailed over, handing Portland a goal kick on another chance that went wanting.

Thomas made her final double change in the 84th minute, sending on Rafaelle and Kerry Abello for Anderson and Oihane, with Perry fouling Banda yet again just after the switch, and again there was no second yellow card shown to the Portland defender.

If the game wasn’t already out of Orlando’s reach, Portland pmade sure of it in the 88th minute. A poor Orlando throw-in — the cause of multiple Pride turnovers in the match — gave the ball straight back to the Thorns, and Wilson slipped a pass in behind for Lyles to run onto behind Dyke and Mace. Lyles’ finish made it 4-1.

Washington had one more go, firing a shot straight at Arnold in the 89th minute.

Morché then denied Weaver in the 90th as Portland continued to carve through a tiring Orlando back line. Three minutes of stoppage time were added, during which Angelina wasted a free kick, Orlando had a late attempt blocked, and Morché produced one final save to turn away a close-range effort during a late Portland break, sending it behind for a corner in the match’s closing seconds.

Portland dominated on the scoreboard, but Orlando finished with the advantage in possession (53%-47%), shots (19-17), and corners (8-4). Portland held a big edge in shots on target (13-6) and a slight advantage in passing accuracy (85%-83%).

“It’s a tough result,” Thomas said after the match. “In the end, we made some decisions to try to get a win because we need three points, so we weren’t too worried about risking potentially getting scored on. Obviously, that didn’t work out for us, but I think probably the biggest disappointment is we have momentum and we don’t take advantage of those times in the game, and then it punishes us.”

The Pride head out west to take on Bay FC on Sunday, Sept. 27.

Michael Citro also contributed to this story.

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Orlando Pride

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

The Pride look to build on their recent run of points as they welcome the Portland Thorns to Orlando.

Published

4 days ago

on

September 19, 2026

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Justin Glatt

Welcome to your match preview and live thread as the Orlando Pride (9-12-3, 30 points) welcome the Portland Thorns (11-7-6, 39 points) to Inter.co Stadium. This is the second and final time the two teams will meet during the NWSL regular season.

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

History

The Pride have struggled historically against the Thorns with a record of 5-16-2 in 23 games (5-15-2 in league play and 0-1-0 in the playoffs). Orlando is 4-5-2 at home in the series.

The most recent meeting between the two teams came on Aug. 15 in Portland. The hosts took the lead just before the hour mark when Deyna Castellanos caught Anna Moorhouse off her line. The Pride equalized five minutes later when an Oihane cross bounced around, eventually going off Jacquie Ovalle and in. It looked like the game would end in a draw until Caiya Hanks beat Moorhouse from distance in stoppage time, giving Portland the 2-1 win.

The first meeting of 2025 took place on May 3 in Oregon. The difference was a nice goal by Reyna Reyes, who made a turn to create space and put her shot past Anna Moorhouse to give the Thorns a 1-0 win. The last meeting in Orlando happened on Oct. 10, 2025. In second-half stoppage time, Mallie McKenzie redirected in a Marta corner kick for an own goal, lifting the Pride to a 1-0 win.

The first game in 2024 took place May 24 in Orlando. It was the Barbra Banda show as the Pride striker scored two goals 10 minutes apart, giving her team a 2-0 halftime lead. Izzy D’Aquila got one back for the visitors, but it wasn’t enough as the Pride won 2-1.

The Pride secured the NWSL Shield the game before the match between these two teams on Oct. 11, 2024, so Orlando gave several starters a break. It showed on the field as the Pride lost 2-0, ending a league-record, 23-game unbeaten run. Morgan Weaver gave hosts the lead early and Christine Sincalir doubled the advantage in the second half.

The first meeting of 2023 took place March 26 at Providence Park. Weaver opened the scoring early and Sophia Smith doubled the advantage a few minutes later. Hina Sugita made it three, and Michele Vasconcelos tacked on another as the Thorns won 4-0. On June 11, 2023, in Orlando, Smith gave the visitors the lead, but the Pride took over after that. Adriana scored a brace and Messiah Bright’s strike sealed a 3-1 Pride win. 

The teams met twice in 2022, with the series finale coming on Sept. 9 at Exploria Stadium. Yazmeen Ryan gave the visitors the lead and Sugita doubled the advantage as the Thorns won 2-0. The teams also met on June 19 in Portland. In Seb Hines’ second game as interim head coach, the Thorns smashed the Pride, 6-0.

The Pride and Thorns played on May 26, 2021, in Orlando. The host Pride won 2-1 with goals from Alex Morgan and Sydney Leroux. The second meeting that year came on July 18 in Portland, and the home team won again. Smith gave the hosts the lead and Marissa Everett doubled the advantage. Marisa Viggiano got one back in second-half stoppage time, but the Thorns won, 2-1. They met a third time on Aug. 14. The Pride took an early lead when Courtney Petersen found Jodie Taylor for the opening goal. But Simone Charley equalized and the teams drew 1-1.

The Pride and Thorns didn’t play in 2020 after the season was canceled due to the global pandemic, and they weren’t in the same group for the NWSL Fall Series. As a result, the most recent meeting prior to 2021 happened in 2019.

The teams opened the 2019 season against each other in Orlando, but the Thorns got the better of the clash. The game was decided on either side of halftime as Caitlin Foord scored just before the break and Tobin Heath scored minutes after the restart, lifting Portland to a 2-0 win. They met again in Orlando on May 11 and the Thorns won again. Toni Pressley gave the Pride an early lead, but it was all Portland after that. Dagny Brynjarsdottir equalized, Andressinha gave Portland the lead, and Foord finished it off.

The final meeting between the two in 2019 was a goal fest in Portland and another Thorns win. Hayley Raso gave Portland the lead early and Midge Purce’s goal made it look like it would be a dominant performance by the hosts. But Marta got one back to make it 2-1. Sinclair made it 3-1, followed by a Thorns own goal by Emily Menges. It looked like the Pride would get a rare point through Erin Greening’s 90th-minute goal, but Tyler Lussi scored in second-half injury time, dooming the Pride to another loss in Oregon.

The teams faced each other three times in 2018, which featured the Pride’s lone win in Portland to date. The Thorns won the first game, 2-1 on April 15. But on May 12, goals by Morgan and Christine Nairn gave the Pride a 2-0 lead. Sinclair got one back for the hosts, but the Pride held on for their only result at Providence Park. The third meeting went back to usual, with the Thorns winning 2-0 through Lindsey Horan and Raso.

The teams started the 2017 season against each other in Portland with the Thorns winning 2-0. They met again in the penultimate game of the season in Orlando, ending in a scoreless draw. The most important game between the two teams was the Pride’s first playoff appearance. Unfortunately, it was all Portland, as the Thorns beat the Pride 4-1.

The first meeting of 2016 was the Pride’s first-ever game. Steph Catley gave the expansion Pride a surprising lead, but Brynjarsdottir equalized and Horan won it for Portland. They met again on June 26 at Camping World Stadium in Orlando. Two second-half goals by Brynjarsdottir and Horan lifted the Thorns to another 2-1 win.

Overview

The Pride are in their best form since before the FIFA World Cup break, which isn’t saying much. They’ve gained points in three of their last four games, including a 1-0 win over the Washington Spirit on Aug. 23, a 3-1 win over the Houston Dash on Sept. 6, and a 2-2 draw with the Kansas City Current on Sept. 11.

A large part of that recent success is due to Banda’s production. The Zambian has goals in each of the last three games, including a brace in Kansas City. The striker scored on either side of halftime in that game and it looked as though the Pride were headed for three points away from home. But the Pride conceded twice in three minutes shortly after the second goal, allowing the hosts to take a point.

The Pride have gone through quite a bit of turmoil in recent weeks. First, head coach Seb Hines was fired on Aug. 31, with assistant coach Yolanda Thomas taking over on an interim basis. Then, the team sent starting goalkeeper Moorhouse on loan to Manchester City. Cosette Morche is now the number one in her place.

On a positive note, Banda signed an extension this week, keeping her in Orlando through 2029. It’s a big lift for a team that sits in 11th in the NWSL with slim chances of making the postseason.

Today, the Pride return home with a chance to extend their point streak to three games. However, it will be a tall task as they face one of the better teams in the league. Portland currently sits in sixth place on 39 points, tied with the North Carolina Courage for fifth.

The Thorns’ offense is their strength. They’re tied for fifth in the league in goals with 38. They’re led by U.S. international striker Sophia Wilson, who missed the entire 2025 season on maternity leave. Wilson continues to be one of the most dangetrous strikers in the league with 12 goals in 24 games. Other attacking threats to be aware of include Pietra Tordin with seven goals and Reilyn Turner and Olivia Moultire with five goals each.

Portland is coming off a 1-1 draw against the Chicago Stars on Sept. 13, which followed a 2-1 loss to the Spirit on Sept. 6. Both games were at home. For this reason, the Pride might be catching the Thorns at the right time.

“We’re excited. Excited to play at home in front of our fans,” Thomas said about today’s game. “Didn’t obviously get the three points in the last game, but still walked away feeling like we had a pretty good performance and we’re building on that. So, we’re ready to tackle a really good opponent. We’re ready to play in front of our fans.”

The Pride are as healthy as they’ve been all season, only missing Kylie Nadaner (maternity leave) and Viviana Villacorta (knee). The Thorns will be without Bella Bixby (knee), Julie Dufour (knee), Moultrie (knee), Isabelle Obaze (thigh), M.A. Vignola (hip), and Valerin Loboa (international duty).

Official Lineups

Orlando Pride (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Cosette Morche.

Defenders: Hailie Mace, Hannah Anderson, Cori Dyke, Oihane.

Defensive Midfielders: Haley McCutcheon, Ally Lemos.

Attacking Midfielders: Solai Washington, Luana, Summer Yates.

Forward: Barbra Banda.

Bench: Cara Martin, Kerry Abello, Sanne Lekven, Rafaelle, Zoe Matthews, Angelina, Julie Doyle, Jaquie Ovalle, Marta.

Portland Thorns FC (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Mackenzie Arnold.

Defenders: Marie Muller, Jayden Perry, Carolyn Calzada, Reyna Reyes.

Defensive Midfielders: Jessie Fleming, Nina Nijstad.

Attacking Midfielders: Caiya Hanks, Pietra Tordin, Reilyn Turner.

Forward: Sophia Wilson.

Bench: Morgan Messner, MacKenzie Wood, Sam Hiatt, Cassandra Bogere, Shae Harvey, Mallie McKenzie, Renee Lyles, Morgan Weaver, Maddie Padelski.

Referees

REF: Elvis Osmanovic.
AR1: Zeno Cho.
AR2: Alicia Messer.
4TH: Alejo Calume.
VAR: Jamie Padilla.
AVAR: Jay Norris.

How to Watch

Match Time: 4 p.m.

Venue: Inter.co Stadium — Orlando.

TV: Ion.

Streaming: None.

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

Enjoy the game. Go Pride!

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Orlando Pride

Orlando Pride Exhibit Unity in Kits, Division in Performance

The Pride’s new kit looks excellent on the field, but many of the players wearing it have regressed in 2026.

Published

5 days ago

on

September 18, 2026

By

Image courtesy of Orlando Pride

In late February the Pride released their Unity Kit, a beautiful away jersey that replaced another outstanding jersey, the Citrus Kit that they had started wearing for the 2024 season. The Unity Kit was so nice that we wrote two articles on it in two days. I followed our Ben Miller’s advice to add one to my collection, and I wore it to every Pride game that I attended this season. It looks good. I mean, really good. Ron Burgundy knows what I am talking about.

It is extremely difficult to create two consecutive brand new ideas for jersey designs that are nearly universally beloved, but the Pride went back-to-back with top tier away jersey designs.

While they have looked resplendent in those jerseys this season, the play on the field has not always been quite as good, and with six games remaining, the Pride are seven points back from the final playoff spot. Seven points back with only six games to play is not impossible to make up, but nearly everything will have break right for the Pride to qualify for the playoffs for a third consecutive season.

It is hard to go back to back in sports, as the Pride found out last season, but the 2025 team at least followed up its championship season in 2024 with a fourth-place finish, making the playoff playoff semifinals before losing to eventual champion Gotham FC. The 2026 team seems on the verge of an even larger drop in the standings, and even though the regular season contains four more games in 2026 than in 2025, the Pride may not even reach the 40 points they earned last season. That is not good. I mean, really not good.

There are many different factors that can lead to a dip in a team’s performance, but at the macro level, the main two are that other teams around them improve and/or that the team itself does not play up to the same level as it did previously.

Demonstrating that there has been improvement across other teams is difficult, as sports leagues are zero-sum endeavors. Opta has had the NWSL as the strongest league top to bottom for several years, though it also has had the top-rated NWSL team behind several European teams for years as well. Gotham is currently the top-rated NWSL team in Opta’s rankings, at eighth in the world, and the top team in the NWSL has generally been around that range during the last few years with the Current reaching as high as sixth during their record-setting season in 2025.

Suffice to say, the NWSL is a strong league, and as of this moment, six of the eight teams that made the playoffs last season are in playoff positions again, with only Louisville and Orlando falling out of the top eight. Some argument could be made that the top teams are improving compared to last year, but it is hard to use anything other than the eye test to really demonstrate that.

What is easier, however, is to look at the play of individual players, and for that we have our old friend goals added (g+) from the tracking database at American Soccer Analysis (ASA). As a brief reminder, the definition of goals added is the estimated impact of a player on a team’s goal differential, so positive values indicate that a player increased a team’s goal differential, and negative values indicate that they decreased the goal differential as compared to the average player at their position.

There is no way to sugarcoat it, the g+ stats for the Pride’s players this year are not great. This is not a huge surprise, considering the team is outside of the playoff places and closer to last place than first place, but the numbers themselves were revealing and eye-opening (all data comes from ASA’s goals added database for players who have played more than 300 minutes this season, including stoppage time):

MetricPrideNWSL Rank
Count of players with a positive g+ in 20265T-11
Percent of players with a positive g+ in 202623% T-14
Percent of players with g+ improvement over 202539%T-14
Count of g+ improved vs. 2025 and is negative in 20263*
Count of g+ improved vs. 2025 and is positive in 20264*
Count of g+ declined vs. 2025 and is negative in 202611*
Count of g+ declined vs. 2025 and is positive in 20260*
  • * Each of these subsets is so small that most teams are bunched up and ranking does not make sense

The five players with positive g+ values are Barbra Banda (+5.1), Rafaelle (+0.98), Solai Washington (+0.75), Kerry Abello (+0.30), and Hannah Anderson (+0.16). Every other player is considered league average or below league average through last week’s games, and the Pride have 22 players who have played at least 300+ minutes, so that means 17 of 22, or 77%, are showing as negative goal differential players.

Among the 18 players on the Pride’s roster that have a g+ value from last season’s NWSL, seven improved and 11 declined. The breakouts of the seven improvers were three that improved but were still negative (Ally Lemos [-1.34 to -0.29], Julie Doyle [-0.97 to -0.47], and Marta[-0.70 to -0.62]) and four that improved and were still positive (Banda, Rafaelle, Abello, and Anderson). Every other Pride player that was in the league last year has a worse g+ than they did in 2025, and I do not want to pick on her, but Anna Moorhouse’s -7.00 g+ value ranks 195th out of 199 goalkeeper-seasons since 2016.

Just because a g+ value decreases from year to year does not necessarily mean a player got worse, as g+ values are comparisons against the overall performance of all players at a specific position. What it does mean is that the Pride’s roster construction is slipping as compared to the rest of the league, because players are declining and/or the rest of the league is improving. Some of that comes from coaching, and we will see Yolanda Thomas’ influence on both the team’s performance and the players’ performances during the final stretch of the season, but we will probably also see a good bit of roster turnover in the off-season as Caitlin Carducci remakes the roster after her first season as vice president of soccer operations and general manager.

Hopefully, the Pride will go on a last-gasp run and sneak into the playoffs, and then with Banda on the roster (with a new High Impact Player contract through 2029, whoop whoop), who knows what is possible? If they make the playoffs, it will mean the team and the players executed tremendously well during their final six games, just like members of the club’s marketing team did when they designed the beautiful Unity Kit. And considering how much ground the team still has to make up, the Pride would probably be on the road throughout the playoffs, wearing those kits.

Maybe this whole season has just been a ploy to try to get the most exposure for the Unity Kit by tanking for a low seed and then wearing them throughout the playoffs. I’m here for it, if the Pride can make it happen.

Vamos Orlando!

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