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Orlando Pride vs. OL Reign: Final Score 2-1 as Late Megan Rapinoe Goal Halts Pride’s Unbeaten Run

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4 years ago

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A second-half, injury-time goal saw OL Reign (7-4-6, 27 points) defeat the Orlando Pride (5-6-6, 21 points) 2-1 at Exploria Stadium, putting an end to Orlando’s seven-match unbeaten run. The Pride took the lead in the 37th minute when Meggie Dougherty Howard took advantage of a mistake in the back, but second-half goals by Bethany Balcer and Megan Rapinoe lifted the visitors to the win.

Pride Interim Head Coach Seb Hines only made one change to the team that beat San Diego Wave FC 1-0 and NJ/NY Gotham FC 2-1 last weekend. Toni Pressley was unavailable for selection due to being in COVID protocol and was replaced by Carrie Lawrence. As a result, the back four in front of Erin McLeod was Celia, Megan Montefusco, Lawrence, and Kylie Strom. Dougherty Howard and Jordyn Listro were the defensive midfielders behind Erika Tymrak, Viviana Villacorta, and Kerry Abello, with Julie Doyle starting up top.

OL Reign dominated this game from the start. The Pride were unable to get the ball out of the back, repeatedly turning the ball over in their own end. It was 37 minutes before the Pride got their first real chance of the game. However, they stayed in the game because of some blocked shots by Lawrence and Montefusco, as well as the Reign only putting five of their 15 shots on target.

Rose Lavelle got a shot off for the game’s first chance in the fifth minute and Rapinoe took one in the sixth minute, but both were blocked away. They had another chance in the 11th minute when Celia conceded a corner. Rapinoe sent it to the near post but Alana Cook flicked it over the crossbar.

In the 13th minute, a Pride turnover gave Lavelle the opportunity to fire on goal from the top of the box. The ball beat McLeod but was off the crossbar, the closest chance of the opening minutes.

Two minutes later, Jess Fishlock sent a cross into the box that found the foot of Jordyn Huitema near the six-yard box. The forward volleyed the ball towards goal but it was right at McLeod, who made the catch.

In the 21st minute, Villacorta reached out for a ball near the sideline and appeared to roll onto her left ankle. The midfielder went down and required treatment. She tested her ankle on the sideline while the Pride played with 10, but ultimately wasn’t able to continue and was replaced by Mikayla Cluff.

“I’m not sure. Hopefully, fingers crossed, it’s nothing too serious,” Hines said about Villacorta’s injury. “We have to remember that this is her first season back from an ACL. So the way that she’s progressed and she’s been such an important part of our success.”

In the 34th minute, Strom tripped up Huitema as she attempted to beat her about 30 yards from goal. The ensuing free kick was taken by Rapinoe, who sent a bending ball into the box. The ball skipped past several players on its way through, without anyone being able to get a touch on it.

After 36 minutes of play, the game had been dominated by OL Reign. The visitors led in every statistic, recording seven shots and 13 crosses. Conversely, the Pride hadn’t created any chances, recording no shots, corner kicks, or crosses. But somehow they managed to score first.

In the 37th minute, the visitors attempted to play the ball out of the back. The Pride were pressing Sam Hiatt but she played the ball right to Dougherty Howard. The midfielder took a long shot at goal — the team’s first of the game — which deflected off Cook and went past Phallon Tullis-Joyce to give the Pride a very unexpected 1-0 lead.

The visitors nearly equalized a minute into first-half injury time. An OL Reign cross was tipped by the sliding foot of Lawrence and met the head of Balcer at the back post. However, McLeod showed quick reflexes to get to the ball before it got past her and pushed it away.

At halftime, OL Reign had more shots (8-2), shots on goal (3-1), corners (1-0), crosses (14-0) and passing accuracy (84.8%-77.4%). The Pride had slightly more possession (50.1%-49.9%) but were absolutely dominated in the first 45 minutes. However, the mistake by OL Reign allowed the hosts to go into the locker room with a one-goal lead.

“I thought we started the game slow and scared,” Hines said about the first half. “That was our message at halftime was do what we’ve been doing well to get to this point.”

“I think the first half, the last 20 minutes we dominated and we stuck to our principles and we were calm,” Tymrak said about the team’s mindset at halftime. “We were urgent going forward, were confident in how we wanted to play, and at halftime we said we have to keep that going and we play like that. We have this game.”

OL Reign started the second half as they’d played in the first. In the 53rd minute, Fishlock sent a ball towards the back post that was directed for Balcer. However, it was a little too far for the forward and Strom was able to see it out of play.

Following the chance for OL Reign, the Pride made their first second-half substitution. As he’s done in previous games, Hines took off Doyle minutes into the start of the half and brought on Ally Watt. It was Watt’s second appearance for her new team and her first in front of her new hometown fans.

In the 56th minute, the visitors found the equalizer. It started on a headed clearance by Lawrence that didn’t go very far. Tymrak was immediately on Rapinoe, who had collected the ball, but Rapinoe flicked it over Tymrak’s head, creating enough room for a cross. The ball landed on the head of Balcer who was charging into the six-yard box. McLeod got a hand on it but it wasn’t enough and it went into the bottom corner of the goal to even the game at 1-1.

The Reign nearly scored a second just a minute later when a quick throw-in by Rapinoe allowed Huitema to send in a cross at the end line. The cross reached Lavelle right in front of goal but she put it over the crossbar.

The Pride got their first second-half chance in the 67th minute, when Tymrak sent the ball forward for Watt, one of the league’s fastest players. Watt beat the Reign defenders to the ball and was able to get a shot off, but it was over the crossbar.

Following the Pride’s chance, the Reign went back on the attack. Fishlock found Rapinoe overlapping on the left in the 69th minute, allowing the latter to get off a cross. It was just out of reach for McLeod and glanced off the crossbar but none of her teammates were there to get on the end of it.

The Pride nearly had a second chance of the half in the 70th minute when Tymrak sent a low ball into the box. It was behind Dougherty Howard, but the first-half goal scorer managed to flick it on with her heel. Unfortunately, Tullis-Joyce got to it before any Pride attackers could.

Lavelle sent a ball towards the back post in the 73rd minute to set up another opportunity. Sofia Huerta beat her defender to the ball, allowing a chance with McLeod closer to the near post. However, it was a poor attempt and instead of redirecting it on goal, she hit it out of play for a goal kick.

Hines made two more subs in the 76th minute — one offensive and one defensive. On the attacking side, Gunny Jonsdottir came on for Abello. Defensively, Haley Hanson came on for her second appearance for the Pride, replacing Celia.

With time winding down, the visitors continued to push for a winner. In the 90th minute, Fishlock received a short clearance just outside the box. She quickly fired towards goal but hit it wide.

Two minutes into second-half stoppage time, the Reign got their second goal. Huerta sent a great ball towards the back post where Rapinoe was making a run. The forward slid in, getting her foot to the ball and knocking it in to give the visitors a 2-1 lead.

“We knew they were good at whipping balls in the box, and they definitely executed on that,” Montefusco said about the second Reign goal. “So we have to give it to them.”

The Pride got one more chance a minute later through Tymrak. The midfielder took a shot from the top of the box that appeared to be heading just inside the post but Tullis-Joyce was able to make her way across the goal and catch it. That was the last action of the game.

In the end, the Pride had more possession (51.9%-48.1%), but OL Reign had more shots (15-8), shots on goal (5-3), crosses (25-6), and more accurate passes (81.2%-78.5%). Additionally, both teams had two corner kicks.

“I felt the second half was better,” Hines said after the game. “It’s a sucker punch at the end because I felt like we were starting to get momentum and we looked like the team that was going to get the winning goal. But, you know, football’s a cruel game at times. And it’s a learning moment for all of us.”

“It’s tough. I’m not gonna lie,” Montefusco said after the game. “You know, I thought our team has been building something really special. Obviously, you can see that out in the field. We put everything out there. It’s just really defeating to go down at the very end like that.”

The Pride will now have two weeks to reflect on this defeat before returning to action on Sept. 9 when they welcome the Portland Thorns to Exploria Stadium.

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Orlando Pride Loan Goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse to Manchester City through January 2027

The English international returns to her home country through January of 2027, leaving Cosette Morché, Cara Martin, and McKinley Crone as Orlando’s goalkeeper options.

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2 days ago

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September 3, 2026

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Image of Anna Moorhouse meeting with fans after a game.
Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

The Orlando Pride announced today that the club has loaned goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse to Manchester City of England’s Women’s Super League through January 2027. This move comes in the wake of a series of poor performances and glaring mistakes in 2026 that led to her benching two games ago in favor of Cosette Morché.

Moorhouse follows goalkeeping coach Paul Crichton out the door after the latter was let go on Monday when the Pride parted ways with former head coach Seb Hines, although with a year left on her contract, she could return following the loan to Man City. The press release did not mention anything about a purchase option.

“Anna has been an invaluable part of our club, and when the opportunity arose for her to return home to England and compete in the Women’s Super League, we worked closely with her to make it happen,” Orlando Pride Vice President of Soccer Operations and General Manager Caitlin Carducci said in a club press release. “We are fortunate to have tremendous quality and depth within our goalkeeping group, and this loan provides Anna with an opportunity to continue playing meaningful minutes at a high level while being closer to home and family.”

The 31-year-old native of Oldham, England, originally signed a two-year deal with the Pride through the 2023 season on Jan. 31, 2022, after spending two years with French D1 Feminine club Bordeaux. She signed an extension on Oct. 5, 2023, keeping her in Orlando through the 2025 campaign. In June of last year, Moorhouse signed a new deal to remain with the Pride through the 2027 season.

Moorhouse made her competitive Pride debut on March 30 at home against NJ/NY Gotham FC — a 1-0 loss for Orlando in the 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup. She made her NWSL regular-season debut with the Pride on Sept. 9 in a 2-0 home loss to the Portland Thorns and got another start in the Pride’s next game Sept. 16 at Louisville — another 2-0 loss. The Pride were 0-2-0 with Moorhouse in net in the 2022 regular season but scored no goals for the English goalkeeper. Moorhouse made just the two appearances in the regular season (both starts) and made nine saves, backing up Erin McLeod. She allowed four goals for a 2.00 goals-against average in 180 minutes played, facing 28 shots (13 on target). She finished the year with a 69.2% save success rate and a 84.2% passing rate.

In 2023, Moorhouse became Orlando’s starter after McLeod left the team, starting 19 of the Pride’s 22 regular-season games and playing 1,623 minutes while posting a 9-9-1 record as a starter. She stopped 72 of 94 shots faced (76.6%), conceding 22 goals and keeping seven clean sheets.

Showing improvement in her second season as the Pride’s No. 1, Moorhouse started all 26 of Orlando’s games in 2024, playing 2,340 minutes, facing 107 shots, making 87 saves (81%), and conceding 20 goals. She set an NWSL record with 13 shutouts, taking over the club career record along the way. The Pride went 18-2-6 that season and claimed the NWSL Shield. Moorhouse also started all three of the team’s playoff matches, going 3-0-0 in 270 minutes while facing 12 shots on target and stopping nine of them (75%). Of the three postseason goals she conceded, one was a penalty. She kept a clean sheet in Orlando’s 1-0 NWSL Championship victory over the Washington Spirit, helping her team win its second trophy.

As with many of her teammates, Moorhouse did not play as well during the 2025 season, but she was still solid between the sticks. She appeared in 25 games (all starts) and amassed a record of 11-8-7 in her NWSL starts last season, playing a team-high 2,211 minutes, allowing 26 goals, and making 72 saves for a 74% save percentage to go along with a 1.06 goals-against average. She went 1-1-0 in the Pride’s two playoff games, allowing one goal on nine shots on target (89% save percentage).

She started 20 NWSL matches in 2026, recording 58 saves and earning six shutouts.

What It Means for Orlando

Moorhouse’s shot stopping has been mostly great during her time with the Pride. However, the knock on the English international is the momentary lapses she has. Those might concede a preventable goal, get her sent off, or present the opposition with a penalty kick. All goalkeepers are prone to the occasional howler, but throughout her Pride career, Moorhouse seemed to have more than most. Some of the most egregious include her own goal at Louisville late in the 2024 season that ultimately helped knock Orlando out of the postseason, a third-minute red card at OL Reign in 2023 — the fastest red card from the start of a game in NWSL history — and a series of bloopers over her head and into the net in 2026 when she’s been caught off her line.

The problems with Orlando’s defense in 2026 don’t start or end with Moorhouse. Playing behind a leaky back line can affect a goalkeeper. The simple fact is that her play was exacerbating a problematic area for the club. The Pride struggle to defend as a unit — in part because of a lack of pace at various positions — and aren’t good defending set pieces. That puts a lot of pressure on the goalkeeper to make up for those lapses. Moorhouse did not seem to respond well to the additional pressure this season, making numerous mistakes that cost goals and, at times, results.

Moorhouse’s play had not been at a high enough level for a long time before Hines eventually replaced her with Morché when the Pride took on the Spirit in Washington on Aug. 23. Morché kept a clean sheet and Orlando won 1-0 to snap a three-game losing streak. Orlando started Morché again on Saturday against the Utah Royals, and although it was a 2-1 Pride loss, goalkeeping was not the team’s biggest problem that night. With Morché showing herself capable of facing NWSL competition, Moorhouse became expendable, and with her wanting to compete for more minutes with England’s national team, getting regular minutes elsewhere likely became a priority pretty quickly.

Whether Moorhouse returns to Orlando after the loan or the club finds somewhere to transfer in the off-season remains to be seen. Perhaps she can regain her form while with Manchester City, which would benefit Orlando either with her returning as a more confident goalkeeper or with the club getting something for her in the transfer market.

Behind Morché, the Pride still have Cara Martin, who recently got her contract extended through at least 2028, and McKinley Crone, who is under contract until the end of the 2026 season and recently returned from a loan spell with Fort Lauderdale FC. Additionally, Kat Asman is under contract with the Pride through the rest of 2026 as well. Asman is currently on loan with Denver Summit FC for the remainder of the year after a successful 2025 loan spell with Lexington SC, with which she won the USL Super League double with the Players’ Shield and the league championship. She also won the league’s Golden Glove Award.

Orlando will finish the 2026 season with both Morché and Martin under contract for next season (or beyond, in Martin’s case), and could opt to re-sign one or both of Crone and/or Asman. The Pride may also try to find a new No. 1 as a number of expiring contracts will allow the team some flexibility in the market.

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Seb Hines Out as Orlando Pride Head Coach

After a dismal season filled with injuries and a roster that either cannot or will not perform, the Orlando Pride part ways with Seb Hines.

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5 days ago

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August 31, 2026

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Image of Seb Hines speaking to his Orlando Pride players.
Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

In the wake of the Orlando Pride’s fourth loss in five games and a 2026 season that is quickly slipping away, the club announced today that it has parted ways with head coach Seb Hines and goalkeeper coach Paul Crichton. In the interim, Assistant Coach Yolanda Thomas will handle head coaching duties.

This move comes with the Pride mired in 12th place in the 16-team NWSL at 8-12-2 and five points below the playoff line. It also takes place less than two years since Hines was named 2024 NWSL Coach of the Year and just two years and 24 days since the Pride gave Hines a new contract through this season with an option for 2027 on Aug. 7, 2024.

“We want to express our gratitude to Seb for the dedication, leadership, and professionalism he brought to the club during his time with us,” Orlando Pride Vice President of Soccer Operations & General Manager Caitlin Carducci said in a club press release. “He will always have a special place in our history for helping lead the Pride to levels it had never reached before. However, as we look toward the club’s long-term vision and future objectives, we believe that this is the appropriate time for a leadership change. We are grateful for all that Seb has contributed and wish him nothing but success in the next chapter of his career.”

Hines, 38, is easily the most successful coach in the club’s history, having signed on as an assistant coach with the Pride in May of 2020 — a few years after the end of his professional playing career. He took over as interim head coach in June of 2022 when then-coach Amanda Cromwell and assistant Sam Greene were placed on administrative leave pending an investigation into potential violations of the league’s policy to prevent and eliminate workplace discrimination, harassment, and bullying. The NWSL concluded that Cromwell and Greene were in violation of that policy and terminated their contracts in October 2022, leaving the future of the team’s coaching position in limbo.

Hines had led the Pride to a seven-game unbeaten run during his stewardship as the investigation went on, but the team also finished that year with a six-game winless skid to quickly drop out of playoff contention. Some felt at the time Cromwell’s contract was terminated that Hines had done enough to win the job, while his 3-7-5 record wasn’t exactly a mandate to hand him the position, nor was the club-record 6-0 loss his team suffered at Portland in his second match in charge.

However, Hines did land the gig. The Pride named him the full-time head coach on Nov. 11, 2022, at the same time the club parted ways with general manager Ian Fleming. Hines led the Pride to the cusp of its first playoff appearance since 2017 during his first full year in charge in 2023. The Pride finished in a three-way tie for fifth on 31 points but fell short of the final playoff spot by losing the goal-difference tiebreaker on the last matchday of the season, when Angel City throttled Portland 5-1 on Decision Day. The Pride beat the Houston Dash by just a 1-0 scoreline that day to get jumped. Orlando had more wins than either fifth-place Angel City or sixth-place Gotham FC (the eventual NWSL Championship winners), but goal difference was the first tiebreaker. It was a heartbreaking end, especially considering an own goal that goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse punched into her own net in the penultimate match against Louisville City turned what could have been a road draw into a road loss.

The Pride set numerous NWSL records under Hines in 2024 and won their first-ever postseason matches on the way to winning the club’s first two trophies — the NWSL Shield and the NWSL Championship. Hines led Orlando to a record of 18-2-6, finishing third in the league in goals scored (46) and tying for first in fewest goals conceded (20). That year’s team set five league records, including most points in a season (60), most wins in a season (18), longest winning streak (8), longest shutout streak (554 minutes), and longest single-season unbeaten run (23 games). The Pride also tied the league record for clean sheets in a season (13). In all, the Pride went 24 NWSL matches without a loss under Hines from the end of 2023 through deep into 2024, when he rotated several players during a road trip to Portland after clinching the NWSL Shield.

Hines led the Pride to a fourth-place finish in the 2025 regular season, earning the team a second consecutive playoff appearance for the first time in club history. The Pride went 11-8-7 in 2025 and reached the NWSL semifinals, losing a late heartbreaker to Gotham FC deep in stoppage time.

The former Orlando City center back leaves the Pride with a career coaching record of 32-38-15 in the regular season (3-7-5 as interim head coach and 29-31-10 as full-time head coach) and 4-1 in the postseason.

“Seb leaves an undeniable legacy with the Pride,” Orlando Pride Owner & Chairman Mark Wilf said in the club’s press release. “His commitment to our players, his staff, and this club helped deliver some of the most important moments in our history. Beyond the results, he helped establish a culture that elevated expectations for what this organization could achieve. We are thankful for everything Seb has contributed and wish him and his family the very best moving forward.”

Thomas joined the Pride as an assistant coach on March 3, 2023. Prior to joining the Orlando staff, Thomas served as sporting director, head coach, and director of coaching with Tulsa Soccer Club and Fortuna Tulsa of the WPSL. She led Tulsa to Franchise of the Year honors in 2019 and 2021 and was named 2019 WPSL Red River Conference Coach of the Year. Over four seasons, Thomas guided Fortuna Tulsa — now known as Tulsa SC — to two conference championships, and appearances in the National Final Four, Regional Championship, and National Elite Eight.  

She previously served as an assistant coach in the college ranks at Oklahoma State University and the University of Tulsa, before becoming head coach at Roger State University.  

She has recently served as the U-23 United States Women’s National Team head coach during two camps in 2025.

Thomas takes over a team that has not scored more than one goal in a match since July 10 and has beaten two of the league’s best teams since NWSL play restarted following the World Cup break but has lost to everyone else. The Pride have been shut out four times in the 10 games since the league restarted.

What It Means for Orlando

While Hines must shoulder his share of the responsibility for the team’s lack of grit and slow development of younger players, it seems clear that his highest highs of 2024 featured a significant number of players elevating their play far beyond anything they’ve shown since. Players such as Summer Yates and Angelina haven’t been anywhere close to their 2024 levels.

Is that coaching or something else? Perhaps the 2024 double-winning season was simply the perfect storm of players buying in; a more talented roster that featured Adriana, Emily Sams, Ally Watt, and a not-yet-gone-on-maternity-leave Kylie Nadaner; the team playing for Luana during her battle with cancer; and the team pushing hard at the end for Marta (who somehow turned back the clock and played as she did in her prime). But the drop-off in quality across the board from returning players on that team and this year is unmistakable, and some players who were fine as bench/role players in 2024 have been asked to log more minutes since, and they haven’t been up to the task.

There is nothing Hines could do about the parade of injury absences the 2026 Pride have endured, and to his credit, he never used it as an excuse. There is also (probably) little Hines could have done about the level of talent he was given on this year’s team. Sams was “replaced” by Hailie Mace and/or Hannah Anderson, depending on how you look at it, but neither player was ever going to provide anything close to what the former NWSL Defender of the Year did during her stay in Orlando. Watt was ostensibly replaced by Nicole Payne, who is also fast but not nearly as polished.

Rafaelle’s fitness issues have been numerous during her Pride career, and this season, her presence has been as big a liability as her absence. Kerry Abello has likewise not been able to get/stay available for selection in 2026. Marta, who has not produced much of her usual magic this year, has had limited availability all season after falling off significantly in form in 2025.

Additionally, Orlando’s commitment to getting younger didn’t work as well as the club had hoped. None of the younger players have panned out (though Solai Washington has shown promising signs), and some of those players have been shipped out on loan to gain experience.

Under Haley Carter, players who were nearing the ends of their deals were locked down early if they were deemed important to the club’s future. Yet this season, we’ve seen only Seven Castain and Cara Martin get extensions thus far, despite the Pride having a number of players either out of contract entirely or coming up on option years at the end of the season.

With all due respect to Castain and Martin, they did not seem like priority signings, considering playing time, but that may be where Hines held different opinions of his players than Carducci. One also wonders whether the reluctance to change goalkeepers amidst Anna Moorhouse’s major struggles in 2026 was a directive from above or solely Hines’ opinion that Moorhouse gave the club the best chance to win and that she would regain her form.

The Pride will now move on, and a new coach isn’t going to be able to find much more success than Hines did — certainly not more than he had in 2024 — without building a team that can adequately defend, win battles in the midfield, and string accurate passes together long enough to work the ball forward to Barbra Banda and Jacquie Ovalle. And better supporting attackers for those two expensive signings must be found as well. Ovalle has not been nearly good enough to justify her pricetag, although the glimpses of what she could provide the club appear from time to time.

There is still time for Orlando to make the playoffs, although the task will be difficult. Thomas is well regarded as a coach and is ready for a head coaching position. This will be her opportunity to see if she can get this Pride roster to elevate its level down the stretch.

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Orlando Pride vs. Utah Royals FC: Final Score 2-1 as Pride Blow Halftime Lead

Barbra Banda put the Pride ahead at halftime but the Royals took advantage of a sluggish Orlando defense to come from behind.

Published

7 days ago

on

August 29, 2026

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Image of Jacquie Ovalle with the ball against Utah.
Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Justin Glatt

The Orlando Pride took a 1-0 lead into halftime on Barbra Banda’s strike, but the Utah Royals took control in the second half, taking advantage of a slow and struggling Orlando back line to come from behind and win 2-1 at Inter.co Stadium tonight.

It was another disappointing performance by the Pride (8-12-2, 26 points), who slipped to 12th place in the NWSL, while the Royals (12-7-3, 39 points), who had been inconsistent in recent weeks, vaulted to second in the league table.

“I thought first half we were all right. We created some good opportunities, took the lead,” Orlando Pride Head Coach Seb Hines said after the match. “Going to the second half, we felt we needed to put a little bit more pressure on the ball, not allow Utah to get too much territory, and you know we were half a step off, and they were able to carve us open and get that goal. I’m disappointed to sit here and say there’s another defeat at home in front of our own fans.”

Hines deployed his typical 4-2-3-1 formation with goalkeeper Cosette Morché behind a back line made up of Hailie Mace, Rafaelle, Cori Dyke, and Oihane . Ally Lemos and Haley McCutcheon served as the defensive midfielders, with Summer Yates, Jacquie Ovalle, and Angelina taking up the attacking midfield roles and Banda up top.

Orlando came out the stronger side early, spending long stretches of possession in Utah’s half. Kate Del Fava was shown an early yellow card in the fourth minute for impeding Banda, the first sign of the physical match that would follow.

A ball over the top played Banda in behind in the ninth minute and fired a shot on target, but the play was called back for offside. She broke forward again moments later on a promising run, only to be fouled just outside the box by Tatumn Milazzo, who was shown a yellow card of her own in the 10th minute. Ovalle sent the resulting free kick into Utah’s defensive wall, ending the threat.

Utah began to find its footing in the middle stretch of the first half. Miyabi Moriya fired over the bar in the 14th minute after the visitors won a corner, and Cece Delzer got in behind after a giveaway by Lemos on a ball over the top two minutes later, squaring for Kiana Palacios, whose effort went wide right. Del Fava sailed an effort over the bar in the 18th minute off another Utah corner, and Mina Tanaka headed wide in the 22nd minute after meeting Del Fava’s long ball into the box. Two minutes later, Cloé Lacasse’s corner was cleared away before the ball came back to Tanaka, who saw Oihane block her follow-up effort.

Orlando began to funnel much of its attacking play down the right side as the half wore on, though Utah continued to threaten as well. McCutcheon produced a point-blank block to deny Tanaka in the 28th minute, although the play was called for offside in the buildup. Orlando answered a minute later down the same flank, with Banda charging into the box and squaring a cross beyond Mandy McGlynn, but McCutcheon’s effort on the end of it went just wide, with the offside flag coming up once again.

Cards began to pile up as the half continued. Ovalle was shown a yellow card in the 32nd minute for fouling Moriya, who was trying to work her way past her about 24 yards from goal. Nuria Rábano took the resulting free kick, sailing it wide right in the 33rd minute. Angelina picked up a caution in the 35th minute, pulling back Delzer to snuff out a Utah break. The foul was unnecessary, as there were several Pride players behind the ball.

The visitors worked the ball down the left from Tanaka to Lacasse to Madison Hammond, whose shot in the 40th minute was straight at Morché. Delzer tested Morché again a minute later, but she came up with another save to keep the game scoreless.

Orlando broke the deadlock in the 44th minute. The Pride won the ball back in midfield, and Yates slid a through ball in behind for Banda. The Zambian international drove into the box, with McGlynn coming out to meet her. The Utah goalkeeper deflected the ball but it hit Banda and spilled out in front of the striker, allowing her to calmly slot it into an empty net to make it 1-0.

“It’s definitely been up and down for me. I feel like coming in, kind of getting some starts and then dealing with some injuries, have kind of just made the season a little bit of a roller coaster for me,” Yates said. “Being able to start tonight was awesome, and being able to assist Barbra is something we work on in training a lot, so it was nice to go out and see that shine on the field.”

Utah earned a corner in stoppage time that Lacasse sent right to Morché, who saved it easily. The Pride took their 1-0 lead into the half following two minutes of stoppage time.

The Royals led every category in the first half: possession (60%-40%), shots (9-3), shots on target (2-1), passing accuracy (85%-76%), and corners (5-0).

Utah drew level just five minutes into the second half. Palacios blazed past the slower Rafaelle and sent in a cross from the right that found Lacasse, who had similarly blown past Oihane. Lacasse tapped it past Morché to tie the match at 1-1.

Rábano was whistled for a foul in the 51st minute, and the ensuing minute brought a flurry of chances at both ends. Del Fava blocked Ovalle’s effort, and Utah countered immediately. Ana Tejada shot, but Morché punched it out of play for a corner. Lacasse played the set piece short, but it came to nothing.

Tejada tried to test Morché again in the 56th minute off a set piece Oihane conceded, but her effort missed the target. Lacasse forced a save out of the goalkeeper in the 57th minute with a shot from outside the box. She was off target three minutes later as well, firing over the crossbar after another spell of Utah possession just outside Orlando’s box.

McCutcheon fired into the side netting in the 63rd minute, but the wayward effort was about all Orlando could muster as the Pride’s play grew increasingly flat.

Utah made a double substitution in the 64th minute, bringing on Paige Cronin for Moriya and Dayana Pierre-Louis for Hammond. Hines countered a minute later with a triple substitution of his own, sending on Zara Chavoshi for Rafaelle in a concussion substitution, Nicole Payne for Yates, and Luana for Lemos.

The changes did little to slow Utah down. Lacasse worked the ball well inside the box down the left in the 69th minute. Oihane was trying to defend it but failed her tackle attempt and fell down, leaving Lacasse free to square it to the top of the box for Cronin — on the field for only four minutes — who fired a shot past Morché that the goalkeeper couldn’t keep out to put the visitors in front, 2-1.

Gabi Nunes replaced Angelina in the 75th minute as Orlando added an attacker, searching for an equalizer.

Banda won a corner in the 78th minute with a shot that deflected off a Utah defender, and Ovalle’s ensuing delivery started a scramble in the box. McGlynn punched the initial ball away, and Milazzo blocked Banda’s follow-up effort. The loose ball fell to Payne, whose shot was also blocked and cleared. McGlynn was eventually able to collect the recycle attempt to end the sequence.

Tejada’s foul earned her a yellow card in the 81st minute, conceding a free kick. Luana delivered the set piece into the box, but it didn’t trouble McGlynn, who collected it easily.

Hines made his fifth and final substitution in the 85th minute, sending on Hannah Anderson for Hailie Mace.

Orlando’s buildup play was never quite good enough to break down the Utah defense as the minutes ticked down, and the Royals read what the Pride were trying to do well enough to control the game and run the clock.

Utah nearly extended its lead in the 91st minute. Chavoshi mishit a clearance, and with Lacasse set up to fire on the loose ball, Oihane fouled from behind. The referee pointed to the spot, but a video review showed Lacasse handled the ball prior to the foul and the penalty was overturned.

Banda fired a desperate effort from distance in the seventh added minute that deflected off a Utah player and out for a corner. Ovalle’s ensuing delivery sailed over everyone in the box in the 98th minute, and Orlando recovered the loose ball, but the passage didn’t produce a shot. A minute later, Orlando worked another ball into the box that Banda met with a header on target, but McGlynn was there again to make the save.

That was the final look at goal as the Pride dropped their fourth game out of the last five.

Utah led in every statistical category after a dominant second half, finishing with the advantage in possession (60%-40%), shots (18-9), shots on target (6-2), passing accuracy (83%-69%), and corners (7-2).

“This game was really frustrating for us because we do feel like, you know, we were up 1-0 in the first half and then give up two and lose the game in the second,” Lemos said. “I think we’re just really excited and really eager to go improve ourselves and show that, you know, we’re here to make a run for playoffs and it’s still possible.”

Next up, the Pride stay home to host the Houston Dash on Sunday, Sept. 6.

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