Orlando Pride Confidence Growing After Back-to-Back Wins

It was always going to take time for the Orlando Pride to find their way into the 2023 NWSL season. Prior to the 2022 campaign, the team started a full rebuild, which included moving experienced veterans and replacing them with young players. After a tough first five games, the young team is starting to gain confidence and change the direction of this season.

On Dec. 7, 2021, The Pride hired former UCLA head coach Amanda Cromwell to lead the team’s rebuild. That hiring turned out to be disastrous after reports of retaliatory behavior by Cromwell and assistant coach Sam Greene resulted in the two being suspended. By the end of the season, four of the team’s five coaches were gone, with only Seb Hines remaining.

The club promoted Hines to full-time head coach after he spent much of last year in an interim role. They also fired general manager Ian Fleming during the off-season, replacing him with Haley Carter. Adding to the changes, team leaders Erin McLeod and Gunny Jonsdottir departed.

Despite last year’s problems, and entering the 2023 NWSL Draft without a general manager, the Pride had an excellent night. Their first two picks were center back Emily Madril and forward Messiah Bright, both of whom have already made an impact and are regular starters. In the fourth round, they also stole midfielder Summer Yates, another player that appears to have a bright future.

With so many departures and new rookies in the team, it’s no surprise the Pride struggled out of the gate this year. The season started against the defending champion Portland Thorns on the road, which resulted in a decisive 4-0 loss. They followed that up by conceding second-half injury time goals to Angel City FC, NJ/NY Gotham FC, and the North Carolina Courage, dropping seven points on those late defensive lapses.

“It’s a mentality,” Hines said after the Courage draw on conceding late goals. “A mentality of, although it’s waves of attacks coming at you, do you have the mentality to step up in that moment and put fear in them that they ain’t going to score. And I think we’re falling short in them moments.

“I think there’s an element of fear. Because we’re almost thinking, this is going to happen again. And we have to get over that. We have to get over them moments.”

The first step in changing that mindset came last weekend in San Diego. Facing one of the league’s most dangerous teams, albeit without star striker Alex Morgan, the Pride responded from an early 1-0 deficit to score three times in a surprising 3-1 win.

Just as impressive was their 1-0 win Saturday night against Racing Louisville FC at Exploria Stadium, the site of three late-game collapses. The Pride took the lead after 21 minutes when Bright headed a Kylie Strom cross past Katie Lund and withstood an unrelenting second-half push by the visitors that saw them out-possessed and out-shot in the second 45 minutes. But they didn’t give up that late equalizing goal.

While the coaching staff knew the late-game problems had to stop and spoke to the team about the issues, the players knew it as well. Rather than dwelling on the dropped points, the young players and the team’s few veterans were able to pick themselves up and drive forward. According to center back and veteran Megan Montefusco, a team-led discussion was part of the reason for the change in mentality and results.

“We sat in a locker room after a game really late one night. The coaches didn’t even come and talk to us after. It was just our team. We had to look each other in the eye and really get down to it. We were like, what is holding us back here? What is going on? We gotta figure this out,” Montefusco said after the win Saturday night. “And we just said it is how it is and now it’s ingrained in us that that is not something that we want. That’s not a part of our team identity. We have to close out games, we have to manage them better, and the focus is for 90-plus minutes.”

The last two games indicate that the fear Hines spoke of is gone. The team was able to withstand late-game attacks that previously resulted in goals and came out the other side with all three points.

“We knew it was going to take a bit to build relationships and to get confidence especially,” Montefusco says. “I think that was a big thing for this team was just playing with fear at first. And so once we finally figured out our identity and got that confidence, all it took was just a little bit of cohesion with the group.”

The Pride will add their new-found confidence to an underdog mentality. They know that people were counting the young team out, especially with their early struggles. They feel like they can use that mindset to their advantage and change the view of the team moving forward.

“We know what everybody says about the Orlando Pride,” Strom said. “And honestly, I think it’s good. We play with a chip on our shoulder and we have to start changing that narrative every day. And we have to earn respect. It’s not going to be handed to us.”

The Pride will take their two-game winning streak into Wednesday night’s Challenge Cup contest against the Washington Spirit and return to league play Sunday against Gotham FC. Both games are away from home. Results in those matches will further boost their confidence as they attempt to change the perception of their 2023 season.