Orlando Pride
Orlando Pride vs. San Diego Wave FC: Final Score 2-1 as Pride Winning Streak Comes To An End
The Pride’s three-game winning streak came to an end tonight with a home loss to San Diego Wave FC.
The Orlando Pride (7-9-1, 22 points) saw their three-game winning streak come to an end, as they fell 2-1 to San Diego Wave FC (8-6-3, 27 points) at Exploria Stadium. Abby Dahlkemper opened the scoring in the seventh minute and Adriana equalized just before halftime. Substitute Kyra Carusa netted the winner off a corner kick in the 75th minute, and the Pride were unable to climb into a playoff spot with five games remaining in the season.
After the Pride’s 5-0 win over the Chicago Red Stars Sunday night, Head Coach Seb Hines used the same lineup for this matchup against the Wave. Anna Moorhouse started in goal behind a back line of Kylie Strom, Rafaelle, Emily Mardril, and Haley McCutcheon. Viviana Villacorta and Kerry Abello were the defensive midfielders behind an attacking midfield of Adriana, Marta, and Julie Doyle. Messiah Bright started up top after scoring her first career brace.
San Diego was happy to sit back in this game and hit the Pride on the counter attack. As a result, the Pride led in every meaningful statistical category. The Pride had chances in the first half through some poor passing by the Wave, but were unable to take advantage, and San Diego goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan made some good saves to keep the game at 1-1. The downfall for the Pride was on set pieces, conceding on both of the Wave’s corner kicks — both of which were conceded unnecessarily.
The Pride had the first chance of the game in the second minute when Marta shielded the ball at midfield and sent Doyle behind the back line. Dribbling into the box from the left, Doyle attempted to beat Sheridan to her near side, but the ball bounced off the post.
The Wave almost opened the scoring in the sixth minute when Alex Morgan pressured Moorhouse’s pass to Madril. The center back sent a poor pass to either Moorhouse or Rafaelle, sending it into open space, where Rachel Hill picked it up. The forward quickly shot on goal, and should have scored, but it was too close to Moorhouse, who did well to knock it wide with her left foot.
The ensuing corner ended up at the foot of Danielle Colaprico, who shot on goal. McCutcheon got in front to block the attempt, but could only clear it as far as Dahlkemper near the penalty spot. The center back’s shot was over Moorhouse and off the bottom of the crossbar with enough momentum to get over the line, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead.
Adding salt to the wound, it was Dahlkemper’s first NWSL regular-season goal since 2016.
In the 15th minute, pressure by Doyle on the sideline forced Hill into a bad pass back for Dahlkemper. Bright intercepted it and, after faking herself out with a stepover, played it across for Abello. Adriana ended up with the ball and enough space for a long-range attempt. The shot was dipping towards the bottom corner, but from that far out, it was comfortable for Sheridan to track it and make the stop.
The Pride had another chance in the 20th minute from another bad San Diego pass. Christen Westphal attempted to play the ball back for Meggie Dougherty Howard, but Marta picked it off and carried the ball into the Wave box. Naomi Girma challenged the Brazilian, but she got the shot off. Unfortunately, it was straight at Sheridan.
Adriana took her second shot from distance in the 26th minute. This attempt was more towards the center of the field, but she didn’t get much on the shot. Sheridan dove to her right to make the stop, but the dive was because of her positioning further towards the opposite post.
The Wave had a chance for a second in the 29th minute, when Morgan played the ball to the top of the box for Kaleigh Riehl. She laid the ball back for Dougherty Howard, who shot towards the far post, forcing Moorhouse into a diving stop.
A minute later, Dougherty Howard sent Hill behind the Pride defense. The attacker shot from the top of the box and Moorhouse got her hand to the ball, tipping over the crossbar. But the assistant’s flag was up on the initial pass, as Hill couldn’t hold her run, negating the chance.
In the 41st minute, Marta collided with Colaprico near the Pride box and referee Matthew Thompson called a foul. Colaprico hit her head on the ground, resulting in a brief delay in the action. Morgan took the free kick, but sent it over the crossbar.
Three minutes later, the Pride found the equalizer. Doyle sent Marta down the right towards the end line where she was defended by Dougherty Howard. The Brazilian used some nifty footwork to lose her defender and send the ball into the box. The cross was just over the head of four defenders and reached the head of an unmarked Adriana, who put it in for her fourth goal of the season.
“It was a brilliant goal,” Hines said about the conversion. “You know, Marta’s brilliance and a great finish by Adri.”
The Pride had the majority of the chances in the first half, but weren’t able to convert. Despite the frustration of being the more attacking team and down 1-0, they didn’t let it dampen their confidence.
“Even when we went down early, we were never in doubt,” Strom said about the resilience leading to the equalizer. “We know we can get the equalizer.”
After 45 minutes, San Diego had more possession (55.9%-44.1%), but the Pride had more shots (8-6), shots on target (4-3), corner kicks (2-1), and crosses (6-2). Both teams ended the first half completing 83% of their passes.
“The first half we sat off a bit. We knew that they’re a pretty direct team. They wanted to go long and find Alex for the flick on,” Strom said about the halftime message. “And I think what we spoke about at halftime is one of our strengths is our press, our mentality. When we went after them, they struggled a bit. We were able to read the long balls better. They were kicking it out of bounds and weren’t as successful. So I think that’s part of our identity. We’re hungry. We like to press and it caused them a lot of problems.”
“I think the first 20 minutes of the game, we were kind of passive,” Hines added about the first half. “We changed that. There was more intensity to our press, put them under pressure. Caused a lot of problems with turnovers and we got ourselves back into the game.”
While San Diego didn’t make any halftime changes, Hines made two. Mikalya Cluff and Jordyn Listro entered the game for Abello and Villacorta.
“Just energy,” Hines said about the halftime substitutions. “You know, they did extremely well when they came on last game against Chicago. I felt we were a little bit tired in the midfield, so they came on, made an impact, lots of energy, the pressing that they put into it as well, causing a lot of problems and turnovers.”
It didn’t take long for Cluff to get involved. She took a shot in the 46th minute that was well over the target, but it was her second shot that gave the Pride an opportunity. The attempt from distance was blocked by Dahlkemper, sending Sheridan the wrong way. The ball was rolling towards the far post as the Wave goalkeeper scrambled to the opposite side of the goal. Unfortunately, the ball went just wide and out for a corner kick.
The ensuing set piece by Marta reached Rafaelle at the far post, but her international teammate couldn’t redirect it on goal.
In the 53rd minute, a ball into the Pride box was headed out by McCutcheon. Morgan was the first one to it, playing a quick give-and-go with Dougherty Howard before getting a shot off from distance. It was right to Moorhouse, but the Pride goalkeeper couldn’t handle it. Hill was there to put it back on target, but Rafaelle cleared it away. The assistant’s flag went up anyway as Hill was judged to be offside.
After receiving the ball from McCutcheon in the 59th minute, Doyle played the ball around Riehl and attempted to beat her with speed. Riehl put her shoulder into Doyle, knocking the attacker down in the box. But Thompson decided it wasn’t enough for a penalty. The ball went to Makenzy Doniak and Bright took her out from behind, earning the game’s first booking.
In the 65th minute, Adriana made a long run before pulling up just outside of the box and playing it back for Cluff. It looked like Cluff would lift the ball into the box, but she played it across for McCutcheon instead. The right back attempted an ambitious shot from distance and it looked like it would sail over the target. The ball was dipping, but still went just over the crossbar.
The Pride made their third change of the game in the 65th minute as Mariana Larroquette replaced Bright.
In the 75th minute, Listro knocked the ball off the foot of Doniak, but got too much on it, conceding a corner kick. Doniak’s ensuing set piece was to the top of the six, where Carusa got inside of Larroquette. The second-half substitute headed the ball past Moorhouse and San Diego retook the lead 2-1.
“They’re a direct team. They’re very strong in the air, all over the pitch, set pieces, in the run of play,” Strom said about conceding twice on corner kicks. “It was great services, great finishes, but at the same time, we need to be better. I think it’s maybe a bit of a lack of concentration on our part. To win those first and second balls, step out, deny the shots. So, it’s something we’re definitely going to have to look at and go back to our old ways and be really resilient in those moments.”
“Anytime there’s a situation like that, you know, there’s sometimes a lapse of concentration,” Hines said about conceding on set pieces. “A moment where you relax and I think they punished us in that moment.”
The Pride almost found another equalizer in the 79th minute when Adriana carried the ball to the top of the box and played it across for McCutcheon. The defender had plenty of space to touch the ball onto her left foot and fire from distance. It was heading under the crossbar, but Sheridan was able to get a hand to it, tipping the ball over the top.
Hines made his fourth change in the 82nd minute and it was an attacking one. Forward Ally Watt came into the game for left back Strom as the Pride went to a back three looking for an equalizing goal.
The Pride had a set piece opportunity in the 86th minute when Watt’s cross was deflected out of play by Riehl. Marta’s corner kick was towards the back post, where Cluff and Dahlkemper collided. The ball popped back for Rafaelle, but her header was into the hands of Sheridan.
The fourth official showed eight minutes of second-half stoppage time, a welcome sight for the Pride. But an odd moment occurred in the second minute when Sheridan’s free kick went over the head of Dahlkemper and straight out of play near midfield. As Listro ran over to take the throw-in, Wave Head Coach Casey Stoney, sitting on a cooler, kicked the ball away. Thompson ran over and immediately issued a confused Stoney a red card.
“In the 90+2 minute, the ball came out of play for an Orlando throw-in near the San Diego Wave technical area when head coach Casey Stoney kicked the ball away,” Thompson said after the game. “She was shown the red card and sent off for ‘delaying the restart of play by the opposing team, e.g. kicking the ball away’ per the IFAB Laws of the Game Law 12.”
The Pride continued to maintain possession and push for an equalizer, but weren’t able to create any solid chances on goal. After eight minutes and nine seconds of second-half injury time, Thompson blew the final whistle and the Pride fell to San Diego for the first time, missing an opportunity to climb into a playoff spot.
At full time, the Pride had more possession (52.4%-47.6%), shots (17-8), shots on target (6-5), corners (8-2), and crosses (23-3), and passed with more accuracy (80.9%-75.5%). But the hosts were unable to find a second goal and dropped all three points.
“It’s a strange one because I thought we did enough to win the game ,” Hines said about the performance. “Obviously, football doesn’t always work out like that. We’ve been in this situation, or have sat in this seat, multiple times where we felt like we’ve done enough to win the game. It just hasn’t fallen our way.”
In addition to conceding on both corner kicks San Diego had in the game, the Pride were unable to convert, despite having many more chances than the opposition. It’s been a recurring problem for this team and one of which they’re aware.
“That’s something we spoke about,” Strom said after the game. “We need to finish our chances because San Diego is a team that if they feel like they’re in it, they’re always going to have a bit of hope. All they need is one long ball behind. And they know they can score off of that and be dangerous off of that. So we need to take our chances. We did create quite a few and then it’s just finding that end product and putting it away and gaining that momentum and putting fear in the other team.”
“Every team is going to cause us different problems,” Hines said about the offensive troubles. “And that’s what San Diego did. They made it difficult to get any clear cut opportunities. You know, there was opportunities but they weren’t clear cut. And again, we learn from it.”
The Pride came into this game two points behind San Diego for the sixth and final playoff spot. Despite the loss, Orlando still sits two points out of the playoff places — now behind OL Reign, which holds a game in hand, which will take place Sunday at Angel City.
Hines said the Pride still have a good chance to make the playoffs for the first time since 2017.
“We’re still in a really good position. We’re still chasing, but we’re still in and around it,” Hines said. “And, you know, you see how close this league is. Anyone can beat anyone on their day and we fell short today. But, you know, we’ll have that hunger and drive.”
The Pride will look to bounce back from this loss next Sunday when they take on OL Reign in Seattle in another pivotal match with postseason implications.
Orlando Pride
Orlando Pride vs Angel City FC: Final Score 2-1 as McCutcheon’s Brace Lifts Pride to Win
Three goals in the last 15 minutes thrilled the crowd in Orlando as the Pride picked up their first home win of the season and ended Angel City’s perfect start.
The Orlando Pride shut down March NWSL Player of the Month Svendis Jonsdottir and got a brace from Haley McCutcheon in a 2-1 win over Angel City in front of 8,040 fans at Inter&Co Stadium tonight. Orlando (2-1-2, 8 points) picked up its first home win of the season, extended its unbeaten run to four games (2-0-2), and snapped the perfect start to the season for Angel City (3-1-0, 9 points)
“If we have a good defensive structure, that makes us have more possibilities of winning games, of having more chances in the front,” midfielder Angelina said after the match. “We’re going to be confident on the back and gaining the ball high up the field. The last few games, we’ve done a good job of that — lowering the chances of the opponent to just hit the target.”
The Pride came out the aggressors in the first half but it wasn’t enough to put anything on the scoreboard. The second half was heading toward a scoreless draw until the last six minutes of normal time, when the teams engaged in a mad scramble to see who could put the decisive winning goal in after trading opening goals in an eight-minute span.
Pride Head Coach Seb Hines rolled out the same lineup as Sunday in the scoreless draw against NJ/NY Gotham FC. This was the first time this season the Pride were able to put together a grouping that had played together in a match in 2026.
Anna Moorhouse started in goal behind a back line of Cori Dyke, Hailie Mace, Rafaelle, and Oihane. Ally Lemos and Angelina lined up in the defensive midfield behind an attacking midfield line of Jacquie Ovalle, Haley McCutcheon, and Solai Washington. Barbra Banda started up top looking to add to her total of three goals.
“Chemistry is always helpful” McCutcheon said. “It helps to be able to get that communication and trust that people are going to do their jobs.”
Both teams traded empty possessions for the first 10 minutes of the game until Angelina turned Banda loose on a long ball for the first shot of the game. The Zambian got behind the back line but did not make good contact on her shot, sending it at Angel City goalkeeper Angelina Anderson. McCutcheon got on the end of an Ovalle cross but headed it over the bar one minute later. There was a scramble off a free kick that Lemos fired off a defender and, on the rebound, Banda put it well wide in the 13th minute.
Angel City had its first significant offensive chance when Rafaelle fouled Jonsdottir in the 20th minute, leading to a free kick from 30 yards out. However, Kennedy Fuller sent it into the defense.
Savy King was booked holding back Ovalle in the 21st minute, giving the Pride a 30-yard free kick, but Angelina sent it straight into the wall. It was into the head of Maiara Niehues, who needed a couple of minutes after to recover.
Shortly after that, Dyke was fooled on a dummy by Gisele Thompson that turned Fuller loose into the box. However, Rafaelle blocked Fuller’s attempt on goal. Banda won a corner kick in the 30th and Ovalle sent the ball across the goal mouth to Rafaelle, who put the header on goal, but Anderson made a big save, deflecting it out for another corner. Angelina took the next corner, which Rafaelle put into the net but the Pride center back was called for a push on the play, nullifying the goal.
The Pride left Jonsdottir alone at the top of the 18 in the 35th minute, but she shot the ball well high. In the 41st, McCutcheon fouled Thompson on the right side, leaving a 25-yard free kick, which Fuller sent long and it turned into nothing.
Banda worked herself free outside the left corner of the box in the 45th minute, but she wasn’t able to get anything on the attempt to Anderson. The two teams closed out the half without any significant action and headed into the locker room scoreless.
Even though Angel City dominated possession in the first half (66%-34%), the Pride were certainly the more dangerous team. The Pride attempted more shots (9-3), with seven of those from inside the box but couldn’t score on any. Banda continued to prove to be her dangerous self with four shots (two of them forcing a save) and had support from her teammates, yet nothing ended up on the scoreboard. On the other side of the matchup of league-leading forwards, Orlando limited Jonsdottir’s touches in dangerous areas.
After a long kickoff out of bounds by Angel City to open the half, McCutcheon put Banda through on goal, but she was on the right from a difficult angle, and her shot was straight at Anderson. Oihane won a corner a minute later, but Ovalle sent it too long and over the goal line. In the 49th minute, Ovalle crossed the ball to McCutcheon, but she couldn’t put it on frame, sending it well wide.
Lemos sent a dangerous pass forward in the 52nd minute to Banda, who put it across the goal mouth and McCutcheon put it into the goal, but the flag came up immediately as the ball went in, as the Pride midfielder was a step offside. Washington was held by Thompson on the left side of the box at the 55-minute mark, leading to an Orlando free kick. Angelina sent a hard cross to Banda in the box on the set piece, and it deflected out to Dyke, who saw her shot easily blocked, igniting the Angel City counter.
Jonsdottir picked up the loose ball and sprinted down the field, muscling her way past Ovalle and then nutmegging Mace before turning a shot loose that went wide of the right post. It was a disastrous play for the Pride, as Ovalle remained down for a while after grabbing her hamstring. She was carried off the field by trainers and replaced by Summer Yates.
In the 60th minute, Oihane and Jonsdottir banged heads, leading to a long free kick by Angel City, which turned into a harmless header over the end line.
Angelina received a yellow card in the 62nd minute 40 yards, out but Kennedy Fuller wasn’t able to connect with anyone on the set piece. Banda picked up a booking of her own in the 65th trying to swim past Sarah Gorden.
Both teams brought on a sub in the 66th minute, with Marta taking Washington’s place and Taylor Suarez subbing in for Nealy Martin.
Shortly after the restart, Oihane worked her way into the box and King knocked the ball out for a corner in the 70th minute. Marta had her first significant contribution with the corner delivery, which sent the ball pinging around, leading to an open shot at the penalty spot by Angelina, who was wide open but put it over the bar, wasting a golden opportunity to open the scoring.
Jonsdottir floated a ball from deep left that almost caught Moorhouse off her line, but she scrambled back and just got a hand to it. It came off yet another deep throw-in, where Angel City interestingly has Jonsdottir take, even though she’s clearly the team’s most dangerous attacker.
Oihane went down injured in the 75th minute, leading to an eventual substitution with Hannah Anderson replacing her. It was deemed a concussion substitution due to the previous contact, sparing Orlando a sub.
At this stage of the game, Orlando was getting sloppy with its passing and struggling to keep possession, and all the attacking pressure started to come from Angel City. However, it was the Pride that broke the scoreless deadlock.
Banda worked in from the left side and put the ball across the goal mouth where it bounced around and ended up in front of McCutcheon, who put one in that counted. It was a team effort as Lemos, Rafaelle, Marta, and Hannah Anderson all moved the ball around and kept Angel City from escaping with it. McCutcheon’s 84th-minute strike was reviewed for a possible offside, but the replay was inconclusive and the goal stood.
“We brought in Marta, put her at the 9, and shifted Barbra wide,” Hines said about his late-game tactics, which led to the goal. “Get her directness dribbling at people, receiving the ball facing forward, taking players on. A great cross into a dangerous area with her left foot. We discussed as a staff that it’s a great idea to put her more on that left side to receive it and get away from players like Gorden and Emily (Sams).”
Dyke picked up a booking in the 89th minute for a tough challenge that the referee let play on and came back to give her the caution. Angel City then subbed Evelyn Shores on for King and Prisca Chilufya for Fuller.
Rafaelle was given a yellow card for a handball near the left sideline in the first minute of added time, leading to a free kick from next to the sideline. Shores put the kick in front of the goal, which Tiernan passed out to the top of the box. Thompson then blasted the ball off the underside of the crossbar and just over the goal line to even the score up. It was Angel City’s only shot on target, tying the game in the second minute of stoppage time.
Angel City stayed on the front foot after the goal, looking for a late winner. But again, it was Orlando that went the other way and found the back of the net.
The Pride won a corner on a drive into the box. Marta put the corner on the far post, where Hannah Anderson kept it alive, knocking it back in front. The ball pinged off a couple of bodies before falling to McCutcheon again, who poked it home in the eighth minute of stoppage time.
There were 10 minutes of stoppage time originally added, but the game went 14 minutes beyond the 90th. However, the Pride were able to see out one final scramble in front of goal, in which Moorhouse came off her line but was beaten to the ball by former Pride striker Chilufya. Angel City could not work through the traffic in front, and Orlando held on for the win.
At full time, Angel City held the advantage in possession (63%-37%) and passing accuracy (83%-77%), but the Pride had more shots (17-15), shots on target (6-1), and corner kicks (5-3).
It was a big win for Orlando, which finally sent the supporters at Inter&Co Stadium home happy. The Pride continue to play standout defense, limiting Angel City to one shot on target and only a few threatening looks at goal for a team that entered with a top-tier attack.
The Pride are off for three weeks for the international break before traveling to Kentucky to take on Racing Louisville on April 24. Orlando has never won at Louisville.
Orlando Pride
Orlando Pride vs. Angel City FC: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
The Pride return home looking to keep up their positive momentum after a strong road trip.
Welcome to your preview and match thread as the Orlando Pride (1-1-2, 5 points) welcome league-leading Angel City FC (3-0-0, 9 points). This is the first of two meetings between these two teams this year, with the return game in California scheduled for July 3.
Here’s everything you need to know about tonight’s game.
History
Angel City was one of the NWSL’s two expansion teams entering the league in 2022. As a result, the Pride have only played tonight’s opponents eight times. The Pride are 4-2-2 in those games, all in NWSL regular-season play. While the Pride have a 3-1-0 record against Angel City in Los Angeles, they’re only 1-1-2 at home.
The most recent matchup between these two teams took place on Aug. 21, 2025 in Los Angeles. The hosts dominated possession and the number of chances as the game appeared to be heading to a scoreless draw. But Alyssa Thompson converted in the 86th minute as Angel City took all three points.
The first game last year between the two teams occurred on April 25 in Orlando. The visitors got off to a great start with first-half goals by Riley Tiernan and Katie Zelem. But the Pride took over in the second half. Marta got one back midway through the second period, and Barbra Banda equalized four minutes later. An own goal by M.A. Vignola in the third minute of stoppage time gave the Pride a 3-2 win.
The first of two meetings in 2024 took place on March 22 in Orlando. Former Pride attacker Claire Emslie gave the visitors the lead from the penalty spot, and it looked as though the Pride would drop their first game of the season. But Marta volleyed home an equalizer from an Angelina corner kick late, pulling out a 1-1 draw. On June 30, 2024 in Los Angeles, Adriana gave the Pride the lead early and scored a second goal six minutes later. Banda netted a goal of her own six minutes into stoppage time, leading the Pride to a dominating 3-0 win.
The first meeting of the 2023 season took place April 2 in Orlando. Emily Sams took down Thompson in the first half, giving the visitors a penalty. Emslie stepped up and converted to give her team a 1-0 lead. Messiah Bright responded just after halftime to make it 1-1, and the game appeared to be heading for a draw. But Katie Johnson scored the winner in the 10th minute of second-half injury time. On Oct. 2, 2023 in Los Angeles, an Adriana volley beat Angel City goalkeeper Angelina Anderson to her near post for the only goal as the Pride won a crucial late-season game.
The first-ever game between the teams took place on May 8, 2022 in Los Angeles. In the third minute, Gunny Jonsdottir’s cross was tipped by Angel City goalkeeper DiDi Haracic, but it went right to Sydney Leroux. The Pride striker fired right at Morgan Reid standing in front of goal. The ball bounced off the defender and went in to give the Pride an early lead. The hosts controlled the final hour, but the Pride held on for 87 minutes to claim their first win of the season.
The teams met again on Aug. 7 in Orlando. Former Pride defender Ali Riley opened the scoring with a wonderful strike from the left side. The Pride responded in the second half through Julie Doyle, three minutes after she entered the game, to even it at 1-1. The visitors took another lead when Cari Roccaro beat Viviana Villacorta to a corner kick, putting it past Erin McLeod. The Pride equalized for a second time in the 90th minute when Doyle and Paige Nielsen raced for a Thais Reiss cross, with the defender reaching it first. But Nielsen’s attempted clearance went into her own net, allowing the Pride to claim a 2-2 draw and extend their unbeaten run to five games.
Overview
The Pride return home tonight after a two-game road trip in which they claimed four points. They had a dominant performance in Chicago on March 25, defeating the Stars 3-0. Banda, Jacquie Ovalle, and Hannah Anderson scored in the first half and the Pride held onto that lead in the second 45 minutes to claim their first win of the season.
It was a quick turnaround as they played defending champion NJ/NY Gotham FC Sunday night in New Jersey. The hosts dominated possession in the game, but the Pride were able to keep the opposition from creating too many opportunities, pulling out a scoreless draw.
Sunday night’s draw saw Banda’s three-game goal streak come to an end. However, after conceding three goals in the first two games, the Pride recorded their second consecutive clean sheet, something Head Coach Seb Hines is very happy with.
Another positive was that Rafaelle played all 90 minutes. The Brazilian has had constant injury issues since joining the Pride in 2023, which seemed to return when she was listed as questionable for the game in Chicago. The center back came on in the second half of that game and started against Gotham, providing a solid performance.
While the Pride are pleased with their performances away from home, they need to play better at home. The team has now played four games with new players like Hailie Mace and Hannah Anderson, so they’ll be expecting better results than the first two games, although they dominated those matches and created lots of scoring chances.
That will be difficult tonight as the Pride welcome the league-leading Angel City. The California-based team had an eventful off-season, losing Thompson to Chelsea FC and Riley and Christen Press to retirement. Meanwhile, they added Ary Borges and former Pride center back Emily Sams.
Angel CIty has been terrific offensively this season, scoring multiple goals in all three games. However, tonight’s visitors have only played Chicago, Bay FC, and the Houston Dash, three of the worst teams in the league. Additionally, two of those three games were at home and the other was in California.
Tonight will be a much harder challenge. The Pride are widely expected to be a team challenging for at least a top four spot. They’re a stronger team offensively and defensively than the teams Angel City have played this year.
Angel City is led in the attack by Sveindis Jonsdottir, who has three goals in her first three games of the season. She’s the only player on the team with multiple goals. Tiernan, Gisele Thompson, Evelyn Shores, Maiara Niehues, Kennedy Fuller, and Ary Borges each have scored one goal. Jonsdottir and Fuller lead the team in assists with two each.
Defensively, Angel City has a solid center back pairing of Sams and Savy King, who returns after missing most of last season after suffering a cardiac issue on the field. They’ll line up in front of Anderson, who returns as the starting goalkeeper.
“I think with Angel City, they’re a team that’s got a lot of good momentum right now,” Hines said ahead of the match. “Obviously, sitting top of the table. Three wins after three games. They’ll come with the expectation that they’ll go four for four, and we want to stop that of course. We want to get off to a good start as well, being back at home in front of our own fans. We’ve had a good road trip as well, four points in two games. So, to finish this part of the season with a win at home is where our minds are at right now.”
The Pride are still without Kerry Abello (hip), Zara Chavoshi (lower leg), Cosette Morche (ankle), Kylie Nadaner (maternity leave), and Viviana Villacorta (knee). Angel City will be without Karsyn Cherry (thigh), Emslie (maternity leave), Jun Endo (knee), Leroux (excused absence), Rajanah Reed (ankle), and Hina Sugita (knee).
Official Lineups
Orlando Pride (4-2-3-1)
Goalkeeper: Anna Moorhouse.
Defenders: Cori Dyke, Rafaelle, Hailie Mace, Oihane.
Defensive Midfielders: Ally Lemos, Angelina.
Midfielders: Jacquie Ovalle, Haley McCutcheon, Solai Washington.
Forward: Barbra Banda.
Bench: Cara Martin, Hannah Anderson, Reagan Raabe, Luana, Summer Yates, Seven Castain, Marta, Julie Doyle, Simone Jackson.
Angel City FC (4-2-3-1)
Goalkeeper: Angelina Anderson.
Defenders: Savy King, Sarah Gorden, Emily Sams, Gisele Thompson.
Defensive Midfielders: Ary Borges, Nealy Martin.
Midfielders: Riley Tiernan, Maiara Niehues, Kennedy Fuller.
Forward: Sveindis Jonsdottir.
Bench: Hannah Seabert, Faith Nguyen, Sophia Mattice, Evelyn Shores, Carina Lageyre, Taylor Suarez, Casey Phair, Prisca Chilufya.
Referees
REF: Jeremy Scheer.
AR1: Kendall McCardell.
AR2: Race Williams.
4TH: Stefan Perri.
VAR: Elijio Arreguin.
AVAR: Karen Coulson.
How to Watch
Match Time: 8 p.m.
Venue: Inter&Co Stadium — Orlando.
TV: None.
Streaming: Prime Video.
Social Media: For live updates and rapid reaction, follow @themaneland.bsky.social on Bluesky and the Orlando Pride’s official Twitter (@ORLPride) or Bluesky (@orlpride.com) feed.
Enjoy the game. Go Pride!
Orlando Pride
The Pride’s Offense Often Relies on Bank of Banda for a Bailout
A look at how Banda-dependent the Pride’s offense has been this season, and how that compares to prior seasons and the rest of the NWSL.
It feels like Orlando City’s season has been going on for months and the Orlando Pride’s season just started. But all of a sudden, the Pride are already four games into the new season, with their fifth match — the same number of games as Orlando City has played — coming on Friday night. The Pride are off to a better start than the Lions, both in the standings and in how they have looked on the field, and the basis behind their better start is brought to you by the letter B, and Barbra Banda.
While the Pride are off to a better start than Orlando City, they are not off to a bodacious beginning (all right, all right, enough with the “b”words), as they have only earned five points from their four games played and are currently seventh in the league standings. With league leaders Angel City coming to Inter&Co Stadium on Friday night it is possible that by the end of the weekend Orlando will drop out of the playoff spots, but even if they do, they will probably not be too worried, as the Pride had a difficult schedule in their opening five games and Marta has only been on the field for a total of 18 minutes through the first four.
The Brazilian superstar’s absence has deprived the Pride of the opportunity to roll out an offense with Banda, Marta, and Jacquie Ovalle all on the field together for the first time, but with Marta working her way back to fitness, that is going to happen soon. It may not happen against Angel City, but with a long break between that game and the next game against Racing Louisville on April 24, it seems likely that soon we will finally see the attacking group that Pride fans have been excited about ever since the acquisition of Ovalle last August.
La Maga (the magician) joined the Pride right after Banda’s season-ending injury last summer, and she looks much more comfortable this season than she did during the closing months of the 2025 season. She scored her first goal of the season last week against Chicago and she has two assists as well, which ties her for the team lead in goal contributions with Banda, who picked up right where she left off and is leading the team — and the league — in goals scored with three.
The Pride have only scored five goals on the season for an average of 1.25 goals per game, and Banda’s three gives her 60% of their goals scored. Four games is a small sample size, only 13% of the season, so Banda’s high share of the goals scored is not a huge concern this early in the year. What is a bit of a concern, however, is Orlando’s reliance on the Zambian for so much of its offensive threat.
The scatterplot below is from the past three NWSL seasons and shows the 246 players who took at least 12 shots during each season (I chose 12 shots because of a limitation in Microsoft Excel that does not allow more than 255 dots on a scatterplot; if you were wondering, 826 players have taken at least one shot during any of the last three seasons). Most of the dots are from 2024 and 2025, but there are four players in 2026, Banda included, who have already taken at least 12 shots this season. I put a purple circle around Banda’s 2024, 2025 and 2026 seasons.
There is no official measure for “reliance,” but the location of Banda’s three pairings for the percentage of goals scored (excluding opposition own goals) and the percentage of shots taken show just how much the Pride rely on her to generate offense, how much more that is than many teams, and how they rely on their top attackers. It is strongly unlikely that Banda’s percentages in 2026 will stay as high as they have been through four games, especially when Marta is back to full health, but by looking at 2024 and 2025, it is unlikely that she is going to see a drastic reduction either.
Banda will miss a few games later this summer when she goes to Morocco to represent Zambia during the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON), but she also missed nearly half of the 2025 season and still ended up as Orlando’s leading scorer and shot taker by wide margins (twice as many goals scored and shots taken as her next closest teammates).
Seb Hines and the Pride’s coaching staff would probably prefer a more balanced set of numbers long before her departure, as it is harder to defend multiple threats than one, but in the end, they will not care who scores as long as the Pride score enough goals to win games. The early dependency on Banda is not yet majorly alarming, especially considering that she is one of the best strikers in the world. I am somewhat concerned about her share of both shots taken and goals scored though and am hoping to see some other players step up their offensive contributions as the season progresses.
Friday night will be a big test for Orlando against Angel City and its NWSL-leading (only two goals allowed through three games) defense. Stopping Banda will be the clear priority, but that is a lot easier said than done. Solai Washington has looked good during the last few games and Ovalle is playing well also, and Marta will likely play for as many minutes as the training staff clears her for. Hopefully, between those three, Angelina, Ally Lemos, Haley McCutcheon, and any defenders who creep up into the attacking third of the field, they can either draw enough attention that Banda can get free, or use the open space that exists because of the gravity around the Zambian international to their advantage and put some shots into the back of the net.
Either way, the offense will need to deliver against Angel City, whether they are using Plan A or Plan B(anda).
Vamos Pride!
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