Connect with us

Orlando Pride

Orlando Pride vs. Houston Dash: Final Score 1-0 as Pride Win But Fall Short of Playoffs

A late Marta penalty saw the Pride defeat the Houston Dash but miss the playoffs due to tiebreakers.

Published

on

Dan MacDonald, The Mane Land

The Orlando Pride (10-11-1, 31 points) ended their 2023 campaign with a 1-0 win over the Houston Dash (6-8-8, 26 points) at Exploria Stadium. Marta drew a late penalty and converted it in the 87th minute for the winner. However, results around the league saw the Pride come up just shy of qualifying for the playoffs for the second time in team history.

Pride Head Coach Seb Hines made one change from the team that lost 3-2 to Racing Louisville FC last weekend. Erika Tymrak entered the lineup for the first time since Aug. 9 and the first time in a league game since July 7, replacing Celia. Haley McCutcheon moved into the defensive midfield last weekend, but returned to her regular right back position tonight.

“You go into film and you see areas that you can exploit. I think Erika’s been buying her time and waiting for her opportunity,” Hines said about starting the veteran. “We felt this was the right time to put her in. Also, the leadership that she brings, the experience that she brings also, and we needed a calm head in those moments. So, yeah, I want to make sure that everyone feels like they’re part of it. And sometimes it may not always be a start, it might be a substitution or, you know, just waiting for the opportunity. And between myself and the staff, we felt Erika was the right person to put in and in this game.”

“That’s part of the game,” Tymrak said about making her first appearance since Aug. 9. “Like, sometimes you don’t play for a month and then you start a game. That’s happened in my career more times than I can remember. So I think that’s just being a pro. You have to stay ready.”

The back line in front of goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse was Kylie Strom, Rafaelle, Emily Madril, and McCutcheon. Jordyn Listro and Kerry Abello were in the defensive midfield behind Tymrak, Marta, and Adriana, with Messiah Bright up top.

The Pride were the better team throughout most of the game. Houston had two golden opportunities late in the first half, but few other chances. The hosts were unable to convert most of their opportunities until the late penalty. Those misses will live in their memories during the postseason as they came up short of a playoff spot on goal difference.

The Pride were the aggressors early. In the fourth minute, Tymrak played Bright down the left. Katie Lind got a piece of the ball, sending it out of play. The ensuing corner kick by Marta found Rafaelle, but Maria Sanchez blocked it out for a second attempt. Houston was able to clear the second corner.

McCutcheon created an opportunity in the eighth minute when she sprinted down the right with the ball and sent a cross in before reaching the end line. The ball was aimed for Tymrak near the top of the six-yard box, but was just over her head.

Two minutes later, Marta almost created a moment of magic after a give-and-go with Bright. The Pride captain used quick footwork to beat Lind and Natalie Jacobs, keeping the ball glued to her feet. Unfortunately, the last touch got a little too far away and Dash goalkeeper Jane Campbell collected it. Had Marta been able to get a shot off, it probably would’ve been the NWSL’s goal of the season.

In the 15th minute, Tymrak sent Bright behind the Dash defense. The forward’s touch was too strong, forcing her to attempt a cross instead of shooting. The cross was cleared, but only to Adriana at the top of the box. The Brazilian shot with her second touch, but sent the attempt over the target.

Houston got its first attacking opportunity in the 24th minute when Michelle Alozie won a corner kick. The set piece was to the near post and Sophie Schmidt was the first to it, but her header was wide.

Following a hydration break, the Dash created a chance in the 33rd minute when Schmidt sent a beautiful ball behind the back line for Nichelle Prince. The forward got behind Madril and shot, but sent the attempt straight to Moorhouse.

In the 34th minute, Adriana attempted a cross on the right, but it was blocked out of play by Sarah Puntigam. The ensuing corner kick by Marta found the head of Rafaelle, but the center back sent the attempt just over the crossbar.

On the other end, McCutcheon conceded a corner kick and the Dash looked to take advantage. The set piece resulted in multiple shots by the visitors, but the Pride defense stood strong, blocking them away.

Marta made a run through the midfield in the 38th minute and played it wide for Adriana on the right with space. The midfielder attempted a long-distance shot, but it was into the arms of Campbell, who easily collected it.

In the 41st minute, Marta carried the ball into the Houston third again, but this time took it herself. She took a shot from a tight angle that looked to be heading just inside the near post, but Campbell blocked it away. Her ensuing corner kick was headed out, ending up with Listro. The defensive midfielder shot from just outside of the box, sending it right to Campbell.

Houston nearly ended the first half by taking the lead. Four minutes into first-half stoppage time, Snachez sent a low pass across the top of the six-yard box that went behind Alozie. It reached Andressa, who flicked it with her heel past Madril and Moorhouse. The ball bounced off the inside of the left post and rolled across the goal line before Strom cleared it away.

That was the final touch of the half as the game went into the break scoreless. Houston had more first-half possession (55.1%-44.9%), but the Pride had more shots (10-8), shots on goal (3-2), corner kicks (4-3), and crosses (11-8). The Dash also had better passing accuracy (79.9%-77%) in the first 45 minutes.

The Pride got the first attempt of the second half in the 49th minute when McCutcheon found Bright in the Houston box. The striker redirected the ball towards goal with her first touch, but sent it wide.

They had another opportunity in the 52nd minute when Bright’s ball into the box was blocked out of play by Schmidt for a corner kick. Marta’s set piece was towards the top of the six-yard box, but too close to Campbell, who caught it.

With the Pride needing goals to keep their postseason chances alive, Hines made his first change of the game in the 55th minute. Forward Ally Watt came on for Tymrak.

The Pride continued to create chances in the 60th minute. First, Strom dribbled in from the left, shooting towards the near post. It went through Campbell’s hands and off the crossbar. Seconds later, Marta took a shot from the top of the box. The attempt was on target, but Campbell made a diving stop, pushing the ball wide.

Hines made two more changes in the 71st minute. Usual starters Julie Doyle and Mikayla Cluff came on for Bright and Listro.

A throw-in for Houston in the 73rd minute resulted in a chance for an opener by the visitors. Receiving the ball on the right, Caprice Dydasco played a short pass to Joelle Anderson, who came on for Prince in the 63rd minute. The substitute shot for the far post and didn’t miss by much, forcing Moorhouse to dive for it. Fortunately, the ball skipped wide.

Out of a hydration break in the 78th minute, Marta nearly connected with Doyle. The Brazilian lifted the ball into the box and the substitute dove for it. However, the ball was just beyond her reach, glancing off her head and wide of the far post.

Adriana felt she should’ve had a penalty in the 79th minute when Schmidt challenged for the ball in the box. The attacker went down, but referee Natalie Simon didn’t see a foul. Adriana appealed for a penalty, but the call was correct as Schmidt got the ball.

In the 84th minute, Doyle sent a long ball into the Houson box. Marta beat Lind to the ball and the defender pushed the attacker down from behind. Simon didn’t hesitate to point to the spot, awarding the Pride a late penalty.

After a brief VAR check, Marta stepped up to take the spot kick. Campbell guessed the correct way, but the shot was under her arm to give the Pride a late 1-0 lead.

“You need to feel the moment, you know? I’m trying to read what the goalkeeper think about and I’m trying to play a little bit with my eyes. Like to try to make sure she don’t take the ball,” Marta said about her penalty. “But it’s about the moment. And then I just, at the last second, I just decide to take her, I think it was her right side. And then it was a goal.”

Immediately following the goal and needing more to make the playoffs, Hines made two final attacking changes. Summer Yates and Mariana Larroquette came on for Abello and Madril.

In the 89th minute, Watt fouled Sanchez and was booked for the challenge. Sanchez’s free kick found the foot of Schmidt, who’s first touch was a redirect on goal. But it was to Moorhouse, who made the stop.

A minute into stoppage time, Adriana blocked a Diana Ordonez cross out for a corner kick. Sanchez’s cross to the near post connected with Schmidt, but the midfielder’s shot was wide.

Two minutes later, Doyle sent a cross into the box. Yates couldn’t handle the pass, but it went to Larroquette, who played it forward for Yates behind the Houston back line. The rookie shot, but sent the ball over the crossbar.

In the fourth minute of stoppage time, Doyle carried the ball inside and took the shot herself. Campbell got down to make the stop, but it went right to Adriana. The Brazilian chested the ball down and touched it to the side to create space, but the shot was into the arms of Campbell.

The final chance of the game for either team came in the sixth minute of stoppage time. Schmidt fouled Yates outside of the box, giving the Pride a dangerous set piece to the left of goal. Adriana sent it to Cluff at the back post. The midfielder’s head connected with the pass, but she couldn’t get enough of it, putting it wide.

Houston ended up with more possession (51.8%-48.2%), but the Pride had more shots (21-11), shots on target (8-2), corner kicks (6-5), and crosses (21-11). The Dash passed more accurately (75.7%-74.9%) and the Pride came away with a 1-0 win to end the season.

“It’s like, we win the game but we lose. So it’s difficult,” Hines said about the game. “I thought the game, we started a little bit slow and not as threatening as I would have liked us to be. But I get it, you know, there’s a lot at stake in this game and a lot of pressure. And I felt like in the second half we were more aggressive. The goal comes from a terrific ball from Julie, a great run from Marta, and she gets in behind the back line and gets brought down. And you think, you know, you’re 1-0 up and you’re looking towards next week. But, you know, it wasn’t meant to be and yeah, it’s a tough one.”

Despite the three points, the Pride fell just short of a playoff spot. OL Reign beat the Chicago Red Stars 3-0, NJ/NY Gotham FC drew the Kansas City Current 2-2, and Angel City FC stunned everyone with a 5-1 win over the Portland Thorns. As a result, the Pride finished tied on points with Angel City and Gotham for fifth, but fell on goal difference.

“I’ve played in leagues all around the world and you always have top teams and then kind of like this big gap and then lower teams. And I think what’s special about the NWSL is that there is no weak team,” Tymrak said about the number of teams fighting for playoff spots. “Every game you play is so hard. There’s no easy game. There’s no break game. But that’s why I think we’re the best league in the world is you have that competitiveness regardless.”

“I’m so proud of this team because from beginning everybody put us in the last. You know, like when you see the list, Orlando Pride was the last one,” Marta said about overcoming preseason expectations. “And look now, so it was too close. And I hope we can, of course we’re going to be sad, but learn about this today and don’t make this happen again next year. Because we’re going to come back strong.”

While the team fell short of the postseason, they have plenty to look forward to in 2024. The hiring of Hines as head coach appears to have been the right decision as they finished in their second-highest position in team history. Additionally, Marta indicated after the game that she’ll be back to captain the team next year, the last of her two-year deal.


It will be a difficult off-season for the Pride as they attempt to reconcile the missed opportunities that could’ve seen them continue their season. However, there’s plenty of optimism going forward with a young squad that’s proven it can compete in this league.

Orlando Pride

Orlando Pride Unveil New Home Kits Ahead of 2025 NWSL Season

The new home Decennial Kit has a great look, but there is an obvious detail that will bother many purists.

Published

on

The leaked images do not do the Orlando Pride’s new home kit, dubbed the “Decennial Kit,” justice. The Pride unveiled the new uniforms today, showing off the new home purple threads with Eola Blue accents, drawing inspiration from the club’s original kits from the inaugural 2016 season for Orlando’s 10th year in the league.

The purple kit is trimmed with the Eola Blue on the sleeve cuffs. The crest on the front will stand out for several reasons.

  • The crest is irridescent gold and purple. The irridescence is to commemorate the Pride’s 2024 double of winning both the NWSL Shield and NWSL Championship.
  • The crest has a gold star above it, commemorating the team’s NWSL Championship in 2024.
  • The crest is in the middle.

Yeah, it’s in the middle. Just like the leaked kit showed. I generally don’t hold strong opinions on soccer jerseys, as I find most of them to be fine, with a few of them truly great and some just plain awful, however, I need that crest to be over the heart, especially coming off a championship. Nevertheless, the badge is where it is, smack dab in the center, topped by a gold star, and then…the Nike logo is at the top of that center stack. I’m not crazy about that either, but at least it’s a bit muted.

Pride fans will get their first chance to buy the kit in person at the club’s 10 Years of Pride Kickoff Party Sunday at Inter&Co Stadium. It is already available on ShopOrlandoPride.com. The first 200 fans in attendance at the 10 Years of Pride Kickoff Party to purchase the jersey or add customization to their 2025-26 kit will receive a complimentary patch. Season Ticket Members will have the opportunity to enter the party early at 2 p.m., as this will
be their first opportunity to pick up their complimentary jerseys as a part of their 2025 benefits package. The general public will be able to enter at 3 p.m.

“This kit is special in so many ways,” Orlando Pride Chief Marketing Officer Pedro Araujo said in a club press release. “From honoring 10 years of Pride by taking inspiration from our very first kit design in 2016, to celebrating the most historic season in NWSL history and adding our first championship star. We are so excited to share this kit with our fans to kick off the 2025 season.”

In addition to the ubiquitous Lake Eola fountain badge, the jersey also features a new wordmark in the jock tag at the bottom right that commemorates the team’s 10th season. The number 10 is cleverly embedded within the word “Pride.”

Unlike the leaked kit that many have seen online, the Decennial Kit’s shirt is a beautiful shade of purple and a pattern that, while I have no idea what it’s called, adds a lot of depth and texture. It’s another knockout of a kit for the Pride, who have truly stepped up their game in recent years in that department. It would be one of my favorites with the badge in its “proper” place, but it’s still one of the better ones and hopefully not everyone is as picky about the badge location as I am.

Here’s a look at the new duds:

Continue Reading

Orlando Pride

Orlando Pride Offense through the Lens of Goal-Creating Actions

Can an analysis of the Pride’s offense in 2024 using goal-creating actions help project how they will perform in 2025?

Published

on

Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

We are one week away from the season opener for Orlando City and three weeks away from the season opener for the Orlando Pride, wrapping up what has felt like a long off-season. Oddly enough, both off-seasons were the shortest in club history, but they have felt extra long, probably because of the elongated conversations around several players and whether these players would stay in Orlando, leave Orlando, or come to Orlando.

At this point, the rosters are probably pretty close to being locked in to what they will be when the seasons open, but there still may be some final changes, and if there are, hopefully they will be positive ones for the teams in purple.

Several weeks ago, I wrote about how the Pride were bringing back all of their goals and nearly all of their minutes played from 2024, and while that has changed now with Adriana’s departure to Al Qadsiah FC in Saudi Arabia, the Pride are still bringing back most of their goals and minutes and will likely be among the favorites, if not the favorite, when sportsbooks start posting their NWSL futures odds. As of this moment, I cannot find anyone who has odds posted, and very few sites have released their season previews and power rankings, but I have a hunch that the defending champions, bringing back nearly every key contributor, will be near the top of those lists. And they should be because, and let’s revel in this once again, they are the defending champions!

The Pride are bringing back two players who combined for 28 goals in NWSL play last season. If we include the playoffs, then Barbra Banda scored 17 goals and Marta added 11, and they ranked second and fourth, respectively, for most goals scored. What interested me, however, was that they only combined together to create four of those goals as a partnership.

Using Opta’s tracking and fbref.com’s database of goals, I was able to create a ranking of the most prolific partnerships during the 2024 NWSL season. For every goal scored, Opta tracks what they call goal-creating actions, which are the two plays immediately preceding a goal that led to a player scoring a goal. For example, let’s flash back to the playoff semifinal when Banda gave the Pride a 3-1 lead against the Current by smashing a ball into the net harder than a home run off the bat of Elly De La Cruz (my son’s favorite baseball player). In related news, I am also excited for baseball season.

In the video below, Banda is the goal scorer, and the prior two plays are a completed pass by Haley McCutcheon to Kylie Strom and then the assist on a completed pass from Strom to Banda. Opta tracks those as the two goal-creating actions for Banda’s goals, with Strom’s pass being the final action preceding the goal.

Staying in that same game, I am sure you remember Marta’s wondergoal (wondergoal is still underselling how great of a goal this was — this was an all-time great run down the field) that made the score 3-1. On that play, Banda received the assist, as she passed the ball to Marta, but the two goal-creating actions were actually both by Marta as she beat multiple defenders and the goalkeeper off the dribble to get herself into shooting position. Opta’s tracking shows this goal as scored by Marta, from two consecutive goal-creating actions of Marta take-ons. Yes Banda passed the ball to Marta, but this goal was created by Marta’s magic, and the GOAT taking on and beating multiple defenders.

Opta tracks the following seven different types of goal-creating actions:

  • Fouled
  • Interception (stealing a pass)
  • Pass (live-ball)
  • Pass (dead-ball)
  • Shot
  • Tackle (stealing the ball directly from the other team’s player)
  • Take-On (beating a defender off the dribble)

During the 2024 NWSL season there were 502 total goals scored, including the playoffs and including own goals. Opta’s tracking does not have an assist for every goal, nor does it have a goal-creating action for every goal, and that makes sense for how soccer is played. Sometimes goals happen unassisted, as a player, usually a striker, makes a tackle or interception themselves and then is in on goal and scores unassisted, or a player wins a loose ball in the box and slots it home, or a player finishes a rebound and the official scorer does not give the asisst to the player who took the original shot.

Opta’s tracking shows 481 non-own goals in 2024, with 312 of those goals (approximately 65%) having an assist. Of those 481 non-own goals, 447 (approximately 93%) had a primary goal-creating action, and this also makes sense, as it is much more likely, based on the list of goal-creating actions, that there was one of those than there was a true assist. I am much more interested in the goal-creating actions than I am the assists, as I believe they are better descriptors of how goals happened.

Looking at the Pride, which I know is really why you are here, the following table lists the player combinations that led to more than two goals during 2024:

Player CombinationGoals
Adriana and Barbra Banda5
Barbra Banda and Marta4
Ally Watt and Barbra Banda4
Adriana and Marta3
Barbra Banda and Julie Doyle3

For these counts it does not matter who created the goal and who scored it, these were the two Pride players involved in the final product. It may be a bit of a surprise to see that the top combination was Adriana and Banda, but Adriana scored three goals in 2024 that came directly from a foul on Banda (5/11 vs. Bay FC), a rebound from a Banda shot (6/30 vs. Angel City), and a foul on Banda (10/20 vs. Gotham). Banda scored two goals that resulted from an Adriana live-ball pass (5/19 vs. Seattle) and a rebound from an Adriana shot (7/6 vs. Kansas City). Adriana and Banda’s five goal combinations tied them for fourth in all of NWSL in 2024, with the combination of Esther González and Yazmeen Ryan of Gotham FC leading the league with seven.

It is a fair criticism of this statistic to say something along the lines of, “Well, Adriana did not intend to miss her shot and for Banda to score the rebound, so who really cares if it was an Adriana shot or someone else’s shot that Banda rebounded?”. Conversely, Adriana had to put a shot on target and have struck it well enough that it could not be saved and held, and Banda had to beat other players to the ball to score it, and both players had to have earned the right to be on the field at the same time.

I do not think goal-creating actions are the be-all, end-all, but I do think they tell more of a story than just assists. As another example, the action that immediately preceded five of Banda’s 17 goals was her winning a take-on against her defender. That total led the league in 2024, and she and Portland’s Sophia Smith were the only two players with more than three take-ons that led directly to goals in 2024. Two of those five goals for Banda had teammates credited with assists, but just as with the Marta goal against Kansas City when Banda was credited with the assist, the goals really came more from the effort by Banda as the goal scorer rather than from the pass that gave her the ball initially.

On a different note, those top combinations I showed tally up to 19 of the 54 goals scored by the Pride in 2024. The Pride benefitted from three own goals, meaning they scored 51 goals themselves, so those top combinations did not even account for half (37%) of the team’s goals last season. That is the sign of a team that is diverse in its attack, and even though Adriana is gone, they bring back everyone else who was involved in all of their goals, plus they will have Grace Chanda, Simone Charley, and Prisca Chilufya as additional offensive options in 2025. Losing Adriana will hurt, but I think the Pride will have her departure covered.

Goals are exciting, and of course are how teams win games, so as watchers and analyzers of soccer, we spend a lot of time thinking about how they happened. I like goal-creating actions as a statistic but I know on many goals there are different plays that happened in succession that led to the goal, and the goal-creating action stat only shows the final two plays. Those final two plays are critical though, so I think it is a good statistic to analyze, just in conjunction with others as well.

It is no accident that Banda was all over that list of top Pride combinations, she led the league in goal-creating actions and goal-creating actions plus goals, and with her available for the full season in 2025 I expect that she is going to be right near the top again this season, if not the league leader for the second consecutive season.

I cannot wait to watch the Pride’s offense this year. I think they are going to be creating goals and goal-creating actions at an even higher rate than last season.

Vamos Orlando!

Continue Reading

Orlando Pride

Orlando Pride Acquires Spanish International Oihane Hernandez

The Pride have acquired Spanish right back Oihane Hernandez from Real Madrid Femenil, signing her to a two-year deal.

Published

on

Dan MacDonald, The Mane Land

The Orlando Pride defensive signings continue, but this time it’s a new player instead of a new contract. The club announced the signing of Spanish international defender Oihane Hernández this afternoon to a two-year contract through the 2026 season with a mutual option for 2027.

“Oihane is a technically gifted defender who excels in both defensive organization and distribution from the back,” Pride Vice President of Soccer Operations and Sporting Director Haley Carter said in a club press release. “She brings world-class experience and a championship mindset from her time with Spain’s national team. Oihane’s ability to perform in high-pressure situations and her tactical understanding and ability to read the game will be invaluable assets as we continue building a championship-caliber roster. We’re delighted to bring her to the City Beautiful.”

The 24-year-old has been a regular for the Spanish Women’s National Team and was a member of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup champions.

“I’m excited to join the Orlando Pride and begin this new chapter in my career,” Hernández said in the club’s release. “The club’s vision and ambition really influenced me to make the move to Orlando. “I am impressed by the professional environment and the enthusiasm of the staff, teammates, and passionate fanbase. I am ready to give everything for the badge and build on the team’s success.”

Hernández joins the Pride from Real Madrid Femenino for an undisclosed fee. The right back spent the last two seasons at Real Madrid, making 31 appearances and recorded a pair of assists. Prior to moving to the Spanish capital, she played for Athletic Club Femenino in Bilbao, representing the club from 2019 to 2023. She made 109 appearances for the club, scoring three times.

Internationally, Hernandez came up through the youth ranks with Spain, playing in the 2016 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup, the 2017 UEFA Women’s Under-17 Championship, and the 2018 UEFA Women’s Under-19 Championship. That led to her making her senior team debut on Sept. 2, 2022 in a World Cup qualifier against Hungary.

During the 2023 World Cup run, Hernandez played in six games for the eventual champions. She started in the round of 16 and quarterfinals before coming off the bench in the World Cup Final against England.

More recently, Hernandez played for Spain in four games of the 2024 Summer Olympics. She won a bronze medal in that tournament.

What It Means For Orlando

Hernandez comes in to be the starting right back for the Pride. It’s interesting that the signing comes on the same day that the club awarded Cori Dyke a new contract. During her 2024 rookie season, Dyke became the Pride’s starting right back, taking over when Brianna Martinez was injured and playing well in the stretch run and postseason.

This move creates more depth at a position that was already well stocked. Prior to this move, the players that would likely play right back other than Dyke were Martinez, Haley McCutcheon, and Emily Sams. However, this move allows McCutcheon to remain in the defensive midfield and Sams to remain at center back, where she won the NWSL Defender of the Year last season.

Continue Reading

Trending