With Orlando City’s thus-far proficient offense on one hand and Christian Benteke on the other, Saturday’s game had the potential for a high-scoring affair. The Lions did not disappoint on that front, scoring twice in the first half and twice again just after the break to thoroughly overmatch D.C. United. The only black mark on the evening was the consolation goal that D.C. got late, resulting in a 4-1 scoreline that didn’t feel that close.

Orlando’s attack was clicking, with all three Designated Players making substantial contributions both in play and on the score sheet. Luis Muriel (goal, assist), Martin Ojeda (goal, two assists) and Marco Pašalić (goal) at times looked like they were playing a charity game instead of a league match, especially later in the game. Ojeda especially seemed to take upon himself a personal challenge of doing all his shots the hard way. Of his six shots, he deflected off Aaron Herrera’s leg in the 24th minute, Hosei Kijma’s foot in the 38th minute, and off Herrera’s rear end in the 44th minute — his goal — and then volleyed a shot in the 60th and murdered the right post in the 69th.

Goalkeeper Javier Otero got his first MLS start, stepping in due to the international window taking Pedro Gallese to South America. While D.C. provided inconsistent attack, United challenged occasionally, and Otero acquitted himself well, making three good saves. He parried away a wicked curling shot in the 77th minute and smothered two shots well in the fourth and 68th minutes, adding a handful of other critical claims.

His one sweeping foray in the 25th minute was successful but nervy, as he did not get the ball, but he and Robin Jansson managed to protect the ball and each other until the Swedish defender could clear it away. He had no real chance on the goal conceded, as Benteke beat two defenders in the air to head back across to a box full of crashing D.C. attackers in desperation time. Overall, it was a great game for the young goalkeeper to learn from and build confidence.

Overall it was an exciting game on a beautiful evening in Orlando. We hope you enjoy these images from a memorable win over D.C. United.

The Orlando Pride opened the 2025 NWSL season in style Friday night, celebrating their record-smashing 2024 campaign with a double banner raising for their NWSL Shield and NWSL Championship. They then provided a performance of intent to hold onto those honors with a thorough 6-0 beatdown of the newly rebranded Chicago Stars in the game that followed. The community seems to have noticed, as the attendance of 19,237 was the second largest for the Pride and a new record for the team at Inter&Co Stadium.

Haley McCutcheon and Barbra Banda set the tone early, each causing Chicago goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher to make good saves in the opening three minutes. McCutcheon found the net in the seventh minute and the Pride did not look back. By the time the final whistle blew, four different Pride players contributed goals — McCutcheon, Ally Watt, Julie Doyle, and Banda (twice), with an own goal by Hannah Anderson rounding out the scoring. It could have been even more, as Banda played in Zambian Women’s National Team teammate Prisca Chilufya, who buried her shot in second-half stoppage time. However, Banda was offside on the play, and the flag went up quickly after the strike. Still, it was an excellent sign that a new member of the team is finding her form already.

The Pride smothered the game, affording Chicago only 36% posession. Without the ball, Chicago was only able to manage two sequences that even led to shots during the run of play (plus some desperation low-chance looks in second-half stoppage time).

We hope you enjoy these images of a celebratory night at Inter&Co Stadium.

The Orlando Pride played their first meaningful game of 2025 in the NWSL Challenge Cup Friday against the Washington Spirit. While the Pride looked sharp, they couldn’t quite earn their third trophy in a row at the expense of the Spirit, with regulation ending in a 1-1 draw, and Washington taking the competition in penalties, 4-2.

Both teams brought back most of their rosters from last year, so instead of new faces, anticipation more revolved around the return of several key players from injury. Center back Rafaelle made an impactful return from an injury-marred 2024, scoring Orlando’s only goal in her 45 minutes. New Pride signing Prisca Chilufya made her debut in the second half, almost pulling Orlando back into the lead in the 85th minute. Grace Chanda and Trinity Rodman did not see the field but were on the bench for their respective teams, indicating promise for the 2025 campaign.

Rafalle’s goal stood up until a set piece late in the game gave the Spirit the opportunity to equalize, and they did. Leicy Santos delivered a great free kick, but Anna Moorhouse got two hands to it and will likely think she should have kept it out. The game went straight to penalties, where the Pride got off to a good start with strikes by Julie Doyle and Angelina, but neither Summer Yates nor Ally Lemos were clinical and the Spirit prevailed.

The Pride will open their 2025 campaign at 8 p.m. Friday at Inter&Co Stadium. The pre-game will include a celebration of the record-smashing 2024 season, including raising banners for the the NSWL Shield and the NWSL Championship.

We hope you enjoy this gallery of photos from the NWSL Challenge Cup.