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SkoPurp Soccer Episode 35: Morgan Gautrat Interview, Racing Louisville Rewind, Angel City Preview, and More

A heroic road result on opening day, a battle coming against Angel City, and a chat with Morgan Gautrat.

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

The 2024 season did not get off to a fast start for the Orlando Pride. Just 20 minutes into the season, the Pride found themselves down two goals on the road. A while later, while still trailing, Orlando then found itself short one player when Kylie Strom was shown a second yellow card. Things looked bad.

But the Pride pulled themselves together, fought back valiantly, and earned a 2-2 road draw against Racing Louisville in their NWSL season opener. It was the first point for Orlando in four visits to Kentucky, and although the Pride still haven’t won on opening day, they at least took a point from a losing (and, at the time, hopeless-looking) position.

We break down the match, check in on our score predictions, and make our selections for Player of the Match.

After our Louisville rewind, we were joined by midfielder Morgan Gautrat. The USWNT veteran was kind enough to spare some time to talk about her experiences with the club so far, how she’s settling in with her Orlando teammates, playing for Seb Hines, learning from a tough situation in Week 1, and more. Big thanks to Morgan for her time ahead of the Pride’s home opener on Friday against Angel City.

Our mailbagbox asked us questions about some of the Pride players who didn’t appear on opening day, the most meme-able moments from Saturday’s draw at Louisville, and more. Remember, you can ask us anything by hitting us up on Twitter at either @TheManeLand or @SkoPurpSoccer and using the hashtag #AskSkoPurp. Or you can visit our show page, scroll down, and fill out the handy form. We’d also appreciate any ratings reviews you can leave wherever you get your podcasts, and if you do that on Apple Podcasts, we’ll find them easily and read them on the show.

Finally, we presented our key matchups and score predictions for the Pride’s home opener this Friday. Angel City’s lineup presents a lot of familiar faces, including Messiah Bright, who will no doubt want to show Orlando what it’s missing without her. It should be an interesting match and it will be interesting to see what Seb Hines does with his back line with Strom unavailable and other key players injured or just returning from injury.


Here’s how Episode 35 went down:

0:15 – The Pride dove into the deep end of the adversity pool in Louisville but were able to overcome all of it and bring home a point.

22:30 Morgan Gautrat joins us the Pride’s new veteran midfielder expertly puts up with our questions.

42:37 – The mailbagbox has questions and we’ve got answers, as well as our key matchups and predictions for Orlando vs. Angel City.

Podcasts

SkoPurp Soccer Episode 72: Pride News and Roster Projections

Carrie Lawrence calls it a career and our annual postseason walk through the Orlando Pride’s roster.

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Mark Thor

Still basking in the glow of an NWSL Championship, we reconvene this week without a match to recap and little news to share. However, there was one development over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, as defender Carrie Lawrence announced her retirement from the game on Black Friday. We discuss what Carrie’s retirement means for the Pride.

After the brief Pride news portion of the show, we dive straight into our mailbagbox, which is much shorter this week. During this poetic edition of the mailbagbox, we answer questions about whether we can imagine sitting next to one of our regular listeners at an NWSL Championship and if Marta could have an opportunity to right a wrong. Remember, you can ask us anything by hitting us up on Twitter at either @TheManeLand or @SkoPurpSoccer and using the hashtag #AskSkoPurp. Or you can visit our show page, scroll down, and fill out the handy form. We’d also appreciate any ratings or reviews you can leave wherever you get your podcasts, and if you do that on Apple Podcasts, we’ll find them easily and read them on the show.

After the mailbagbox, it’s our annual “Stays/Goes” segment, in which we go through the entire Orlando Pride roster, looking at each player’s contract situation and trying to determine which players we expect to be in purple again next season (and which ones will move on). Haley Carter and company will want to build on the best season in league history, so there are bound to be a few more departures if the club can lure even more talent to Central Florida.


Here’s how Episode 72 went down:

0:15 – Carrie Lawrence calls it a career and our mailbagbox is much more manageable this week.

20:11 – Our annual Orlando Pride roster review and projections for 2025.

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Podcasts

PawedCast Episode 458: New York Red Bulls Rewind and Listener Mail

The Lions are out of the playoffs one game shy of the promised land.

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Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City’s 2024 season is over. It was a weird one, with the Lions underachieving until July before becoming one of the league’s best teams. The dominos seemed to fall into place for a run to MLS Cup, with the top three seeds being eliminated and a defense that allowed almost nothing the last few games, but the only shot on target across two matches ultimately was one too many. It was a great defensive postseason for the Lions, although the team still has to learn to score goals when the games matter most.

We looked back at the match, checked in on our score predictions, and made our selections for Man of the Match.

This week’s mailbagbox asked about New York’s tactics, and it also had a whole lot of trivia questions for us. We did pretty well overall, I think, but trivia isn’t out forte. Still, it was a lot of fun to try to figure things out with logic, sometimes successfully and often less so. Remember, if there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the show, just ask us by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC, or hitting us up on Bluesky Social with that same hashtag.

That is a wrap on the “normal” season schedule for the PawedCast, but we’ll be back next week to weigh in on any OCSC news and take our annual stays/goes walk through the roster. After next week, we’ll be playing it by ear, but you’ll get at least one show a month in the off-season (Who are we kidding? It’ll probably be more than that.) Keep sending us your questions and we look forward to maybe getting a little more rest for the next few weeks.

Be sure to rate and review our show wherever you get your podcasts. Remember, we’ll read any five-star reviews we get on Apple Podcasts on the next show.


Here’s how No. 458 went down:

0:15 – We hates John Tolkin forever! Also, hey…cover the back post, you guys.

18:54 – Our mailbagbox asks us about kicking the ball out of play and tests our knowledge of the 2024 Lions and MLS as a whole. Spoiler: We knew more about the Lions.

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Podcasts

SkoPurp Soccer Episode 71: Washington Spirit Rewind, Tons of Listener Mail, NWSL Championship Celebration, and More

The Pride won the whole damn thing and then celebrated a lot in Kansas City (again) and Orlando.

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Michael Citro, The Mane Land

Wow. As we get ready to enjoy a holiday weekend with our loved ones, the Orlando Pride have given us so much more to be thankful for this year. The Pride went to Kansas City, withstood a furious challenge from the Washington Spirit, played their usual solid defense, and captured a 1-0 win in the 2024 NWSL Championship. If the Kansas City Current and their fans thought the Pride celebrated on their field back in July, they hadn’t seen anything yet.

We discuss the Pride’s win over Washington, the valiant fight the other team showed, the controversy before the game’s only goal, some of the remarks the Spirit made in the aftermath, and much more. We checked back on our score predictions and made our selections for Player of the Match.

After our match rewind, we opened up our mailbagbox, which was busting at the seams. Much of that came from one extremely enthusiastic listener, but we’re not mad about it. We may have to break up a block of questions that big across multiple episodes in the future, but we were in a celebratory mood and answered each one. Remember, you can ask us anything by hitting us up on Twitter at either @TheManeLand or @SkoPurpSoccer and using the hashtag #AskSkoPurp. Or you can visit our show page, scroll down, and fill out the handy form. We’d also appreciate any ratings or reviews you can leave wherever you get your podcasts, and if you do that on Apple Podcasts, we’ll find them easily and read them on the show.

After the mailbagbox, we discussed Megan Montefusco and Celia closing their careers as champions, got a quick word from Mark Wilf, the Pride’s owner and chairman, and hit the high points of the team’s celebration in front of City Hall in downtown Orlando on Monday.

This episode is a long one, so buckle up. Listen to it in smaller chunks if it helps.


Here’s how Episode 71 went down:

0:45 – Orlando didn’t play its best (and credit much of that to Washington), but the Pride got their moment of Barbra Banda brilliance and won their first NWSL Championship.

29:39 The mailbagbox is ridiculously full this week.

1:19:09 – Pride retirements, highlights from the Pride’s victory parade and celebration, a word from owner/chairman Mark Wilf, and more.

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