Pride Scoring Just Enough in Undefeated Run

The Orlando Pride have started the 2024 NWSL season undefeated through five matches and sit fifth in the table. After three draws to start the campaign, they won their next two matches with 1-0 victories. In these matches, the Pride played well enough to win by multiple goals, but instead found themselves fighting for narrow wins late due to missed opportunities to extend their lead. For this team to meet or exceed their ambitions this season, they will need to score more goals from the quality chances they’re creating. 

The most important fact of the young season is that the Pride are getting results. They have possessed the ball well, created chances, and scored in each match. However, much of the plaudits must go to the team’s defending. The Pride currently boast the league’s second best defense in terms of goals conceded at only four. This rigid defense secured back-to-back clean sheets against the Utah Royals and San Diego Wave, ensuring one goal was enough for all three points in each match.

On the other end of the pitch, the Pride have created a significant number of opportunities to score but have not rewarded themselves by putting the ball in the net. Through five matches, Orlando has taken more shots than its opponents four times, matching its opponent’s shot total in the other match. While this puts the Pride third in the league in shots taken, they are 10th in the league in shooting accuracy, with only 31% of their shots being placed on target. 

For all the opportunities created in the final third, the Pride have generated 8.7 expected goals (xG) per FBref, enough for fifth in the league. This means if the Pride were finishing their chances at an average rate for a club in the NWSL, they would have scored roughly nine goals at this point in the season. However, with only four goals attributed to Pride players, the team’s underperformance relative to its expected goals (-4.7) is the lowest in the NWSL by a wide margin. On the other end of the spectrum, the Kansas City Current have been ruthless when attacking, scoring 17 goals despite only marginally better expected goals (9.4) than the Pride. Neither team should count on their current five-game form to continue for a full 26-game season. The Pride will certainly need to work to make sure their scoring form improves.

Going beyond the numbers, it is important to look at how the Pride are putting the ball in the net. First, only Marta and Yates have scored, contributing two apiece, which matches the tally of own goals benefitting the Pride. Interestingly, these players occupy similar positions, with Yates subbing on for Marta, or vice versa, each match until the most recent time out against San Diego, when they started together. All four goals have been one-touch finishes from in the box, though the degree of difficulty on Marta’s finishes has been a bit higher.

The similarities in the way the Pride are scoring don’t end there either. Each of the six total goals scored by the Pride has come from one of two distinct attacking situations. In the first situation, Kerry Abello, the left back, has the ball at her feet on the left side of the opponent’s box before firing it into a dangerous area. Against Louisville, she received the ball out wide, used her footwork to get half a yard of space, and crossed the ball across the six-yard box, where an opposing defender deflected it into their own net. Against Utah, Abello made a late run into the box, fielded an overhit cross from Ally Watt, and sent it back across the six to Marta, who finished in style, securing the 1-0 victory. Abello’s most recent contribution came against San Diego. As has been an encouraging theme to start the season, Abello received an inviting pass from Angelina, drove into the box, and hit a hard shot across the goalkeeper that was saved and went into the path of Yates for the tap-in. 

These goals created by Abello are owed to her unique skills. Though she has been filling in at left back due to Rafaelle’s injury, Abello had often played in the attack before this season. As a coach who knows how to maximize the talent at his disposal, Hines has given Abello the freedom to join the attack and make late runs off the left side. When she does, she has been poorly marked by the opponent, creating mismatches on that side of the pitch and opportunities for herself and teammates. 

The second main scoring avenue for the Pride has been set pieces. Angelina, who joined the club in the off-season, has been the primary set-piece taker. Against Racing Louisville, her free kick from 40 yards out was flicked on by Amanda Allen into the path of Yates, who redirected it past the goalkeeper. Against Angel City FC, Angelina’s corner from the right was lofted to the far side of the box where Marta was able to volley brilliantly for the equalizer. Then, against the Chicago Red Stars, Angelina’s corner from the left was sent dangerously into a crowd near the goalkeeper, and a Chicago defender deflected it into her own net. With her right-footed deliveries, Angelina has contributed to half of all the goals scored by Orlando in 2024.

The last piece of the goal-scoring puzzle is the attacking scenarios that haven’t results in goals. So far, the wide midfielders and forwards have not scored or assisted. The majority of minutes at these positions have been played by Adriana, Julie Doyle, and Ally Watt, who combined for nine goals last season — six from Adriana alone. These players are capable of building on last year’s totals, and while the goal contributions are lagging, they are an integral part of the way Seb Hines wants his team to play. 

After the game against San Diego, Hines described a key aspect of the team’s attacking philosophy. “We want that threat in behind,” he said. “We want a player who is going to keep the back line honest because it’s such a threat, and with that it opens up little pockets of space for Marta to get on the ball, for Summer to get on the ball.”

As Hines said, a large amount of the attacking threat for the Pride has come from balls played into space out wide or over the top. Doyle, Watt, and Adriana are all pacey players and have gotten several opportunities to drive at defenders in transition. As shown by the high shot output, these plays are generating chances, but either by bad luck or poor finishing, they have not yet yielded the goals they deserve. One thing that can help turn these chances into goals is the addition of Barbra Banda, a prolific scorer and the second-most expensive signing in NWSL history, who has now debuted for Orlando. 

The Pride should not feel compelled to change what they are doing in the attack since they are creating a good number of chances. They will just hope that they can add the final touch that caps their strong attacking play with the goals to match. Yates said after her match-winning goal against San Diego, “I think we’re still finding our composure in and around the box. I know I should’ve had another one. I probably think about the one I missed more than the one I scored.” If Yates and her teammates can convert just one to two more chances per game, there will be many more wins coming their way.