SkoPurp Soccer Episode 47: San Diego Rewind, Courage Preview, and More

The Orlando Pride played without Adriana and Rafaelle and got only a half out of Marta and Barbra Banda, but still managed to bring home a hard-fought road point after a 1-1 draw against the Wave in San Diego. The Pride remain unbeaten in Southern California and on the 2024 season thanks to an acrobatic goal from Julie Doyle. We break down the match, check back on our score predictions (one of us nailed it), and made our selections for Player of the Match.

Banda and Emily Sams made the NWSL Team of the Month for May, and the Pride’s Zambian striker was also the league’s Player of the Month. Both are well-deserved honors for Banda, and it’s nice to see Sams recognized for her outstanding efforts.

Our mailbagbox this week asked us about the Pride’s unsung hero, Sophia Smith’s silly sending off, Anna Moorhouse’s performance Friday night, 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 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.

Finally, the Pride will visit the North Carolina Courage on Saturday. The Pride blasted the Courage the first time the teams met, but North Carolina has a perfect home record in 2024, so Orlando will have to be better than it was in San Diego. We hit you with our preview, key matchups, and score predictions for this week’s game.

Here’s how Episode 47 went down:

0:15 – The Pride didn’t win for the first time in a while, but still got a good road result. Plus, some Orlando players gained league recognition.

17:34 – The mailbagbox gives us a chance to provide much-needed answers to our listeners’ most penetrating questions.

35:58 – The Pride head to North Carolina to take on the Courage.