The Orlando Pride opened the 2025 campaign tonight with a 1-1 draw against the Washington Spirit in the NWSL Challenge Cup at Inter&Co Stadium, falling 4-2 in penalties. Rafaelle gave the Pride the lead in the 41st minute, but Leicy Santos equalized with a great set piece in the 72nd minute.

This was the first time seeing Pride Head Coach Seb Hines’ starting lineup for 2025. Anna Moorhouse was in goal behind a back line of Kerry Abello, Kylie Nadaner, Rafaelle, and Emily Sams. Morgan Gautrat and Haley McCutcheon were the defensive midfielders behind Ally Watt, Marta, and Angelina with Barbra Banda up top.

The game saw the return of Brazilian center back Rafaelle, who had been out since July 6, 2024. It was also Angelina’s introduction in the attacking midfield for the first time since early last year. Primarily a defensive midfielder last season, Hines moved her forward where she could be creative.

“Rafa missed a lot of football last year. You can see what she brings when she’s on the field,” Hines said about the center back. “And so getting her to 45 minutes was a goal of ours.”

“We felt tonight that was an area that we could exploit with Washington’s press,” Hines said about starting Angelina in the attacking midfield. “We would have liked to get her the ball a lot more in that first half in that position. But again, it’s that understanding in chemistry and more work on the training field that would have helped us get her in those positions where she can be threatening.”

The Spirit had the first chance of the game in the 10th minute when the Pride tried to play the ball out of the back. They worked it from left to right, ending up on the foot of Sams. She played it central for McCutcheon, but the pass was off target. Santos took possession and shot from outside of the box but missed wide. 

Watt nearly gave the Pride the lead in the 14th minute when the attacker tried to chip Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury. The goalkeeper got a touch to the ball, causing it to hit the top of the crossbar. The ensuing corner kick by Angelina was too close to Kingsbury, who caught it.

The Spirit had another good chance in the 18th minute when Gabrielle Carle played a beautiful ball forward for Brittany Ratcliffe on the right. Teenage midfielder Chloe Ricketts was making a run to the top of the box and Ratcliffe found her. Ricketts tried to beat Moorhouse to her right post, but the Pride shot stopper did well to get down and make the save.

A Watt cross caused problems for the Spirit in the 21st minute when Kingsbury lost control. It was free for a brief time, but nobody in purple was there to jump on it. Kingsbury was able to get back on the ball and end the threat.

In the 36th minute, Watt stuck her foot out and intercepted Narumi Miura’s pass back for Esme Morgan. As the attacker entered the box, Miura tripped her from behind and referee Alex Billeter pointed to the spot.

As Marta stood over the ball, the video assistant referee called for Billeter to take a second look. Replays showed that the contact between Miura and Watt was just outside the box. Billeter agreed and awarded the Pride a free kick instead. That could have been a major talking point, because Billeter did not allow play to continue after the foul, although Banda was first to the loose ball, appeared to have advantage, and may have scored had the whistle not blown.

However, on the set piece, Angelina tapped the ball to Marta, who fired a shot into the wall. The ball bounced back to Rafaelle, who sent it through several bodies and into the far corner to give the Pride a 1-0 lead.

“It’s always a great pleasure to score, especially with my whole team supporting me and happy for me to be back,” Rafaelle said. “First of all, I’m really happy to be back. I know scoring is a big moment in the game, but for me, just playing a few minutes and being with the team, that’s the best feeling ever.”

In the second minute of first-half injury time, Watt knocked the ball off Casey Krueger’s foot and out for a corner kick. Rafaelle got her head to Marta’s set piece, sending the ball towards goal. However, Kingsbury was there to catch it before it reached the goal line.

Banda turned McKeown in the third minute of stoppage time and went on a strong run into the box. McKeown went down while challenging Banda and the striker got into the box. The center back caught back up with Banda as she challenged Carle. There was contact and Banda went down, but Billeter determined it wasn’t enough to point to the spot for a second time.

The final attempt of the first half came in the dying seconds. Ashley Hatch did well to turn McCutcheon and create space for a shot from outside the box. However, the attempt was right into the arms of Moorhouse, who caught the ball as the halftime whistle blew.

Hines made one halftime change, and it was an interesting one. While Rafaelle coming off wasn’t surprising, Julie Doyle replaced her. As a result, Sams moved from right back to center back, McCutcheon moved from the defensive midfield to right back, and Angelina moved from the attacking midfield to defensive midfield.

“We would have liked to keep her (Rafaelle) on the field for longer,” Hines said about the substitution. “But, you know, you’re putting a player at risk at that moment. So it was nice to see her contributing and getting a goal because we know that she can contribute in goal-scoring moments as well.”

The Pride took the first attempt at goal of the second half when Banda dribbled inside and shot from outside the box. The attempt was off the head of McKeown, who crumbled to the ground and received treatment before continuing.

The visitors got their first second-half attempt in the 50th minute when Ricketts played the ball wide for Krueger, who sent it into the box. Ratcliffe made a run between Sams and Nadaner, diving to head the ball. However, the attempt went wide of the near post.

Things got a little feisty in the 52nd minute when Ricketts came in late on Sams in the Pride box, taking out the center back. Moorhouse took exception to the challenge and sprinted out to confront Ricketts. As more players came running in, Billeter told everyone to back up and eventually regained control of the situation.

Marta tried to make something happen in the 65th minute, twisting and turning to find space for a shot. Morgan knocked the first attempt away, but it went right back to the Pride captain. She used some nifty footwork to create a second shot but sent it high and wide of the target.

Hines made his second change shortly after, bringing Ally Lemos on in the 67th minute. This time it was a more straightforward change as she replaced Gautrat.

The Spirit went on the attack following the substitution, creating chances deep with set pieces. The first was in the 70th minute when Marta fouled Hal Hershfelt. Makenna Morris’ free kick found McKeown in the box. She volleyed the ball into the box, but McCutcheon knocked it away. It ended up back with McKeown, whose shot went across the box and nowhere near the target.

The visitors got another chance in the 72nd minute when Angelina was called for a foul on Miura near the top of the Pride box. Santos took the set piece. Moorhouse got her hands to it but couldn’t keep it from slipping inside the near post to even the game at 1-1.

“Great goal by them,” Nadaner said about the goal. “Sometimes you just got to put your hands up.”

The Pride went on the attack after the equalizer, trying to retake the lead. Marta won a corner kick in the 75th minute, which Angelina sent into the box. The cross was behind the attackers, but Marta got her head to it. She tried to turn it on goal, sending it wide.

Hines made two more changes in the 82nd minute as Summer Yates and Prisca Chilufya replaced Watt and Banda. It was a Pride debut for Chilufya, who joined the team this off-season.

The Pride nearly retook the lead in the 85th minute when McCutcheon played Banda at the near post. The striker had the inside position on the defender and tried to turn it on goal, but it went wide.

The Spirit nearly had a chance in the 87th minute when Krueger sent a high ball down field and Sams misplayed it. Hatch controlled the ball and dribbled into the box, but Abello did well to come across and knock it out for a corner kick.

The ensuing set piece was tipped by Moorhouse, going to Santos beyond the back post. Her shot was blocked and the Spirit players called for a handball, but Billeter decided it wasn’t, as it deflected up off Chilufya’s foot and onto her hand.

It looked like the Pride had a late winner when Yates was taken down by Carle in the 90th minute. Angelina sent the ball behind the back line and Nadaner dove, heading it past Kingsbury. However, the flag went up for offside, a correct decision.

That was the final decent chance for either team as the 90 minutes ended 1-1. Since it’s the Challenge Cup, the game went to penalties to see who got the trophy.

Doyle and Angelina converted the first two attempts, but were equaled by Hatch and Rebeca Bernal. Yates took the third kick for the Pride, sending it wide. Miura took the third for the Spirit. Moorhouse got her hands to it, but it was too strong and Washington took the lead.

The Pride’s fourth penalty was a weak one to the right by Lemos and Kingsbury made the stop. That left it up to McKeown. The forward-turned-center back powered it past Moorhouse to give Washington the trophy.

The Pride ended the game leading every major statistical category, including possession (52.2%-47.8%), shots (13-9), shots on target (4-3), crosses (11-7), corner kicks (7-1), and passing accuracy (80.8%-79%).

“Football’s a cruel game, you know? Losing to penalties is never nice,” Hines said about the game. “I thought we did really well throughout the game. I thought our press was really, really good, and we had some good opportunities. But again, we have to take into consideration this is the first game of the year. And it’s a final. And, obviously, you want to win every game, but I think it’s always hard losing a final and losing a trophy. But I think it’s going to help us have that hunger to continue to start where we left off from last year.”

This is the first time the Pride have lost to the Spirit since Aug. 4, 2023, in the previous version of the Challenge Cup. Last season, they went 3-0-0 against tonight’s opponent, clinching the NWSL Shield and winning the NWSL Championship against the Spirit.

With the Challenge Cup behind them, the Pride now look forward to the NWSL regular season. They’ll kick off the new campaign next Friday night when they host the Chicago Stars.

Welcome to your preview and match thread as the Orlando Pride face the Washington Spirit in the 2025 NWSL Challenge Cup. Now a Super Cup, it’s a rematch of the 2024 NWSL Championship, which the Pride won 1-0.

Here’s everything you need to know about tonight’s game.

History

The Pride and Spirit have faced off 26 times since the Pride joined the NWSL in 2016. Orlando has a record of 10-9-7 in all competitions against Washington and a 9-6-6 record in NWSL play (regular season and playoffs combined).

The last time these two teams met was on Nov. 23, 2024 in the NWSL Championship. Barbra Banda’s 37th-minute goal was the difference in the game as the Pride won their first-ever league title.

The game prior to the championship was on Oct. 6, 2024 in Orlando. Despite dominating the game, the Pride didn’t convert until Marta scored in the 53rd minute. An Adriana shot was deflected by Tara McKeown for an own goal in the 73rd minute, lifting the Pride to a 2-0 win and clinching the NWSL Shield. On April 26 in Washington, D.C., Angelina gave the Pride the early lead before Ouleymata Sarr equalized shortly before halftime. A Banda strike and a Summer Yates penalty conversion in the second half seemed to put the game away, but Anna Moorhouse dropped an easy catch from Ashley Hatch, giving the Spirit a second goal. Fortunately, the Pride held on for the 3-2 win, extending their early-season winning streak to three games.

The first meeting of 2023 was on May 10 at Audi Field in NWSL Challenge Cup group play. Tori Hansen gave the Pride a surprising early lead, but late first-half goals by Lena Silano, Sam Staab, and Marissa Sheva made it 3-1 Washington at halftime. Ally Watt scored off the bench early in the second half, but Ashley Sanchez put the game away in injury time as the Spirit won 4-2.

The first regular-season matchup of 2023 was on May 20 in Orlando. Marta converted a first-half penalty, but Staab equalized five minutes later. Kylie Strom netted the winner late, and the Pride won 2-1. The Pride dominated the Spirit in the second regular-season matchup on July 1. Julie Doyle had a brace in the first 16 minutes and a McKeown own goal put the game out of reach as the Pride won 3-0.

The final meeting in 2023 was in the Challenge Cup on Aug. 4 in Orlando. The game appeared to be headed for a scoreless draw until Mariana Speckmaier scored eight minutes into second-half injury time, lifting her team to a 1-0 win.

The first game between the teams in 2022 came on May 27 at Exploria Stadium. Trinity Rodman gave the Spirit an early lead and Hatch doubled the advantage after halftime. As the game entered second-half stoppage time, it appeared as though the Pride would fall for the second straight time, but a pair of late goals by Mikayla Cluff and Darian Jenkins stunned Washington with a 2-2 draw. The teams met again on July 17 at Audi Field and the Spirit dominated the game statistically. They had more possession, shots, and shots on target but couldn’t find the back of the net, resulting in a scoreless draw.

Prior to the draw in May, the Pride and Spirit played two games in the 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup. The first was on March 19 in Orlando, playing to a scoreless draw. The second Challenge Cup meeting came on April 3 at Audi Field. Gunny Jonsdottir scored the team’s first goal in four games. However, the Spirit already had a 3-0 lead. Rodman scored a late goal to put the game away as the Pride fell 4-1.

The two teams played four times during 2021. The first was on April 21 in the Challenge Cup. Sydney Leroux’s goal was the only scoring as the Pride won 1-0. Just two games later, the Pride opened their regular season by hosting the Spirit on May 16. Hatch gave Washington the lead, but Alex Morgan equalized to claim a 1-1 draw. The second regular-season meeting that year was on June 6 in Washington. Hatch opened the scoring, but Taylor Kornieck equalized minutes later, resulting in a 1-1 draw. The final meeting of 2021 came Aug. 22 at Audi Field. Marta gave the Pride the lead, but Hatch equalized just two minutes later. It looked like it would be a third straight 1-1 draw but Sanchez won it for Washington late.

Due to the pandemic, the Pride and Spirit didn’t play in 2020 but faced off three times in 2019. The first was on July 6 in Orlando. Marta scored a brace in the second half, leading the Pride to a 4-3 win. They played again on Aug. 24 in Washington. Crystal Thomas gave the hosts the lead and Marta equalized. But Hatch’s goal lifted the Spirit to a 2-1 win. The final game was supposed to be the following weekend but was postponed due to Hurricane Dorian. Instead, the game was played Oct. 9 in Orlando. The Spirit dominated the rubber match, beating the Pride 3-0.

The first of two meetings in 2018 was on March 31 at the Maryland SoccerPlex. Hatch scored a goal and added an assist in a 2-0 win for the Spirit. The Pride got their revenge in the second game in the same location. Alanna Kennedy’s goal was the difference as the Pride won 1-0. The final meeting that year was on July 7 in Orlando. Hatch gave the Spirit the lead, but Leroux scored just before halftime and Marta’s goal gave Orlando the 2-1 win.

The 2017 season was the first time the teams played three times in a year. Their April 22 meeting was the Pride’s first home game that year. Line Sigvardsen-Jensen gave the visitors the lead, but Danica Evans answered as the teams drew 1-1. They met for the second time that year in Maryland on July 8 when Marta and Mallory Pugh both scored braces in a 2-2 draw. The final game in 2018 was on Aug. 8 in Orlando. Marta, Camila, and Morgan all scored as the Pride ran away with a 3-0 win.

The Spirit swept the first two meetings in 2016, winning 2-0 in Maryland and 2-1 in Orlando.

Overview

Pride Vice President of Soccer Operations and Sporting Director Haley Carter has done well in keeping her championship squad together. The team returns 10 of its 11 regular starters from the 2024 championship run. However, the Pride will likely feel the departure of Adriana after Carter shipped the Brazilian off to Saudi Arabia at the end of January.

It’s unclear who will replace Adriana, although top candidates include back-from-injury Grace Chanda and new signing Prisca Chilufya, but the rest of the team remains intact. Marta signed a new two-year deal to remain with the team and will captain the side tonight. Banda remains up top, making the Pride a threat going forward. However, it’s more important that the back line returns.

The Pride were the best defensive team in the league last year, giving up just 20 goals. They had a chance to set the record for fewest goals conceded in a season, but Head Coach Seb Hines decided to rest players for the playoffs after winning the NWSL Shield. 

The Spirit are largely the same team the Pride played in November, but they did make a significant move. Andi Sullivan is out with a torn ACL, suffered in the Oct. 6 meeting between these two teams in Orlando. So the Spirit went out and got Japanese midfielder Narumi Mirua — who spent the last two seasons in North Carolina — to replace her.

Rodman, Sarr, and Hatch remain on the front line for the Spirit, making them a threat going forward. Sarr and Rodman led the team last year with eight goals each, and Hatch was just behind them with seven. They helped lead the Spirit to 51 regular-season goals, second in the league last season. However, the Spirit will be without Sarr and possibly Rodman tonight.

“It goes without saying, it’s been a short off-season and a short preseason, but we wouldn’t swap it for anything,” Hines said leading into this game. “Going through the highs of last year and winning the championship and going to the last game of the year is incredible. Then you’re straight into reality with the preseason. We’ve had a really good preseason and played some really competitive games. The challenge is internationals always going away in pivotal moments within preseason, but everybody’s fit and ready to go into this game against Washington in the Challenge Cup. We’re excited, we’re looking forward to it, and we’re looking forward to putting on a show in front of everyone, especially our fans who have been waiting to see us since the championship game. We’re ready to go.” 

The Pride will enter this first game of the season without six players, some of whom were expected to be missing. The list includes Simone Charley (ankle), Luana (illness), Amanda Allen (shoulder), Carson Pickett (foot), Aryssa Mahrt (knee), and Oihane (excused absence). Additionally, Cori Dyke (thigh) is listed as questionable.

The Spirit are without Croix Bethune (knee), Emma Gaines-Ramos (knee), Rosemonde Kouassi (knee), Lyza Jessee (wrist), Paige Metayer (knee), Sarr (back), Sullivan (knee), Courtney Brown (hip), Heather Stainbrook (hip), Kysha Sylla (knee), and Kate Wiesner (hip). Rodman (back) is listed as questionable.

Projected Lineups

Orlando Pride (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Anna Moorhouse.

Defenders: Kerry Abello, Kylie Nadaner, Rafaelle, Emily Sams.

Defensive Midfielders: Haley McCutcheon, Morgan Gautrat.

Midfielders: Ally Watt, Marta, Angelina.

Forward: Barbra Banda.

Bench: McKinley Crone, Prisca Chilufya, Viviana Villacorta, Julie Doyle, Grace Chanda, Summer Yates, Ally Lemos, Brianna Martinez, Zara Chavoshi.

Washington Spirit (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Aubrey Kingsbury.

Defenders: Casey Krueger, Esme Morgan, Tara McKeown, Gabrielle Carle.

Defensive Midfielders: Hal Hershfelt, Narumi Muiura.

Midfielders: Brittany Ratcliffe, Leicy Santos, Chloe Ricketts.

Forwards: Ashley Hatch.

Bench: Rebeca Bernal, Meg Boade, Margie Detrizio, Kiley Dulaney, Sandy MacIver, Trinity Rodman, Makenna Morris.

Referees

REF: Alexandra Billeter.
AR1: Katarzyna Wasiak.
AR2: Matthew Rodman.
4TH: Shawn Tehini.
VAR: Greg Dopka.
AVAR: Rhett Hammil.
RAR: Melissa Gonzalez.

How to Watch

Match Time: 8 p.m.

Venue: Inter&Co Stadium — Orlando.

TV: None.

Streaming: Prime Video.

Twitter: For live updates and rapid reaction, follow @TheManeLand and the Orlando Pride’s official Twitter feed (@ORLPride).

Enjoy the match. Go Pride!

The Pride’s season starts Friday…kind of. The Pride definitely will play a game on that date, wearing their uniforms in front of fans, but the game will straddle the line between being meaningful and meaningless.

It is an NWSL game, but one that has no bearing on the standings or playoff qualification. However, if they win, they will win a trophy — the NWSL Challenge Cup. Players will not accumulate any official NWSL statistics, but if they perform well or poorly, it very well may have a bearing on their roles once the regular season starts. A soccer game should in no way be similar to Winston Churchill’s famous line about the Soviet Union being a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside of an enigma, except for when it is.

Perhaps that was a bit hyperbolic. Ok, very hyperbolic.

What is truly still a mystery, however, is who will take the mantle from Adriana as the team’s third offensive focal point? The clear top two are Barbra Banda and Marta, who combined for more than 20 goals last season, but the third is up for grabs. As a quick reminder, here are the top performers from last year during NWSL regular-season play (data from Opta’s tracking on fbref.com, SCA = shot-creating actions):

Adriana’s departure leaves nearly 1,700 minutes to fill, in addition to around four shots per 90 minutes and the third most goals on the team. The Brazilian also was a heavy possessor of the ball when the Pride were in the attacking third of the field, touching the ball as often as Banda and almost as often as Marta.

The Pride do not have to directly replace all of those statistics, but being that they brought back many of the key contributors from last season, they are likely to play in a similar fashion as they did in 2024 (and, um, they won the shield and the cup so why wouldn’t they?). So, many of the shots and touches taken by Adriana will be there for someone else to take.

Grace Chanda was recently removed from the Season-Ending Injury List, Simone Charley likely will be removed soon, and the team signed Prisca Chilufya in the off-season, but I think it will be Yates who makes another leap and ascends into a major role in the Pride’s attack this season. Head Coach Seb Hines clearly already trusts her, giving her 17 starts during the regular season in 2024, and despite receiving little national attention and playing only slightly more than 50% of the available regular-season minutes, she proved herself to be one of the league’s elite attacking players, placing in the top 20 in several critical metrics.

Here is where she ranked in the NWSL during the 2024 season in several attacking statistics:

A quick trip down dictionary lane for these metrics:

• Shot-Creating Actions — the final two plays that happened immediately prior to a shot.
• Season Game Score — I explained this metric in detail in this article on Orlando City, but it amounts to a measure of the contributions of goals, expected assists, and attacking plays per game.
• Goals — Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooals.
• Plus/Minus per 90 — the differential between goals scored and goals allowed while a player is on the field, normalized over a 90-minute period.
• On-Off — the differential between goals scored and goals allowed while a player is on the field as compared to the goal differential when they are not on the field, normalized over a 90-minute period.

For all of these metrics, the goal is to be positive, and the more positive the better the performance. Yates is a skilled dribbler and passer, and those skills in particular helped her create exactly four shots per 90 minutes for her teammates last season. Despite playing nearly 350 fewer minutes than Adriana last season, she had more key passes (32 to 30) and one-on-one dribbling wins (28 to 24), and her win rate on those one-on-one dribbling take-ons was much higher (45% to 35%).

Those same skills helped contribute to her high season game score as well, as expected assists and progressive passes come from well-played passes, and progressive carries (dribbles) can only happen if a player has excellent touch and can dribble at speed at an opposing defense.

If you scroll back up to the first chart, which showed goals and shots, you will notice that Yates scored five goals on only 25 shots — a 20% success rate and the best on the team. The full team average, excluding Yates, was 9.9% and the NWSL average was 10.0%, so she was in a class by herself in terms of making the most of her shots when she took them.

The final two metrics I showed, plus/minus and on-off, are tied into goal differential, and those therefore take into account both the offensive and defensive performance of the player and the team while on the field. Yates was better than +1.00 in both metrics, and while soccer is a game played by 11 players, it is still telling that the team performed positively while she was on the field and was better with her on the field than when she was not on the field.

Yates cannot play all of Adriana’s minutes, but I think if healthy she should definitely pick up at least 400-500 of them. Extrapolating is a dangerous business, best left to mathematicians (oh hey, that’s me) and gamblers (not me, though I did like seeing that the Pride are the favorites to win the NWSL this year). An increase of 400-500 minutes would be an increase of around one-third for Yates and would correspondingly put her on track for seven goals and three assists during the regular season.

Only 14 NWSL players had at least 10 goal contributions in 2024, and I think that is possible for Yates to achieve in 2025. I think she deserves the minutes, and if she gets them, she will deliver goals all….summer….long. The competition will be fierce with the firepower the Pride have on the offensive side of the ball, and I am excited to see how Hines divvies out the minutes once the season starts.

Perhaps the NWSL Challenge Cup will be a harbinger of things to come, or perhaps Hines will use that game for experimentation or even as a shiny diversion, like covering a barnacle with bioluminescent algae, with the whole league watching. Only he knows, but one thing we all know is that he is smiling while thinking about whatever strategy he is planning to deploy in the season opener.

Until then it is is mystery, but my hope is that he will read the clues and solve the case by selecting Summer Yates on the field with a 90-minute timepiece.