Orlando Pride
Orlando Pride vs. Utah Royals: Final Score 6-0 as Pride Destroy Royals in Historic Performance
The Pride thumped the Utah Royals 6-0 in record-setting performance.
The Orlando Pride (9-0-5, 32 points) got back to their winning ways and extended their unbeaten run to 14 games with a club-record 6-0 win over the Utah Royals (2-11-1, 7 points) tonight at Inter&Co Stadium. Barbra Banda and Marta each scored twice while Summer Yates and Ally Watt added one.
Pride Head Coach Seb Hines deployed the same lineup that played to a scoreless draw with the North Carolina Courage last weekend. Anna Moorhouse was in goal behind a back line of Kerry Abello, Kylie Strom, Emily Sams, and Bri Martinez. Haley McCutcheon and Yates were the defensive midfielders behind an attacking midfield of Julie Doyle, Marta, and Adriana. Banda was again the lone striker.
The Pride dominated this game from the opening seconds. They constantly threatened the Utah goal and had little to do defensively for most of the contest. Their impressive accuracy of putting 21 of 28 shots on target was key as they netted a team-record six goals and won by the largest margin in team history.
The Pride created the first chance of the game in the second minute when Abello sent Doyle down the left. The speedy midfielder tried to get around Zoe Burns in the box, but the defender did well to slide in and knock the ball out of play. The ensuing set piece by Yates found the head of McCutcheon at the near post, but she sent the redirection over the goal.
The Pride’s high press forced a turnover from the goal kick, winning back possession and creating another chance. Receiving a pass from McCutcheon, Adriana played the ball across the field for Abello. The left back took a long-distance shot into the arms of Royals goalkeeper Mandy Haught.
It looked like the Pride might strike in the ninth minute through a defensive mistake. Lauren Flynn played the ball back for Haught who misplayed it. Banda darted for the loose ball, arriving at the same time as Haught. While the forward went down, Haught got to the ball first.
The Royals created their first decent chance in the 19th minute when Ally Sentnor played the ball wide for Madison Pogarch and made a run to the far post. Pogarch’s cross found Sentnor, but she could only head it back, where it ended up with Amandine Henry outside of the box. The French international’s shot was deflected by McCutcheon, giving the visitors a corner kick.
The ensuing set piece by Sentnor was headed towards goal by Pogarch. Kate Del Fava put a body on Moorhouse, but the Pride goalkeeper was able to grab the ball and end the threat.
The Pride quickly went the other way with Doyle dribbling down the left. She played the ball to Adriana near the top of the Royals’ box and the Brazilian continued it on for Banda on the right. The striker was looking for the far post with her shot, but the ball rolled wide.
In the 26th minute, Sams sent a beautiful long diagonal ball for Doyle on the left. Dribbling inside, the midfielder took an ambitious shot towards goal, but it went straight to Haught.
The Pride’s pressure kept the ball in the Royals third of the field and they quickly created another chance. Marta sent a dangerous ball in front of the goal where Adriana was running in. The pass was a bit too far in front of her, but Banda retained possession for the Pride on the right. The forward found Adriana in front of goal, but Haught was there.
The Royals goalkeeper should’ve been able to collect the ball, but spilled the chance, forcing Del Fava to clear it out for a Pride throw-in. Off of the restart, Abello sent the ball to the back post where Banda got her head to it and put it in to give the hosts a much-deserved 1-0 lead.
“The first goal, header back post. We talked a lot about her coming into this game being in the width of the goal, being in goal-scoring positions when we’re in crossing positions,” Hines said about the first goal. “And so she took that information on and she put herself in a threatening position.”
“The main target is to score in the first minutes because it keeps the game so easy when you score first,” Banda said about the Pride scoring first. “And I think for me, I feel scoring early goals is more important to the team when we keep calm, so that we are not pressured. So, I think we really wanted that goal.”
The goal was Banda’s ninth of the season, tying her with Portland’s Sophia Smith for the league lead.
In the 37th minute, Macey Fraser’s cross towards the far post was headed away by Martinez. Pogarch came flying into the play, taking Martinez out. The ball went to Ana Tejada, who sent a hard shot towards goal. It was on frame, but Moorhouse did well to get down and make the stop. In the meantime, Martinez remained on the ground after the hard contact. While she required attention, the right back eventually got up and was able to continue.
Following the restart, the Pride nearly got a second through an excellent effort by Yates. The second-year midfielder used her change of pace to beat Michele Vasconcelos and shoot. The ball was dipping under the crossbar, forcing Haught to tip it over.
The Pride took advantage of a terrible mistake in the back by Agnes Nyberg in the third minute of first-half stoppage time to double their lead. After receiving the ball, Haught played a short pass to Nyberg. She was looking to send it wide for Del Fava, but it was a weak pass. Yates took possession and beat Haught to give the Pride a 2-0 lead.
In the sixth minute of first-half stoppage time, Doyle played Adriana forward. A late challenge by Tejada saw the Brazilian go down and the defender was booked. The ensuing set piece by Adriana was tipped by Haught off the crossbar, but the referee determined that it went directly off the crossbar and issued a goal kick.
It was a dominant first half by the Pride, who had the advantage in possession (63%-37%), shots (12-4), shots on target (9-3), corner kicks (5-1), crosses (22-3), and passing accuracy (91%-77%).
“The message to the players at halftime is 2-0 is always a dangerous score line,” Hines said about his halftime speech. “We’ve got to make sure we get that third goal.”
The Pride continued their domination over Utah at the start of the second half, scoring just two minutes after the restart. Adriana’s cross was headed out by Tejada, but only to Marta at the top of the box. After controlling it with her left foot, the Pride captain sent her second touch inside the near post to give the Pride a commanding 3-0 lead.
“To get it so quickly after halftime was really important for us,” Hines said about the early second-half goal. “And I think that momentum kind of settled us into the rest of the game.”
The Royals attempted to get one back on the other end when Paige Monaghan found Henry with space in the 50th minute. The midfielder attempted a long-distance shot, but it never challenged Moorhouse. The bouncing ball was straight to the Pride goalkeeper, enabling the English shot-stopper to make an easy save.
The Pride nearly got a fourth in the 57th minute when Adriana lifted the ball wide for Banda. The Brazilian made a run to the middle of the six-yard box while Strom headed for the back post. Banda sent a dangerous ball across the mouth of the goal, just missing the foot of Strom.
Shortly after the chance, the Pride made their first two changes in the 59th minute. Cori Dyke and Angelina came into the game for Abello and Doyle.
Utah didn’t create many good chances in this game, but had one in the 64th minute when Henry played a great ball forward for Monaghan, sending her behind the back line. Monaghan dribbled into the box and sent a low cross through the six before Dyke could catch her. Halftime substitute Hannah Betfort was making a run, but couldn’t get to it, enabling the Pride to clear the danger.
In the 64th minute, Martinez went down off the ball. The right back required treatment, resulting in lengthy delay. During the stoppage, the Pride made two more substitutions. While Martinez was able to leave the field under her own power, she was replaced by Carrie Lawrence. Additionally, Ally Lemos came into the game for McCutcheon.
Adriana used a nice piece of skill in the 71st minute to flick the ball behind the Utah back line for Yates making a run into the box. However, Del Fava did well to get a touch to the ball, enabling Haught to collect it. Yates stuck a foot in trying to knock it past the Royals goalkeeper, but she was too late.
The teams headed to the sidelines in the 79th minute for the second-half hydration break. Hines took that time to make his final substitution of the night, replacing Yates with Watt.
The Pride almost took advantage of another bad pass by Utah in the 81st minute when Tejada sent the ball straight to Lawrence. The defender sent a long pass behind the Royals back line for Banda to run onto, putting the striker in on goal. She attempted to beat Haught to her near post, but the goalkeeper made an excellent one-handed stop, knocking it wide.
Lemos made her first significant impact in the 84th minute, when she played Watt through with the outside of her foot. Watt sprinted past her defenders and into the box, but Haught came off her line to claim the ball before the forward could get a decent shot off.
Banda took advantage of another bad pass in the back to score her second of the game in the 86th minute. Pressured by Adriana, Pogarch cut back and played a pass behind her to Tejada. The center back took her eye off the ball, resulting in it going behind her. Banda beat the defender to the loose ball, dribbled around Haught, and put it in to make it 4-0.
“Second goal is just raw talent,” Hines said about Banda’s second goal. “You know, her speed is incredible. She makes something out of nothing and having the calmness to go around the keeper and slot it with her left foot.”
The goal by Banda saw her take the league lead in goals with 10 on the season.
“I think when I get a chance, I have to put the ball at the back of the net,” Banda said about her scoring mentality. “If anything I didn’t score, then I just have to go back to my drawing board and work hard so that the next time I can find a goal.”
Just two minutes later, the Pride scored their fifth of the night. Again, Lawrence played a nice ball down the right for Banda, who sprinted behind Tejada. She found Marta wide open in the box and the Brazilian probably should’ve taken it first time. However, she took a touch before sending it past Haught and increasing the lead to 5-0.
Banda was looking to become the first Pride player to net a hat trick in the first minute of second-half stoppage time. She dribbled past a clearly tired Tejada and tried to beat Haught to her near post, but hit the outside of the net.
In the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time, the Pride took the largest lead in team history. It started when Marta backheeled the ball with a defender on her back for Banda. The forward sent a cross into the box that was very well taken by Watt. Her perfect first touch beat Flynn and the substitute put it past Haught to give the Pride a 6-0 lead.
The Pride nearly scored a seventh goal in the eighth minute of stoppage time. It came from a corner kick after Flynn knocked the ball out of play. Strom outjumped a pair of defenders to get her head to the ball, hitting it off the crossbar. That was the last chance as the final whistle blew seconds later, securing the Pride’s historic 6-0 win.
The Pride finished the game with the edge in possession (63%-37%), shots (27-11), shots on target (20-9), corner kicks (8-4), crosses (31-8), and passing accuracy (89%-78%).
“It’s an outstanding performance. Flawless really. You know, the amount of goals that the players scored and to get a clean sheet. I think most importantly, it was for the fans tonight,” Hines said about the game. “I think when you look at the fixtures and you look at days like today, you know, it means a lot to the community and so we had to do our job tonight. And the players fully did that. You know, they put a real show on for the fans and the supporters who have supplied and gone through, you know, moments of adversity eight years ago. And so we’ve thought that performance epitomizes what this team is about, and the determination, their grit, and the relentlessness to go after it and get a comprehensive win.”
“We talked so much about it and I think everybody thinks about the last two games that we did and they were not happy with the results and not happy with our performance,” Marta added. “We created but we didn’t score enough and especially in the last game. Tonight, we were determined to do something different, to score all of the goals that we didn’t score last game. So, I think we did a good job when we talk about defensive and when we go to attack or we have so much passion and hunger to score. So, I think this makes a huge difference tonight.”
The 6-0 win is the largest win in team history. Previously, the Pride had beaten Sky Blue FC 5-0 on Aug. 12, 2017 and the Chicago Red Stars 5-0 on Aug. 20, 2023.
“We had a good chat after the North Carolina game because we left the game feeling disappointed that we weren’t able to score the goals that we created. But you can see tonight there was a real passion, a real hunger to put the ball back in the net,” Hines said about the six goals. “And there were some really good goals tonight. And I still think we left some on the table as well, which is remarkable, but to end the game with Adri, Ally, Barbra, Marta as a front four is pretty scary. And as the game went on, you could see the spaces and the opportunities that present themselves.”
While the focus will be on the most lopsided win in team history, the Pride extended their club record and league-leading unbeaten run to 14 games. They’re now only six results short of the NWSL record of 20, set by the Washington Spirit between 2021 and 2022. It would be another league record after they set the longest win streak earlier this season.
“Of course, we know there’s going to come one point we’re going to lose games too. But so long no happen,” Marta said about the unbeaten run. “Let’s enjoy the situation because it’s so good to be involved in situations like that. Especially with Orlando how we’ve never had a run like this one before.”
This was a record-setting game on the field and in the stands. In addition to the most goals scored in a game in club history and the highest margin of victory in club history, the attendance of 9,656 is the highest attendance ever for a game not on opening day. It was also the second-highest attendance for a Pride game at Inter&Co Stadium and the third-highest attendance in club history. The Pride previously drew 14,525 in their first game at their current stadium and 23,403 in the first game in club history at Camping World Stadium.
Having returned home and gotten back to their winning ways, the Pride will now head back out on the road for a three-game league road trip. It starts Sunday, June 30 when the Pride visit Angel City FC in Los Angeles, CA.