Striking in “Big Five Moments” Key for Orlando Pride’s Historic Win

The Orlando Pride defeated the Utah Royals 6-0 Friday night in a record-setting performance. In front of the third-largest crowd in club history — and the biggest for a game that wasn’t the team’s home opener — the Pride scored the most goals in team history and won by the largest margin in team history. Barbara Banda became the second Pride player to be involved in four goals in a game with two goals and two assists. While it was a dominant performance, Head Coach Seb Hines will undoubtedly be pleased with when the team scored its goals.

Since taking over as interim head coach in 2022, Hines has spoken several times about the “big five moments” in games. These include the beginning of the game, just before halftime, right after halftime, the end of the game, and right after a goal. Soccer is largely a game of momentum, and scoring in those moments can be crucial. It can lift a team to a win, while failing to make the most of those points in the game can send the club to a loss.

On Friday night, the Pride scored in all of these moments, enabling them to keep full control of the game. While not the earliest goal they’ve scored, Barbra Banda’s 27th-minute header gave the Pride a much-needed and deserved lead. Summer Yates intercepted a poor Agnes Nyberg pass in the third minute of first-half stoppage time and beat Mandy Haught to make it 2-0, putting a second goal on the board just before the break.

The Pride have dominated several first halves this season, but rarely led by more than one at halftime. When the opponent gets into the break only down one, it provides inspiration to go back out and find an equalizer. Similarly, failing to convert shortly after halftime keeps the opposition in the game. The second goal just before halftime was essential in keeping control of the game and it led to a third.

“The message to the players at halftime is 2-0 is always a dangerous score line,” Hines said after the game. “We’ve got to make sure we get that third goal.”

The Pride took that message to heart, scoring just two minutes into the second half. The second goal just before the break took the wind out of the sails of the Royals, enabling the Pride to continue pushing. That third goal sealed the three points for the Pride, ensuring a comeback wouldn’t occur.

“To get it so quickly after halftime was important for us,” Hines said about the team’s third goal of the night. “And I think that momentum kind of settled us into the rest of the game.”

Banda took advantage of another bad pass in the back in the 86th minute to make it 4-0, found Marta two minutes later to make it 5-0, and the duo teamed up to set up Ally Watt for the sixth in the fifth minute of stoppage time. They nearly had a seventh just before the final whistle when a Marta corner kick was headed off the crossbar by Kylie Strom.

For the first time since taking over as head coach, the Pride scored in each of the big five moments that Hines has spoken so often about. Each of those conversions had an impact on the win and on what became a historic night for the club.

The Pride have made huge improvements during the 2024 season. They’ve been much more accurate when shooting and shown an ability to close out games, while multiple young players have shown development. Scoring in each of the big five moments for the first time is another milestone. The next step is to do that more often as the Pride look to become the top team in the NWSL.

“It was incredible to get into those positions and be relentless and score the goal and put the ball in the back of the net,” Hines said after the game. “There’s a lot of games still to be played. But I think what the players have set for themselves, they want that consistency.”

While most people will focus on the number of goals, the margin of victory, or the clean sheet, scoring at the most significant points of the game was another major factor in the team’s impressive performance. It’s something they’ll look to repeat as the season continues.