Orlando Pride
Barbra Banda is On Pace to Shatter Multiple NWSL Scoring Records
There is a blueprint to number 22 moving to the top of the queue.
On Monday, The Mane Land’s Sam Denker wrote an excellent piece detailing how the Pride could (will) win the 2024 NWSL Shield. One of the primary reasons for the Pride’s undefeated start has been the offensive prowess of Barbra Banda, who in only 918 minutes of NWSL play has already amassed 17 goal contributions (12 goals, 5 assists). As someone who has followed the NWSL closely since the Pride joined the league, 17 goal contributions, 12 goals, and five assists all felt like pretty high numbers to me, so I pulled up my spreadsheets and started looking at where those ranked in NWSL history. I then extrapolated out where Banda would be by the end of the season if she continued at her current pace, and…yeah, you will want to read on. As Kerry Abello has been known to say, vamos.
While the NWSL has existed since 2013, there have only been 10 completed seasons in 12 years due to the pandemic in 2020 and because the 2024 season is still going. Every team in the NWSL has played 16 of its 26 games thus far — approximately 62% of the season (I know you all did that math in your head too). During those other 10 completed NWSL seasons teams played different numbers of matches, as few as 20 in 2015 as many as 24 during four different seasons. As a matter of comparison of yearly performances, we will look at it two different ways: actual total counts and then per 90 minutes played counts, which helps to standardize the different numbers of games played during different years. Let’s start with actual totals goals scored (all data courtesy of fbref.com, powered by Opta):
A few notes on this chart:
- This is the all-time ranking for goals scored in a NWSL season and Banda, after 62% of the 2024 season, is already in the top 15.
- It may seem strange to see Kansas City and Current listed under Team, as well as Sky Blue, but this chart, and all others in this article, reflects the team name during the given year.
- Sam Kerr was, and still is, a powerhouse. I am glad she plays in another league and the Pride do not have play against her anymore.
- Banda is one behind Marta for the Pride’s single-season record. Methinks that record is going to be broken this season.
- Last but not least, the Pride as a team all deserve credit for having Banda on this list, as it takes an excellent team offense to have an individual player get the opportunity to score a lot of goals. Six different players have assisted on her goals this year and four others have secondary assists.
The first note in the list above made reference to the fact that, again, we are not even two-thirds of the way through the season and Banda is already in the top 15 all-time for goals scored. If you look at goals scored per 90 minutes, as opposed to just total goals scored in a season, the list of top goalscorers changes quite a bit:
I believe the chart on the right is a better indication of goal-scoring prowess, since it normalizes all the data. Kerr is still a powerhouse, but the per-90-minute evaluation shoots Banda to second overall all-time. Nadia Nadim’s 2014 season does come with an asterisk as well, since she only played a total 495 minutes during that season. Now, Nadim did score seven goals, so she was unquestionably prolific during those 495 minutes, but small sample sizes often produce outlier results. Back to Banda though, let’s play out that she stays on a similar pace of 1.18 goals per 90 minutes for the rest of her 2024 season.
Thus far this season she is averaging 76.5 minutes played per game. Now, that is skewed a little bit because she suffered an injury during one game, which affected her minutes played for that game and the next game. However, because it is the actual value, let’s go with 76.5 minutes per game multiplied by 10 games, which is 765 minutes. Multiplying by 10 is so easy! 765 minutes is 8.5 iterations of 90, and Banda averages 1.18 goals per 90 minutes. At this current pace Banda would end up with…drum roll please…10.03 more goals this season. We will go ahead and round that down to 10. And, adding that to the 12 goals she has already scored, we see that if she continues at her current pace, the Pride’s No. 22 will end up with 22 goals — an increase of, you guessed it, 22% over the current record. Sam Kerr, welcome to second place.
If Banda was only a goal scorer this would still be tremendous, as you have to score goals to win games, but as I mentioned in the opening paragraph, she also already has five assists on the season. That is tied for 28th all-time, so I’ll spare you the long chart showing you everyone above her who has six assists or more. I will, however, show you the assists-per-90-minutes chart, because once again she is already near the top:
If we play out the same exercise for Banda’s final 10 games as we did earlier for goals, she would add another 4.17 assists to her five she has already accumulated, taking her to nine on the season (rounding down). A total of nine assists would rank Banda tied for second all-time with Lauren Holiday, behind only Tobin Heath’s 2016 season, when she had 10. As an aside, that is the Lauren Holiday who used to be Lauren Cheney, one of the best midfielders the U.S. Women’s National Team has ever had, a two-time Olympic gold medal winner, and a member of the 2015 World Cup champions.
Back to Banda.
By the power of extrapolation, Banda would end up with 22 goals and nine assists if she continues on her current pace. She currently has 17 goal contributions, which is good for a tie for ninth all-time. Let me repeat for emphasis, she is already tied for ninth all time and she still has about one-third of her season still to play. The all-time leaders in goal contributions in the NWSL are Kim Little during her 2014 season, when she had 16 goals and seven assists, and Kerr during her 2019 season when she had 18 goals and five assists. Banda is on pace to blow that record away, and here are two more nuggets about that:
- Only 43 NWSL players have more than 30 goal contributions in their careers. Banda may do it in one season.
- There have been 621 NWSL player-seasons when a player was listed as an attacking player and played 495+ minutes (495 in order to include Nadim). The average goal contributions per player for those 621 players: 5.24. So, 31 is, in my best Bob Uecker voice, juuuuussssssst a bit more than 5.24.
I think my favorite chart of all though is the one below, which takes those 621 player-seasons and shows them as a scatterplot for their actual goal contributions and their goal contributions per 90 mins:
The ideal place to be on this chart would be in the upper right, meaning that you have a high number of goal contributions (the x-axis) and a high total of goal contributions per 90 minutes (the y-axis). The light blue circle is Banda so far this season, ahead of nearly everyone in NWSL history in goal contributions per 90 minutes but still behind in total goal contributions. The orange circle is her extrapolated numbers at her current pace of goal contributions per 90 minutes. Look how big that gap is between the orange circle and every other season! Barba looks like she is living out a Jay-Z line from the The Blueprint 2, she is “so far ahead of her time she is about to start another life.”
The comparison that came to mind first for me though was a cross-sport comparison to Babe Ruth, back when there were seasons when he hit more home runs by himself than some teams hit as a team. Banda has scored more goals herself than the Utah Royals (8) and Houston Dash (11) in 2024, so it is quite possible that by the end of the season she will have matched the Babe’s feat with her feet and, if so, at that point I will use all the superlatives I can think of in writing about just how amazing, outstanding, incredible and transformational the 2024 season was for Banda.
Orlando Pride
Orlando Pride vs. Bay FC: Final Score 3-1 as Banda Brace Leads Pride to Victory
Barbra Banda bags a brace and an assist but goes down injured late in the victory.
After dropping two games to expansion teams and stealing a win in San Diego, the Orlando Pride looked to enter the summer break on a good note. The Pride (5-5-2, 17 points) had never lost to Bay FC (3-6-2, 11 points) and used a second-half burst to maintain that winning record and won 3-1 at Inter&Co Stadium.
Barbra Banda opened the scoring in the fourth minute and followed it up in the 51st minute with her second. She added an assist to Cori Dyke in the 55th minute to close out the Pride scoring. Caroline Conti scored the lone Bay FC goal at the seven-minute mark.
“No better gift than a 3-1 victory at home in front of our fans,” Pride Head Coach (and birthday boy) Seb Hines said after the game. “It feels good that we’re ending this period on a high. I think it’s the first time this season we’ve got back-to-back victories.”
The Pride made one change in the lineup, giving Kerry Abello her first start of the season over Julie Doyle. Anna Moorhouse started in goal with Abello, Rafaelle, Cori Dyke, and Oihane on defense. Haley McCutcheon and Ally Lemos played midfield in front of them with Mace, Luana, and Nicole Payne attacking from the midfield. Banda and her leading-leading nine goals played alone up top.
After an hour weather delay, the Pride went with the in-vogue start these days by kicking the ball straight out of bounds deep on the start and pressing high. It led to an opening three minutes of play in which the Pride kept the pressure up and forced the ball to stay on the Bay FC side. In the fourth minute, Luana headed a ball towards the center which Banda controlled, bodied Bay FC’s Joelle Anderson off the ball, and slotted the opening goal with her left foot.
Bay FC fought right back in the seventh minute as the visitors didn’t have to fight through the press off their kickoff. Claire Hutton crossed the ball into the box, Abello deflected it wide but there was no Pride defender there and it fell to Caroline Conti. Abello tried to fight all the way over but Conti was able to put it past Moorhouse before any help arrived.
The entire back line got pulled to the right on the play and Mace could not get back to help out wide.
“Hailie Mace came into NWSL as a winger. She’s got some tendencies that fit a winger profile. We knew Bay FC had a high back line. How do we get behind that back line? Having someone to support Barbra and not just Nicole but add in another player who can get into the attack,” Hines said regarding the switch.
In the 16th minute, Rachael Kundananji beat Oihane and crossed the ball to Hannah Bebar, who headed it into the net, but Cristiana Girelli was in an offside position threatening the goal, so the assistant referee ruled that it put Moorhouse off enough to interfere with the play.
The teams settled down a bit and traded possession until the 27th minute when Oihane centered the ball to Payne, who scuffed the shot high. One minute later, Luana sent a through ball for Banda to run onto and she went down in the box in a collision with Brooklyn Courtnall. It was fairly evident, however, that Banda got her leg into Courtnall’s to either try to control the ball or draw a foul, and the referee, Jaclyn Metz, saw it the same way.
In the 33rd minute, Oihane was subbed out for Hannah Anderson. Oihane had been laboring a little and may have picked up a knock somewhere.
The Pride couldn’t re-establish the high press so they turned into a lot of possession by Bay FC. Any attack by the Pride ended in a turnover off a bad pass or ill-conceived long shots as Orlando’s attackers were impatient in building play. Turnover after turnover plagued the Pride for the remainder of the half as they did not threaten at all until the 45th minute, when Banda took on Maddie Moreau and Kundananji, shook them both loose, and then crossed the ball into an empty area at the back post with no one to finish.
It was a fitting final piece of sound and fury, signifying nothing, as the half wrapped without any plays of interest. The Pride weren’t able to lead any of the statistics, tying Bay FC in shots (4-4), while Bay FC led in shots on target (3-1), possession (53%-47%), and passing accuracy (85%-83%). Neither team was able to force a corner in the first half.
To start the second half, Hines subbed in Summer Yates for Abello, which pushed Mace back to the back line. In the 48th minute, Kundananji got behind when Anderson got caught out and was sizing up a one-on-one with Moorhouse. Dyke hustled back and blocked the shot.
“We started the game super strong, super intense, but I think we fell off towards the end of that first half,” Dyke said. “We got a little too stretched between the lines and weren’t getting enough pressure on the ball and we talked about that at halftime. We needed to stay more compact and then pick our moments to go.”
Go they did. Three minutes later, Yates sent a through ball angled behind Banda which allowed her to run onto the ball unopposed. She beat goalkeeper Emmie Allen, who came out of the box aggressively to defend, and then passed the ball into the net in the 51st minute.
Four minutes later, Banda pressured Allen, forcing the goalkeeper into a clearance out of play. On the ensuing throw-in, Banda held off Bebar in the box, spun, and crossed the ball to Dyke, who put the ball in off the crossbar. The ability of the Pride to retain possession and work the ball in against a lesser opponent opened up the scoring and turned the game on its head.
Bay FC didn’t have a lot to do over the next stretch of time and Taylor Huff went down with an injury in the 61st minute, prompting a change as she was subbed out for Karlie Lema. Dorian Bailey came on for Joelle Anderson in the same stoppage but at the 62nd minute.
The teams went back and forth for a bit until the Pride drew a corner in the 71st minute. It deflected off a Bay FC defender and fell to Rafaelle at the far post, who headed it just wide. Three minutes later, Jacquie Ovalle and Zara Chavoshi wrapped up the Pride substitutions by coming in for Payne and Mace. Bay FC also took the stoppage in the 74th minute to sub two players in, bringing on Keria Barry and Onyeka Gamero for Kundananji and Girelli.
Unfortunately, in the 81st minute, Banda was dribbling down the left side when she pulled up lame and went to the ground off the pitch. She stayed there until tended to and was obviously upset. We’ll have to wait for any injury news on her. Bay FC made its final substitution in the ensuing stoppage in the 82nd minute, bringing on Kelli Hubly for Conti.
The injury to Banda left the Pride playing with only 10 players for the remaining 15 minutes (including added time) due to using up all three substitution windows. They stayed fairly solid in defense and played a lot of keep-away ball to see out the victory while playing short.
“A great way to finish this part of the season with a win at home. I think we were consistent today and we took the chances we created,” Luana said. “We’ve been having highs and lows in this part of the season but we bounced back in these two wins and it brought us a lot of confidence.”
Orlando City was ahead in the only stat that matters, goals, but trailed in every other major stat. Bay FC finished ahead in shots (14-8), shots on target (5-4), possession (54%-46%), passing accuracy (85%-84%), and corners (4-1).
The Orlando Pride now will be off until early July for the NWSL World Cup break. The next match is scheduled for July 3 in Los Angeles against Angel City FC.
Orlando Pride
Orlando Pride vs. Bay FC: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
The Pride return home to face Bay FC in their final game before the FIFA World Cup break.
Welcome to your preview and match thread as the Orlando Pride (4-5-2, 14 points) return home from a three-game road trip to take on Bay FC (3-5-2, 11 points). This is the first of two meetings between the two teams with the return game scheduled for Sept. 27 in San Jose.
Here’s everything you need to know about tonight’s game.
History
Bay FC is one of two expansion teams that entered the NWSL for the 2024 season. The teams have met four times, with the Pride holding a 3-0-1 record and a 1-0-1 mark at home in the series.
The most recent meeting took place on Sept. 13, 2025, in Orlando. The visitors took the lead just before halftime when Racheal Kundananji headed in a long pass by Caprice Dydasco. The Pride equalized in the second half, when Ally Watt headed a Jacquie Ovalle cross past Jordan Silkowitz to claim a 1-1 draw.
On June 13 of last year in San Jose, CA, Bay FC led almost every statistical category, but the Pride defense held strong until Barbra Banda scored shortly after halftime. The Pride withstood attack after attack, coming away with a hard-fought 1-0 win.
The teams met twice in 2024, with the first-ever game between the clubs occurring on May 11. Just prior to the half-hour mark, Banda dribbled inside and Deyna Castellanos attempted an ill-advised challenge, resulting in a foul in the box and a Pride penalty. Adriana put the ball into the bottom left corner for the only goal, lifting the Pride to a 1-0 win. It was the sixth win in an NWSL-record, eight-game win streak.
The teams met for the second time on Sept. 20, 2024. It looked like the game might be headed for a scoreless draw until Banda got her head on the end of a Carson Pickett cross, redirecting it past Katelyn Rowland to give the Pride the 1-0 win.
Overview
The Pride return home tonight after a difficult road trip that saw the team fall 2-1 to Boston Legacy FC and 3-1 to Denver Summit FC. Having already lost to both expansion teams, they headed west to face San Diego Wave FC, a team near the top of the standings. But Nicole Payne’s first professional goal lifted Orlando to a 1-0 win.
Despite not scoring in two of the last three games, Banda still leads the league with nine goals in 10 games this season. She has a two-goal lead on Ashley Sanchez, who is second in the league. Haley McCutcheon is the only other Pride player with multiple goals, scoring twice in the same game. Ovalle, Marta, and Hannah Anderson have the team’s other three goals. The assists have been spread out much more evenly with Ovalle, McCutcheon, and Rafaelle all sharing the team lead with two.
The clean sheet against San Diego was big for the back line as the team has conceded too many goals recently. Dating back to their 3-2 loss to Racing Louisville FC on April 24, the Pride have conceded multiple goals in four of the last six games. The only other game in which they didn’t concede at least twice was a 1-0 win over the North Carolina Courage on May 8, their last home game.
Tonight is the Pride’s last game before the league breaks for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. After the game, they won’t play again until July 3 and won’t play at home until July 10. That makes getting a quality result tonight essential for momentum going through the remainder of the season.
If you’re looking for a team to win against, Bay FC is one of the most likely candidates. The Bay -area side sits 13th in the NWSL on 11 points, just four points ahead of Louisville for last place. Tonight’s visitors are currently on a four-game winless run (0-2-2) and a two-game losing streak. Their last win was a 1-0 victory against San Diego on May 3. The club’s most recent games are a 2-0 loss to Portland Thorns FC on May 20 and a 1-0 loss to Chicago Stars FC on May 24.
Bay FC has struggled this year on both ends of the field. Its eight goals are second fewest in the league and Bay is one of three teams with single-digit goals this year. Meanwhile, the team’s 14 goals conceded are sixth in the league. The California side has been better defensively overall than the Pride, who have conceded 16 goals, but worse offensively, as the Pride have scored 15 goals so far this year.
Bay FC has been led in the attack by Alex Pfeiffer and Dorian Bailey with two goals each. Kundananji, Taylor Huff, Keira Barry, and Joelle Anderson have one apiece. Pfeiffer also leads the team in assists with two, tied with Cristina Girelli. Huff and Sydney Collins are the only other players with assists this season.
It should help the Pride tonight that Bay FC will be missing two key players. Silkowitz and starting center back Aldana Cometti were sent off against Chicago Sunday, meaning they’ll miss tonight’s game.
However, the Pride have their own key absences. In addition to injuries that have accumulated this season, Angelina was handed an additional game’s suspension after being sent off on May 16 for pulling Delanie Sheehan’s hair.
“We’re looking forward to it. Looking forward to being back home,” Pride Head Coach Seb Hines said about tonight’s game. “It’s been a long road trip. Excited to get in front of our own fans. Want to create that atmosphere, make it hostile for Bay FC. We know it’s a quick turnaround for both teams as well, so we want to make sure that we start off on the front foot, build on what we achieved last Sunday in San Diego, and finish this part of the season on a high.”
The Pride will be without Angelina (suspension), Cosette Morche (ankle), Kylie Nadaner (maternity leave), Viviana Villacorta (knee), and Solai Washington (knee). Marta (thigh) and Ovalle (thigh) are listed as questionable. Bay FC will be without Cornetti (suspension), Abby Dahlkemper (maternity leave), Anouk Denton (lower leg), Dydasco (maternity leave), Heather Gilchrist (knee), Alyssa Malonson (knee), Emily Menges (maternity leave), Pfeiffer (knee), and Silkowitz (suspension).
Official Lineups
Orlando Pride (4-2-3-1)
Goalkeeper: Anna Moorhouse.
Defenders: Oihane, Rafaelle, Cori Dyke, Hailie Mace.
Defensive Midfielders: Ally Lemos, Haley McCutcheon.
Attacking Midfielders: Kerry Abello, Luana, Nicole Payne.
Forward: Barbra Banda.
Bench: McKinley Crone, Zara Chavoshi, Hannah Anderson, Julie Doyle, Marta, Jacquie Ovalle, Summer Yates, Seven Castain, Simone Jackson.
Bay FC (4-2-3-1)
Goalkeeper: Emmie Allen.
Defenders: Sydney Collins, Joelle Anderson, Brooklyn Courtnall, Maddie Moreau.
Defensive Midfielders: Hannah Bebar, Claire Hutton.
Attacking Midfielders: Racheal Kundananji, Caroline Conti, Taylor Huff.
Forward: Cristiana Girelli.
Bench: Camryn Miller, Kelli Hubly, Jamie Shepherd, Dorian Bailey, Karlie Lema, Onyeka Gamero, Tess Boade, Keira Barry.
Referees
REF: Jaclyn Metz.
AR1: Art Arustamyan.
AR2: Adam Cook.
4TH: Edson Carvajal.
VAR: Anya Voigt.
AVAR: Katarzyna Wasiak.
How to Watch
Match Time: 7 p.m.
Venue: Inter&Co Stadium — Orlando.
TV: None.
Streaming: NWSL+.
Social Media: For live updates and rapid reaction, follow @themaneland.bsky.social on Bluesky and the Orlando Pride’s official Twitter (@ORLPride) or Bluesky (@orlpride.com) feed.
Enjoy the game. Go Pride!
Orlando Pride
Orlando Pride vs. Bay FC: Three Keys to Victory
What do the Pride need to do to earn all three points against Bay FC?
The Orlando Pride welcome Bay FC to Inter&Co Stadium this Friday night for the last match before the World Cup break. This is an opportunity to get a win over a team lower in the table and move up in the standings. What must the Pride do to earn all three points against Bay FC this weekend?
Keep the Chip
I have been asking all season on SkoPurp Soccer: An Orlando Pride PawedCast for the Pride to play with the chip on their shoulder that they had when they won the double in 2024. We saw that against the San Diego Wave. My hope is that the players have now remembered what that feels like and will execute with the same level of intensity going forward.
The task is potentially a little easier against Bay FC, as the California-based side has scored less than half the number of goals that the Wave have this season. Of course, that is the trap. The Pride cannot slack off against Bay FC. Having Rafaelle anchoring the defense is a big help, and moving Hailie Mace out to right back has proven effective. In 2024, this team hated — with a capital “H” — conceding goals. They took it personally. That is the passion I want again. The chip on the shoulder.
Overwhelm and Outscore
As I mentioned above, Bay FC is not a prolific scoring team. Friday’s visitors have also given up 14 goals this season. That’s not the best or the worst in the league, but they haven’t faced Barbra Banda yet. The Orlando Pride don’t have any trouble creating chances, but they have had trouble getting anyone other than Banda to finish them this season. Banda leads the league in goals, and she has an opportunity to maintain or extend that lead against Bay FC.
What will truly make the difference for the Pride against Bay FC is if any of the other players can contribute a goal. We saw the space that Banda can provide her teammates when Nicole Payne scored her first goal against San Diego. Now I want other players to take advantage of that space to provide some goals for the Pride.
More Luana
Luana got her first start since coming back to the squad cancer-free. I think we’ve forgotten that she was a starter on the 2024 squad before her Hodgkin’s lymphoma diagnosis. She was a starter on a team that won the double. Now she is back and she is a leader and an inspiration for her fellow players.
Given Marta’s limited minutes, having Luana out there as a stabilizing presence is important. Obviously, she brings a different skill set than Marta but still a critical one. Much like the defense, the midfield was better last match, and I feel she was a big part of that.
That is what I will be looking for on Friday night. The Pride can head into the World Cup break on a high with a victory. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Vamos Orlando!
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