Orlando Pride
Orlando Pride vs. Racing Louisville FC: Final Score 1-1 as Pride Wrap Up the Summer Cup with Another Draw
The Pride ended their Summer Cup with a 1-1 draw against Racing Louisville FC.
The Orlando Pride (0-0-3, 4 points) drew 1-1 with Racing Louisville FC (1-0-2, 6 points) at Inter&Co Stadium tonight in their final game of the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup. Evelina Duljan gave the Pride the lead in the 38th minute and Reilyn Turner equalized in the 67th minute. The visitors then won 4-3 on penalties to take the extra point as both teams were eliminated, with North Carolina winning the group.
Pride Head Coach Seb Hines made five changes from the team’s 2-2 draw with CF Monterrey Femenil Saturday night. Anna Moorhouse, Kerry Abello, Haley McCutcheon, Summer Yates, and Julie Doyle replaced Sofia Manner, Carrie Lawrence, Morgan Gautrat, Ally Watt, and Mariana Larroquette. While Lawrence was away with an excused absence, the other four starters from the Monterrey game were on the bench.
The back four in front of Moorhouse in goal was Cori Dyke, Kylie Strom, Abello, and Celia. McCutcheon and Ally Lemos were the defensive midfielders behind Doyle, Duljan, and Yates with rookie Alex Kerr starting up top for the second straight game.
The Pride were the better team in the first 45 minutes, creating most of the chances and taking a 1-0 lead into the break. Louisville came out the better side in the second half, immediately putting the Pride under pressure. Hines made some changes as the Pride looked to flip the momentum back to their side, but it was the visitors that caused the most trouble. Both teams had chances for a winner as time wound down, but neither could convert and the game ended in a draw.
The Pride had the first chance of the game in the sixth minute when Ellie Jean couldn’t control a square pass in the back. Kerr intercepted it and went the other way, attempting a cross just before the ball crossed the end line. However, Lauren Milliet got back just in time to block it out for a corner kick.
The ensuing set piece by Yates was cleared to the top of the box where Dyke ran onto it. The defender attempted a first-touch shot that was deflected out by Jordan Baggett for a second corner. Yates’ second corner was cleared, ending the threat.
The visitors had their first chance of the game in the seventh minute when Baggett lifted the ball behind the Pride defense for Parker Goins. The attacker had space, but took a quick shot after briefly bringing the ball down. As a result, she was unable to get over the ball, sending it sailing well wide of the target.
It looked like Doyle might have a chance in the 18th minute when Jean couldn’t control the ball in the box. Doyle took possession and tried to create some space. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to lose Milliet, who blocked the right-footed shot.
Three minutes later, Abello sent a cross into the box that found Duljan. Rather than attempting to shoot through multiple defenders, the midfielder laid it off for Celia. The right back took the shot instead, but it was deflected by Arin Wright and into the arms of Louisville goalkeeper Jordyn Bloomer.
In the 27th minute, Jean sent a great ball into the Pride box for Goins. Dyke did well to defend the attacker, knocking the ball free and enabling Lemos to send it out of play.
The Pride were unable to clear the ensuing throw-in, enabling Louisville to take possession. Wright played the ball to the left for Elexa Bahr, who sent a cross towards the back post. Ary Borges got a glancing head to it, but sent the attempt wide.
The hosts quickly went the other way and created a chance of their own. Abello played a nice ball for Kerr with the outside of her left foot and the striker took a first-touch shot. It was a solid attempt but was right at Bloomer who made the easy catch.
Kerr used a nice individual effort in the 38th minute to lose Milliet and create a shot. She was aiming to beat Bloomer to her near post, but the Louisville goalkeeper did well to get down and block it away.
The Pride maintained possession, resulting in Abello with the ball on the left. The left back used some nice moves to beat Bahr and send a cross into the box. Duljan beat her defender to the cross in the six, heading it in to give the Pride a 1-0 lead.
“I knew, kind of right when I received that ball, I knew that I was in one-v-one position,” Abello said about the play. “I love to go one-v-one and I don’t get to do that as much at left back. So, I knew I wanted to take that opportunity and get a service off, and I kind of slowed it down for a sec, but I saw that we had runners in the box. I was like, ‘Oh my god, I gotta get this service off.’ I can’t go back now because we had good numbers. So sent it in and Ev made a great run, great header.”
“Could she build on what she did last week? I thought she was tremendous last week, so I think going into the next game, it’s always the most challenging game for yourself individually,” Hines said about Duljan. “Because you set such a high bar in that first game, you don’t want to just to be a one-off, and I think as the game went on to build that confidence. She took the ball in difficult areas. She’s another one that we had to move into the midfield, which is a position she’s not too comfortable with. But again, she took the ball under pressure. She managed to find outlets.”
Kerr was on the attack again in the 42nd minute after receiving a ball from Abello in the box. The forward dribbled across, looking for space to shoot, but was well defended. Instead, she laid the ball off for Doyle, who had space. The midfielder shot on goal but it was pushed away by Bloomer. That was the last chance for either team as the Pride took a 1-0 lead into the break.
At halftime, Louisville had more possession (55.9%-44.1%), but the Pride had more shots (7-5), shots on target (4-0), and corner kicks (2-0). Additionally, both teams had four crosses and Louisville had better passing accuracy (88.3%-84.3%).
The Pride made one halftime change as Watt entered the game for Yates.
Louisville got the first chance of the second half when Borges sent a cross across the face of the goal to Turner. After not getting any shots in the first 45 minutes, Turner’s second touch was on target. Fortunately for the Pride, the attempt was at the near post where Moorhouse made the easy catch.
The visitors had a decent chance in the 60th minute when Celia pulled Turner down from behind just outside of the Pride box, earning herself a yellow card. Halftime substitute Marisa DiGrande took the set piece and was aiming towards the back post for Taylor Flint. However, it was a bit too high for the tall midfielder.
On the other end, the Pride created their first shot of the second half when Watt played the ball to the top of the box for Doyle. The attacker took a couple of touches to her right to separate from Milliet before firing off target.
Immediately after the chance, the Pride made two more changes. Claire Winter and Amanda Allen came into the game for Abello and Kerr.
The Pride nearly doubled their lead in the 66th minute when Louisville was unable to clear the ball after a pair of blocked shots. Duljan took control and dribbled to the right, eventually laying it off for Celia. The right back shot but the attempt was just over the bar.
A minute later, Louisville got its equalizer. Receiving the ball down the right, Emma Sears got a cross off to the back post before Strom could reach her. Turner was wide open as Celia was late getting back, enabling the attacker to easily head the ball in and even the game at 1-1.
The Pride nearly retook the lead two minutes later when McCutcheon sent Watt behind the Louisville defense. The forward was looking for Allen making a run into the box, but her cross through traffic was cleared before it reached the second-half substitute.
Hines made his fourth substitution and used his second window in the 72nd minute to bring Larroquette into the game for McCutcheon.
The visitors continued to be the more dangerous team and created another chance in the 74th minute. Wright sent a long cross to the back post where Flint outjumped her defender, trying to send it back in front of the goal. However, her header curled around the back post and out of play.
In the 80th minute, Louisville nearly scored the go-ahead goal when Maddie Pokorny received the ball on the left side of the box and sent a low ball to the back post. Sears beat Winter to the ball, but couldn’t put the attempt on frame.
Larroquette played Watt down the right in the 84th minute and the speedster beat her defender to the ball. She sent a dangerous cross into the six-yard box that Allen was attempting to run onto, but the forward couldn’t reach it.
Shortly after the chance, Hines made his final change of the game. Gautrat entered in the place of first-half goal scorer Duljan.
In the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time, Winter lost the ball to Pokorny who sprinted the other way. The Pride were forward, so only Strom was back. As Gautrat tried to catch up to Pokorny, Strom slid over to cover the attacker. Meanwhile, Kayla Fischer was wide open in the middle. Fortunately, Dyke got back and intercepted the pass to Fischer, saving an almost sure goal.
Dyke went down injured on the play and had to come off for further treatment. The Pride had backup goalkeeper Kenna Caldwell warming up but never brought her on, deciding to end the game with 10 players. Despite being down a player, they held on for the 1-1 draw.
After 90 minutes, Louisville had more possession (57.5%-42.5%) but the Pride had more shots (16-13) and shots on target (4-3). The Pride also had more corner kicks (3-1) while the visitors had more crosses (12-9) and better passing accuracy (85.4%-81.6%).
“I’ll give the players the benefit of doubt. It’s a new team really coming together,” Hines said. “You know, that chemistry wasn’t quite there. But their attitude’s first class and towards the end of the game, when you’ve got, you know, 10 players on the field and still managed to see our team to penalties, that’s really pleasing for me and the rest of the staff.”
“Honestly, I think we could have performed better, but I was really proud of the team and the fight and we remain undefeated. And I think that was a really important goal for us,” Abello added. “You know, we have a lot of new players sliding into new positions, and overall, I’m just really proud of the fight of our team to see out that draw. And yeah, I think we developed a lot over the Summer Cup and we’re looking forward to the rest of the season.”
Despite the Pride having been eliminated prior to the game and Louisville having been eliminated with the draw, the teams had to take part in a penalty shootout to see who got a second point from the game.
The Pride got the shootout off to a good start when Jaelin Howell knocked the opening kick off of the right post. The following six shooters converted, giving the Pride a 3-2 lead heading into the fourth round. But a poor penalty by Gautrat enabled Bloomer to block the ball away, keeping her team alive. After Flint gave Louisville the lead, it was up to Watt to keep the Pride in it. However, she went straight down the middle, allowing Bloomer to block the shot away and give Louisville the extra point.
“We’ve had a lot of practice with penalties. So, yeah, that puts us in a good position moving forward. I think, looking back, it’s been a really good test for us, especially with so many players away on international duty,” Hines said about the Pride’s Summer Cup campaign. “It’s allowed us to give all the players an opportunity to go out there and perform and still stay at a high standard. You know, see where players are at. It’s very difficult trying to replicate real games, competitive games, and this tournament allowed us to do that. So I think we’re in a really good position going into the regular season now and where everyone is, and still continue to have that high standard that we set early on in the season.”
The Pride end the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup with three draws and claim four points, winning one of their three shootouts. While they were unable to find a win in the three games and were eliminated in the group stage, they extended their season-long unbeaten run to 19 games in all competitions.
“It makes me really excited and confident going into the rest of the season,” Abello said about claiming points in all three games. “I was so happy to see our whole bench get a lot of minutes and everyone did so well. And so, I think that just goes to show the depth that we do have and I think we’ll definitely use that depth throughout the remainder of the season. So, I’m excited. I’m excited for those players.”
Since they didn’t advance to the semifinals next weekend, the Pride have an extended break before they restart the NWSL regular season. They’ll take the field next on Aug. 23 when they travel to Texas to face the Houston Dash.
Orlando Pride
Orlando Pride vs. Angel City FC: Final Score 2-0 As Pride Are Dominated In California
The Pride returned to action from the summer break, falling 2-0 to Angel City.
The Orlando Pride (5-6-2, 17 points) returned from their month-long World Cup break, falling 2-0 to Angel City FC (5-6-1, 16 points) at BMO Field in Los Angeles, CA. A first-half goal by Maiara Niehues and a second-half strike by Sveindis Jonsdottir was the difference, although the game was thoroughly dominated by the hosts.
Pride Head Coach Seb Hines deployed his typical 4-2-3-1 formation in the team’s return to action. However, they were without Barbra Banda, who was out with a thigh injury. The back line in front of goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse was made up of Kerry Abello, Rafaelle, Cori Dyke, and Hailie Mace. Angelina and Ally Lemos were the defensive midfielders behind Jacquie Ovalle, Haley McCutcheon, and Luana with Julie Doyle up top.
This was one of the worst performances by the Pride this year. With Banda missing, the team was unable to get anything going offensively, alhough that might not have mattered as Orlando couldn’t get the ball out of its own end. The 2-0 scoreline is a generous one for the Pride, who could’ve easily lost by more.
Ally Sentnor, who joined Angel City during the break, tried to make something happen early during her debut. Inside the first minute, the U.S. international made a run to the top of the box before dribbling inside. The attacker struggled to find space before finally shooting, but Dyke was there to block the attempt.
The Pride had their first chance in the seventh minute when Rafaelle played a ball forward to Luana over the midfield stripe. The Brazilian took the space the defense gave her, dribbling near the top of the box before unleashing a shot. It initially appeared to be on target, but began curving, hitting the outside of the post and going out of play. That was about as close to scoring as Orlando came all night.
The hosts threatened to take the lead in the 14th minute when Jun Endo sent a dangerous ball into the six-yard box. Sentnor got on the end of it, but Dyke, Mace, and Moorhouse were all in front of the goal to keep it out.
Evelyn Shores received a pass on the left in the 17th minute before playing it to Endo, who was making an overlapping run. The Japanese international took a hard shot from a tight angle, but Moorhouse had her near post covered, catching the attempt.
In the 25th minute, Luana slid to keep possession from an Abello clearance, trying to play it back to McCutcheon. Unfortunately, it went straight to Jonsdottir instead. Jonsdottir immediately played the ball to Sentnor, who dribbled into the Pride box before sending a low shot wide of the far post.
Shores fought through a pair of defenders in the 31st minute to get the ball to Niehues. The Brazilian attempted a low cross that McCutcheon cleared but only to Shores at the top corner of the box. The left back took a touch around Mace to create space for a shot, sending her attempt over the target.
The Pride struggled to clear in the 35th minute when Sentnor played a ball to Endo, who was making an underlapping run. Angelina chested down Endo’s cross in an attempt to clear, but it didn’t go far. Gisele Thompson was able to tap it to Jonsdottir, whose shot went wide.
A minute later, the Pride were unable to clear again, resulting in the game’s opening goal. Dyke got in front of Thompson’s ball into the box, but she knocked it to Ary Borges, who took a shot that Dyke blocked again, but she failed to get it out of the box. The rebound fell straight to Niehues, who curled a shot out of Moorhouse’s reach and into the corner to give Angel City the 1-0 lead.
“You’ve got to defend the cross, so stop the cross. And then you’ve got to defend the cross, and we don’t quite clear our lines,” Hines said. “We talk about clearing it out of dangerous areas. It lands at Ary Borges. She has a shot, it deflects, and then we don’t close the next shot from Niehues. We speak about that a lot. The closer you are, the less chance they are of scoring, and we stood off them. They took that opportunity really well, but we feel that with our standard and our level, we should be doing better.”
The Pride continued to play on the back foot, defending desperately as Angel City created chances. In the 38th minute, Borges picked out Niehues near the top of the Pride box. The attacker shot as McCutcheon closed her down, sending her attempt wide of the near post.
Angel City continued on the attack, keeping the ball in the Pride half as they struggled to clear. In the 42nd minute, Jonsdottir tried to chip Moorhouse from outside the Pride box, but the Pride goalkeeper made the easy catch.
Angelina took the ball away from Borges in the first minute of first-half stoppage time 30 yards from goal. The midfielder lifted an overly ambitious attempt toward Angel City goalkeeper Angelina Anderson for her team’s second shot of the game. However, it didn’t cause any trouble.
It was a dominant 45 minutes for Angel City. While the Pride had more possession (54%-46%), most of it was in their own half. The hosts had more shots (10-2), shots on target (3-0), crosses (10-3), and corner kicks (2-0). Both teams completed 77% of their passes in the first half.
Hines made a pair of changes during the break as his team looked to get back into the game. Marta and Nicole Payne entered the contest for Luana and Mace. Despite the changes, it was Angel City that continued to be the more threatening team.
A poor Orlando clearance in the 47th minute allowed Shores to keep the ball in the Pride third. She found Carina Lageyre near the top of the box, but the shot was right at Moorhouse.
The Pride won a throw-in in the 55th minute that quickly turned into a disaster. McCutcheon played the ball back for Rafaelle, who was immediately put under pressure from Jonsdottir. The Icelandic international blocked the defender’s pass and sprinted to the end line before beating Moorhouse from a tight angle to give the hosts a 2-0 lead.
“It starts with a throw-in. So the ability to keep possession from a throw-in is really important,” Hines said. “You know, we have a couple of objectives from that, and it’s just details, right? Weighted pass, make your choice to the correct forward. If you’re going to go long, you’ll sort of take away the deflection from the forward. So yeah, another moment where we felt we’re in control, and we give them an opportunity to counter and go straight to goal from that.”
Hines made two more changes in the 62nd minute, replacing Abello and Ovalle with Zara Chavoshi and Solai Washington.
As the game entered the final 20 minutes, the Pride started to gain more possession and create more chances in the final third. However, they still were unable to create any clear-cut opportunities or cause Anderson any trouble.
In the 77th minute, a pass to Lemos hit the referee, causing a stoppage in play. Hines took the opportunity to make his final change, replacing Rafaelle with Hannah Anderson.
Neither team had taken a shot since the 55th-minute goal, when Angel City created a chance in the 78th minute. A long goal kick by Anderson bounced over Chavoshi’s head, allowing Endo to get into the Pride third. She shot from outside the box, forcing Moorhouse to dive to her right and make the stop.
The Pride finally got their first shot on target in the 80th minute when Washington flicked a long ball forward and fought through a pair of defenders. She dribbled into the box from the left and fired for the near post, where Anderson was waiting to block the ball out of play.
Anderson came out to punch away the ensuing corner kick, running over Chavoshi. The ball went toward her own goal, forcing Sarah Gorden to head it off the line. McCutcheon tapped the ball back to Angelina at the top of the box and the midfielder sent it back in. It fell for Anderson behind the back line at the top of the six-yard box, but Shores was able to stick a foot in and clear it over the end line. Angel City cleared the second corner kick and ended the threat.
As the game entered two minutes of stoppage time, Chavoshi sent a low cross to the top of the six, where Washington was making a run. The second-half substitute tried to backheel the ball on goal, not getting much on it and allowing Anderson to make the easy stop. That was the final chance for either team as Angel City saw out the victory.
The Pride ended the game with more possession (57%-43%) and better passing accuracy (79%-75%), but Angel City led in every other statistical category. The hosts had more shots (15-4), shots on target (6-1), crosses (18-11), and corner kicks (5-3).
“Never good enough to lose a game 2-0,” Hines said. “Two things in this league that you have to deal with, one is direct play. You have to deal with teams who are going to be really aggressive and try to get back to front really quickly. And you have to be prepared for transition. We can’t allow gifts in this league, and we gave Angel City two gifts. And they capitalized on those moments. We had some good possession, but didn’t create anything up until probably the last 10 minutes of the game.”
“Definitely frustrated, disappointed,” Dyke added. “We know that was nowhere near our best night, but we’ve just got to learn from it and then turn the page, because we know we have (another) big game coming up as well.”
The loss keeps the Pride in eighth, one point ahead of Angel City. To make matters worse, they’ve played a game or two more than all the teams around them, so they could fall down the standings in the near future.
The Pride will have to put this game behind them quickly as they return home to face the Kansas City Current on July 10.
Orlando Pride
Orlando Pride vs. Angel City FC: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
The Pride return to action tonight as they head back to the West Coast to face Angel City in Los Angeles.
Welcome to your match preview as the Orlando Pride (5-5-2, 17 points) return to action, facing Angel City FC (4-6-1, 13 points) in Los Angeles. This is the second and final time these two teams will meet during the 2026 NWSL regular season.
Here’s everything you need to know about tonight’s game.
History
Angel City was one of the NWSL’s two expansion teams entering the league in 2022. As a result, the Pride have only played tonight’s opponents nine times. The Pride are 5-2-2 in those games, all in NWSL regular-season play. While the Pride are only 2-1-2 at home, they’re 3-1-0 in Los Angeles.
The most recent matchup between these two teams took place on April 3 in Orlando. Haley McCutcheon gave the Pride the lead in the 84th minute, but the game appeared headed for a devastating draw when Gisele Thompson equalized two minutes into stoppage time. However, McCutcheon came to the rescue again, scoring in the eighth minute of stoppage time to secure a 2-1 win for the hosts.
The first game last year between the two teams occurred on April 25 in Orlando. The visitors got off to a great start with first-half goals by Riley Tiernan and Katie Zelem. But the Pride took over in the second half. Marta got one back midway through the second period, and Barbra Banda equalized four minutes later. An own goal by M.A. Vignola in the third minute of stoppage time gave the Pride a 3-2 win. On Aug. 21, 2025 in Los Angeles, the hosts dominated possession and the number of chances as the game appeared to be heading to a scoreless draw. But Alyssa Thompson converted in the 86th minute as Angel City took all three points.
The first of two meetings in 2024 took place on March 22 in Orlando. Former Pride attacker Claire Emslie gave the visitors the lead from the penalty spot, and it looked as though the Pride would drop their first game of the season. But Marta volleyed home an equalizer from an Angelina corner kick late, pulling out a 1-1 draw. On June 30, 2024 in Los Angeles, Adriana gave the Pride the lead early and scored a second goal six minutes later. Banda netted a goal of her own six minutes into stoppage time, leading the Pride to a dominating 3-0 win.
The first meeting of the 2023 season took place April 2 in Orlando. Emily Sams took down Alyssa Thompson in the first half, giving the visitors a penalty. Emslie stepped up and converted to give her team a 1-0 lead. Messiah Bright responded just after halftime to make it 1-1, and the game appeared to be heading for a draw. But Katie Johnson scored the winner in the 10th minute of second-half injury time. On Oct. 2, 2023 in Los Angeles, an Adriana volley beat Angel City goalkeeper Angelina Anderson to her near post for the only goal as the Pride won a crucial late-season game.
The first-ever game between the teams took place on May 8, 2022 in Los Angeles. In the third minute, Gunny Jonsdottir’s cross was tipped by Angel City goalkeeper DiDi Haracic, but it went right to Sydney Leroux. The Pride striker fired right at Morgan Reid standing in front of goal. The ball bounced off the defender and went in to give the Pride an early lead. The hosts controlled the final hour, but the Pride held on for 87 minutes to claim their first win of the season.
The teams met again on Aug. 7 in Orlando. Former Pride defender Ali Riley opened the scoring with a wonderful strike from the left side. The Pride responded in the second half through Julie Doyle just three minutes after she entered the game to even it at 1-1. The visitors took another lead when Cari Roccaro beat Viviana Villacorta to a corner kick, putting it past Erin McLeod. The Pride equalized for a second time in the 90th minute when Doyle and Paige Nielsen raced for a Thais Reiss cross, with the defender reaching it first. But Nielsen’s attempted clearance went into her own net, allowing the Pride to claim a 2-2 draw and extend their unbeaten run to five games.
Overview
The Pride are in the middle of their most challenging season in three years. They’ve struggled defensively following the trade of Sams and an injury to Kerry Abello that’s kept her out for most of the season so far. They’ve also struggled to score outside of Banda, though that’s been the case the last couple of seasons.
The team hit its lowest point in mid-May, losing back-to-back games to expansion sides Boston Legacy FC and Denver Summit FC. But the Pride bounced back strongly, defeating San Diego Wave FC 1-0 away and Bay FC 3-1 at home, creating some momentum heading into the World Cup break.
There were a lot of questions about how Banda would return this season after suffering a season-ending injury last year. But she’s been dominant, leading the league in scoring with 11 goals and in shots on target with 27. She has a commanding four-goal lead in the race for the scoring title.
Defensively, the team has struggled at times, notably giving up seven goals in two games as the calendar turned from April to May. But Head Coach Seb Hines made a good decision to switch Hailie Mace and Cori Dyke, moving Mace back to her natural right back position and Dyke to center back. In the five games since, the Pride have conceded three times once, twice once, and recorded two clean sheets.
Tonight, the Pride return to action as they head back out to the West Coast to face Angel City FC. The Southern California-based team sits 12th in the NWSL standings on 13 points, four behind the Pride for the final playoff spot. That makes tonight’s game crucial as we near the midway point in the season.
While the Pride come into this game on a two-game winning streak, Angel City has lost its last two. Tonight’s hosts fell 2-1 to the Houston Dash away and 2-1 to the North Carolina Courage at home. However, these teams haven’t played since the end of May, so it’s difficult to say how much that form will affect them tonight.
Unlike the Pride, Angel City has spread out its goals this year. While the club doesn’t have anyone challenging for the golden boot, Gisele Thompson, Maiara Niehues, and Sveindis Jonsdottir all lead the team with three goals. Kennedy Fuller is right behind with two.
The assists are also spread out, with Evelyn Shores, Jonsdottir, and Fuller all tied on two. Five other players are just behind with one each.
Defensively, Angel City has remained consistent with its back line, which consists of Shores, Sarah Gorden, Sams, and Gisele Thompson. Meanwhile, Anderson continues to be the team’s number one choice at goalkeeper.
However, Angel City has been busy since it last played. On June 17, the club traded Fuller to Bay FC for transfer funds and allocation funds. The same day, it fired Head Coach Alex Straus, handing the reins to Assistant Coach Leif Gunnar Smerud on an interim basis.
The following day, the LA-based side agreed to a trade with the Kansas City Current for U.S. international Ally Sentnor, sending $850,000 in intraleague transfer funds the other way.
“There’s a lot of unknowns with a new coach coming in, new feelings, new vibes. They’re not content about where they are in the league, so they’ll be wanting to move up,” Hines said about tonight’s game. “I think looking at personnel can tell you a lot about how they play. They have some great athletes in their team. They’ve got a very quick back line. When the availability comes out, that can also tell you a lot about how they’re going to play. They’ve got some key personnel missing out on the last couple of games. So that’s also important to take into account. They’ve got some players coming back from injury. So, we’ll analyze it when we get the availability report. But it’s also about ourselves. We’ve been working hard these last three weeks on being back to who we are, and it’s going to be great to be tested in LA in front of their own crowd. And I know everyone’s really itching to get back onto the field. So we want to set the tone early on in the game and hopefully we can set that out to the final whistle and come home with three points.”
The Pride will take the field tonight without Banda (thigh), Kylie Nadaner (maternity leave), Oihane (lower leg), and Villacorta (knee). Angel City will be without Prisca Chilufya (knee), Savy King (foot), Leroux (excused absence), and Hina Sugita (knee).
Official Lineups
Orlando Pride (4-2-3-1)
Goalkeeper: Anna Moorhouse.
Defenders: Kerry Abello, Rafaelle, Cori Dyke, Hailie Mace.
Defensive Midfielders: Angelina, Ally Lemos.
Attacking Midfielders: Jacquie Ovalle, Haley McCutcheon, Luana.
Forward: Julie Doyle.
Bench: Cosette Morche, Hannah Anderson, Solai Washington, Zara Chavoshi, Seven Castain, Summer Yates, Simone Jackson, Nicole Payne, Marta.
Angel City FC (4-3-3)
Goalkeeper: Angelina Anderson.
Defenders: Evelyn Shores, Sarah Gorden, Emily Sams, Gisele Thompson.
Midfielders: Ally Sentnor, Carina Lageyre, Ary Borges.
Forward: Jun Endo, Sveindis Jonsdottir, Maiara Niehues.
Bench: Karsyn Cherry, Claire Emslie, Nealy Martin, Sophia Mattice, Faith Nguyen, Casey Phair, Hannah Seabert, Taylor Suarez, Riley Tiernan.
Referees
REF: Mark Verso.
AR1: Bruno Rizo.
AR2: Alexandra Arita.
4TH: Trevor Wiseman.
VAR: Joshua Encarnacion.
AVAR: Melissa Beck.
How to Watch
Match Time: 10 p.m.
Venue: BMO Stadium — Los Angeles, CA.
TV: None.
Streaming: Prime Video.
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. Angel City FC: Three Keys to Victory
What do the Pride need to do to earn all three points against Angel City?
The Orlando Pride are back in action Friday night against Angel City FC at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. It’s been over a month since we’ve seen any NWSL regular-season matches, and I am excited for the season to resume. The Pride were on a two-match winning streak before the break and will want to regain that momentum. What must the Pride do to earn all three points against Angel City?
Shake off the Rust
The Pride last played a competitive match on May 29. That essentially makes this break another off-season. That is a good thing and a bad thing. It’s a good thing because the Pride definitely needed to work on some issues, especially on the defensive end. It’s a bad thing because the team had won two in a row. Getting back to full match speed after a month can be a challenge.
Fortunately, it’s a challenge that Angel City shares. Angel City was probably grateful for the break given the team was 1-3-1 in its last five matches and had dropped two straight before the break. Both teams will need to shake off some rust, and whichever team is able to do so more quickly and more effectively will have an advantage.
Banda-less Scoring
As we heard on SkoPurp Soccer: An Orlando Pride PawedCast, Seb Hines is being cautious when speaking about Barbra Banda’s availability for this match. That may indeed be the case, or Hines may be playing coy about the Pride striker’s availability. If it’s the former, then the Pride need to find goals without the league-leading scorer on the pitch.
There’s a good chance we’ll see Marta and Jacquie Ovalle on the pitch at the same time. While it would be better to have Banda out there for those two to feed, I’ll take defenses having to deal with them coming from either side of the box any day. It may be that they are able to play off each other to create and finish the chances the Pride need to win the match. Of course, I won’t argue with other Orlando attackers getting in on the fun.
Clean (Moor)house
The Pride have four clean sheets so far this season despite the defense not looking as solid as it has in the past. I’m hopeful that the team used the break to figure out the best back line with the available players. The Pride are still missing a true center back to pair with Rafaelle, though Cori Dyke has been adequate in recent matches. Angel City added Ally Sentnor to the roster and her first match for the club is against the Pride. It’s important for the defense to stop her, as she will want to put on a show in her debut.
Anna Moorhouse needs to switch back on. Statistically, she was one of the NWSL’s best goalkeepers during the 2024 season. That is not the case this season, as Andrew DeSalvo outlined in our subscriber newsletter. Moorhouse has a chance to get things back on the right track following the break, and it starts with a clean sheet against Angel City Friday.
That is what I will be looking for on Friday night. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Vamos Orlando!
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