The Orlando Pride wrapped up their 2025 regular season at home against the Seattle Reign Sunday night, drawing 1-1 to claim a top-four finish in the NWSL regular season table although the team slipped from third in the league to fourth in the final standings due to a goal differential tiebreaker. Orlando largely controlled Seattle in the first half but struggled to finish chances on the offensive end. On the defensive end, once again the Pride turned in a solid performance only to be burned by a momentary lapse.

Orlando started the game well, netting an apparent opener in the seventh minute on a line-skipping long ball from Rafaelle to Marta, but the goal was flagged for offside. After that, the Pride continued to control the game well, but the final product wasn’t there. Multiple shots from good areas were sent off target, with the best of those chances being a Rafaelle header just wide off a corner in the 27th minute. Marta also cleared herself for a good opportunity in the box but sent her shot right at Seattle goalkeeper Claudia Dickey.

Meanwhile, the Reign were stifled by the Pride defense in the half, with another Anna Moorhouse judgment lapse creating the main chance for the Reign, who finished the first half with only two shot attempts.

Seb Hines sent Summer Yates on for Haley McCutcheon to try to find a little more quality in the final third, while Seattle brought Jordyn Huitema on for Mia Fishel, allowing for more direct play by the visitors. Play was more balanced in the second half and quality chances were few for the first 25 minutes after the restart. It wasn’t until the 70th minute that a good scoring opportunity emerged when Nérilia Mondésir wrapped up Emily Sams, fouling the defender in a perfect position just outside the box. Marta took the free kick and her placement was good, but she didn’t get enough power on the strike and Dickey made a comfortable save.

Just minutes after the free kick chance, Jacquie Ovalle, who had been a major source of energy for the team all night, got down the right side and dropped a cross just over the center backs to Carson Pickett in the box. Pickett had enough time to trap the ball, pick her spot, and bury her half volley for a 1-0 Pride lead.

Unfortunately, another positional lapse and missed clearance would quickly bite the Pride, when a recycled corner was sent left to right. Cori Dyke got back in time to deal with it but opted not to play safely out for a corner, heading it upfield while running back toward her own goal line. As a result, the defender got little on her headed clearance attempt and was out of position when she landed to close down Jordyn Bugg, who tied the game just three minutes after the opening goal.

From there, neither side could find a winner, with the best chance coming Seattle’s way on a set piece conceded by Yates, who made up for her foul by making a vital challenge in the box to knock the ball off Huitema before she could free herself for a shot.

With the draw, Portland jumped over both teams to claim third place. Orlando will therefore host the Reign in consecutive weekends in the NWSL quarterfinal match between the fourth and fifth seeds. Seattle will visit Orlando again Friday at 8 p.m.

We hope you enjoy these images from a tightly contested match at Inter&Co Stadium.

The Orlando Pride returned to Concacaf W Champions Cup action Wednesday night at home needing a win to reach the semifinals in their first time in the competition. Another shot of Marta magic was not enough by itself to provide a victory against CF Pachuca Femenil and the clubs drew 1-1. The Pride created plenty of chances to find a second goal, but were wasteful with those opportunities. As a result, they were eliminated from the tournament on goal differential, despite tying for second in the group with the visitors from Mexico.

Seb Hines played a few more starters than he had been using in the competition, but with three matches in eight days, he still opted for rotation rather than playing his best starters in a must-win match. He introduced more of those starters in the second half, but it did not produce the intended result.

The Pride came out on the front foot and Marta put Orlando on top with a stunning free kick goal, playing the ball perfectly over the wall and scoring off the inside of the near post in the 25th minute to take the lead.

Finding themselves trailing and in danger of being eliminated, Pachuca pushed forward after the goal, creating opportunities for the rest of the half against a turnover-prone Orlando, which held the visitors at bay.

Hines made three changes at the break, but one of those was detrimental, as he moved Cori Dyke from fullback to center back, withdrawing Rafaelle, who had played well in the first half. Pachuca drew level in the 54th minute on a ball into the area that Dyke couldn’t handle. It deflected off of her and straight to Chinwendu Ihezuo, who fired a shot off Emily Sams and past backup goalkeeper Cosette Morché to tie the score.

The introdduction of Jacquie Ovalle shortly afterward didn’t help Orlando much, as the team could not supply service to the Mexican winger. Still, the Pride built up some nice attacks up the left side but could not be lethal in front of net at the end of those buildups. The best of those chances fell to Summer Yates, who fired wide for the fourth time in the match, and a Marta header on a good ball in from distance was flicked straight down the middle for an easy save. Haley McCutcheon hit the crossbar late, and that was as close as the Pride could get.

Orlando fell short in the end, and the team’s first foray into international competition came to a disappointing end. As it has been throughout the regular season, the team’s biggest issue in the tournament was scoring goals. A few more goals against the weaker sides in the group or one more in the final match would have seen the Pride through to the semifinals.

he team now must focus on closing out the NSWL season strong to secure a home match in the playoffs, but it won’t be easy on the road against Washington today or at home in the finale against Seattle.

We hope you enjoy these images from the Pride’s historic first Concacaf W Champions Cup campaign and first-ever meeting with CF Pachuca.

Orlando City hosted the Vancouver Whitecaps during the international break in a game rescheduled due to the Lions going far (but not far enough) in Leagues Cup. The result was about what one might expect with 13 Lions on the unavailable list and no significant bench (more on that in a minute). Despite the circumstances, the Lions somehow managed to grab a lead and hold it for most of the match but ultimately fell 2-1 on two late goals by the Whitecaps — one of which was an actual attempt to score.

Orlando started well, but then spent much of the game on the back foot, unable to deal with Vancouver’s high press or play through or over it. As a result, the Lions had to settle for looking for opportunities to get out on the counter. Then captain Robin Jansson went down in the 18th minute with an injury. With a short bench made up mostly of inexperienced reserve players, Oscar Pareja sent on Duncan McGuire and shifted three other players around the field. This helped create the opening goal, as Dagur Dan Thorhallsson, who moved into the midfield from right back, worked a ball into space for Martin Ojeda, who found Duncan McGuire on the other side. McGuire headed it into the path of Thorhallsson’s continued run and he slotted home.

Shortly after the goal, Vancouver began squeezing the Lions into their own half, and the Whitecaps never let up. Orlando couldn’t find enough composure to play through the visitors, repeatedly gifting the ball back on their own half of the field, or simply booting it down to the other end to force Vancouver to restart the attack.

Orlando was at least organized and resolute in defense — despite playing without three starters on the back line or starting central midfielder Cesar Araujo — giving up almost no good chances for most of the rest the game. Most was not enough however, and finally in the 81st minute, Vancouver pulled level, courtesy of an unlucky Kyle Smith clearance that ricocheted off Whitecaps substitute Nelson Pierre and into the net.

Buoyed by the equalizer, and with an exhausted Orlando group unable to bring on fresh reinforcements other than OCB regulars Zakaria Taifi and Shakur Mohammed, Vancouver poured numbers into the attack to find a winner. It nearly came in the 92nd minute on a play that was reviewed, but that delay allowed the referee to add even more stoppage time, and Thomas Muller finally beat Gallese from the top of the area in the seventh of what was supposed to be five added minutes, breaking Orlando hearts and wrecking the Lions’ shot at climbing into the top four by season’s end.

Orlando finishes out its regular season on the road in Toronto Saturday. We hope you can ignore the result and at least enjoy the pictures from the game.