Orlando Pride Focused On More Than Records

The 2024 NWSL season has been a special one for the Orlando Pride. The team took a major step forward during the 2023 season, narrowly missing out on the playoffs after several years near the bottom of the standings. This year has been full of new team and league records as the Pride search for the first trophy in team history.

The Pride were already having a record-breaking season prior to the team’s 1-0 win over the Houston Dash Friday night. After drawing the first three games of the season, they went on an eight-game winning streak, setting a new NWSL record for consecutive wins. 

When added to the first three draws and the win over the Dash to end the 2023 season, the Pride extended their run to 10 games unbeaten with a 1-0 win over Bay FC on May 11. That broke a team record for consecutive results, previously held by the 2017 team that had a nine-game streak.

While the Pride had already set some records prior to Friday night’s game, several more were eclipsed with the most recent win. The most notable record was extending their unbeaten run to 18 games, setting a new NWSL regular-season high. They also set new Pride records with 41 points, 12 wins, and eight clean sheets.

With nine games remaining in the regular season, the Pride are close to breaking more league records, including consecutive home wins, most wins in a season, fewest losses in a season, and longest unbeaten run including the playoffs. Despite the success so far this year, the records aren’t what the team is focused on.

“I mean, records are great. It’s nice when you break them,” Pride Head Coach Seb Hines said following the team’s win in Houston. “But we want something at the end of it to show.”

That something Hines speaks of are trophies. The Pride are currently sitting atop the NWSL standings, four points ahead of the Washington Spirit and six points ahead of the Kansas City Current. As a result, they’re on pace to win the NWSL Shield, which is awarded to the team with the most points at the end of the regular season.

The NWSL Shield would be a terrific accomplishment and the first trophy in team history, but the Pride want to go further. The Pride have shown themselves to be the best team in the league and are focused on winning the NWSL championship as well.

The idea that the Pride would be in this position during the preseason was unthinkable. They were in the process of finishing their rebuild and missed out on the playoffs the year before. So what is it about this team that has allowed it to be so successful?

According to the staff and players, they have immense confidence because of their togetherness. The players and coaches demonstrate that they’re united in their quest to win. That focus has kept the Pride atop the NWSL standings and has provided the opportunities they have in front of them.

“We go into every game thinking we’re unbeatable and thinking we’re going to get a win,” Pride goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse said Friday night. “We’re going to all work together. We’re going to all play for each other, play for Seb. We’re all on the same page and we’re all playing for the Pride badge. We’re taking pride in that.”

“I think you can see the effort. You can see the attitude of the players,” Hines added. “You know, their desire, again, a lot of hard work’s been put into their craft and what they’ve done this year. You can see the togetherness.”

As Hines said, while the team enjoys breaking records, that’s not the end goal. The Pride have yet to lose this season, but the Spirit and Current aren’t far behind. For this reason, the Pride have to continue focusing on the next game so their previous success doesn’t become their downfall.

“Honestly, we love the records. But we’re just looking for every next game,” midfielder Summer Yates said after the Houston win. “So this game’s done now and we have to look forward to the next one.”

The Pride are in territory few teams have seen in the history of the NWSL. They’re breaking multiple team and league records while remaining in first place in the standings. It’s put them in a great position to make the postseason for the first time since 2017 and only the second time in team history. But more than that, they’re in position to win trophies.

It can be easy to focus on the successes achieved so far this season, but doing so could be costly. The Spirit have been where the Pride hope to reach, winning the league title in 2021. The Pride feel their forward-thinking mentality will help them hold off their fellow title challengers.