Orlando Pride
Orlando Pride vs. Kansas City Current: A Tactical Deep Dive
How two of the NWSL’s best teams stymied each other en route to a critical draw.
Friday night, nearly 10,000 fans packed Inter&Co Stadium to watch the much-anticipated rematch of two of the top teams in the NWSL. After a red card, a road win, and exuberant celebrations by the Orlando Pride at the Kansas City Current, the latter hoped for revenge in Orlando. Instead, the match played out more like a finely balanced chess match before the points were shared.
So, just how did a match featuring the two golden boot leaders in the NWSL, sitting on a combined 27 goals, end scoreless?
Slowing the Current
As it had been for most of the previous 19 matches of the season, defense was the star of the show for Orlando once again. This had to be the case for Orlando, considering the firepower Kansas City has on its roster. Below are the up-to-date goal contribution tallies for the Current, showing just how many players can hurt the opposition. Despite the potency of the Kansas City attack, the Pride were able to extend their clean sheet streak to four consecutive matches, with only one goal against in the past eight games, which was scored by the Current in Kansas City.
| Player | Goals | Assists |
| Temwa Chawinga | 15 | 6 |
| Bia Zaneratto | 5 | 4 |
| Lo’eau LaBonta | 5 | 1 |
| Vanessa DiBernardo | 4 | 5 |
| Debinha | 1 | 4 |
While Temwa Chawinga would have been top of mind for Orlando’s coaches while preparing for this matchup, they designed a comprehensive game plan for limiting the opportunities of the NWSL’s most potent attack that included all 11 positions on the pitch.
As Player of the Match Cori Dyke put it, “She’s obviously a player that demands a lot of respect. [She is] a really talented player. We did a lot of preparation this week, watched a lot of film, and went through a lot of defensive strategies.”
First among these defensive strategies was the high press that Head Coach Seb Hines employs against many opponents. Against the Current, the Pride began each defensive sequence from the front, engaging the Kansas City back line in a 4-2-4 pressing structure. In this formation, Summer Yates, Barbra Banda, Marta, and Adriana were each responsible for covering a counterpart in the opposition back line, limiting their options for easy passes. Then, when a defender played a ball back towards the keeper, Marta or Banda would trigger a more aggressive press and attempt to close down the ball and generate turnovers.
This high-press strategy often disrupted the flow of the game for Kansas City, but it can be a high-risk, high-reward strategy. If the Pride forced the Current to turn the ball over near their goal, it would create a dangerous chance for Orlando. On the other hand, if the press was unsuccessful, Kansas City could have numerical advantages on the other end of the pitch.
When Kansas City was able to play out from the back and around the Orlando press, the Current more often than not played it towards Chawinga on their left wing to drive towards the Orlando goal. In this match, she received the ball and carried it forward more often than an average match for her, but this is where the Pride had another strategy for limiting her chances. To slow Chawinga, they used Dyke as the primary defender, tasked with marking the golden boot pace-setter closely and had Emily Sams as secondary cover.
Dyke’s job was to push tight to Chawinga when she received the ball, enough to slow her down and give additional defenders time to engage. For Sams, the job was to cheat several yards back towards her own net when the Current possessed the ball, so as to not get beaten by Chawinga’s pace. When the ball did reach Chawinga, Sams would rush to double-team Chawinga and force the turnover or get the ball away from the Current’s most dangerous player. This tactic ensured that while Chawinga could not be completely prevented from influencing the play, it would be difficult for her to keep an attack headed towards Anna Moorhouse’s net.
The last key defensive tactic for the Pride in this match had just as much to do with Kansas City’s lack of endeavor as it did the Pride’s play. Kansas City knew coming into the match that it would be difficult to get a result in Orlando, so the visitors did not attack with the same conviction as they’ve become known for, instead focusing on transition and counterattacks to generate chances without opening the match up for the Pride to do the same.
Because of Kansas City’s offensive setup, the Pride were able to keep much of the game inside the Current’s half. With the distances reduced, the Pride front line and midfield were able to cover more players and passing lanes. So, when the Current progressed the ball initially, they were quickly covered again by an onrushing Angelina, Marta, or Banda, making life more difficult.
While Chawinga was able to create some threat for the Current — to the tune of five shots with two on target — the rest of the Kansas City squad only managed one shot on target. Vanessa DiBernardo, Lo’eau LaBonta, and Debinha all ended the match well below their season averages for shots, touches, and take-ons, a statistic showing how many times a player attempts to beat the opposition off the dribble. Beyond that, Kansas City only generated two corner kicks and four free kicks, resulting in minimal opportunities to commit bodies forward and create more than half chances. As the match progressed, it often seemed Kansas City wouldn’t be too bothered to play out a scoreless draw.
Pride Attack Stifled
Despite the fact that Orlando and Kansas City met as recently as July, a lot has changed in defense for the Current. Since that match, they have added center backs Alana Cook and Kayla Sharples and goalkeeper Almath Schult. These acquisitions were made to shore up several positions of weakness with an eye towards the NWSL championship. In just their second match as a new defensive unit, they played well, limiting Orlando’s chances. The Pride attack has experienced a bit of a drought in recent weeks, as analyzed by The Mane Land’s Andrew DeSalvo in a recent article. So, it is worth looking at what the Current did to stifle the Pride, and how the Pride could have found a way to win the match.
The Current’s defensive game plan against Orlando was simple, but it was effective. For the full 90 minutes of the match, when the Pride possessed the ball, the Current played a high defensive line and didn’t press the Orlando defenders, trying instead to create a congested middle of the pitch. This can be seen in the passing numbers for the Pride defenders, which were well above average in both number and accuracy of passes since there was absolutely no pressure on these players from the opposition.
On the other end of the pitch, Kansas City doubled up against Banda, with the goal of taking her influence out of the game. As a result, Banda had arguably her quietest night in a Pride jersey so far. On average, the Pride are able to find a pass to Banda 22 times per 90 minutes. Against Kansas City, this number was down to just 14 times. When Banda did receive a pass, she was hounded by defenders and unable to progress the ball into dangerous areas. While she averages an astounding six progressive carries per match, she only completed two against the Current. Without the ball, and unable to progress it into dangerous areas, Banda only took three shots versus her usual 5.5, and one was a speculative long-range effort that could’ve been better as a pass to Adriana.
In response to Kansas City’s defensive setup, the opportunities for Orlando came from the wide areas of the pitch. Because of the attention paid to clogging up the middle and double-teaming Banda, Orlando created many one-on-one matchups for Adriana against the opponent. Unfortunately, Hailie Mace defended superbly from the left back position and Adriana could not get anything going. While Adriana possessed the ball roughly twice as much as Banda, she was unable to create opportunities to score. She attempted eight take-ons against Mace, but beat her once, and by the end of the match she had only managed one shot on target and was largely ineffective.
On the other wing, Yates did not have much more success, despite receiving the ball about as many times as Adriana in only 59 minutes. Off the left wing, she similarly only beat her opponent once out of five attempts. Yates was replaced by Evelina Duljan without registering a shot. Duljan, for her part, was quite lively after her introduction. In her 31 minutes, she was able to beat her opponent three times in one-on-one situations, and her progressive carries led to several dangerous situations for the attack in the closing minutes.
In addition to Duljan, the other offensive standout for the Pride was Marta. Of all Orlando’s players, she looked the most likely to create the chance that would’ve won the game. Despite the Current’s tactic of compressing the pitch and clogging the middle, Marta’s movement off the ball and exceptional footwork meant she was able to find pockets of space to receive a pass, turn out of trouble, and transition into attack. As a result, Marta received 51 passes in the match, more than double the next highest tally from front-line players, often because she dropped deep to receive. From there, her 43 completed passes also doubled the tally of any other attacker. Each of the two times she took on a defender, she was able to beat them. Finally, Marta accounted for three of Orlando’s five shots on target, all of which were taken outside the box and required diving saves from Schult.
In the end, Hines said it best, “Kansas were a tough nut to crack at times. You know, they got a lot of bodies behind the ball. They made it very difficult for us to try and create anything. I also think there was quite some good opportunities to score as well.”
Missed Opportunities
As Hines said, despite the solid defending by the opposition, there were a few ways that the Pride weren’t as effective in their attacking play as the coaching staff has come to expect. Some of these missed opportunities were mentioned above, like the wingers not winning their individual matchups against the opposing defense. Another way the Pride could have created chances for themselves, but didn’t, was the high pressing discussed above. While the Current showed a solid game plan for preventing chances when Orlando built from the back, turnovers created in the defensive third can shred a game plan and yield scoring chances. Unfortunately, Orlando was not able to generate a killer turnover in this match.
Another missed opportunity was the lack of threat from set plays. Orlando generated many set pieces, including eight corners and 11 free kicks in total, but these also did not yield a goal. Many times, corners were lofted into an area where the keeper was always favored to reach the ball. Better delivery could have seen a winning goal from Banda, who is already the all-time leader in headed goals for the Pride. Other times, the ball just did not bounce the right way for a rebound. A few of the chances that did come from these set plays fell to Haley McCutcheon, but the defensive midfielder was not able to put any of her four shots on frame.
Holding a talented opponent scoreless is always an accomplishment that requires a good plan, good execution, and sometimes a bit of luck. Fans in Inter&Co stadium didn’t get to see a goal, but they did see interesting tactics and great defense. While this may be biased towards the team in purple, the Pride generally seemed the more likely to come out victorious in this matchup as they had more possession, shots, shots on target, and set-piece opportunities than the opposing Kansas City Current.
At the end of the day, the points were split, and this too may lean in the favor of the Pride. For the Current, one point meant falling behind Gotham in the standings. They may also be running out of time to catch back up to the NWSL shield leaders after leading the league for much of the first half of the season. For Orlando, a point means a continuing undefeated run that now stretches to 21 matches. However, after the Spirit defeated the Houston Dash, Orlando’s lead at the top of the table now sits at four points, and a match between the top two teams is just a few weeks away.
Orlando Pride
Orlando Pride vs Angel City FC: Final Score 2-1 as McCutcheon’s Brace Lifts Pride to Win
Three goals in the last 15 minutes thrilled the crowd in Orlando as the Pride picked up their first home win of the season and ended Angel City’s perfect start.
The Orlando Pride shut down March NWSL Player of the Month Svendis Jonsdottir and got a brace from Haley McCutcheon in a 2-1 win over Angel City in front of 8,040 fans at Inter&Co Stadium tonight. Orlando (2-1-2, 8 points) picked up its first home win of the season, extended its unbeaten run to four games (2-0-2), and snapped the perfect start to the season for Angel City (3-1-0, 9 points)
“If we have a good defensive structure, that makes us have more possibilities of winning games, of having more chances in the front,” midfielder Angelina said after the match. “We’re going to be confident on the back and gaining the ball high up the field. The last few games, we’ve done a good job of that — lowering the chances of the opponent to just hit the target.”
The Pride came out the aggressors in the first half but it wasn’t enough to put anything on the scoreboard. The second half was heading toward a scoreless draw until the last six minutes of normal time, when the teams engaged in a mad scramble to see who could put the decisive winning goal in after trading opening goals in an eight-minute span.
Pride Head Coach Seb Hines rolled out the same lineup as Sunday in the scoreless draw against NJ/NY Gotham FC. This was the first time this season the Pride were able to put together a grouping that had played together in a match in 2026.
Anna Moorhouse started in goal behind a back line of Cori Dyke, Hailie Mace, Rafaelle, and Oihane. Ally Lemos and Angelina lined up in the defensive midfield behind an attacking midfield line of Jacquie Ovalle, Haley McCutcheon, and Solai Washington. Barbra Banda started up top looking to add to her total of three goals.
“Chemistry is always helpful” McCutcheon said. “It helps to be able to get that communication and trust that people are going to do their jobs.”
Both teams traded empty possessions for the first 10 minutes of the game until Angelina turned Banda loose on a long ball for the first shot of the game. The Zambian got behind the back line but did not make good contact on her shot, sending it at Angel City goalkeeper Angelina Anderson. McCutcheon got on the end of an Ovalle cross but headed it over the bar one minute later. There was a scramble off a free kick that Lemos fired off a defender and, on the rebound, Banda put it well wide in the 13th minute.
Angel City had its first significant offensive chance when Rafaelle fouled Jonsdottir in the 20th minute, leading to a free kick from 30 yards out. However, Kennedy Fuller sent it into the defense.
Savy King was booked holding back Ovalle in the 21st minute, giving the Pride a 30-yard free kick, but Angelina sent it straight into the wall. It was into the head of Maiara Niehues, who needed a couple of minutes after to recover.
Shortly after that, Dyke was fooled on a dummy by Gisele Thompson that turned Fuller loose into the box. However, Rafaelle blocked Fuller’s attempt on goal. Banda won a corner kick in the 30th and Ovalle sent the ball across the goal mouth to Rafaelle, who put the header on goal, but Anderson made a big save, deflecting it out for another corner. Angelina took the next corner, which Rafaelle put into the net but the Pride center back was called for a push on the play, nullifying the goal.
The Pride left Jonsdottir alone at the top of the 18 in the 35th minute, but she shot the ball well high. In the 41st, McCutcheon fouled Thompson on the right side, leaving a 25-yard free kick, which Fuller sent long and it turned into nothing.
Banda worked herself free outside the left corner of the box in the 45th minute, but she wasn’t able to get anything on the attempt to Anderson. The two teams closed out the half without any significant action and headed into the locker room scoreless.
Even though Angel City dominated possession in the first half (66%-34%), the Pride were certainly the more dangerous team. The Pride attempted more shots (9-3), with seven of those from inside the box but couldn’t score on any. Banda continued to prove to be her dangerous self with four shots (two of them forcing a save) and had support from her teammates, yet nothing ended up on the scoreboard. On the other side of the matchup of league-leading forwards, Orlando limited Jonsdottir’s touches in dangerous areas.
After a long kickoff out of bounds by Angel City to open the half, McCutcheon put Banda through on goal, but she was on the right from a difficult angle, and her shot was straight at Anderson. Oihane won a corner a minute later, but Ovalle sent it too long and over the goal line. In the 49th minute, Ovalle crossed the ball to McCutcheon, but she couldn’t put it on frame, sending it well wide.
Lemos sent a dangerous pass forward in the 52nd minute to Banda, who put it across the goal mouth and McCutcheon put it into the goal, but the flag came up immediately as the ball went in, as the Pride midfielder was a step offside. Washington was held by Thompson on the left side of the box at the 55-minute mark, leading to an Orlando free kick. Angelina sent a hard cross to Banda in the box on the set piece, and it deflected out to Dyke, who saw her shot easily blocked, igniting the Angel City counter.
Jonsdottir picked up the loose ball and sprinted down the field, muscling her way past Ovalle and then nutmegging Mace before turning a shot loose that went wide of the right post. It was a disastrous play for the Pride, as Ovalle remained down for a while after grabbing her hamstring. She was carried off the field by trainers and replaced by Summer Yates.
In the 60th minute, Oihane and Jonsdottir banged heads, leading to a long free kick by Angel City, which turned into a harmless header over the end line.
Angelina received a yellow card in the 62nd minute 40 yards, out but Kennedy Fuller wasn’t able to connect with anyone on the set piece. Banda picked up a booking of her own in the 65th trying to swim past Sarah Gorden.
Both teams brought on a sub in the 66th minute, with Marta taking Washington’s place and Taylor Suarez subbing in for Nealy Martin.
Shortly after the restart, Oihane worked her way into the box and King knocked the ball out for a corner in the 70th minute. Marta had her first significant contribution with the corner delivery, which sent the ball pinging around, leading to an open shot at the penalty spot by Angelina, who was wide open but put it over the bar, wasting a golden opportunity to open the scoring.
Jonsdottir floated a ball from deep left that almost caught Moorhouse off her line, but she scrambled back and just got a hand to it. It came off yet another deep throw-in, where Angel City interestingly has Jonsdottir take, even though she’s clearly the team’s most dangerous attacker.
Oihane went down injured in the 75th minute, leading to an eventual substitution with Hannah Anderson replacing her. It was deemed a concussion substitution due to the previous contact, sparing Orlando a sub.
At this stage of the game, Orlando was getting sloppy with its passing and struggling to keep possession, and all the attacking pressure started to come from Angel City. However, it was the Pride that broke the scoreless deadlock.
Banda worked in from the left side and put the ball across the goal mouth where it bounced around and ended up in front of McCutcheon, who put one in that counted. It was a team effort as Lemos, Rafaelle, Marta, and Hannah Anderson all moved the ball around and kept Angel City from escaping with it. McCutcheon’s 84th-minute strike was reviewed for a possible offside, but the replay was inconclusive and the goal stood.
“We brought in Marta, put her at the 9, and shifted Barbra wide,” Hines said about his late-game tactics, which led to the goal. “Get her directness dribbling at people, receiving the ball facing forward, taking players on. A great cross into a dangerous area with her left foot. We discussed as a staff that it’s a great idea to put her more on that left side to receive it and get away from players like Gorden and Emily (Sams).”
Dyke picked up a booking in the 89th minute for a tough challenge that the referee let play on and came back to give her the caution. Angel City then subbed Evelyn Shores on for King and Prisca Chilufya for Fuller.
Rafaelle was given a yellow card for a handball near the left sideline in the first minute of added time, leading to a free kick from next to the sideline. Shores put the kick in front of the goal, which Tiernan passed out to the top of the box. Thompson then blasted the ball off the underside of the crossbar and just over the goal line to even the score up. It was Angel City’s only shot on target, tying the game in the second minute of stoppage time.
Angel City stayed on the front foot after the goal, looking for a late winner. But again, it was Orlando that went the other way and found the back of the net.
The Pride won a corner on a drive into the box. Marta put the corner on the far post, where Hannah Anderson kept it alive, knocking it back in front. The ball pinged off a couple of bodies before falling to McCutcheon again, who poked it home in the eighth minute of stoppage time.
There were 10 minutes of stoppage time originally added, but the game went 14 minutes beyond the 90th. However, the Pride were able to see out one final scramble in front of goal, in which Moorhouse came off her line but was beaten to the ball by former Pride striker Chilufya. Angel City could not work through the traffic in front, and Orlando held on for the win.
At full time, Angel City held the advantage in possession (63%-37%) and passing accuracy (83%-77%), but the Pride had more shots (17-15), shots on target (6-1), and corner kicks (5-3).
It was a big win for Orlando, which finally sent the supporters at Inter&Co Stadium home happy. The Pride continue to play standout defense, limiting Angel City to one shot on target and only a few threatening looks at goal for a team that entered with a top-tier attack.
The Pride are off for three weeks for the international break before traveling to Kentucky to take on Racing Louisville on April 24. Orlando has never won at Louisville.
Orlando Pride
Orlando Pride vs. Angel City FC: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
The Pride return home looking to keep up their positive momentum after a strong road trip.
Welcome to your preview and match thread as the Orlando Pride (1-1-2, 5 points) welcome league-leading Angel City FC (3-0-0, 9 points). This is the first of two meetings between these two teams this year, with the return game in California scheduled for July 3.
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 eight times. The Pride are 4-2-2 in those games, all in NWSL regular-season play. While the Pride have a 3-1-0 record against Angel City in Los Angeles, they’re only 1-1-2 at home.
The most recent matchup between these two teams took place 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 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.
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 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, 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 return home tonight after a two-game road trip in which they claimed four points. They had a dominant performance in Chicago on March 25, defeating the Stars 3-0. Banda, Jacquie Ovalle, and Hannah Anderson scored in the first half and the Pride held onto that lead in the second 45 minutes to claim their first win of the season.
It was a quick turnaround as they played defending champion NJ/NY Gotham FC Sunday night in New Jersey. The hosts dominated possession in the game, but the Pride were able to keep the opposition from creating too many opportunities, pulling out a scoreless draw.
Sunday night’s draw saw Banda’s three-game goal streak come to an end. However, after conceding three goals in the first two games, the Pride recorded their second consecutive clean sheet, something Head Coach Seb Hines is very happy with.
Another positive was that Rafaelle played all 90 minutes. The Brazilian has had constant injury issues since joining the Pride in 2023, which seemed to return when she was listed as questionable for the game in Chicago. The center back came on in the second half of that game and started against Gotham, providing a solid performance.
While the Pride are pleased with their performances away from home, they need to play better at home. The team has now played four games with new players like Hailie Mace and Hannah Anderson, so they’ll be expecting better results than the first two games, although they dominated those matches and created lots of scoring chances.
That will be difficult tonight as the Pride welcome the league-leading Angel City. The California-based team had an eventful off-season, losing Thompson to Chelsea FC and Riley and Christen Press to retirement. Meanwhile, they added Ary Borges and former Pride center back Emily Sams.
Angel CIty has been terrific offensively this season, scoring multiple goals in all three games. However, tonight’s visitors have only played Chicago, Bay FC, and the Houston Dash, three of the worst teams in the league. Additionally, two of those three games were at home and the other was in California.
Tonight will be a much harder challenge. The Pride are widely expected to be a team challenging for at least a top four spot. They’re a stronger team offensively and defensively than the teams Angel City have played this year.
Angel City is led in the attack by Sveindis Jonsdottir, who has three goals in her first three games of the season. She’s the only player on the team with multiple goals. Tiernan, Gisele Thompson, Evelyn Shores, Maiara Niehues, Kennedy Fuller, and Ary Borges each have scored one goal. Jonsdottir and Fuller lead the team in assists with two each.
Defensively, Angel City has a solid center back pairing of Sams and Savy King, who returns after missing most of last season after suffering a cardiac issue on the field. They’ll line up in front of Anderson, who returns as the starting goalkeeper.
“I think with Angel City, they’re a team that’s got a lot of good momentum right now,” Hines said ahead of the match. “Obviously, sitting top of the table. Three wins after three games. They’ll come with the expectation that they’ll go four for four, and we want to stop that of course. We want to get off to a good start as well, being back at home in front of our own fans. We’ve had a good road trip as well, four points in two games. So, to finish this part of the season with a win at home is where our minds are at right now.”
The Pride are still without Kerry Abello (hip), Zara Chavoshi (lower leg), Cosette Morche (ankle), Kylie Nadaner (maternity leave), and Viviana Villacorta (knee). Angel City will be without Karsyn Cherry (thigh), Emslie (maternity leave), Jun Endo (knee), Leroux (excused absence), Rajanah Reed (ankle), and Hina Sugita (knee).
Official Lineups
Orlando Pride (4-2-3-1)
Goalkeeper: Anna Moorhouse.
Defenders: Cori Dyke, Rafaelle, Hailie Mace, Oihane.
Defensive Midfielders: Ally Lemos, Angelina.
Midfielders: Jacquie Ovalle, Haley McCutcheon, Solai Washington.
Forward: Barbra Banda.
Bench: Cara Martin, Hannah Anderson, Reagan Raabe, Luana, Summer Yates, Seven Castain, Marta, Julie Doyle, Simone Jackson.
Angel City FC (4-2-3-1)
Goalkeeper: Angelina Anderson.
Defenders: Savy King, Sarah Gorden, Emily Sams, Gisele Thompson.
Defensive Midfielders: Ary Borges, Nealy Martin.
Midfielders: Riley Tiernan, Maiara Niehues, Kennedy Fuller.
Forward: Sveindis Jonsdottir.
Bench: Hannah Seabert, Faith Nguyen, Sophia Mattice, Evelyn Shores, Carina Lageyre, Taylor Suarez, Casey Phair, Prisca Chilufya.
Referees
REF: Jeremy Scheer.
AR1: Kendall McCardell.
AR2: Race Williams.
4TH: Stefan Perri.
VAR: Elijio Arreguin.
AVAR: Karen Coulson.
How to Watch
Match Time: 8 p.m.
Venue: Inter&Co Stadium — Orlando.
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
The Pride’s Offense Often Relies on Bank of Banda for a Bailout
A look at how Banda-dependent the Pride’s offense has been this season, and how that compares to prior seasons and the rest of the NWSL.
It feels like Orlando City’s season has been going on for months and the Orlando Pride’s season just started. But all of a sudden, the Pride are already four games into the new season, with their fifth match — the same number of games as Orlando City has played — coming on Friday night. The Pride are off to a better start than the Lions, both in the standings and in how they have looked on the field, and the basis behind their better start is brought to you by the letter B, and Barbra Banda.
While the Pride are off to a better start than Orlando City, they are not off to a bodacious beginning (all right, all right, enough with the “b”words), as they have only earned five points from their four games played and are currently seventh in the league standings. With league leaders Angel City coming to Inter&Co Stadium on Friday night it is possible that by the end of the weekend Orlando will drop out of the playoff spots, but even if they do, they will probably not be too worried, as the Pride had a difficult schedule in their opening five games and Marta has only been on the field for a total of 18 minutes through the first four.
The Brazilian superstar’s absence has deprived the Pride of the opportunity to roll out an offense with Banda, Marta, and Jacquie Ovalle all on the field together for the first time, but with Marta working her way back to fitness, that is going to happen soon. It may not happen against Angel City, but with a long break between that game and the next game against Racing Louisville on April 24, it seems likely that soon we will finally see the attacking group that Pride fans have been excited about ever since the acquisition of Ovalle last August.
La Maga (the magician) joined the Pride right after Banda’s season-ending injury last summer, and she looks much more comfortable this season than she did during the closing months of the 2025 season. She scored her first goal of the season last week against Chicago and she has two assists as well, which ties her for the team lead in goal contributions with Banda, who picked up right where she left off and is leading the team — and the league — in goals scored with three.
The Pride have only scored five goals on the season for an average of 1.25 goals per game, and Banda’s three gives her 60% of their goals scored. Four games is a small sample size, only 13% of the season, so Banda’s high share of the goals scored is not a huge concern this early in the year. What is a bit of a concern, however, is Orlando’s reliance on the Zambian for so much of its offensive threat.
The scatterplot below is from the past three NWSL seasons and shows the 246 players who took at least 12 shots during each season (I chose 12 shots because of a limitation in Microsoft Excel that does not allow more than 255 dots on a scatterplot; if you were wondering, 826 players have taken at least one shot during any of the last three seasons). Most of the dots are from 2024 and 2025, but there are four players in 2026, Banda included, who have already taken at least 12 shots this season. I put a purple circle around Banda’s 2024, 2025 and 2026 seasons.
There is no official measure for “reliance,” but the location of Banda’s three pairings for the percentage of goals scored (excluding opposition own goals) and the percentage of shots taken show just how much the Pride rely on her to generate offense, how much more that is than many teams, and how they rely on their top attackers. It is strongly unlikely that Banda’s percentages in 2026 will stay as high as they have been through four games, especially when Marta is back to full health, but by looking at 2024 and 2025, it is unlikely that she is going to see a drastic reduction either.
Banda will miss a few games later this summer when she goes to Morocco to represent Zambia during the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON), but she also missed nearly half of the 2025 season and still ended up as Orlando’s leading scorer and shot taker by wide margins (twice as many goals scored and shots taken as her next closest teammates).
Seb Hines and the Pride’s coaching staff would probably prefer a more balanced set of numbers long before her departure, as it is harder to defend multiple threats than one, but in the end, they will not care who scores as long as the Pride score enough goals to win games. The early dependency on Banda is not yet majorly alarming, especially considering that she is one of the best strikers in the world. I am somewhat concerned about her share of both shots taken and goals scored though and am hoping to see some other players step up their offensive contributions as the season progresses.
Friday night will be a big test for Orlando against Angel City and its NWSL-leading (only two goals allowed through three games) defense. Stopping Banda will be the clear priority, but that is a lot easier said than done. Solai Washington has looked good during the last few games and Ovalle is playing well also, and Marta will likely play for as many minutes as the training staff clears her for. Hopefully, between those three, Angelina, Ally Lemos, Haley McCutcheon, and any defenders who creep up into the attacking third of the field, they can either draw enough attention that Banda can get free, or use the open space that exists because of the gravity around the Zambian international to their advantage and put some shots into the back of the net.
Either way, the offense will need to deliver against Angel City, whether they are using Plan A or Plan B(anda).
Vamos Pride!
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