The Orlando Pride were off for the women’s international break over the weekend, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t stuff for us to discuss (and if there’s one thing we love to discuss, it’s definitely stuff!). Emily Sams saw her first minutes with the United States Women’s National Team, and the Yanks unsurprisingly won. Barbra Banda finished 12th in the race for the Ballon d’Or, which seems low, but it’s still quite an honor to be considered the 12th-best player in the world. And we looked at the Pride’s Brazilians, who earned a draw and a win against Colombia, with Adriana scoring a goal for her country.

Our mailbagbox this week asked us if we listened to “Hot to Go” and wanted to know about the Pride’s attacking chemistry, a hypothetical Women’s Club World Cup question, and more. Remember, you can ask us anything by hitting us up on Twitter at either @TheManeLand or @SkoPurpSoccer and using the hashtag #AskSkoPurp. Or you can visit our show page, scroll down, and fill out the handy form. We’d also appreciate any ratings or reviews you can leave wherever you get your podcasts, and if you do that on Apple Podcasts, we’ll find them easily and read them on the show.

After the mailbagbox, we looked ahead to Saturday’s matchup against the Seattle Reign. The all-time series hasn’t been kind to Orlando, but it’s been better at home and the Reign were pretty good for most of the history of the series. We give our key matchups and make our score predictions while admitting that hey, we haven’t necessarily had a lot of time to watch Seattle games since the Pride went to Washington back in May.

Here’s how Episode 67 went down:

0:15 – Emily Sams’ USWNT debut, Pride Brazilians in international play, and Barbra Banda’s place on the Ballon d’Or list.

9:16 – Our mailbagbox is full of great questions, as usual.

22:40 – Our look ahead to Saturday’s regular-season finale against Seattle.

Orlando City bounced back from its Decision Day loss to Atlanta by opening the playoffs with a 2-0 home win over Charlotte FC. The Lions were dominant, creating almost every significant attacking move in the match, allowing the visitors very little, and owning the midfield. Facundo Torres and Martin Ojeda provided the goals, although Ramiro Enrique had his chances as well.

We break down the win over Charlotte, check our score predictions from the last show, and make our selections for Man of the Match.

This episode’s mailbagbox asked us about the MLS playoff format, a possible change to the MLS season schedule, family vacation spots, and more. Remember, if there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the show, just ask us by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC, or hitting us up on Bluesky Social with that same hashtag.

After the mailbagbox, we looked ahead to Orlando City’s Game 2 meeting with Charlotte FC coming up on Friday. Nothing has changed our minds about this series so far, so we provided our key matchups and score predictions for the second match as the series shifts to North Carolina.

Be sure to rate and review our show wherever you get your podcasts. Remember, we’ll read any five-star reviews we get on Apple Podcasts on the next show.

Here’s how No. 453 went down:

0:15 – Orlando City was the better team in Game 1.

20:57 – The mailbagbox asks several questions and we get a review that doesn’t match the star rating. At all.

44:58– The Lions head to Charlotte for Game 2 in their best-of-three series.

One road loss became two as the Pride turned in a disastrous performance against Gotham FC on Sunday. Seb Hines went back to his starters to get try to regain the team’s momentum as the regular season winds down, but unfortunately, things went from bad to worse for the defense, which was substandard and reminiscent of some of the bad Orlando teams from the past. It was not the response Pride fans wanted to see after the team’s first loss all season in Portland, but it is what it is.

We break down the Pride’s second straight loss. I don’t even remember if we checked our score predictions from last week, because the weekend destroyed us, but we did make our selections for Player of the Match.

Our mailbagbox this week asked us if Rafaelle will be healthy this season and if she’ll get to start if she is. Remember, you can ask us anything by hitting us up on Twitter at either @TheManeLand or @SkoPurpSoccer and using the hashtag #AskSkoPurp. Or you can visit our show page, scroll down, and fill out the handy form. We’d also appreciate any ratings or reviews you can leave wherever you get your podcasts, and if you do that on Apple Podcasts, we’ll find them easily and read them on the show.

After the mailbagbox, we spent some time discussing recent Orlando Pride news, including Emily Sams getting a call-up to the United States Women’s National Team, the Pride and Summer Yates exercising the midfielder’s option year for 2026, and the date of Orlando’s first-ever home playoff game. I misspoke about what day of the week it was, but I realized it and gave the right day, so please stop yelling at me. Or at least stop yelling at me about that.

Here’s how Episode 66 went down:

0:15 – The Pride have not yet regained their mojo.

15:10 – Our mailbagbox wants to know about Rafaelle.

23:17 – Miscellaneous Orlando Pride news to take us into the international break.