Orlando Pride
Pride Demonstrate Blueprint for Playoff Success in Quarterfinal Win
Starpower, depth, and fan support added up to a big win against Chicago and showed the path Orlando must take to an NWSL Championship.
Friday night the Orlando Pride defeated the Chicago Red Stars 4-1 to advance to the semifinals of the NWSL playoffs. The scoreline only partially reflected the comprehensiveness of the victory, as the Pride led 3-0 at half, were denied by the woodwork twice, and only conceded on a goalkeeper error after the match was out of reach. The Pride did everything right in this match and reminded the league why they won the NWSL Shield, despite looking vulnerable to close the regular season.
In the end, the formula was simple, though easier said than done; Orlando’s best players showed why they’re NWSL awards finalists, the whole roster pitched in with goal contributions and solid play, and the fans made Inter&Co Stadium an intimidating environment all night. For the Orlando Pride to beat the Kansas City Current this weekend and reach the championship game, they will want to repeat this blueprint.
Often one of the most important parts of a team’s deep playoff run is relying on its best players, and the Pride showed their star power against the Red Stars in attack and defense. In this match, Barbra Banda scored her 14th and 15th goals of the season, and Marta scored her 10th of the season on a penalty before narrowly missing out on her second of the game by hitting the crossbar on a direct free kick. For their impressive individual seasons, both players in this duo were named finalists for NWSL MVP.
Banda’s goals came in typical fashion, outrunning the defense and beating goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher on two occasions. These weren’t her only chances of the match, however, and Banda might have had a hat trick against most goalkeepers that don’t start for the U.S. Women’s National Team. After a relatively dry spell to end the regular season, “Getting Barbara [Banda] going is massive for us,” said midfielder Haley McCutcheon, who was a goal scorer in this match herself.
In the Red Stars match, Orlando’s entire back line defended superbly. Emily Sams and Kylie Strom, both NWSL Defender of the Year nominees, were lively and proactive in defense, keeping play in front of them, intercepting long balls, and breaking up plays before they could get started. In the midfield, Orlando possessed the ball comfortably and avoided unforced errors and dangerous turnovers. The result was that the Red Stars did not attempt a shot until the score was already 4-0 and out of reach. Chicago went on to pick up a lone goal by pressuring Anna Moorhouse on a back pass, leading to her error while taking an extra touch she didn’t have time to take. Moorhouse has largely cut these mistakes from her game and earned a nomination for NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year this week due to her shot-stopping prowess.
The Red Stars did not produce any other moments of danger the rest of the game, and a 4-1 scoreline did not flatter the Pride, who could have won by four or five goals.
Against Chicago, it wasn’t just the award-nominated players who made a difference, and the Pride continued a two-game trend of getting goal contributions from unexpected places. In this match, McCutcheon started the scoring with her first goal in more than a year and a half. The goal was created off a dangerous ball into the box from Summer Yates and a blocked Angelina shot, before Ally Watt sent a misdirected shot towards McCutcheon. The prior week against Seattle, it was Kerry Abello who scored her first of the year after chaos in the box — once again with a critical touch coming from Watt. This mini trend of defender goal contributions has also included assists from Sams. In back-to-back matches she has played progressive passes through the lines, assisting Marta against Seattle and then Banda against Chicago. In total, four contributions from defenders in two matches has been a big part of the scoring output, and it makes the team much harder to defend against.
While it’s not quite unexpected for an attacker to be among the goals, Watt has stepped up in a big way the last two matches. She has been a big part of the Pride’s offensive output, and one goal and two assists in two matches justifies her recent inclusion in the starting lineup. Watt’s goal against Seattle showed exactly what she is on the pitch to do. She made a fast, well-timed run behind the defense, received an excellent ball from Summer Yates, and scored clinically. Against Chicago, Watt turned provider twice, with her contribution to the McCutcheon goal and a well-played through ball to Banda for her second of the match.
Watt’s play is also a positive development for the playoff semifinals. The last time the Kansas City Current visited Orlando, the teams played to a 0-0 draw. Temwa Chawinga, who has scored 21 goals on the season, may be in her best form all year. She has now scored in seven consecutive matches — each game since the draw with Orlando — and it seems that the Pride may have to score multiple goals to win. After the Current revamped their defense midseason, their talented fullbacks shut down Orlando’s wide attack, including Yates and Adriana. Watt could provide a different look than last time out, serving as the x-factor needed to unlock goal-scoring chances for the Pride.
Fan support was a final piece to the puzzle Friday against the Chicago Red Stars. After averaging 8,340 fans in attendance in the regular season, 11,496 fans attended the playoff match. The weather was beautiful for the match and it was obvious fans were energized for an elimination game. Seb Hines, who was nominated for NWSL Coach of the Year, said he was appreciative of the support and the atmosphere as well.
“It was great to see so many fans come out and support the players. You could really hear them,” he said after the match. “It’s probably the loudest it’s been since we’ve been in this stadium, and we’re going to need them to come back next week in the semifinal.”
While this attendance was among the highest attendance numbers in Inter&Co Stadium to watch the Pride, it was fewer than the 17,089 fans that watched Orlando defeat the Houston Dash earlier this season. Attendance for the Pride may have been lowered by the fact that Orlando City played a playoff match in the same stadium just one day later and a busy schedule of large events downtown, but that will not be the case this weekend for the match against the Current.
A competitive semifinal match at 3 p.m. on a Sunday seems like the perfect opportunity to try to set a new attendance record for the club. Regardless of the final numbers of fans in the stands, everyone is sure to be excited and loud in an effort to push their favorite team to new heights.
Orlando Pride
Orlando Pride Re-Sign Marta through 2026 Season
The Pride captain returns to Orlando for two more seasons with a new deal that could take her through the end of her playing days.
Orlando Pride talisman and team captain Marta will most likely end her illustrious playing career in the City Beautiful after inking a new two-year contract with the club through the end of 2026. The club announced the signing today, just 47 days after concluding her most productive season since 2017 and the Pride’s — and arguably any NWSL team’s — best season ever.
The 38-year-old Brazilian, who will turn 39 in February, said after the Pride won the NWSL Championship in November that she’d like to play one or two more seasons. This contract will allow her to do just that, putting her on track to play 10 seasons in Orlando and retire (if she chooses to do so at that time) at age 40.
Marta, who was out of contract after captaining the Pride to the NWSL Shield and the NWSL Championship in 2024, was a priority for Orlando this off-season, with the Pride announcing Dec. 10 that the club was in negotiations with the captain over her return. That business is now concluded with today’s announcement.
“Coming off the most successful season in our club’s history and, personally, one of the best of
her professional career, re-signing Marta was a key business priority for us during this offseason,” Orlando Pride Vice President of Sporting Operations and Sporting Director Haley Carter said in a club press release. “The impact she has made on our team, our locker room, and our community is evident, of course through her incredible skill as a player, but even more so through her selfless and exemplary leadership style. We are thrilled to have secured her as a member of the Pride for the next two years and look forward to seeing what more we will accomplish during her tenure.”
“This is a team where everybody works for each other, where everyone believes in each other,
and I’m so excited to continue this journey with this club,” Marta said in the club’s release. “Last year we proved everyone wrong and did something so special as a team, and that’s why I’m so happy to have the opportunity to sign for two more years. Personally, it also means a lot to me that I will reach 10 seasons as an Orlando Pride player, a special number for me as I have worn the No. 10 jersey most of my career. As I have said many times, I love living in Orlando, I love the community, and I love the way that people embrace and enjoy Orlando Pride soccer. I can’t wait for the season to start.”
Marta has been a fixture with the Pride since 2017, signing on April 7 from Swedish side FC Rosengard on a two-year deal with a club option for 2019. On Oct. 24 of that year, Marta signed a new one-year deal with a club option for 2020, although ultimately the NWSL regular season was scrapped due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Pride further extended her stay in Orlando on Feb. 17, 2021, with a new one-year contract through the 2021 season with a club option for 2022, using Allocation Money. In 2022, she signed a new two-year contract, taking her through what turned out to be a magical 2024 championship season.
The attacking midfielder is coming off a season in which she was a finalist for NWSL MVP and NWSL Midfielder of the Year, scoring nine goals and adding one assist in 23 games (19 starts), logging a total of 1,739 minutes. In all competitions, Marta scored 11 goals. Following the season, Marta was named to the 2024 NWSL Best XI First Team and the 2024 FIFPRO Women’s World XI.
Since her arrival in Orlando, Marta has become the franchise’s all-time leader in games played (128), goals (42), and assists (19). Of her 42 goals, 14 were game winners, including the strike against the Kansas City Current in the 2024 NWSL semifinals that ultimately pushed the Pride into the NWSL Championship game against the Washington Spirit.
A professional player since 2000 — at the age of 14, when she broke in with Vasco de Gama — Marta became one of the most feared attacking players in the world, winning FIFA World Player of the Year six times over her considerable career, including five straight times (2006-2010). The native of Dois Riachos, Alagoas, Brazil has represented her native Brazil on the world stage since 2002, scoring 119 goals in 204 caps for her country. With 17, Marta holds the world record for career goals in the World Cup and scored in five different iterations of the competition. She has also scored in five consecutive Olympic Games, finally calling an end to her international career after the 2024 Paris Olympics, in which she led her team to the Silver Medal — her third time claiming silver.
Marta has become such an icon in women’s soccer that FIFA named an award after her — the FIFA Marta Award. She won the very first Marta Award in December for a goal she scored for Brazil against Jamaica in 2024.
What It Means for Orlando
Orlando has its captain back and even at her age, she’s one of the league’s best attacking midfielders. She had been slowed in recent years by injuries, including an ACL tear that cost her almost all of the 2022 season. Working her way back from that injury throughout the 2023 campaign, which saw the Pride tie for the final playoff spot, only to see the position go to Gotham on goal differential, Marta turned back the clock in 2024 with her MVP finalist performance. Her nine goals in 2024 were second in her Pride career only to her 2017 season, in which she scored 13 times and finished second to Sam Kerr in the Golden Boot race.
If the Pride get the 2024 version of Marta — or even close to it — for the next two seasons, the club will take that every day of the week.
However, this is not a move without risk. Marta figured to be one of the team’s most expensive players under her previous few deals, and she is about to turn 39 next month and 40 just before the final year of her new (final?) playing contract. Although it would be foolish to bet against Marta turning in another outstanding season, the reality of age catches up with everyone eventually. With her in the lineup, the Pride will have someone who can keep possession with her on-ball and passing skills. She’ll continue to smartly release pressure in the midfield with her timely and accurate switches of play. And she’ll likely continue to contribute to the team’s offensive numbers, looking first to set up striker Barbra Banda. She will be the port the Pride turn to in a storm.
The Orlando icon is a lock to be a future member of the Legends Terrace at Inter&Co Stadium, with her name likely being enshrined next to inaugural inductee, Kaká’s. Having the opportunity to potentially sign Marta through the end of her playing days is worth the risk for the Pride. Although Seb Hines would do well to try to get his aging star as much rest as possible during a long season, she’ll be on the pitch for almost every meaningful minute as long as she remains fit.
Orlando Pride
Orlando Pride Need to Address Center Back Depth This Off-Season
The Pride’s starting center backs are strong, but departures have created a depth issue that Haley Carter must address.
The Orlando Pride are in arguably the best roster scenario of any off-season in team history. While the team was breaking records on the field, Vice President of Soccer Operations and General Manager Haley Carter was busy keeping the team together for the foreseeable future. The result is that most of the roster is intact for 2025, but there are some issues that need to be resolved.
Following the 2024 NWSL campaign, only two contracts expired — 21-year-old midfielder Evelina Duljan and club captain Marta. While Duljan will depart the club, the Pride stated they’re in discussions with Marta about returning next season. If the club re-signs Marta, it will have its entire double-winning starting lineup back.
With the possible exception of replacing Marta, the biggest issue for the Pride this off-season involves the three retirements announced prior to the end of the season. Right back Celia, center back Megan Montefusco, and versatile defender Carrie Lawrence all ended their professional careers. Celia’s absence won’t affect the team much as it has plenty of right back options, but the loss of Montefusco and Lawrence — both of whom have plenty of experience at center back — leaves the team short of depth at the position.
The lack of central depth on the back line was on full display during last season. Montefusco had surgery on her right foot, ending her season before it began. Head Coach Seb Hines moved left back Kylie Strom to a center back role alongside Rafaelle and Emily Sams — who played most of 2023 at center back — to right back. However, Rafaelle’s absence due to injury forced Sams into her natural center back position.
In addition to Strom, Sams, and Rafaelle, three other players started at center back last season. Hines used a center back pairing of Brianna Martinez and Kerry Abello once, putting the two together in the second regular season game, a 1-1 draw with Angel City FC. Cori Dyke was only used in the position late in the season when Sams was given a rest. While all three have played center back before, it’s not the first choice for any of them.
Abello and Dyke played the position in college but have primarily played in different positions professionally. Abello started as a left attacking midfielder before moving back to left back last season. Dyke moved from central midfield to center back for her senior year at Penn State and became the starting right back after the Olympic break. Martinez has usually played right back since joining the Pride. The trio only made five combined starts at center back in 2024, with Abello appearing three times and Dyke and Martinez once.
While there are players that can play center back, only three have at least one full professional season of experience at the position. If Hines has the same vision as last year, Strom and Rafaelle would start at center back and Sams at right back when everyone is healthy. While Sams and Strom proved to be an effective partnership, the Pride boss will want the Brazilian international in the lineup if she’s available. However, Rafaelle suffered a partial tear to her right quadricep tendon late last season and it’s unclear when she’ll be ready to play again. As a result, the Pride could begin the season with only two regular center backs.
If Rafaelle isn’t ready to go when the season starts and Strom or Sams go down, it’s currently most likely that Abello would move over to center back and be replaced by Carson Pickett on the left. Considering that it’s the position that Abello has the least experience of her three potential roles, that’s a less than ideal scenario. Signing a natural center back would enable Hines to make a like-for-like change in the lineup and keep everyone else in their familiar spots.
Carter and Hines have built a team full of versatile players, preparing them for these situations. Nearly everyone on the team has played multiple positions in league games and some have played offensive and defensive roles. As a result, players can take over positions they’re less familiar with when needed with at least some experience, even if just one game.
While Abello, Dyke, and Martinez are capable of filling in at center back in an emergency, the Pride would ideally have someone more experienced in that role. Since the rest of the roster is nearly complete for the first game, Carter can focus on ensuring there’s plenty of depth. The first position in need of additional bodies is the center back position.
Orlando Pride
Top 10 Moments of 2024: Orlando Pride Win NWSL Championship
Our No. 1 moment of 2024 features the Orlando Pride bringing home an NWSL Championship to clinch the league’s double and cap a historic season.
As we count down to the new year of 2025 — which will be Orlando City’s 11th in MLS, the Orlando Pride’s 10th in the NWSL, and OCB’s third in MLS NEXT Pro — and say goodbye to 2024, it’s time to look back at the club’s 10 best moments of the year as selected by The Mane Land staff via vote.
What do you do after you’ve won the NWSL Shield, went unbeaten for 24 consecutive games, set NWSL records for wins, points, clean sheets, and consecutive shutout minutes? Well, to paraphrase Jake Taylor in Major League, there’s only one thing left to do…win the whole f#@%ing thing! That’s exactly what the Orlando Pride did after the 2024 NWSL regular season. The Pride earned the right to play at home up until the championship game by virtue of finishing with the league’s best record in the regular season, and doing all those things I mentioned above. So, the team entered the postseason needing three victories to leave no doubt about which team was the league’s best.
It’s not that a regular-season title would be a hollow victory without a playoff championship, but it had been a few years since the league’s shield winner had completed the double and won the NWSL Championship. Orlando had high aspirations after such a successful regular season, and three wins in a row — even against a trio of the better teams in the league — seemed like child’s play for a Pride team that had winning streaks of eight, six, and three matches during the regular season. On the other hand, every team wanted to be the one to bring down the mighty Pride.
The team’s run to the double started at home against the Chicago Red Stars, a team that the Pride have famously struggled against, especially in Orlando. I won’t belabor it here, as it was the No. 5 moment in our countdown of the club’s biggest moments of the year in 2024. I’ll simply point out that the Pride breezed past the Red Stars so easily that Barbra Banda and Marta were playing goal frame challenge after Orlando built up a big lead, and Anna Moorhouse gave up a silly goal just to give Chicago one solitary moment of happiness in the match. I kid, but only just. Few playoff wins have come more easily.
That left the Pride with an NWSL semifinal matchup against the Kansas City Current — a team desperate to beat Orlando for perceived slights earlier in the season and because the title game was scheduled to take place in their home stadium. If Current players didn’t like Orlando celebrating in their stadium, they hadn’t seen anything yet. But first, the Pride had to get past Kansas City, a team they beat while down a player on the road July 6 and played to a scoreless stalemate in Orlando on Sept. 13.
The Pride took care of business, building a 3-1 lead after falling behind early, with Haley McCutcheon and Banda starting the comeback and Marta ultimately scoring the game-winner (our No. 7 moment of the year). Orlando had to withstand a desperation rally attempt by the Current that came too close for comfort after a late penalty kick goal cut the lead to one, but the Pride held on as they did throughout the season and booked their ticket to Kansas City to face the Washington Spirit.
If fans needed some good omens, there were a few. The Pride had swept the season series, so they knew they could beat Washington. Orlando had played the Spirit in a trophy-clinching game weeks earlier, beating them to clinch the NWSL Shield (our No. 2 moment of the year). The Pride and the Spirit headed to CPKC Stadium on Nov. 23 with a championship trophy on the line.
The game was every bit as tight and nervy as you could expect from a championship match. The teams were physical with each other, and referee Alyssa Nichols was letting them play. Well, everyone except Banda, who was called for every collision and bump, even when she was trying to fight through a hold by the defense. The Spirit and their fans no doubt weren’t happy when the physical play wasn’t called on the game’s only goal.
Angelina won the ball in the midfield and Washington’s Leicy Santos bodied her from behind, trying to win it back. The Brazilian fought Santos off in a physical confrontation and then launched a good long ball down the right channel for Banda to run onto.
Despite getting to the ball first, Banda had a lot left to do from the right flank. She cut inside, flicked the ball with her back heel to beat her defender, working her way nearly to the corner of the six. Former Pride goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury saw the ball on Banda’s left foot and thought Orlando’s striker might try to pick out a runner in the middle of the box. Instead, Banda smashed the ball with her left foot. Kingsbury got a piece but the shot had a lot of powper and surprised the goalkeeper, opening the scoring in the 37th minute.
That was the only goal celebration in the 2024 NWSL Championship. The Pride held off Washington’s repeated advances into the final third. The Spirit chased the game hard, finishing with advantages in many statistical categories, including possession (58%-42%), shots (26-9), shots on target (5-3), corner kicks (8-3), crosses (25-11), and passing accuracy (79%-69%). But the league’s best defense in the regular season held strong, and the Pride had their second major trophy in a 48-day span with the 1-0 win over Washington.
The Pride were even more effusive in their celebrating than they’d been in their last trip to Kansas City, when they’d suffered down a player for more than half the game and won the battle of the NWSL’s last two undefeated teams in the Current’s seemingly impenetrable home fortress. Team captain Marta can perhaps be forgiven for getting on the bad side of the television censors when expressing the intense relief of finally winning the league championship. Pride fans, who had suffered through some miserable seasons since the team’s inception, likely were experiencing similar feelings.
Upon returning home, the Pride were honored with a parade through downtown Orlando, showing off the team’s two trophies to a huge crowd downtown in front of City Hall. The players, coaches, and front office were showered with adulation from the fans, and rightfully so. Even entering the season with raised expectations, few could have foreseen the club achieving so much, and it was the culmination of an extraordinary amount of work and chemistry from everyone.
While winning the NWSL Shield is considered by some to be the bigger accomplishment of the two trophies Orlando won in 2024, doing the double was twice as nice. With the victory, the Pride became the first professional sports team from Orlando to win a major league trophy. As such, the NWSL Championship is worthy of the top spot on our list of the biggest moments of 2024. It wasn’t a unanimous choice by our staff in the voting, but it was the overwhelming winner.
This concludes our list of the the top 10 moments of 2024 for Orlando City, the Orlando Pride, and OCB. There’s no doubt the list was heavy on the Pride accomplishments this season, but that’s what happens when you win the double and set so many league and club records along the way. We had a lot of fantastic moments to choose from in 2024, so if we didn’t pick yours, well…maybe next year. We tried to work OCB into the list, but the Young Lions didn’t make the final 10 in our staff vote. Hopefully you enjoyed reliving these moments as much as we did writing about them.
Previous Top Moments of 2024
10. Orlando City’s massive second-half surge clinches top-four spot in Eastern Conference.
9. The Orlando Pride sign Zambian international striker Barbra Banda ahead of the 2024 season.
8. Facundo Torres scores his 47th goal for Orlando City, breaking the Lions’ all-time goal record.
7. Marta’s magical goal pushes the Orlando Pride past Kansas City and into the NWSL Championship.
6. Orlando City wins nervy three-game MLS Cup playoff series to advance past Charlotte FC.
5. Orlando Pride pick up the club’s first-ever playoff win in their first-ever time hosting a postseason match.
4. Orlando Pride rewrite club and NWSL record books throughout 2024 season and playoffs.
3. Orlando City dumps rival Atlanta United to advance to the club’s first-ever MLS Eastern Conference final appearance.
2. Orlando Pride earn the club’s first trophy by claiming the 2024 NWSL Shield with a win over Washington.
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