It is interesting to me that the term “chalk” is still used to describe a bracket playing out with all of the teams favored to win actually winning, since chalk has basically been phased out of schools and now seems to just randomly show up for kids to play with on playgrounds or sidewalks and to ensure that their hands, faces, and clothes will require deep cleaning immediately afterwards, to the great exasperation of their parents. I have two young children, so I am familiar with this exasperation. Very, very, very familiar. I never know where the chalk came from, but I know that it will always end up in my bathtub later that day.

Going chalk may be an anachronistic phrase, but it does accurately describe the results from the first round of the 2024 NWSL playoffs, as the teams seeded one through four are all still alive after their opening games. During the early NWSL years, the final four was always made up of the top four seeds, as only four teams made the playoffs. However, starting in 2021, the league expanded to six teams in the playoffs, and then this year the NWSL expanded again to an eight-team field.

During the years when there were six teams in the playoffs, the top two teams received byes to the semifinals (a.k.a. the final four, written in lower case to avoid the NCAA’s trademark lawyers), and seed No. 3 played No. six and seed No. 4 played No. 5, with the winners advancing to the final four. In 2021, the final four ended up with seeds one, two, three, and four, but in 2022, it was one, two, three, and five. Then, last season, it was one, two, four, and six. This year returned to the way it used to be, with the top four teams all advancing, which is great for soccer fans but not as great for the Pride, since the top four teams during the 2024 NWSL season were all great.

How great were they? Well, allow me to show you every team and every season in NWSL history on the chart below, stack ranked by their average points earned per game for the full season, with the top four teams in 2024 all inside the red circle (I did not include the 2020 season since it was not a standard league season):

It is a little difficult to see, but there are four dots represented inside the red circle, and those four average points earned per game are 2.31, 2.15, 2.15, and 2.12. As a quick reminder, the best possible average would be 3.00. The four seasons inside that circle are not just the top four seasons of 2024 but they are also four of the five best seasons in NWSL history — only surpassed by the 2018 North Carolina Courage’s average of 2.38. One might say that North Carolina raised up that year, if one were familiar with the work of Petey Pablo.

I did not just take my shirt off, twist it around my hand, and spin it like a helicopter, but I thought about it for far longer than was necessary.

So, four of the five best regular-season records in NWSL history all happened this year, but it is not just in points earned per game that these four teams ranked among the best in NWSL history. The next chart shows a scatterplot of points earned per game and goal differential per game, with the the same four 2024 teams included in the red circle. The color coding is a little difficult to see, but the Pride are the purple circle farthest to the right, the Current are the red circle farthest to the left and the Spirit in the black circle are slightly above Gotham in the light blue in the middle.

The teams in the upper right area of a scatterplot like this are winning most of their games and winning them handily. As I know all of you remember from algebra class, a scatterplot shows the coordinates on a Cartesian coordinate system (nerd alert), sometimes referred to as the xy plane, and the 2024 Pride’s point is shown at (2.31,1.00). The 2.31 points earned per game ranks second all-time in NWSL history and the 1.00 goal differential ranks fourth. The problem for the Pride is that not only are the three other teams remaining in the playoffs teams that won a lot of games, they also won a lot of games by a healthy margin as well (goal differentials of 1.00 for the Current (tied for fourth all-time), 0.88 for the Spirit (fifth all-time) and 0.81 for Gotham (sixth all-time)).

While the 2024 regular season may not have been competitive from top to bottom, the top four teams were bunched together at the top, and those teams all had seasons that rank among the best in league history. For some context, all four teams averaged at least 2.12 points earned per game, which has now been done five times across 86 total team-seasons in NWSL history, meaning that prior to this season it had been done once in 72 team seasons. Over on the Major League Soccer side, only four teams have ever earned at least 2.12 points per game in a season, and that is across 503 team-seasons. Teams are rarely this successful in soccer, let alone four teams being this successful in the same season, as happened in the NWSL this season.

To win the title, the Pride do not have to defeat all three teams. They only need to defeat two of them, starting with the Kansas City Current. They defeated the Current in Kansas City and drew with them in Orlando. And in an odd series of events, Orlando will need to defeat Kansas City in Orlando to get to go back to Kansas City to defeat another team besides Kansas City if Orlando wants to win the NWSL Championship.

No matter who wins the final, they will have had to survive the best final four in league history, and when the final whistle blows on Nov. 23, I hope it will be the Pride who emerge victorious and have their name engraved on the NWSL Championship Trophy.

It will look so much better in gold and silver than it would have in chalk.

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.

The Orlando Pride kicked off their 2024 NWSL playoff campaign with a dominant 4-1 win against the Chicago Red Stars. Haley McCutcheon opened the scoring in the 26th minute before Barbra Banda netted a first-half brace with goals in the 39th minute and first-half injury time. A Marta penalty put the game away in the 56th minute, though Jameese Joseph got a consolation goal for Chicago at the hour mark.

Pride Head Coach Seb Hines made one change to the team that beat Seattle Reign FC 3-2 in the regular season finale as Angelina started in place of Viviana Villacorta. The back line in front of goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse was Kerry Abello, Kylie Strom, Emily Sams, and Cori Dyke. Angelina and McCutcheon were the defensive midfielders behind Summer Yates, Marta, and Ally Watt with Banda up top.

This game was never in doubt for the Pride as they dominated the entire 90 minutes. They were better than the 3-0 halftime scoreline and it would’ve been a clean sheet if not for a Moorhouse mistake in the 60th minute and two Orlando shots off the woodwork. Overall, it was a great way to start the playoffs for the club.

The Pride kicked off the game and started quickly. Immediately after the start, Angelina found Banda making a run behind the Chicago back line. The striker was looking to slip the ball inside the far post but missed just wide.

A minute later, Banda played a nice long ball to the right side of the field where Watt was making a run. She took Taylor Malham one-on-one and found enough space for a shot but missed the target.

The Pride’s third chance of the game came in the fifth minute when Yates made a run into the middle of the field. She let her final touch get a little too far in front of her, but Angelina was there to shoot from just outside the box. Unfortunately, this attempt also went wide.

It looked like the Pride would open the scoring in the 10th minute when Marta and Angelina combined to send Banda behind the Red Stars’ back line. The striker was in on goal with only goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher to beat, but decided to pass it across for Yates instead of shooting. The pass was behind the midfielder and Bea Franklin was able to clear.

“We always talk about setting a tone early. And so, you know, having that fear factor when a team comes to our environment, and, you know, we always want to make it difficult,” Hines said about creating four chances in the first 10 minutes. “So that first 5-10 minutes is really important to set a tone.”

In the 19th minute, McCutcheon found Watt on the right. The attacker attempted a shot from a tight angle, but Malham blocked it out for a corner kick. The set piece by Marta was headed back out to the Pride captain and her second ball in was cleared, ending the threat.

The Pride finally broke through in the 26th minute from another set piece. It started with a give-and-go between Abello and Watt, enabling the former to send a cross into the box that was cleared behind the goal by Cari Roccaro. The ensuing corner kick was short to Yates, whose cross was blocked to Angelina. Franklin got in front of the Brazilian midfielder’s shot, but it went straight to Watt, who tried to put it on target. While the attacker couldn’t get much on the ball, McCutcheon was in the right place at the right time to redirect the ball in with her head, giving the Pride a well-deserved 1-0 lead.

Haley McCutcheon from in close 💪

The first goal of the #NWSLPlayoffs! pic.twitter.com/eCjeIciRhc

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) November 9, 2024

“I think we started on the front foot. We almost had one from kickoff I think. So yeah, we had just put the pressure on, you know, going forward. And I was happy to be the one to score,” McCutcheon said about the early conversion. “I honestly thought I was offside, so I didn’t really celebrate, but I’m happy that it was onside. And then, yeah, got the team going from there.”

Yates made a cut to beat Joseph in the 34th minute and the two bumped knees when the Orlando midfielder tried to move past her. The second-year player grimaced as the Pride medical staff looked at her and, after receiving more treatment off of the field, was forced to depart. She was replaced in the 38th minute by Adriana.

“Summer got a dead leg, charley horse, whatever you call it, which is pretty significant,” Hines said about Yates’ condition after the game. “But we’ll assess it going into next week. We had to bring her off because it was really painful for her.”

Immediately after the substitution, the Pride doubled their lead. Angelina won the ball off of Mallory Swanson and Sams picked it up, playing a long pass on the ground for Banda, who let it run and then blazed past the Red Stars back line, putting herself in alone on goal. Nobody could catch up with the speedster, who slipped it past Naeher to give the Pride a 2-0 advantage.

An unbelievable ball in and a calm finish from Barbra Banda 👊 pic.twitter.com/7LocBoxvAj

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) November 9, 2024

Banda nearly had her second goal in the 44th minute when she played a quick give-and-go with Adriana, getting in behind the back line on the left side. The striker was too fast for Natalia Kuikka to keep up, setting herself up for a curling shot around Naeher. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to get around it enough and the ball bounced wide of the far post.

Banda scored her second of the night and gave her team a 3-0 lead in the sixth minute of first-half stoppage time after Watt sent the ball long into the Chicago half of the field. Roccaro tried to keep up with the striker, but was unable to as Banda played the ball past Naeher.

Showing up in a BIG way… Barbra Banda 🫶 pic.twitter.com/vO3KpGQ5sU

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) November 9, 2024

“Honestly, those balls are always very dangerous,” Banda said about her second goal of the night. “And I think I saw the keeper, she came out, but my instincts were right because I knew if she had to touch me, it was going to be a penalty. That’s why I had to put the ball down and I had to find the post. So I think my instincts were not wrong.”

“2-0 is always a dangerous scoreline, especially when you go into halftime,” Hines said about the importance of the third goal. “You know, the next goal is really important. So to go into halftime with 3-0 it kind of puts us at ease a little bit.”

It was an absolutely dominant first half by the Pride as they outshot their opponents 13-0 and put three of those shots on target. While Chicago had slightly more possession (53%-47%), the Pride also had more crosses (11-2) and corner kicks (4-1).

Hines made one halftime change, replacing Watt with Julie Doyle. It was the second substitution after Yates was forced off with an injury in the first half.

Marta tried to chip the ball into the Red Stars box in the 49th minute and it hit Hannah Anderson’s arm just outside the 18-yard box. The Pride captain took the set piece and went for goal, rattling the crossbar just above the upper right corner of the net.

Marta comes SO close to this stunning free kick goal 🤯 pic.twitter.com/pCcps5j7KJ

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) November 9, 2024

A minute later, Marta found Doyle on the left and the midfielder’s second touch was forward for Banda into the Chicago area. She tapped the ball around Naeher and it looked like she would score the first hat trick in Pride history but hit the near post with the net empty.

In the 54th minute, Dyke’s throw-in for Banda in the box saw the striker get behind her defender. Anderson reached out and grabbed her shirt just as Banda entered the box. Referee Alyssa Nichols didn’t award a penalty, but the video assistant referee had the official go to the monitor. After a short check, Nichols pointed to the spot.

It seemed like Banda might take the penalty as she was sitting on a hat trick, but Marta — the regular penalty taker — took it instead. The captain didn’t take any chances with the attempt, hitting the ball hard past Naeher to give the Pride a 4-0 lead.

Marta's first career playoff goal is a beauty 🎯 pic.twitter.com/8pmtR5LLfK

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) November 9, 2024

“Fully deserved the penalty as well, which Barbra won. Class that as an assist. Anytime a player gets a penalty, we class that as an assist,” Hines said. “So Barbra contributed to that also, and Marta puts it away like she’s done all season.”

The only way the Red Stars were going to get on the board in this game was from a mistake and that happened in the 60th minute. Dyke played the ball back to Moorhouse and the goalkeeper took a touch with Joseph putting pressure on her, rather than simply clearing it up the field. As a result, Moorhouse’s attempted clearance was blocked into the net by Joseph, cutting the Pride lead to 4-1.

Jameese Joseph with the press that pays off! pic.twitter.com/o1fgvmKTOO

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) November 9, 2024

A Chicago corner kick in the 72nd minute gave the Red Stars their best attack of the game. The set piece went long to Anderson, who headed the ball towards goal. Moorhouse was caught in a bad position, but Sams cleared it off the line.

The Pride broke the other way with Marta sprinting towards the Chicago box. Banda was making a run on the far side but was covered, so the captain played it back for Adriana instead. Taking a touch to create space, the Brazilian’s shot was straight to Naeher.

Abello dribbled the ball into the Red Stars’ box in the 78th minute before running out of space and playing it back for Doyle. The midfielder had plenty of time to shoot and forced Naeher to tip the attempt over the crossbar. The ensuing set piece was punched away by Naeher.

A similar play occurred on the other side of the box in the 81st minute, but this time it was Adriana playing the ball back for second-half sub Morgan Gautrat. The defensive midfielder’s first touch was a shot that was tipped over the top by Naeher. Again, the Pride were unable to create anything from the corner kick.

Chicago broke out of the back in the 84th minute after Gautrat gave up possession near midfield. Swanson found Jenna Bike charging down the right. The second-half substitute took a touch inside to lose her defender and shot, but the attempt was right into the arms of Moorhouse.

Hines made his final two changes in the 87th minute as Banda and Marta made way for Carson Pickett and Villacorta.

Adriana was sent behind her defender in the 88th minute but was unable to get enough space for a shot. Moving towards the center of the box, she played it back for Angelina, running behind her. However, Angelina’s shot was right to Naeher.

The final chance of the game came in the third minute of stoppage time when Swanson sent Bike down the right again. Slipping behind her defender, Bike sent a shot towards goal that Moorhouse tipped wide. The ensuing corner kick was headed by Anderson and Ally Cook, before Joseph sent it over the crossbar with her right foot.

The Pride finished the game with the advantage in possession (50.7%-49.3%), shots (27-8), shots on target (9-4), crosses (13-7), corner kicks (8-7), and passing accuracy (82.7%-82%).

“Brilliant, brilliant from start to finish,” Hines said about the performance. “Started the game really well, created two opportunities within the first two minutes. You can see the hunger within the team. You can see the commitment and fully deserved. I think we were phenomenal today.”

“Oh my gosh, I think we’re finding form at the perfect time,” McCutcheon added. “Getting Barbra going is massive for us. And so, yeah, we’re just firing on all cylinders. And can’t be more excited to make history again.”

In a season full of making history, the Pride did it again in this game. They lost 4-1 to the Portland Thorns in 2017 and matched that score tonight but were on the right side this time. The first home playoff game in team history resulted in the first postseason win in team history in front of 11,496 fans.

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The Pride have already advanced to the NWSL semifinals for the first time and can reach the NWSL Championship if they beat the winner of the match between the Kansas City Current and North Carolina Courage at Inter&Co Stadium next weekend.