The Sofia Manner era with the Orlando Pride is over. Orlando transferred the Finnish goalkeeper today to AFC Toronto of Canada’s top flight, the Northern Super League, for an undisclosed fee.  

“This move offers an all-around win for Orlando and Sofia, and we are thrilled for her new opportunity at AFC Toronto,” Orlando Pride Vice President of Soccer Operations and Sporting Director Haley Carter said in a club press release. “This transfer allows her to compete for more consistent playing time, while also contributing to the growth of women’s soccer in North America. Sofia will always be a member of our Pride family, and we want to thank her for everything she contributed on and off the pitch during our historic 2024 season.” 

The Pride signed Manner, 27, for an undisclosed fee from Finnish top flight side FC Honka on Dec. 1, 2023. At the time, Manner’s acquisition gave the Pride four goalkeepers under contract — along with Anna Moorhouse, Carly Nelson, and Kaylie Collins — and Carter indicated at that time that she expected a battle for the starting spot between the Finn and Moorhouse.

“Sofia is a tremendous addition to our goalkeeping corps and one we expect to challenge for the starting position,” Orlando Pride Vice President of Soccer Operations and General Manager Haley Carter said. “She brings an underdog mentality and gritty work ethic and fits every aspect of the profile we have built for our goalkeepers. Her size, aerial ability, shot-stopping prowess, and distribution are world class. She brings international experience and has led the Kansallinen Liiga in nearly every goalkeeping metric. Her nominations for Goalkeeper of the Year and Best Player are indicative of her winning mentality and drive to be the best. We are excited to bring her to Orlando and to give her an opportunity to prove herself in our environment and in the NWSL.” 

Manner’s signing led to Nelson’s departure just 11 days later, as the Pride sent the backup goalkeeper to the Utah Royals on Dec. 12, 2023, along with $65,000 in Allocation Money, in exchange for an international roster spot. Orlando entered the 2024 season with three goalkeepers under contract, but Collins was on loan in Australia with Western Sydney Wanders. Former Pride practice player McKinley Crone was signed through the 2024 season on March 11, 2024, and the club subsequently waived Collins on April 16. Crone ultimately claimed the primary backup spot to Moorhouse, leaving Manner out of the match day squad.

If Manner was ever truly close to securing a top-two spot at Orlando’s goalkeeper position, it never materialized publicly. Moorhouse started every NWSL match in the regular season and playoffs, playing every minute and achieving ironwoman status. Crone dressed as Moorhouse’s backup. Although the Pride were set at the position following the team’s NWSL Championship in November, Orlando signed former Portland Thorns backup Kat Asman to a two-year contract through the 2026 season on Dec. 11, 2024. Once again, Orlando had four keepers under contract, and it always seemed likeliest that Manner would be the player departing from that point, which has now happened.

Manner made only one appearance during her stay in Orlando. She started and went the distance in Orlando’s second game in the NWSL x Liga MX Femenina Summer Cup, a home match against CF Monterrey on July 28. The contest ended in a 2-2 draw before the Pride won 5-4 in penalties in the ensuing shootout. She played 90 minutes, allowing two goals and making three saves, for a 60% save percentage. She only faced seven non-blocked shots, but five of them were on target. The Helsinki native completed 16 of 21 passes (73%), including four of 10 long balls. Following the draw, Manner made the difference in the shootout, stopping a shot by Merel Van Dongen, who was the only player of the 10 shooters not to convert. The Pride claimed the extra point in the Summer Cup standings as a result.

What It Means for Orlando

With Manner’s departure, Moorhouse is currently written in Sharpie on Seb Hines’ list of starters whenever she’s healthy. Crone and Asman will battle for the primary backup role, but would likely only play in case of an injury or during a non-league competition like the Summer Cup and in preseason. Even the NWSL Challenge Cup is a likely start for Moorhouse, as there will be a trophy on the line and it is a competitive tuneup for the 2025 NWSL regular season.

Moorhouse has had some shaky moments in her Pride career — even as recently as the 2024 NWSL playoffs against Chicago — but she has limited those over the last year. The hope is that she will continue to improve the areas in which she has sometimes struggled, which include her decisions on when to come off her line to intervene in a play or when and how to deal with high crosses. She can also sometimes struggle with spilling her catch attempts, whether on crosses or shots. However, as stated above, she cut down significantly on those errors in 2024, and helped the Pride concede the fewest goals in the NWSL.

Manner’s departure makes her lone game in purple stand out, and barring a return it will be her final legacy as a Pride player. Orlando is positioned well at goalkeeper in terms of numbers, although not experience, behind Moorhouse. Asman has yet to make her professional debut after being drafted No. 39 overall by the Thorns ahead of the 2024 season. Crone, however, was at least impressive in her lone 2024 match, which was a 1-1 draw in the Summer Cup, and a pair of saves in the subsequent shootout loss at North Carolina.

The Orlando Pride announced this morning that the club has signed former Wake Forest defender Zara Chavoshi to a one-year deal through the 2025 NWSL season. Chavoshi is the first player the Pride have signed directly out of college since the NWSL abolished the college draft.

“Zara is a quality defender and someone we can expect to provide depth and additional competition to our back line this year,” Orlando Pride Vice President of Soccer Operations and Sporting Director Haley Carter said in a club press release. “She has provided stability and high-level defending to the Deacons’ back line throughout her collegiate career, and we are excited to help her grow at the next level. We are looking forward to providing her with the tools she needs to continue to develop her game and make an impact in this league and for our club.”

The Potomac, MD, native spent the last four years at Wake Forest University, playing center back and right back for the Demon Deacons. A regular starter all four seasons, Chavoshi played 74 games with 70 starts and recorded 6,341 minutes of action. She scored two goals and added four assists from her defensive position.

Chavoshi helped the Wake Forest back line set a new program record for fewest goals conceded in a season during her freshman campaign, a record the team broke during her junior season. Last year, she played and started a career-high 24 games, helping the Demon Deacons to 10 shutouts and the program’s first-ever trip to the NCAA College Cup, where they lost to in-state rival North Carolina in the championship game.

“The Orlando Pride showed the entire country last season that they are an incredibly hard working and talented team, deserving of an NWSL title. I am honored to have the opportunity to contribute to their continued success,” Chavoshi said in the club’s press release. “I am also grateful to those who have contributed to my growth and development so far and for the Pride for believing in me.”

In addition to her collegiate career, Chavoshi has represented Canada internationally on the youth level. She made her international debut in 2022, playing at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica.

What It Means for Orlando

The Pride are in the envious position of bringing back their entire starting lineup from 2024. That includes starting goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse and the back line that led the league in fewest goals conceded. With nearly the whole roster intact for 2025, the goal this off-season was to improve the depth in certain positions.

One problem the Pride had following last season was a lack of depth at the center back position. Megan Montefusco and Carrie Lawrence retired after the 2024 campaign, leaving a lack of numbers in the middle of the back line. The only experienced center backs were Kylie Strom, Rafaelle, and Emily Sams, with Rafaelle coming off an injury that kept her out much of last season.

Prior to the signing of Chavoshi, two injuries at the center back position would force the team to start Kerry Abello, who has played primarily attacking midfield and left back but has filled in at center back when needed. While it’s unlikely Chavoshi will see much playing time during her rookie season, the young defender can now slide into that position in case of an emergency, providing much-needed depth at the position.

This probably won’t be the only defensive signing the Pride make this off-season. Their depth is well set in the other positions, so it wouldn’t be surprising if they looked to add some more defensive players in case the injury bug hits during the 2025 season.

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.