Top 10 Moments: Orlando Pride Win NWSL Shield

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.

I usually do not compare myself to Ernest Hemingway, as the comparison is not very flattering to one of us. It is not important to delineate to whom it is not flattering, but suffice it to say one of us has significantly more writing talent than the other. Either way, I am going to borrow, and slightly modify, a line of Hemingway’s from The Sun Also Rises that I think perfectly encapsulates how the Pride won the NWSL Shield in 2024:

“How did you win the Shield?” Andrew asked. “Two ways,” Seb said. “Gradually and then suddenly.”

The actual question from the novel was about how a character went bankrupt, but the 2024 Orlando Pride were, as the kids say, money all year long, gradually stacking up point after point until Oct. 6, when they defeated the Washington Spirit 2-0 and suddenly they were the NWSL regular-season champions.

In order to get to that night in October, however, the sun had to also rise (sorry, that line was right there) on 22 other game days, and during that run of 22 games the Pride were better than any team in league history, going undefeated with 16 wins, six draws, and a +27 goal differential. For some context, only two NWSL teams had ever even won 16 games in a full season prior to 2024, and neither of them opened with 54 total points in their first 22 games.

In looking back at that season-opening stretch, it is somewhat amusing to see that the Pride drew their first two games, and neither of the teams they drew against (Racing Louisville and Angel City) made the playoffs. They then drew with Chicago, which ultimately made the playoffs as the lowest seed, and then, after whipping off a league-record eight straight wins, the Pride drew with San Diego…which also did not make the playoffs. So in a 12-game opening stretch, the Pride won eight games and drew four, and those four draws were with the teams who ended up ranked ninth, 12th, eighth and 10th of 14 total teams.

It is almost certainly not a coincidence that there were draws in the first three games and all three were played without FIFPRO World Best XI superstar Barbra Banda, but in looking back at the season, it is a bit of a stunner to see that the team that won the league started so meekly.

The Pride finally got their first win of the season in Game 4, against another non-playoff team, the Utah Royals, and that became the first of the eight wins in a row I mentioned earlier. Banda dressed for the first time in the next game, and with her in the lineup, the team scored 15 goals in the next seven games and put the entire league on notice that something special was happening in Orlando.

San Diego put a stop to the eight-game winning streak when the Pride traveled west for a Friday night matchup, but the Pride held on for a 1-1 draw despite playing without a few key players who had just returned from international duty. The team then traveled all the way back across the country for its next match, a hard fought 0-0 draw at North Carolina, becoming the first team all season to take a point from the Courage in their home stadium.

That took the Pride to a season-opening lucky number 13 straight games without a loss and also had the entire league looking ahead and salivating at a possible undefeated team vs. undefeated team matchup in Kansas City in a few short weeks. The Pride held up their end of the bargain, smashing Utah 6-0 and Angel City 3-0, and Kansas City did its part as well. Orlando went into the matchup at Kansas City undefeated through 15 games and tied on points with the Current, who also were 10-0-5 at that point.

I do not think it is hyperbolic to say that the anticipation before the game was as big as any regular-season game in NWSL history. The game was played in prime time on Saturday night, with no other games going on when it kicked off, and the opening 40 minutes of the game were everything everyone had hoped for, including goals from Banda and Kansas City’s Temwa Chawinga, who each had been on fire during opening half of the season. A red card on Orlando’s Carrie Lawrence in the 42nd minute changed the tone of the game, but in the second half Adriana earned a penalty kick that Marta converted, and the Pride held on for a gritty 2-1 victory while playing the entire second half down a player. Kansas City did not like the Pride’s postgame celebrations, although someone with two thumbs and who is writing this article certainly did.

That win over the Current opened up a three-point gap at the top of the table for Orlando, a lead the Pride would never relinquish. After a month-long break for the Olympics and the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup, the Pride returned to NWSL regular-season action and proceeded to win three straight games in shutout fashion. They then tied the Current at home (another shutout) before going on another two-game win streak, though sadly the Houston Dash (another team that did not make the playoffs) were able to score a goal to break up the run of shutouts. The win over the Dash took the Pride to a record of 16-0-6 and brings us back to the night of Oct. 6, when the Pride won the NWSL Shield suddenly, after having set themselves up to win it gradually.

At this point of the NWSL season, there were only two teams remaining that could win the league — the Pride and their opponents on the night, the Washington Spirit, who entered the game trailing the Pride by seven points. A win for the Pride would put them up 10 points with only three games remaining, clinching the Shield.

“It’s number one versus number two, so we expect a very competitive game,” Pride Head Coach Seb Hines said going into the match. “Washington has been in a good run of form, as well as us, so I would expect both teams going out to get a win.”

The Mane Land’s Sean Rollins wrote an excellent recap of the match, and this paragraph of his really encapsulates how the match went:

This was a dominant performance by the Pride. They took the game to the Spirit early and didn’t let up. There were some moments when it looked like the visitors might find a way through, but the Pride took a deserved lead when Marta scored from the spot in the 53rd minute. An Adriana shot in the 73rd minute was deflected in by Tara McKeown and determined to be an own goal. The second goal ensured the Pride would take all three points and secure the shield.

Washington did not go down quietly, creating a few chances in the final 15 minutes of the game, but they were unable to get anything past the outstanding Orlando defense, and when the whistle blew, the Pride had their first-ever piece of NWSL hardware. If you have not seen the NWSL Shield in person, you need to find a way to get to a Pride game and see it, because it would give Captain America’s a run for its money. The NWSL and Tiffany & Co. were not messing around with this design.

“I mean, a lot of praise has to go to the players and what they’ve done. They’ve been incredible, their efforts and what they’ve put into this year,” Hines said after that match. “And, you know, I said to them before, it wasn’t our time last year. They were bitterly disappointed how the season ended and it just wasn’t meant to be. And so they took that into fuel going into this year. And, you know, I can’t doubt them. They’ve been absolutely amazing from start to finish. And I’m so happy for them that they finally got the job done in front of our own fans.”

Marta, who famously was a little loose with her tongue after winning the NWSL playoffs a few weeks later, was able to keep her postgame comments rated PG after this one. “We worked so hard from the beginning and every single game,” Marta said. “And we looked to have this moment, especially here in our house. You know, in front of our fans and families and friends. It’s unbelievable. Something that I dreamed about.”

The Sun Also Rises was Hemingway’s first novel, and it is considered by many to be his finest work. This was the Pride’s first-ever league championship, and while it remains to be seen whether it will eventually be considered their finest, there is no doubt whatsoever that it was an amazing season and one that will be remembered for a long time. Interestingly, Hemingway thought that a later novel, The Old Man and the Sea, was his best work, so perhaps there is another epic season coming for the Pride as well, and they will catch the their version of a giant marlin, the full undefeated season.

That would be a fish tale for another day, but on this day we celebrate a season-long dominant performance by Orlando, and one that culminated with the Pride celebrating their reign in the rain on Oct. 6, holding the NWSL Shield aloft as 2024’s regular-season champions.

Come back through New Year’s Eve as we count down the remainder of the top 10 moments of 2024 for Orlando City, the Orlando Pride, and OCB.

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.