Orlando Pride vs. Angel City FC: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

Welcome to your match thread as the Orlando Pride (4-1-0, 12 points) look to bounce back from their first loss of the year tonight when they face Angel City FC (2-1-2, 8 points). This is the first of two games the teams will play this year, with the return game in Los Angeles scheduled for Aug. 21.

Here’s everything you need to know about tonight’s game.

History

Angel City was one of the NWSL’s two expansion teams entering the league in 2022. As a result, the Pride have only played tonight’s opponents six times. The Pride are 3-1-2 in the six games, all in NWSL regular-season play and the home team has never won. The Pride are 0-1-2 against Angel City at Inter&Co Stadium.

The most recent matchup between these two teams took place on June 30, 2024 in Los Angeles. Adriana gave the Pride the lead in the 20th minute and scored a second goal in the 26th minute. Barbra Banda netted a goal of her own six minutes into stoppage time, leading the Pride to a dominating 3-0 win. On March 22, 2024, in Orlando, former Pride attacker Claire Emslie gave the visitors the lead from the penalty spot, and it looked as though the Pride would drop their first game of the season. But Marta volleyed home an equalizer from an Angelina corner kick late, pulling out a 1-1 draw.

The first meeting of the 2023 season was on April 2 in Orlando. Emily Sams took down Alyssa Thompson in the first half, giving the visitors a penalty. Emslie stepped up and converted to give her team a 1-0 lead. Messiah Bright responded just after halftime to make it 1-1, and the game appeared to be heading for a draw. But Katie Johnson scored the winner in the 10th minute of second-half injury time. On Oct. 2, 2023 in Los Angeles, an Adriana volley beat Angel City goalkeeper Angelina Anderson to her near post for the only goal as the Pride won a crucial late-season game.

The first-ever game between the teams took place on May 8, 2022 in Los Angeles. In the third minute, Gunny Jonsdottir’s cross was tipped by Angel City goalkeeper DiDi Haracic, but it went right to Sydney Leroux. The Pride striker fired right at Morgan Reid standing in front of goal. The ball bounced off the defender and went in to give the Pride an early lead. The hosts controlled the final hour, but the Pride held on for 87 minutes to claim their first win of the season.

The teams met again on Aug. 7 in Orlando. Then-Pride defender Ali Riley opened the scoring with a wonderful strike from the left side. The Pride responded in the second half through Julie Doyle, three minutes after she entered the game, to even it at 1-1. The visitors took another lead when Cari Roccaro beat Viviana Villacorta to a corner kick, putting it past Erin McLeod. The Pride equalized for a second time in the 90th minute when Doyle and Paige Nielsen raced for a Thais Reiss cross, with the defender reaching it first. But Nielsen’s attempted clearance went into her own net, allowing the Pride to claim a 2-2 draw and extend their unbeaten run to five games.

Overview

After drawing the Washington Spirit in the Challenge Cup and falling on penalties, the Pride got the season off to a roaring start. They thrashed the Chicago Stars 6-0 in the season opener and followed that with wins over NJ/NY Gotham FC, San Diego Wave FC, and Seattle Reign FC. It looked like it would be another long unbeaten streak like last year until Saturday evening.

The Pride dominated the Spirit in their return to Orlando, but finishing doomed the hosts. The Pride held 60% possession and outshot the Spirit 20-9. However, only six of their shots were on target. In the 63rd minute, Anna Moorhouse made one of her typical gaffes, giving the ball to Gift Monday on her own goal line and allowing the Nigerian to tap it in. That was the only goal as the Pride fell 1-0 for their first home loss since 2023.

Despite the loss, the Pride are still off to a great start this year. They currently sit second in the league, three points behind the Kansas City Current, and have the second-best goal difference behind the same team.

The Pride have been very strong defensively with a back line of Kerry Abello, Kylie Nadaner, Sams, and Cori Dyke. Oihane started the last game and played well but was taken off at halftime Saturday after suffering an injury. Other than Moorhouse’s mistake, there isn’t much to complain about when it comes to the team defensively.

While the Pride have scored the second-most goals in the league with 11, that’s largely because of their six-goal output on March 14. They scored two in each of the following two games, one against Seattle, and were held goalless Saturday for the first time this season. Seven of the team’s goals have been scored by Banda (3), Haley McCutcheon (2), and Marta (2). Ally Watt and Julie Doyle both scored in the opener, and the Pride benefited from an opposing own goal in each of the first two games.

Angel City currently sits in sixth place with eight points from the team’s first five games. Tonight’s visitors have netted seven goals and conceded eight for a negative-one goal difference.

The team is led offensively by U.S. international Alyssa Thompson, who has three goals and an assist in four games. Riley Tiernan joined the club this season and the rookie has been a solid signing, adding two goals and an assist in five appearances. The other two goals have come from Macey Hodge and Kennedy Fuller, scoring one each.

Despite giving up eight goals, Angel City has been quite fortunate defensively on the injury front. The club had the same defensive unit in its first four games before moving right back Gisele Thompson forward to take her sister Alyssa’s spot in the attack.

Angel City is coming off a tough match Friday night, falling 4-0 to Gotham FC at home. Flying across the country for a Friday night game, this seems like a good opportunity for the sputtering Pride attack to get back into form.

“I think LA are a new team. New to different philosophies, different styles of play,” Pride Head Coach Seb Hines said about tonight’s game. “Obviously have a lot of young players and brought in some new players, so it’ll be an interesting matchup. Again, we want to get back to winning ways. Obviously, we’re disappointed after the last result, and there’s no better way to do that than this Friday against Angel City.”

There’s no change to the Pride availability report tonight. They remain without Simone Charley (ankle), Luana (illness), Amanda Allen (shoulder), Aryssa Mahrt (knee), Julie Doyle (knee), Rafaelle (thigh), and Summer Yates (ankle).

Angel City will be without Jun Endo (knee), Macey Hodge (upper leg), Sydney Leroux (excused absence), and Ali Riley (upper leg).

Official Lineups

Orlando Pride (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Anna Moorhouse.

Defenders: Kerry Abello, Kylie Nadaner, Emily Sams, Cori Dyke.

Defensive Midfielders: Ally Lemos, Morgan Gautrat.

Attacking Midfielders: Angelina, Marta, Prisca Chilufya.

Forward: Barbra Banda.

Bench: McKinley Crone, Carson Pickett, Oihane, Brianna Martinez, Zara Chavoshi, Haley McCutcheon, Viviana Villacorta, Grace Chanda, Ally Watt.

Angel City FC (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Angelina Anderson.

Defenders: M.A. Vignola, Savvy King, Sarah Gorden, Gisele Thompson.

Defensive Midfielders: Alanna Kennedy, Katie Zelem.

Attacking Midfielders: Alyssa Thompson, Kennedy Fuller, Claire Emslie.

Forward: Riley Tiernan.

Bench: Julie Dufour, Madison Hammond, Miyabi Moriya, Bre Norris, Casey Phair, Christen Press, Megan Reid, Hannah Stambaugh.

Referees

REF: Matt Thompson.
AR1: Tom Felice.
AR2: Stephen Milhoan.
4TH: Russell Miller.
VAR: Alexandra Billeter.
AVAR: Matthew Seem.

How to Watch

Match Time: 8 p.m.

Venue: Inter&Co Stadium — Orlando.

TV: None.

Streaming: Prime Video.

Social Media: For live updates and rapid reaction, follow @themaneland.bsky.social on Bluesky and the Orlando Pride’s official Twitter feed (@ORLPride).

Enjoy the game. Go Pride!