Orlando Pride vs. Kansas City Current: Final Score 0-0 as Pride Now Winless in Four

After a three-and-a-half hour delay due to extreme heat in Kansas City, the Orlando Pride (8-4-4, 28 points) became the first team to ever shut out the Kansas City Current (13-2-1, 40 points) in CPKC Stadium, keeping a clean sheet in a 0-0 draw.

The Pride made four changes from the lineup they used in the previous game against Racing Louisville, as Angelina, Rafaelle, Marta, and Prsica Chilufya started in place of Ally Lemos, Cori Dyke, Ally Lemos, and Julie Doyle.

The back line in front of goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse was Carson Pickett, Kylie Nadaner, Rafaelle, and Emily Sams. Haley McCutcheon and Angelina were the defensive midfielders behind Ally Watt, Marta, and Prisca Chilufya with Barbra Banda up top.

The game was set to be broadcast nationally on CBS as it was one of the marquee matchups of the season, but the temperature in Kansas City did not cooperate, as it was in the high 90s and well above the league’s threshold to allow a game to commence. The game eventually was delayed from the intended 4 p.m. start to a 7:30 p.m. start, and Seb Hines noted his frustration with how the decision was made and the communication as to when the game would start.

“It was a difficult situation,” Hines said. “We would have liked that decision to have been made earlier on, before warmups. There was a lot of confusion and a lack of communication about what the next steps were.”

When the game finally kicked off, Kansas City had the run of play early, possessing the ball for most of the opening minutes and taking three shots, though none were on goal.

The Pride finally got going in the ninth minute, as Marta made a long run down the middle of the field before sliding a pass off to Banda on her right. Banda lined up a shot from the right side of the box but had it blocked out of bounds for a corner kick.

Unfortunately that was Banda’s final action during the game, as she was injured on her shot attempt, landing awkwardly after making contact with Temwa Chawinga on her follow-through, and walked gingerly off the field and up the steps into the locker room. The Zambian returned later in the half and was able to watch the rest of the game from the bench, but Lemos replaced her on the pitch. We will have to wait and see on the extent of Banda’s injury.

The formation shifted a bit to have Lemos and Marta at the top of the attack, but without Banda on the field they played more like a team with a false 9 than a true striker.

Shortly after play resumed, Chilufya made a move up the right and earned the Pride a corner. The corner did not threaten the Current, but a minute later, the ball found Marta’s feet and the Brazilian executed a nice 360-degree spin and played a ball to McCutcheon in the box, but the midfielder’s shot went high over the crossbar.

Three minutes later, Kansas City went on the attack. Chawinga cut back from left to right into the middle of the box but had her shot blocked. The ball went up in the air, and Debinha and Nadaner both went after it. Debinha got her foot high in the air and won the ball, bringing it down and shooting it hard and low to Moorhouse’s left. Moorhouse made a great save, but the whistle blew and that save turned out to be for naught as Debinha was called for her high kick moments earlier.

In the 27th minute, Ally Watt made a speedy run up the left side and got a cross into the box, Current goalkeeper Lorena got a hand on it but could not hold it, sending it out for a corner. Angelina took an in-swinging corner but swung it right to Lorena, who sprinted to the top of the box and initiated a counterattack. Rafaelle stepped in to intercept a pass as the Current approached the Pride’s defensive third, ending the threat.

Both teams went to the sidelines for the hydration break, as the temperature was still in the high 80s with high humidity.

Soon after the restart, Michelle Cooper tried to play Chawinga in after making a run up the right side, but Moorhouse came out to claim the long ball near the top of the box.

Several minutes later, Izzy Rodriguez nutmegged Chilufya and sprung free on the left side, but but once again Rafaelle stepped in and intercepted another pass attempt. Hines mentioned how pleased he was to have the Brazilian defender back.

“She is a top player,” he said. “We would love to have her start more games, but due to injury and especially this period, we still have to be careful with her and manage her correctly and give her the right amount of minutes. We want Rafa fit and ready to go to multiple games this season.” 

In the 43rd minute Angelina found some space and hit a long ball over the top. Chilufya almost ran it down after splitting two defenders, but Lorena came out to claim the ball before Chilufya could get there.

The fourth official indicated six minutes of stoppage time, because after waiting for nearly four hours for kickoff, the fans definitely deserved some free soccer.

In the second minute of stoppage time Chilufya committed an unnecessary push, giving Kansas City a free kick in a dangerous location, right between the edge of the box and the corner flag. Debinha whipped it in, but Pickett stepped into the path of the ball and cleared it away.

Two minutes later, a nice 1-2 between Marta and Pickett freed up the left back, but Pickett bombed her cross a little farther than she wanted and nobody in purple was there.

At the half the game was pretty even statistically, with the Pride winning on possession (52% to 48%) and corners (4-0), but the Current led in shots (4-2).

At the half Hines made his second substitution, replacing Rafaelle with Dyke. Sams shifted inside to play as the right center back and Dyke played as the right back.

The Pride went on the attack immediately, with McCutcheon playing a nice ball ahead for Watt to run onto. The left winger played a dangerous cross into the box, and the Current took no chances and dumped it out of play for a corner kick. Pickett took an in-swinging corner, but the Current extinguished the threat.

Four minutes later, Lemos made a good run to the top of the box but mishit her pass to Chilufya. The ball bounced out and Marta picked it up and got a shot off, but it was blocked and deflected out for a corner.

In the 53rd minute the Current played a dangerous cross into the middle after a long spell of possession, but Sams was able to get a head on it and skip it out of the box. Kansas City recycled the ball and eventually Claire Hutton found space at the top of the box. Hutton hit a rocket, just missing the near post. The crowd thought it went in and started to cheer, but the crowd was incorrect.

In the 61st minute Chilufya came off for Oihane, who made her first appearance since before the summer break.

The game was pretty open for the next 10 minutes or so, with both teams stretched. Marta tried a few long balls over the top, while Kansas City was playing more short passes, but neither team created great opportunities once they got near the goal.

Watt went down injured twice in short succession, and after the second time she came off for Simone Jackson. Kerry Abello also made her return to action, entering at left back for Pickett as Hines made his final substitutions.

In the 73rd minute the Current tried to go route one again with a long ball over the top for Chawinga, but Moorhouse was quick off her line to take the ball up high at the top of the box.

Seven minutes later, Marta fouled Lo’eau Labonta after a long run up the left side, giving Kansas City a free kick. Ally Sentnor put the ball into the box, but Moorhouse got a foot on it and it bounced away and out of danger.

The Current had one of their most dangerous attacks in the 87th minute. Chawinga got forward on a counterattack after Labonta played her in. Chawinga was able to get herself free from Sams but had to cut back into the middle to do so, and as the ball ran from right to left, she saw Bia Zaneratto coming towards goal. She let her onrushing teammate strike the ball, but it blazed over the bar.

Three minutes later, the referee announced eight minutes of stoppage time, to the great displeasure of Hines.

Halfway through stoppage time, Lemos lined up a shot from long range and struck it well, forcing Lorena to tip it over the top of the crossbar. After a short corner, Lemos got it back and smoked a low hard cross into the middle, but Oihane was offside.

As the clock ticked past eight minutes, the Current got one last chance, as Hutton was able to get the ball to Zaneratto right in front of goal, but her well-struck ball went straight at Moorhouse, who swallowed up the shot and preserved the clean sheet.

Kansas City outshot the Pride (16-5) and completed a higher percentage of its passes (84% – 81%), but the Pride had more possession (52%-48%) and won more corners (8-3). Both teams only managed one shot on target, and it definitely felt like that watching the game.

Losing Banda early in the match definitely changed the complexion of the game, as while the Pride did not park the bus and defend for the rest of the game, they were limited in their offensive output without their Ballon D’or finalist on the field. Hines spoke about the effort after the game, praising the players efforts and noting that he believed they could have come away with all three points.

“I thought the players were phenomenal with their attitude and energy that they showed,” he said. “Even the way that we played was brave. I loved the bravery that they played with, especially in an environment like this, and the success that Kansas City has had. There is almost a little bit of disappointment that we didn’t come away with more. Credit to the players. They adapted really well. Really pleased with the players who started and who were able to adapt, and really pleased with the players who came on as well.”

“It was a tough game. It is always hard to play here against Kansas City,” Rafaelle said. “They are a good team and are top of the table. I think the performance we showed today will set the tone for the next games in our schedule. I thought we did a good job defensively and we will build from that.”

The draw extended Orlando’s winless streak to four games in league play. It’s the Pride’s longest winless streak since they lost the first four matches of the 2023 NWSL season.

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After three straight draws the Pride will try to get three points from one game when they head to Los Angeles to play Angel City on Thursday evening.