Orlando Pride vs. Gotham FC: Three Keys to Victory

It’s been a tough stretch for the Orlando Pride, and it doesn’t get any easier with Gotham FC next up on the schedule. The roster is going to look a bit different for the Pride this week, but the mission is still the same. If this team is to have any hope of hardware this season, the turnaround must start now. What must the Pride do to earn all three points at Inter&Co Stadium on Friday night?

Passionately Defend

A key trait of the 2024 edition of the Orlando Pride was the tenacity with which the players defended. They took it personally if the other team scored. The Pride allowed 20 goals in all of 2024 for a rate of 0.77/match. I fully expected that per match rate to be worse in 2025, but the Pride have only allowed 13 goals in 17 matches so far, for a slightly better rate of 0.76/match.

Obviously, the difference is on the other side of the pitch. In 2024, the Pride scored 46 goals in 26 matches, which is a rate of 1.77/match. So far in 2025, the Pride have scored 22 goals, which is a rate of 1.29/match. With the offense struggling, it is contingent on the defense to step up even more. The Pride need to stop Gotham’s top scorer, Esther González, who has 11 goals this season. The defense needs to produce a clean sheet if the Pride are to have any chance at a result.

Possession with Purpose

I don’t want the Pride to be “emergency” defending the entire match. A multi-goal lead would be helpful, but I think it is unlikely. If the Pride can maintain the majority of the possession, that limits the amount of time on defense. This will mean limiting giveaways — especially on the defensive end — and more precise passing.

I might be asking for too much, but if the Pride can actually win the possession battle, I want to see the team use that possession to methodically move into the attack. There is nothing good about Barbra Banda being out for the season, but now the other players don’t have any excuse to loft the ball over the top.

Good Old Fashioned Luck

I’ve saved talking about the attack for last, because I haven’t been able to find it. I joke, but the Pride haven’t scored a goal on purpose in nearly a month. With Banda out, and Lizbeth Jacqueline Ovalle likely not ready to make her debut — though I can be convinced she should just pull on a jersey and get the start, paperwork be damned — the Pride will need to find some sort of attack.

If the team does what I recommend in the first two keys, then players might be somewhere near the goal with an opportunity to score. No more hitting it off target, no more putting it right into the keeper’s mitts. I need the ball to find the back of the net, even if it means using a little of the karma losing Banda should provide to this attack.

That is what I will be looking for Friday night. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Vamos Orlando!