The Orlando Pride (8-6-4, 28 points) fell to NJ/NY Gotham FC (6-6-6, 24 points) 2-0 tonight at Inter&Co Stadium, continuing a month’s worth of offensive struggles. Esther Gonzalez opened the scoring in the 13th minute and Jaelin Howell doubled the advantage in first-half stoppage time. That was enough for the visitors to walk away with all three points.

Pride Head Coach Seb Hines made three changes to the team that lost 1-0 to Angel City on August 21. Rafaelle, Kerry Abello, and Prisca Chilufya entered the lineup in place of Oihane, Carson Pickett, and Simone Jackson.

The back line in front of goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse was Abello, Kylie Nadaner, Rafaelle, and Emily Sams. Haley McCutcheon and Angelina were in the defensive midfield behind Ally Lemos, Marta, and Ally Watt with Chilufya up top.

Hines made multiple changes to the attack, looking for the right combination without star striker Barbra Banda, who suffered an injury against the Kansas City Current on Aug. 16. Tonight, several players spent time up top as the Pride look for the best way to replace the attacking threat. However, it remains a work in progress.

“We’re obviously experimenting with it,” Hines said about the lineup changes. “When you lose a player with that sort of quality, like Barbra, it’s difficult to replace.”

“Those are big shoes to fill,”  Lemos said about being one of the players the coaches depend on in the attack. “I mean, Barbra is a big part of our team, but a lot of players have stepped up and done what they can. And I just think, like even our coaches have said it, we have everyone that we need to get a result in the room with us.”

It was a tough night for the Pride in this game as they fell apart in the back and failed to threaten in the attack against a more physical team. Banda’s absence was evident as the team doesn’t seem to have an answer up top. Meanwhile, Rafaelle’s move to center back alongside Nadaner and Sams’ shift to right back didn’t work well as the Pride were vulnerable near their own goal.

Defenders getting pushed off the ball was all too common in this game as both goals were the result of it. McCutcheon was pushed off the ball on the first goal and Sams was outmuscled on the second. They were unable to provide the same physicality on the other end, allowing Gotham to clear the danger during attacks.

The Pride started the game aggressively, creating the game’s first corner kick in the first minute when Chilufya sent Watt down the right. As the attacker tried to cut inside, Lilly Reale knocked the ball out of play for a corner kick. Unfortunately, nothing came from the set piece.

The first shot of the game came in the second minute when Reale tripped Watt as she entered the Gotham third of the field. Lemos sent the free kick into the box with Watt stumbling as she got her head on the ball. However, she sent the attempt wide.

Watt won another corner kick in the eighth minute. This time the set piece was sent into the box, but too close to Gotham goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger.

The visitors got their first chance of the game in the 11th minute when a Gabi Portilho cross was blocked by Nadaner. It went straight to Rose Lavelle, who tried to beat Moorhouse to her near post. But the shot was just wide.

Two minutes later, Gotham took the lead. Bruninha played the ball square to Lavelle, who played a one-touch give-and-go with Portilho. Lavelle outmuscled McCutcheon to win the ball, and her first touch was to Gonzalez with space in the box. After controlling the ball with a touch inside, the striker finished well to give her team a 1-0 lead.

The Golden Boot race just got a new leader 👀

Esther González now leads the NWSL in goals with her 12th of the season! pic.twitter.com/MrHDMFZxBO

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) August 30, 2025

The Pride went back into the attack in the 17th minute through Watt on the right. The attacker sent a low ball into the six, but it was too close to Berger, who easily collected it.

Shortly after, a ball into the box popped out to McCutcheon. The defensive midfielder fired from the top of the 18, but it was blocked.

In the 24th minute, Emily Sonnett slammed into Angelina near midfield. After shielding off the challenge, the Pride midfielder went down holding her abdomen. The Brazilian had to be helped off the field and went straight to the locker room in clear discomfort.

The injury forced Hines to make his first change much earlier than he wanted, replacing Angelina with Pickett in the 27th minute.

“We’ll just assess her. Obviously, she wasn’t able to continue the game, which is again, disappointing,” Hines said about Angelina’s injury. “We’ve had another injury in the first half, and it changes the momentum. So, hopefully it won’t be too severe for her.”

Right before the substitution, the Pride created another chance when Lemos took the ball off of Lavelle’s foot. The attacker quickly took an on-target shot from distance, but it was right into the arms of Berger.

Watt made another run down the right in the 29th minute before lifting the ball into the box. It looked like a cross, but the ball was too close to the goal, sailing just over the crossbar and out of play.

Gotham nearly doubled its lead in the 42nd minute when Lavelle sent Geyse behind the Pride back line on the right. The attacker tried to find an open Gonzalez near the penalty spot, but Moorhouse did well to get down and block the cross with her right hand.

Howell followed the block and took a shot on goal. It looked like she would double the lead, but Moorhouse did well to pop up and make a good save, blocking the shot wide.

Unfortunately, Gotham continued on the attack and found a second goal in the first minute of stoppage time. It started when Lavelle’s low cross was won by Sams. However, she was pushed off the ball by Geyse, who fired on goal. The shot was blocked by Nadaner, popping up into the air. Howell volleyed the ball past Moorhouse and inside the near post to give her team a 2-0 lead.

Howell bout that strike 😉

(see what we did there) pic.twitter.com/csOH0gYmAT

— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) August 30, 2025

Marta made a swift move to reach the end line in the fifth minute of stoppage time, earning a corner kick. But the low corner kick by Lemos was cleared, and a follow-up shot by Marta sailed high and wide of the target, ending the first half.

After 45 minutes of action, Gotham had more possession (52%-48%), shots (5-4), and shots on target (3-1). The Pride had more crosses (12-5) and corner kicks (5-1). Both teams completed 79% of their passes.

Hines made one change during the break, replacing Abello with Simone Charley.

It didn’t take the substitute long to get involved, sending Watt to the end line in the 47th minute. Chilufya was making a run into the six-yard box and tried to volley the ball on target, sending it over the top instead.

Marta drew a foul in the 53rd minute about 35 yards from goal, giving the Pride a free kick in a dangerous position. The captain took the set piece herself, lifting it into the box. McCutcheon got her head to the ball, flicking it towards goal. However, the defensive midfielder sent her attempt wide.

The Pride nearly had a chance in the 58th minute when Sams won the ball near midfield and Lemos sent it long for Charley behind the Gotham back line. However, Berger came out of her box, beating the attacker to the ball and clearing it away.

Hines made his second change of the night in the 60th minute as Jackson came on for Chilufya.

Still unable to create anything in the attacking third, Hines made his final two changes in the 71st minute. Summer Yates and Oihane came on for Watt and Rafaelle.

While replacing Watt was a tactical move, Hines said Rafelle is still returning to full fitness. However, they want to be careful with the center back.

“We have to be very diligent with the amount of minutes that she can contribute,” Hines said. “Obviously, against Kansas, she played 45 minutes. Against Angel City, it was a quick turnaround with the travel and the amount of days that she had to build up for that game. Today, she got I think 70 minutes. So, that’s another good win for us, and hopefully now, if everything’s good and well, she can go and contribute maybe 90 minutes next week. But we’ll speak to the medical staff. We have to make sure that it’s in the best interest for the player as well, because as we get on into this back end of the season, we want to make sure that she’s available and continues to progress her abilities on the field for us.”

Gotham had a great chance to make it three in the 73rd minute when Gonzalez was sent out to the right. With Oihane pushed forward and Sams losing track of her mark, Katie Stengel was wide open near the back post. Gonzalez found her teammate wide open, but, fortunately, the attacker sent the short-distance shot over the crossbar.

Stengel took the ball off of Sams’ foot in the 82nd minute at midfield and sprinted the other way. Nadaner caught up to the attacker at the top of the Pride box, forcing her to cut back. She played it across the field for Gonzalez, who laid the ball back for an oncoming Midge Purce. That’s where the attack ended, as Pruce’s shot was blocked by Nadnaer and the Pride cleared.

In the 84th minute, Nadaner lifted a ball forward that Sams and McCutcheon both seemed to think the other was taking. Instead, Stengel stepped up and claimed possession. Making a move to lose Nadaner, the second-half substitute had a free shot on goal. But she sent the ball too close to Moorhouse, who blocked it away.

Jackson made a run into the box from the right in the 87th minute, shooting for the near post. Berger had the area covered, but she blocked the ball over the end line for a corner kick. The ensuing corner kick was headed up in the air by Howell, allowing her goalkeeper to claim it.

The Pride had a chance to get back into the game in the first minute of stoppage time when Reale headed the ball back and Sonnett sent it out of play for a corner kick. But Lemos’ set piece was too close to Berger, who had little trouble catching the cross.

Sonnett and Charley tangled in the third minute of stoppage time after a Jackson throw-in. The referee called Sonnett for the foul and issued her a yellow card. Marta sent the free kick into the Gotham box, which Nadaner got her head to. But she sent it straight to Berger, who made the catch.

At full time, the Pride had the advantage in possession (55.5%-44.5%), shots (12-9), crosses (17-4), corner kicks (8-1), and passing accuracy (79.7%-68.2%). Gotham put more shots on target (4-3) and, most importantly, scored the only two goals in the game.

“Obviously, disappointed with the result,” Hines said. “The players worked extremely hard. I thought we started really well and we’re just in this moment right now together. And we need to help each other get us out of this moment to go on to win games. But I can’t fault the players’ efforts. We’re going to continue to work hard, we’re going to continue to strive to turn it around, and we won’t give up.”

“It’s really unfortunate, the result,” Lemos added. “But I think there’s a lot of lessons that we can take from this and bring them into next week with a positive mindset. And we’ve just got to start getting wins and scoring goals.”

The Pride have been held scoreless in their last three games (270 minutes), dating back to an Ary Borges own goal in the third minute of second-half stoppage time on Aug. 9 against Racing Louisville FC. The Pride haven’t scored a goal themselves in 378 minutes. The last one was a Chilufya goal in the 72nd minute against the Utah Royals on Aug. 3.

“Every team causes different problems, and so we have to assess it and look at what qualities we have within our group,” Hines said about the scoring problems. “Today, we could have probably created a little bit more opportunities to score. Put Berger under a bit more pressure. But it’s experimenting with the players that we have available. They all bring different qualities as well, so they have to continue to have confidence in themselves, and I think once that ball hits the back of their net, that they’ll have a lot of confidence going into multiple games after this.”

Defensively, the team conceded multiple goals for just the third time this season and the first time since a 2-0 loss away to Racing Louisville on June 20. However, while Gotham finished well, the Pride still lacks that goal-scoring threat in the attack.

“It’s come down to, again, fine margins,” Hines said. “I thought we started the game really well. I thought we put Gotham under immense pressure. And when we’ve got that good momentum, we can capitalize on it. They took their finishes really well. But yeah, it’s down to fine margins.”

The Pride remain winless since the summer break (0-2-3). The poor form has seen them fall from contending with the Current for the league lead to fourth. If not for some favorable results around the league, it could be much worse.

Despite the recent struggles, Hines believes his team can still turn it around and contend in the NWSL this season.

“We just have to keep positive. We have to keep going,” Hines said. “Like I said, we will turn this around. We’ll continue to work hard. We’ll continue to turn it around. That’s the main thing, really. Just continue to stick together, work together. You know, staff, players, everyone associated with the club will continue to try and turn this around. There’s still a lot of games yet to be played, so we still have belief in each other. And the new game is right around the corner.”

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The Pride don’t have much time to sulk about this loss. They welcome Costa Rican side LD Alauelense to Orlando on Tuesday night in their first-ever Concacaf W Champions Cup game.