The Orlando Pride tried to send their fans home happy in their regular-season home finale, but despite an impressive overall performance against the league leaders, the Pride wasted numerous chances in front of goal and paid for two big mistakes at the back in what ultimately ended as a 2-1 loss in a season filled with far too many defeats. Solai Washington did so many things well, but despite a month’s worth of chances, she could only muster one goal. Still, it was a promising outing albeit in a developing story that won’t continue much longer this year.

We discuss the key plays, players, and moments, look back at our score predictions from last week, and select our Player of the Match.

This week’s mailbagbox asked us about Marta, the reasons for the Pride’s struggles in 2026, and more. Remember, you can ask us anything by hitting us up on Twitter at either @TheManeLand or @SkoPurpSoccer and using the hashtag #AskSkoPurp. You can use that same hashtag and hit @TheManeLand.bsky.social up on Bluesky. Or you can visit our show page, scroll down, and fill out the handy form. We’d also appreciate any ratings or reviews you can leave wherever you get your podcasts, and if you do that on Apple Podcasts, we’ll find them easily and read them on the show.

Finally, we look ahead to Sunday’s season finale at the Seattle Reign. The Pride opened their 2026 season with a home loss to the Reign but would like to close it with a road win over Seattle to enter the off-season on a positive note. It won’t be easy, as the Reign are clinging to the last playoff spot and trying to catch rival Portland as multiple teams are trying to catch them. We look at Orlando’s attempt to play spoiler, check back on the series history, compare the teams’ positions in the table, provide our key matchups, and more.

Here’s how Episode 144 went down:

0:15 – The Pride finished their home schedule with a good performance but another poor result against the league’s top team.

20:07 – Our mailbagbox has questions about the GOAT.

38:26 – Seattle was the first 2026 opponent and will be the last 2026 opponent. We preview for the last time this season.

Orlando City looked to finally erase a long winless drought against New York City FC in what was all but a must-win game for playoff positioning when considering the remaining opponents on the schedule. But the Pigeons used every second of a seemingly overestimation of added time to steal a point at the death, spoiling things for the Lions’ faithful. It was far from Orlando’s best performance, but it still seemed as if the team had done enough to get the win, only to suffer a draw that felt more like a loss.

We look back at an uncharacteristic home performance, look back at our score predictions, and make our selections for Man of the Match.

Our mailbagbox asks about Antoine Griezmann, Lions as holiday side dishes, and more. Remember, if there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the show, just ask us by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC, or hitting us up on Bluesky Social with that same hashtag.

After the mailbagbox, we looked ahead to Orlando City’s final two regular-season road matches — both against teams in the top four of the Eastern Conference. We look at the series history against both the Chicago Fire and Charlotte FC, check out how each team has performed to this point in the season, provide our key matchups for the two games, and attempt to predict the scores of those matches. It could be a difficult week based on Orlando City’s road form all season.

Be sure to rate and review our show wherever you get your podcasts. Remember, we’ll read any five-star reviews we get on Apple Podcasts on the next show.

Here’s how No. 557 went down:

0:15 – The Lions were seconds away from victory and, like so many times previously, couldn’t hold on.

28:55 – The mailbagbox disses Halloween and dives straight into Thanksgiving while the calendar still says ‘October.’ SMH.

42:00 – A difficult two-game trek to Chicago and Charlotte without coming home in between could be the difference between finishing above or below the playoff line.

The Orlando Pride returned to league play after the international break, but they had to do so without Barbra Banda due to travel restrictions. While the lack of Banda’s attacking threat has crippled the team at times this season, Solai Washington stepped up and factored in both Pride goals in a 2-1 road win over the Houston Dash on Sunday afternoon. Washington drew a penalty that led to Luana’s spot kick goal and later scored her first professional goal. While she was clearly the Pride’s best attacker on the day (and, spoiler alert, our Player of the Match selection), she could have had three or four goals with the opportunities she created.

We look back on a dominant first half that led to a road win for Orlando, checked on our score predictions from last week, and name Washington our Player of the Match.

This week’s mailbagbox asked us about Pride goalkeeper options, Kerry Abello, Washington’s development, and more. Remember, you can ask us anything by hitting us up on Twitter at either @TheManeLand or @SkoPurpSoccer and using the hashtag #AskSkoPurp. You can use that same hashtag and hit @TheManeLand.bsky.social up on Bluesky. Or you can visit our show page, scroll down, and fill out the handy form. We’d also appreciate any ratings or reviews you can leave wherever you get your podcasts, and if you do that on Apple Podcasts, we’ll find them easily and read them on the show.

Finally, we look ahead to Sunday’s afternoon home finale against NJ/NY Gotham FC. The Pride are officially playing out the string, but that doesn’t mean players aren’t trying to earn new contracts or that Yolanda Thomas doesn’t want to win one last home match for the fans in 2026. We look back at the series history, check out where the teams are at this point in the season, provide our key matchups, and try our hand once again at score predictions.

Here’s how Episode 143 went down:

0:15 – The Pride completed their season sweep of the Houston Dash.

24:48 – Our mailbagbox is full of speculative questions.

36:36 – Gotham is looking to clinch the NWSL Shield on Orlando’s grounds. The Pride must try to prevent that and try to play spoiler.