The Orlando Pride (4-5-2, 14 points) bounced back from a pair of tough losses by defeating San Diego Wave FC (7-4-1, 22 points) 1-0 tonight at Snapdragon Stadium. Nicole Payne’s first goal in her first start for the Pride was enough to return home with all three points.

The Pride made the unusual decision of staying on the road after leaving Denver. Rather than returning to Orlando, they stayed on the West Coast for the week leading up to tonight’s game in Southern California.

“As the schedule came out, we felt, after going to Denver, was it necessary for us to go back home,” Orlando Pride Head Coach Seb Hines said about the decision. “Sometimes it’s easy to go back home and just being in your own bed. But, being on this side of the country, we felt the need to get to San Diego early. Adapt to the weather, and be together.”

“It was so important,” McCutcheon added about staying on the road. “I think that these games that are coming quick and fast can be a positive when things are going well, and they can be a real challenge when we’re trying to figure things out. And I think that to have a full week of training to really peel back the layers and go back to the basics.”

Hines made three changes to the team that lost 3-1 to Denver Summit FC on May 16. Rafaelle, Payne, and Luana entered the starting lineup, replacing Hannah Anderson, Seven Castain, and Summer Yates.

“Part of the three-game road trip is having the ability to manage players and rotate players,” Hines said about the lineup changes. “Even if some things are not always in your control.”

The back line in front of goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse included Oihane, Rafaelle, Cori Dyke, and Hailie Mace. Ally Lemos and Haley McCutcheon were in the defensive midfield behind Julie Doyle, Luana, and Payne with Barbra Banda up top.

Adding to the occasion was a milestone for McCutcheon. It was her 100th appearance for the Pride and her 200th NWSL game.

The Pride came into this game looking to display their physicality. They outmuscled the Wave and were willing to give up set pieces in the process. It was a strong defensive effort that earned the Pride their fourth clean sheet of the season. In the end, it was a surprising long-distance goal by Payne and some critical saves by Moorhouse that made the difference.

The Pride created the first chance in the ninth minute when Lemos sent Payne down the right and the midfielder was dragged down by Kiki Pickett. Lemos stepped up to take the set piece, lifting it into the box where Banda was making a near-post run. The striker attempted to flick the ball to the far post, sending her attempt wide.

San Diego’s first chance came in the 11th minute, when Dudinha made a strong run to the end line. The attacker initially beat Mace, but the right back caught up and knocked the ball out of play. The ensuing corner kick was sent to the near post where Kennedy Wesley tried to put it on goal. Rafaelle was in a good defensive position and blocked the weak attempt.

Banda won a foul in the 15th minute when Kimmi Ascanio impeded her. Lemos again took the set piece, sending it into the box. Banda might’ve gotten a slight touch as she attempted to flick the ball forward with her head, but it didn’t create any trouble for Didi Haracic.

A poor pass by the Wave in the 31st minute allowed McCutcheon to play Banda forward. It looked like the striker would outmuscle Mimi Van Zanten to get in on goal, but the defender got a foot in. Banda went down and the Pride players wanted a foul, but referee Calin Radosav said Van Zanten got enough of the ball.

The Wave had a great opportunity to open the scoring in the 33rd minute when Wesley passed the ball forward for Ludmila. As Banda knocked her over, the striker sent a pass forward for Gia Corley, who was goal side on McCutcheon. Corley looked for Dudinha, making a back post run, but Moorhouse got a hand to it. Unfortunately, the ball went right to Lia Godfrey at the top of the six. Despite being on her back, Moorhouse was able to make the save without giving up a rebound.

The Pride got a break in the 40th minute when Wesley headed out a Lemos cross. As the Wave looked to break the other way, Ascanio brought the ball down with her arm, giving the Pride a free kick just outside the San Diego box.

Lemos took the set piece and went for goal, aiming her shot inside the near post. However, her attempt was just wide.

In the 43rd minute, McCutcheon sent Banda down the left and into the San Diego box. The striker used her physicality on Wesley, and when that didn’t work, she cut inside to shoot. But Wesley did well to stay in front and deflected the ball out of play.

The ensuing set piece found Rafaelle near the top of the box and the center back put her attempt on goal, but it was right to Haracic.

Kennedy played a great ball forward for Ludmila in the 44th minute, getting the striker into the box. Dyke was able to stay in front to keep Ludmila from getting a free shot, so the Brazilian sent a dangerous ball to the back post. Dudinha was making a run behind Mace, but it was a bit too far in front of the attacker and went out of play.

Luana won a free kick in the 45th minute when Pickett tripped the midfielder in the San Diego third of the field. The set piece to the back post found Rafaelle’s head, but she sent the ball over the target.

Kenza Dali made a run into the Pride third of the field in the third minute of first-half stoppage time before finding Corley at the top of the box. The attacker found space for a shot between Rafaelle and McCutcheon but it was right to Moorhouse.

Seconds later, the Pride broke through. Luana sent a long ball forward for Banda, but Kristen McNabb struck her foot out to knock it down. Unfortunately for the defender, the ball went right to Payne. It looked like Payne would wait for support as she dribbled away from the goal. But she surprised everyone by turning and firing with her right foot from outside the box, beating Haracic to the far post and giving her team the 1-0 lead.

It was a big moment for Payne as she has recently returned from an ACL injury that kept her out for over a year. It was also her first professional goal in her first start for the Pride.

“It’s been a long time. It’s been over a year, so I didn’t really know how everything was going to play out,” Payne said. “But a lot of it just goes to my teammates, the staff, everyone for believing in me and giving me the confidence to be able to be back and just play confidently.”

“Always looking to run in behind and a well taken goal,” Hines said about Payne. “She obviously came as a right back and developed her into a more of a winger. And really pleased for her, because it’s been quite a journey for her, coming back from an ACL. Great goal and great performance from her.”

The hosts immediately went on the attack, looking for an equalizer before the break. Dudinha dribbled to the top of the Pride box before firing on goal, forcing Moorhouse to block the attempt. Ludmila and Doyle raced for the loose ball with both missing it. As a result, it rested for Van Zanten, but her shot went wide.

San Diego ended the first half with more possession (59%-41%), but both teams recorded eight shots and put three on target. The teams also each won one corner kick and the Wave had better passing accuracy (84%-73%).

“We just really wanted to focus on putting in a really good defensive shift,” Payne said about the halftime message. “Obviously, we don’t like to concede goals, so we just really were focused on trying to set a tone in the second half and really continue to control the game.”

The Wave began the second half on the front foot, creating the first chance inside the first minute. Dali played the ball square for Godrey outside of the box and the attacker fired from distance. However, the ball was always curling left and sailed wide of the near post.

The Pride were forced into their first substitution of the game in the 51st minute when Doyle landed awkwardly after being pushed down by McNabb. After receiving treatment on the field, she couldn’t continue and was replaced by Kerry Abello.

Ludmila tried to make something happen herself in the 55th minute as the striker carried the ball across the top of the box. The Brazilian found enough space to turn and shoot, but she was unable to put her attempt on target.

A minute later, the Pride created their first shot of the second half when Lemos played the ball to Payne on the right and continued her run to the top of the box. The first-half goal scorer sent the ball right back to Lemos, who fired from the top of the 18. Unfortunately, she was never balanced and the ball sailed wide of the goal.

Hines made his second change in the 62nd minute as Yates entered the contest, replacing Payne.

Second-half Wave substitute Tatum Wynalda tried to lift the ball out of the back in the 67th minute, but she couldn’t get it over the head of Abello. The Pride midfielder brought it down with her chest and sent a long shot towards goal, sending it over the crossbar.

In the 75th minute, Mace pushed over Dudinha, giving San Diego a free kick just inside the Pride half. Before the set piece could be taken, Luana went down and required attention. During the stoppage, Hines made his final two changes as Seven Castain and Simone Jackson came on for Oihane and Luana.

The ensuing set piece was headed to the top of the six-yard box where Gabi Portilho was making a run. The substitute got her head on it but sent the attempt wide of the near post.

Banda made a long run off the restart, earning a corner kick when Wynalda blocked her cross out of play. The ensuing set piece went just over Banda and McCutcheon and out of play for a goal kick.

Jackson sent a long ball down the field for Banda in the 83rd minute, giving the striker a one-on-one with Wesley. The center back did well to knock it off of Banda’s foot, allowing McNabb to get back into position. Banda played a square ball for Castain entering the box, but her shot was wide of the near post.

San Diego nearly had a chance in the 85th minute when Wynalda found Van Zanten making a free run to the penalty spot. The defender should’ve been able to take a shot, but she was off balance and missed the ball completely.

The Wave stayed on the attack and nearly found an equalizer when McNabb sent a ball into the box that connected with Portilho’s head as she jumped between Castain and Abello. The header was heading just inside the far post before the diving Moorhouse got her fingertips to it, redirecting the ball wide.

As the game reached stoppage time, Lemos fouled Melanie Barcenas just outside of the Pride box. Barcenas took the free kick and sent her attempt into Moorhouse’s arms.

In the seventh minute of stoppage time, San Diego created its final attack. Rafaelle headed a Wesley cross out to Laurina Fazer, who saw McCutcheon block her shot. The ball went to Trinity Byers for a second attempt, but Abello blocked it.

The Pride players and coaching staff’s appeal for the final whistle fell on deaf ears. Barcenas received a throw-in and fired from long distance, sending her shot well over the crossbar.

That was enough for Radosav to blow the final whistle and the Pride held on for the 1-0 win.

At full time, San Diego held the advantage in possession (58%-42%), shots (17-14), shots on target (5-3), crosses (15-6), corner kicks (3-2), and passing accuracy (84%-76%). But the Pride defended well to hold onto their slim lead and claim all three points.

“Incredible game. Great effort as well from start to finish,” Hines said. “I thought we managed the game really well. We brought a little bit more intensity with our press. We were a lot calmer on the ball as well, and we talked about that going into the game — getting back to who we are as Orlando Pride team — and it was fully on show tonight in San Diego.”

“We put it all together today,” McCutcheon added. “This was definitely more than just three points for us. It’s a shift in our season and our momentum, and I’m just so proud of the group.”

The Pride end the weekend in eighth place, holding the final playoff spot with one game remaining until the World Cup break. They’re one point behind the North Carolina Courage for seventh and four points behind three teams for fourth.

The team will return home for one final game before the league stops for over a month, facing Bay FC Friday night at Inter&Co Stadium.

Welcome to your preview and match thread as the Orlando Pride (3-5-2, 11 points) travel to the west coast to take on the San Diego Wave (7-3-1, 22 points). This is the first of two meetings between the two teams, with the return game in Orlando scheduled for Oct. 2.

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

History

The San Diego Wave joined the NWSL in 2022 and have only faced the Pride eight times in their existence. The Pride have only lost once in those games, posting a record of 5-1-2 overall and 3-0-1 in Southern California.

The most recent meeting took place Sept. 26, 2025 in San Diego. The game got off to a fast start with Jacquie Ovalle giving the Pride the lead in the seventh minute and Dudinha responding three minutes later. Things slowed down significantly after, with Carson Pickett’s 54th-minute goal the only remaining conversion, lifting the Pride to a 2-1 win.

On March 23 of last year in Orlando, Haley McCutcheon scored the opening goal just after halftime to give the hosts the lead before Chiamaka Okwuchukwu equalized minutes later. Marta scored the game winner from the penalty spot after Delphine Carascino fouled Barbra Banda in the box to give Orlando the 2-1 win. It was the third game in a four-game winning streak that lifted the Pride to a strong start to the season.

The final meeting of 2024 took place on June 7. Julie Doyle gave the Pride the lead in the first half, but a second-half equalizer by Makenzy Doniak resulted in a 1-1 draw. On April 19, 2024, in Orlando, Summer Yates scored the game’s lone goal in the first half, lifting the Pride to a 1-0 win. It was the Pride’s first home win in the series.

The first meeting in 2023 was held at Snapdragon Stadium on April 29 after the Pride’s 0-4-0 start to the season. It looked like it would be a fifth straight loss when Jaedyn Shaw gave the hosts the early lead. But Adriana assisted Mikayla Cluff on the equalizer and McCutcheon scored just before halftime to give the Pride the lead. Adriana scored her first goal of the season to put the game away as the Pride won 3-1.

On Aug. 25, 2023, in Orlando, the Pride got off to a horrible start when San Diego center back Abby Dahlkemper scored in the seventh minute for her first goal since 2016. Marta set up Adriana just before halftime for an equalizer, but Kyra Carusa netted the late winner in a 2-1 San Diego win.

The first-ever meeting between the teams took place on Aug. 13, 2022  in San Diego. The lone goal in the game came from the penalty spot after a Julie Doyle cross hit Kaleigh Riehl’s arm in the first half. Meggie Dougherty Howard stepped up and buried the penalty. The Pride held on for 67 minutes to beat one of the top teams in the league, 1-0 away.

The second meeting and first in Orlando kicked off on Sept. 25, 2022, and the Pride got off to a great start. Dougherty Howard opened the scoring in the first half and Gunny Jonsdottir doubled the advantage in the second. It looked like the Pride were headed for six points out of six against the expansion side, but San Diego came storming back. Doniak cut the lead in half and former Pride attacker Taylor Kornieck equalized late, resulting in a disappointing 2-2 draw.

Overview

The Pride came into this road trip with high expectations. It started on May 12 in Boston and continued on May 16 in Denver. It was expected that the team would get something from each game, but the Pride managed to lose to both expansion sides, falling 2-1 to Boston Legacy FC and 3-1 to Denver Summit FC.

Banda is off to a flying start since returning from her season-ending injury last year, currently leading the NWSL with nine goals. Unfortunately, she’s pretty much been the only Pride player to score this year. The striker has scored six of the team’s last seven goals, with the other being a penalty by Marta.

The Pride has been one of the best defensive teams in the league the last two seasons and they were earlier this year. However, they’ve struggled since their 3-2 loss in Louisville, conceding multiple goals in four of their last five games. They’ve been outscored 12-6 in those four contests.

The team has suffered some significant losses this year. Kylie Nadaner is out on maternity leave, Rafaelle has been in and out of the team, and Kerry Abello has been injured. While Abello returned against Denver — coming off the bench — Angelina will be missing after being sent off in Denver for pulling Delanie Sheehan’s hair.

Tonight, the Pride look to end their two-game losing streak as they take on San Diego Wave FC. After suffering a loss in the season opener to the Houston Dash, the Wave went on a five-game winning streak. They had a brief stumble, losing back-to-back games, before going on a two-game winning streak that ended Wednesday night with a 2-2 draw against the Dash.

The Southern California-based side currently sits second in the NWSL standings, one point behind the league-leading Portland Thorns. The Wave are tied for the league lead in goals with 17, even with the Thorns. But they’ve leaked goals, conceding 12 this season, which is eighth most in the league.

Rookie Lia Godfrey and Dudinha lead the Wave in goals this year with four, followed by Melanie Barcenas and Trinity Byars with two each. Dudinha also leads the team in assists with four, making her eight goal contributions the most on the team. Kimmi Ascanio, Kenza Dali, and Godfrey are the other two players with multiple assists with three and two respectively.

Defensively, Head Coach Jonas Eidevall has kept a consistent back line. Perle Morroni, Kristen McNabb, Kennedy Wesley, and Mimi Van Zanten have started all 11 games for the Wave this season. However, Morroni received her fifth caution against the Dash, resulting in a suspension for yellow card accumulation.

“Final match of what’s been a long road trip, but we are ready,” Pride Head Coach Seb Hines said ahead of tonight’s game. “San Diego has been having a great season and are in good form and looking to get a result, but so are we. We have been preparing well and have had a good week of training and we’re ready for the match. We want to get a result and turn our current form around and we are hoping to do so starting on Sunday night.” 

The Pride have a lengthy list of players missing tonight, including Angelina (suspension), Cosette Morche (ankle), Nadaner (maternity leave), Ovalle (thigh), Viviana Villacorta (knee), and Solai Washington (knee). Additionally, Marta (thigh) is listed as questionable. San Diego will be without Trinity Armstrong (knee), Adriana Leon (back), Cat Macario (heel), and Morroni (suspension).

Official Lineups

Orlando Pride (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Anna Moorhouse.

Defenders: Oihane, Rafaelle, Cori Dyke, Hailie Mace.

Defensive Midfielders: Luana, Ally Lemos.

Attacking Midfielders: Julie Doyle, Haley McCutcheon, Nicole Payne.

Forward: Barbra Banda.

Bench: Hannah Anderson, Kerry Abello, Zara Chavoshi, Seven Castain, Reagan Raabe, Summer Yates, Simone Jackson, McKinley Crone, Cara Martin.

San Diego Wave FC (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: DiDi Haracic.

Defenders: Kiki Pickett, Krsiten McNabb, Kennedy Wesley, Mimi Van Zanten.

Defensive Midfielders: Kimmi Ascanio, Kenza Dali.

Attacking Midfielders: Dudinha, Lia Godfrey, Gia Corley.

Forward: Ludmila.

Bench: Luisa Agudelo, Daniela Arias, Melanie Barcenas, Trinity Byars, Laurina Fazer, Jordan Fusco, Nya Harrison, Gabi Portilho, Tatum Wynalda.

Referees

REF: Calin Radosav.
AR1: Ben Rigel.
AR2: Peter Hanson.
4TH: Jose Landa.
VAR: Mark Verso.
AVAR: Christian Clerc.

How to Watch

Match Time: 7 p.m.

Venue: Snapdragon Stadium — San Diego, CA.

TV: None.

Streaming: Victory+.

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

Enjoy the game. Go Pride.

As is often the case when writing about the Orlando Pride, we will start by writing about an Orlando player with a last name that starts with the letters b-a-n. It does not have to be that way, but with how the 2026 season is going, it pretty much does have to be that way. Thus, let us begin by looking at…Paolo Banchero.

The former Duke Blue Devil is the Orlando Magic’s best player, but basketball analysts are all over the map on his ceiling, primarily because since he joined the team he has been among the league’s worst shooters. My counter to many of the analysts is that the Magic’s offense has not been good for years, so often the team passed the ball to Banchero late in the shot clock and said “it is all on you, go get us a basket.” Unsurprisingly, this led to a lot of bad shots, as he was up against the 24-second shot clock and had to get something off, and hence his shooting percentage suffered.

That is not to say that all of his bad shots were due to this circumstance, as he is not an elite shooter by NBA standards even when wide open, but the Magic have also had really bad injury luck during the past two seasons and relied even more heavily on Banchero than they would have had starters been healthy.

Does that story sound familiar? An Orlando player who already was a focal point of the offense needing to take on an even bigger burden due to injuries? It certainly should, as the same story that I wrote about early in the season still applies now, with the other Orlando superstar with b-a-n in their name, Barbra Banda, continuing to carry the offense on her shoulders as the team just dumps the ball to her and says “it’s all on you, go get us a goal.”

And she has! Banda is averaging almost exactly one goal per 90 minutes (0.98), and leads the league with nine goals scored. She is also tied for the team lead in Opta’s “big chances created” metric with three (this also ranks tied for 12th in the league). Alas, she still does not have an assist this season, as her teammates did not convert those three big chances or the other 13 chances she created either (her 16 total chances created ranks first on the Pride and is tied for fifth in the league). In the article I referenced earlier, I showed Banda’s shots and goals as a percentage of the full team’s shots through four games, and the chart below (using data from fbref.com) shows those percentages have each slightly increased since then:

For some context, the player with the next highest percentage of their team’s shots is Trinity Rodman with 25%, and only four players have taken at least 20% of their team’s shots. For goals, the next highest player is Chicago’s Jordyn Huitema with 50% (it should be noted that the team has only scored four goals), and only four players have scored more than 40% of their team’s goals. Banda is an outlier, just as she has been ever since she joined the Pride.

Her outlier-ness (not a word, but you get it, right?) made me wonder about Banda compared to other players across women’s soccer. The aforementioned fbref.com has tracking for 16 top flight women’s leagues during the past three seasons, so I grabbed every player who had scored at least eight goals during their league’s regular season. That list contains 172 player-seasons, and if you were wondering why I chose eight as my cutoff, it is because Banda has scored at least eight goals during each of her three seasons in the NWSL.

The Zambian is one of only seven women who have reached at least eight league goals during each of the last three seasons, though that number will increase as spring-to-fall leagues like the NWSL get closer to the ends of their seasons. It will not increase dramatically, however, as only a handful of players are on two-year streaks and playing in a spring-to-fall league.

The scatterplot below shows all of the 172 seasons from the past three seasons when a player scored at least eight goals, and I included each player’s average number of shots taken per 90 minutes on the x-axis and their goals-per-shot-taken conversion percentage on the y-axis.

I then shifted the axes to reflect the median value for each, meaning that every value above the x-axis is a value that is in the top half (meaning the top 86 out of 172) of all of the goal conversion percentages, and every value that is to the right of the y-axis is a value that is in the top half of all of the shots-taken-per-90-minutes averages. Player-seasons that are in the top half of both metrics (35 seasons qualified) are in the upper right section of the chart, inside the green shaded area. Seasons that were in the top quarter of both metrics are in the smaller, darker, green rectangle, and only six player-seasons met that criteria, where the player converted a high percentage of their shots while also taking a large number of shots per 90 minutes.

Banda’s three seasons in Orlando are shown next to the arrows, and after two years of high shot volume but low conversion rate (as compared to top goal scorers), she is up into the green thus far this season. This is a testament to her incredible ability, because the 2026 team relies on Banda more than the team did in 2025 or 2024. (Marta’s 2024 season is on the chart above, as she scored nine goals that season.)

Hosts Michael Citro and Dave Rohe covered the Pride’s lack of attack on this week’s episode of our SkoPurp Soccer podcast, and in that conversation they noted how many of the Pride’s other “attackers” often never even get into the box, let alone into positions where they too could take or create threatening shots.

This brings me back to Banchero and how he was often forced to create offense out of nothing for the Magic but still was able to help the team get to the brink of upsetting the top seed in the Eastern Conference during the NBA playoffs. Banda is being asked to carry the same type of load for the Pride, and even though she has improved her conversion rate, the team is struggling more than ever because the rest of the offense has regressed. Jacquie Ovalle and Solai Washington returning from injury would certainly help stem some of that regression, but there is no timeline for either to return, and with Orlando’s lack of health thus far this season, it would not be surprising if neither player is back until after the World Cup break.

The Pride are exactly one-third of the way through their season, and with nine goals already, Banda is on pace to shatter the team’s single-season goal-scoring record with her performance through 10 games. The next four teams behind the Pride all have one or two games in hand, so the Pride are actually 13th in points earned per match.

With tough games against San Diego and Bay FC coming up, the Pride need to figure out a solution quickly, or the hill to climb to get back into the playoff spots is going to get steep like the banks of a river, and there is not going to be a banquet or a banner at the end of the season because they will have been banished from the playoff picture, even though they are getting an all-time season from Banda.

And based on what most predicted for the Pride for this season, that would be bananas.

Vamos Orlando!