Orlando Pride vs. San Diego Wave FC: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

Welcome to your match thread as the Orlando Pride (8-8-5, 29 points) travel to the West Coast, where they’ll take on San Diego Wave FC (8-6-7, 31 points). This is the second and final time these teams will meet during the 2025 NWSL regular season.

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 seven times in their existence. The Pride have only lost once in those games, posting a record of 4-1-2 overall and 2-0-1 in Southern California.

The most recent meeting was on March 23 in Orlando. Haley McCutcheon scored the opening goal just after halftime to give the hosts the lead before Chiamaka Okwuchukwu equalized in 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 and the last time the Pride visited San Diego took place on June. Julie Doyle gave the Pride the lead in the 36th minute before a second-half equalizer by Makenzy Doniak resulted in a 1-1 draw. On April 19 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 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 in the 69th minute 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 was on Aug. 13, 2022  in San Diego. The lone goal in the game came from the penalty spot after a Julie Doyle cross hit the arm of Kaleigh Riehl 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 was on Sept. 25 in Orlando 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 were one of the top teams in the NWSL during the first half of the season. But their form has significantly fallen off since the end of the summer break. They’re now on a nine-game winless streak and have dropped in the standings to seventh, barely above the playoff line.

Defensively, the team has been one of the best in the league, conceding multiple goals on only four occasions and more than two goals on just one occasion. The anomaly of the team’s 5-2 loss to the Chicago Stars on Sept. 7 was on display when they conceded just two goals in the next three games.

Meanwhile, the attack is an issue. Banda was the team’s leading goal scorer, but she suffered a season-ending injury on Aug. 16. The club signed Jacquie Ovalle on a then-world record transfer fee, but it hasn’t helped without the star striker. Since the Pride’s 3-1 win over the Utah Royals on May 23 — a game in which Banda netted a hat trick — they’ve only scored multiple goals once, losing that game by three goals.

While the Pride have struggled to score, they are getting closer. They hit the crossbar and the post on Sept. 13 in a 1-1 draw against Bay FC and had two shots cleared off the line in their 1-0 loss to the North Carolina Courage on Sept. 19.

Tonight, the Pride desperately need to find a way to win. They only sit a point ahead of the Courage and are three points ahead of the Houston Dash and Racing Louisville. They have better goal difference than those teams, but a pair of poor results could easily see the Pride fall out of the playoff positions.

The Wave are having a better season than the Pride so far, currently sitting in fifth with two more points than their opposition. Despite the loss of Alex Morgan to retirement after last year, the attack has been solid. They’ve scored 29 goals, fourth in the league. They’ve given up 25 goals defensively, tied for fifth in the league.

San Diego has gotten offensive production from several players this year. Six players have scored multiple goals, including two players with four and three players with three. The leaders are Adriana Leon and Kimmi Ascanio, while Cascarino has five assists and Perle Morroni has four.

The Wave are one of the teams struggling enough to keep the Pride within touching distance of getting out of their current danger zone. They’re on a five-game winless run, dating back to their 1-0 loss to Racing Louisville on Aug. 24. They snapped a two-game losing streak by drawing 1-1 with the Portland Thorns Saturday night in Oregon.

While technically sitting in fifth, the Wave are tied on points with the Thorns and NJ/NY Gotham FC for third. However, they’re in less danger than the Pride of falling out of the playoff positions. Given the three-point difference between third and eighth, this is a big game for both teams as the season nears its end. 

“San Diego is a team that likes to keep possession, draw you out, exploit the spaces that they’ve left. They’ve got some really high-quality players that we have to be aware of,” Pride Head Coach Seb Hines said about tonight’s game. “We remember the last time we played them; in the first half they were very good. It was new to what we had faced before in the league. I don’t like to look at current form because it’s a game-by-game sort of situation now where every team is at. But they’re a good team, good quality players, a coach that’s been around and played and worked under some really top clubs. So, we’re just really focused on ourselves and looking forward to the prospect of turning this season around.”

The Pride will play tonight without Banda (hip), Kylie Nadaner (excused absence), and Marta (back). Rafaelle (ankle) is listed as questionable. San Diego has a more extensive availability list, featuring Melanie Barcenas (foot), Trinity Byars (knee), Cascarino (lower leg), Gia Corley (suspension), Savannah McCaskill (foot), and Okwuchukwu (lower leg) all as out.

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Official Lineups

Orlando Pride (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Anna Moorhouse.

Defenders: Kerry Abello, Zara Chavoshi, Emily Sams, Oihane.

Defensive Midfielders: Haley McCutcheon, Angelina.

Midfielders: Jacquie Ovalle, Ally Lemos, Julie Doyle.

Forward: Ally Watt.

Bench: McKinley Crone, Cori Dyke, Simone Jackson, Simone Charley, Viviana Villacorta, Luana, Carson Pickett, Grace Chanda, Summer Yates.

San Diego Wave (4-3-3)

Goalkeeper: DiDi Haracic.

Defenders: Kristen McNabb, Trinity Armstrong, Kennedy Wesley, Hanna Lundkvist.

Midfielders: Kenza Dali, Laurina Fazer, Makenzy Robbe.

Forwards: Kimmi Ascanio, Adriana Leon, Dudinha.

Bench: Kailen Sheridan, Hillary Beall, Nya Harrison, Quincy McMahon, Daniela Arias, Perle Morroni, Jordan Fusco, Kyra Carusa.

Referees

REF: Gerald Flores.
AR1: Ricardo Ocampo.
AR2: Clarence Clark.
4TH: Emmanuel Padilla.
VAR: Laura Rodriguez.
AVAR: Tom Felice.

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How to Watch

Match Time: 10:30 p.m.

Venue: Snapdragon Stadium — San Diego, CA.

TV: None.

Streaming: NWSL+, Paramount+.

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

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Enjoy the game. Go Pride!