Orlando Pride Find Potential Solution To Their Attacking Woes

Scoring has been a challenge for the Orlando Pride this year. One of the better attacking teams in 2024, they seemed to have lost their offensive prowess and losing their top scorer only made things more difficult. But they might have finally found their answer.

The Pride scored six goals in their first game of 2025 against the Chicago Stars and it looked like they might run through the league again this season. But they soon struggled to find the back of the net — apart from one player.

Through 16 games, Barbra Banda had eight goals, Marta had three, and Haley McCutcheon had two. Nobody else on the team had more than a single goal. McCutcheon’s two came in the first three games of the season and Marta’s three came in the first six.

As if the attack wasn’t enough of a concern, the team lost Banda to a season-ending injury on Aug. 16. It left a gap in the lineup that Head Coach Seb Hines had to find a way to fill. With Banda responsible for so much of the offensive production, who would replace it?

That’s a question the coaching had to answer and wasn’t sure how to.

“We’re obviously experimenting with it. When you lose a player with that sort of quality, like Barbra, it’s difficult to replace,” Hines said after the team’s 2-0 loss to NJ/NY Gotham FC on Aug. 29. “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.”

Hines didn’t hesitate to experiment with different players, seeking a solution. This included starting Julie Doyle, Summer Yates, Prisca Chilufya, and even playing Ally Lemos up top, an unnatural position for the player. All players were in and out of the lineup as they didn’t solve the problem.

It looked like he might have found the answer on Sept. 16 when Yates netted a hat trick against Chorrillo FC in the Concacaf W Champions Cup. However, that was a far inferior opponent, which had been thrashed by CF Pachuca and Club America in previous games. Yates returned to the bench and has done little since that performance. But Hines might have found another answer.

Carson Pickett is naturally a left back and entered the lineup in May, starting 10 of 11 games. But, with Kerry Abello having such a strong 2024 season, Pickett was relegated back to the bench. Recently, she’s been moved into a more attacking role in the midfield. And she’s proven she has the versatility Hines values in players.

Pickett scored her first goal of the season on Sept. 2 in a 3-0 win over LD Alajuelense in the Concacaf W Champions Cup. She followed that by netting her first league goal of the season in a 5-2 loss to the Stars.

The defender-turned-attacking-midfielder scored her third goal of the season Friday night in the 54th minute, which ended up being the game winner. The goal ties her with Marta, McCutcheon, and Yates for second most on the team. But, unlike Marta and McCutcheon, the goals are recent. And, unlike Yates, she’s scored twice in the league.

“I think she scored three in our last four matches. So, she’s been a real attacking threat,” Hines said about Pickett’s play in an attacking role. “You know, she’s stepped up to the plate where we’ve lacked goals in recent games, and different types of goals she’s scored. So, really pleased with her. I think her and Abello complement each other really well.”

“I’m definitely a defender, but I’m definitely an attacking defender,” Pickett added. “I love to go forward. I love to be all in our attacking half as much as I can. So, for me, it’s a great position for me to be in. I feel like I have a lot of freedom. I trust the people behind me. I trust our back line, our midfielders, to get us the ball up top. And I love being up there. I love combining, so it’s been great playing with the midfielders and forwards, and then having a back line that we trust behind us.”

In addition to Pickett’s recent attacking success, Pride fans are starting to see why the club spent so much to sign Jacquie Ovalle. The Mexican international scored her first goal for the club Friday night in the seventh minute, but she’s done more than that.

She assisted Ally Watt’s equalizing goal in the team’s 1-1 draw with Bay FC on Sept. 13 and has been a focal point in the attack.

“She’s a fantastic player, and we obviously did our research to bring her to the club. She has an element of her game that we were missing,” Hines said about Ovalle Friday night. “And you can see her quality when she’s on the field, being adaptable to play on that right-hand side. You can see her execution of her crossing ability, but also putting herself in a position to score the goal. So I’m really, really pleased for her. Since she’s come to the club, she’s been a breath of fresh air. And, yeah, we’re just so pleased that she’s here representing the club.”

Despite the recent struggles, the Pride still find themselves in a good position. They’re currently in fourth place and just two points out of third. The 23 goals conceded ranks them third in the league, but the 27 goals scored is eighth.

If the team can continue to get the production they’ve seen from Pickett and Ovalle recently, a season that once looked in peril could have a bright future. More importantly, Hines might have finally found the production he’s been looking for since the Banda injury. If that’s the case, it could be a fun end to the season.