Orlando Pride
2025 Orlando Pride Season In Review: Cori Dyke
The defender showed her versatility this season, contributing on the right, center, and left along Orlando’s back line.
The Orlando Pride selected Cori Dyke with the 22nd overall pick — their second pick — of the 2024 NWSL Draft. She was initially signed to a one-year deal, though the club saw enough early on to sign her to a new contract good through 2025, and then showed her some more love on Valentine’s Day of this year by extending her contract through 2027.
Let’s take a look back at the defender’s second season with the Pride.
Statistical Breakdown
The Pride put nine of their starting 11 players from the 2024 NWSL Championship in the lineup for the 2025 Challenge Cup, but Dyke was one of the two players who did not make the XI, as she was not on the gameday roster due to a thigh injury.
In NWSL regular-season play, Dyke appeared in 22 of Orlando’s 26 matches, starting 10 and playing a total of 1,172 minutes. She scored one goal on three total shot attempts, putting her one shot on target into the back of the net. The Penn State product completed 81% of her passes, with seven key passes and six successful crosses, though no assists. On the defensive side, where she played primarily as a right back, but also on the left and in the center, she compiled 19 tackles, six interceptions, five blocked shots and 35 clearances. She committed nine fouls, suffered four, and received one yellow card.
Both of the Pride’s starting lineups in the playoffs included Dyke as the right back, and she went 77 minutes against Seattle and 45 minutes against Gotham for a total of 122 minutes. She completed 87% of her passes with one key pass, which was on her one successful cross. She added two tackles, one blocked shot, and four clearances on defense, suffering one foul but committing none, and she was not booked.
Dyke played in three of the Pride’s four Concacaf W Champions Cup games, all starts, and logged a total of 225 minutes. She did not contribute to any of the Pride’s goals, but she did take one (off-target) shot and completed 91% of her passes. Defensively, she made two tackles and committed two fouls. She was fouled once and received one yellow card.
Best Game
Despite playing the majority of her minutes at right back, I thought Dyke’s best performance of the year came during a game when she initially subbed in at a different position, which was when she entered the game at halftime for Kerry Abello and played on the left side of the defense in the Pride’s last-gasp 1-0 victory over the Houston Dash. It was that play at the last gasp that made all the difference in the game, as by then Dyke had moved over to the right side of the field and was unmarked at the back post, and after Summer Yates made a nice run down the left side of the field, she played a cross that went all the way through to Dyke, and the defender put a hard shot on target that deflected off of a Houston defender and into the back of the net to give the Pride the victory — it was Dyke’s first career NWSL goal.
Aside from the goal, Dyke also went 30/31 on her passes for a sparkling 97% completion rate and contributed one tackle and four loose ball recoveries on defense. She also showed her versatility by playing on both sides of the defense, entering for Abello on the left side but eventually also playing on the right side after Oihane was subbed off and Carson Pickett dropped back to take over on the left. It was an all-around excellent performance for Dyke, contributing on the left and right and defensive and offensive sides of the field.
2025 Final Grade
The Mane Land staff gave Dyke a composite grade of 6 out of 10, a slight step down from the 6.5 we gave her for her rookie season in 2024. The Pride’s acquisition of Oihane meant that Dyke’s minutes dropped a bit during NWSL play, but the Spaniard suffered a few nagging knocks, and when the schedule reached the final critical weeks, Dyke was in the starting lineup at right back. She delivered solid, though not spectacular, performances on the back line and showed her versatility and willingness to help the club wherever she was needed. Perhaps the movement prevented her from playing more consistently in 2025, although the entire squad struggled with that in the team’s double defense season.
2026 Outlook
Most of the players on the Pride’s back line are under contract through next season, so I expect 2026 to look a lot like 2025 when it comes to Dyke’s playing time, barring any off-season player movement. Dyke grew up in Littleton, CO, a suburb of Denver, and the Denver Summit’s first NWSL season will be in 2026, so there is the potential that she may be interest in going home to play professionally. The Pride would no doubt like to keep a young, promising, versatile player like her on the roster.
Assuming she stays in Orlando, Dyke will compete with Oihane for the starting right back role and will also be available to play anywhere on the back line. A player with her skills and versatility (62% of her minutes were at right back, 20% at left back, and 18% at center back) is incredibly valuable, and ultimately I expect Dyke to be back with the Pride and playing in every game, or nearly every game, in 2026.