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2025 Orlando Pride Season in Review: Ally Lemos

The midfielder saw an expanded role in her second professional season.

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10 months ago

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Image of Ally Lemos playing the ball against Gotham FC in the 2025 playoffs.
Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Mark Thor

The Orlando Pride  selected midfielder Ally Lemos with the ninth overall pick in the 2024 NWSL Draft — the team’s first selection. The Pride wasted little time inking the UCLA standout to a two-year deal through the 2025 season just two weeks after the draft on Jan. 26, 2024. However, on June 30, the Pride made a long-term commitment to Lemos, signing her to a new contract through 2027 with a mutual option year for 2028.

Lemos saw her role grow in her second pro season, as the 21-year-old started the year as a depth player and became a regular starter in the second half of the season.

Let’s take a look back at the midfielder’s second season with the Orlando Pride.

Statistical Breakdown

The second-year pro played more and more minutes as the season wore on, becoming one of Seb Hines’ more automatic choices for the starting lineup. Whether this speaks ill of Orlando’s depth in the midfield in the second half of the season or Lemos was showing something in training that wasn’t translating onto the pitch during games is hard to say. She certainly seemed to have the tools to lock down a position in the midfield, but Hines curiously deployed her in the attack often, which is an area in which she has yet to impress as a professional player.

In the season-opening NWSL Challenge Cup match, Lemos substituted on for Morgan Gautrat in the 67th minute. She did not register a goal contribution, a shot, or a key pass, hitting on 67% of her nine passes without a long ball attempt. She took part in the postgame penalty shootout but saw her weak effort to the right easily stopped by Aubrey Kingsbury. Combined with Summer Yates’ miss wide on the previous penalty, it contributed to the visiting Spirit taking home the trophy.

Lemos appeared in all 26 of Orlando City’s NWSL regular-season games, starting 16 and logging 1,432 minutes without providing a goal contribution. She attempted 18 shots and put six on target and completed 76.6% of her passes on the year with 18 key passes and 11 successful crosses and connected on 45.9% of her long balls. Defensively, Lemos contributed 29 tackles, 15 interceptions, six blocks, and 14 clearances. The midfielder committed 16 fouls during the regular season, drew 27 on the opposition, and earned four yellow cards.

In the NWSL playoffs, Lemos appeared in both games, starting both, and played 158 minutes. She did not score a goal or assist on one, attempting just one shot, which she put on target from outside the box against Seattle. Lemos completed 36 of her 52 passes for just a 69.2% success rate. She did not deliver a key pass and did not connect on any of her six cross attempts, but she did complete four of her eight long balls (50%). Defensively, Lemos contributed one tackle, three interceptions, one block, and one clearance in the postseason. She committed two fouls, drew two on her opponents, and was not booked.

Lemos appeared in two of Orlando’s four Concacaf W Champions Cup matches, starting one and logging 115 minutes. She scored one goal — her first since joining the Pride — but did not record an assist. She put three of her five shot attempts on target in the competition. Lemos connected on 41 of her 61 passes (83.6%) but did not record a key pass. She recorded two tackles, committed one foul, drew two fouls on her opponents, and she picked up one yellow card.

Best Game

Because of the dominant nature of the game, the Pride’s 5-0 in over Chorrillo FC in Concacaf W Champions Cup play on Sept. 16 has been a best game selection for multiple players, and Lemos is no exception. Lemos came off the bench to start the second half and put in a solid 45-minute shift. She impacted the game from the time she stepped on the field, but her biggest impact came in the 84th minute, when a corner kick delivery was punched away by the goalkeeper, falling to Lemos at the top of the area. The midfielder had time to settle it before sending a well-placed shot over Chorrillo goalkeeper Sara Lozano and in for her first professional goal. Unfortunately, the ConcacafW account did not post a video of it, because it was a well-taken chance.

Lemos put both of her two shots on target that night and completed 24 of her 29 passes for an 83% success rate. She made two tackles on the defensive end, drew a foul on her opponents, and she committed two fouls, picking up a yellow card.

There were several games in which Lemos played well but had nothing to show for it or was wasteful with her chances, but against Chorrillo, she managed to hit the target twice and put one in the back of the net.

2025 Final Grade

The Mane Land staff gave Lemos a composite rating of 5.5 out of 10 for her second pro season. This is the same score she received from us last year. The playoffs were a microcosm of why Lemos didn’t earn a higher score from us. For every good thing she did — such as anticipate a pass, stepping into the passing lane to pick it off and igniting a counter — she would follow it with something…less good. Often that meant a poor decision in the final third, a terrible pass with virtually no chance of completing it, or a shot from distance that either didn’t trouble the goalkeeper or missed the target entirely. In some games, her set piece delivery was threatening, while in others it was wasteful. Consistency is something she’ll need to improve.

There’s talent with Lemos, but she has yet to fully unlock it. As a young player, she will hopefully continue to develop it and make a leap forward in the wake of receiving so many minutes in 2025.

2026 Outlook

Lemos is under contract through at least the 2027 season, so she should be around next season barring an unexpected trade or transfer out. There is clearly plenty of potential, but it’s uncertain where she best fits in with the team. She doesn’t seem suited for the attack, so continuing to deploy her in the attacking midfield seems ill-advised. However, there are better options in the Pride’s double pivot, so she is unlikely to unseat Haley McCutcheon or Angelina. She seems adept at reading the opponents when the Pride don’t possess the ball and anticipates well enough. It’s what she does after taking the ball that is often frustrating to watch. Further, she poses almost no threat with her shot. Lemos had the ball on her foot in enough dangerous positions this season to score at least one goal in league play.

If the Pride front office has a good off-season, Lemos will return to the bench as a depth player. But Hines seems to trust her, so she’ll likely see the field quite a bit in 2026. Hopefully, that will be off the bench to see out games while she continues to develop. At age 21, she still has a lot of time to reach her potential.

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Orlando Pride

Orlando Pride vs. Portland Thorns FC: Final Score 4-1 as Pride Get Punished at Home

Pride see short unbeaten run snapped at home as Thorns overrun Orlando’s defense to hand Yolanda Thomas her first loss.

Published

15 hours ago

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September 19, 2026

By

Image of Solai Washington playing the ball against Portland.
Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

The Orlando Pride (9-13-3, 30 points) were undone by a slow start, profligate finishing, poor defending, and a pair of late daggers in a 4-1 home loss to the Portland Thorns FC (12-7-6, 42 points) on Saturday at Inter.co Stadium. If not for a few vital saves, a post, and a few misses, the final score could have been a lot worse for a Pride team that missed several chances as well.

Nina Nijstad’s third-minute opener and a Sophia Wilson penalty put Portland up two goals inside the first half hour, and although Ally Lemos pulled one back before the break, the Thorns pulled away for good in the final 20 minutes on goals from Morgan Weaver and Renee Lyles.

Orlando Pride interim head coach Yolanda Thomas sent the Pride out in a 4-2-3-1, with goalkeeper Cosette Morché behind a back line of Hailie Mace, Hannah Anderson, Cori Dyke, and Oihane. Haley McCutcheon and Ally Lemos served as the defensive midfielders, with Solai Washington, Luana, and Summer Yates taking up the attacking midfield roles and Barbra Banda up top.

The match opened with some early back-and-forth, though the visitors started much more quickly and were more dangerous. Dyke conceded a corner just seconds after the opening kickoff, and Morché took a shot to the back while claiming the delivery with no foul given. Orlando tried to respond moments later when Oihane whipped in a cross looking for Banda, but the Spaniard sent her effort too close to Portland goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold.

Portland broke through late in the third minute. Wilson played a cutback into the middle, and a wide-open Nijstad fired it home from outside the box as the Pride back line got itself pulled apart to make it 1-0.

Orlando had a golden chance to answer almost immediately. In the sixth minute, Washington created space and squared the ball for McCutcheon from close range, but Reyna Reyes got across to block the shot before it could reach Arnold, denying a good opportunity.

Banda tested the Thorns defense again in the 11th minute, latching onto a pass from McCutcheon and firing from just outside the box, but she sent her shot right at Arnold.

McCutcheon turned the ball over in the 14th minute, and Morché had to come up with a save on a shot from the top of the box to keep the score at 1-0. Portland kept coming. Wilson forced two saves out of Morché in the 17th and 18th minutes to keep the deficit at one goal.

Reilyn Turner beat Mace down the right flank in the 20th minute to win a corner, which Jessie Fleming delivered. Anderson headed it clear.

The match turned in the 25th minute. Jayden Perry hauled down Banda to stop a clear run in behind, and while Orlando felt the challenge deserved more than a caution, referee Elvis Osmanovic showed only yellow. Banda would have had a step on the other center back and would easily have reached the ball first, but the decision stood at just a yellow. The Pride could do nothing with the long-range set piece.

Two minutes later, Caiya Hanks charged into the box down the left, and Oihane made a foolish decision to go to ground and lunge at the ball, catching Hanks and conceding a penalty. Wilson converted in the 28th minute, doubling Portland’s lead to 2-0.

Orlando players huddled after the penalty and seemed to wake up — a bit late — playing well for the rest of the half. The Pride answered Wilson’s penalty kick goal two minutes later. Washington cut in from the left and squared the ball across the top of the area for Lemos, whose first-touch strike curled inside the top-left corner. Arnold got a hand to it but couldn’t keep it out, and it was 2-1 in the 30th minute on a play that looked similar to Portland’s opening goal.

The Pride searched for a quick equalizer. Yates headed a McCutcheon cross just wide of the right post in the 32nd minute, and Oihane survived a scare a minute later when she lost possession to Hanks in her defensive end, but the Pride recovered before any damage was done. Washington nearly created another chance in the 34th minute, but her cross was too high for Banda.

Yates forced another save out of Arnold in the 35th minute, drilling a high shot the goalkeeper tipped over the bar for a corner. She delivered the resulting set piece herself, but Portland cleared the danger. Two minutes later, Orlando worked a good move down the right through Oihane, but McCutcheon’s eventual effort from the top of the box lacked the pace to trouble Arnold.

Banda drew a foul well outside the box in the 39th minute — Perry’s second foul on her of the afternoon — setting up a free kick that Arnold punched clear.

Oihane won a corner in the 41st minute. That led to a deflection off McCutcheon that Arnold easily collected. Yates was run over at the top of the box in the 45th minute with no whistle, and if there was a second look by the video assistant referee, it was a quick one.

Despite three first-half goals, including a long delay for a penalty, the first half ended after just one minute of stoppage time with Portland ahead, 2-1.

The Pride led in shots (9-7) and possession (54%-46%), while the Thorns held the edge in shots on goal (7-5), and passing accuracy (88%-87%). Both teams won two corners.

Portland came out the sharper side to start the second half, much like the first. Hanks tested Morché from outside the area in the 46th minute, and the goalkeeper answered with a diving save to keep the deficit at one.

Orlando had a couple of half-chances of its own soon after — a tight-angle Washington effort that was palmed away, and Yates’ follow-up attempt that was blocked — before a whistle went against Banda in the box to end the sequence in the 47th minute.

Orlando nearly broke clear in the 50th minute when Banda ran onto a Yates pass and reached the end line, but her cutback deflected off a teammate and the chance died.

Wilson fired wide two minutes later at the end of a Portland transition.

Banda was fouled again in the 54th minute as Fleming went through the back of her just outside the Portland box. She needed treatment before continuing. Luana stepped up to the resulting free kick in the 57th minute, but it deflected off Weaver in the wall and out for a corner. A foul by Washington wasted the ensuing set piece.

Thomas then made a double substitution, sending on Angelina and Jacquie Ovalle for Luana and Yates.

Washington drove past her defender and into the box from the left in the 61st minute, but her effort drifted wide right, as Orlando was more wasteful in the second half.

Orlando kept pressing. Washington won a corner in the 66th minute after driving down the left and forcing a deflection behind. Ovalle’s delivery off the ensuing corner drew a lengthy review for a potential handball in the box. After a long look, no penalty was given, and the sequence continued as a corner.

Marta entered for Lemos in the 69th minute, and Orlando strung together a flurry of set pieces. Anderson rose for a header at the back post and put her shot on goal, but it was right over Arnold, who tipped it over for another corner. Ovalle’s follow-up effort on the next delivery was blocked and out of play rather than finding the target.

Portland nearly doubled its cushion back to two in the 71st minute when Wilson got a shot away, but Oihane made a vital block to deny her.

Washington then made another good individual move to create a look in the 73rd minute but yet again she couldn’t direct her effort on target, missing wide again.

Portland got its insurance goal in the 74th minute. Following a turnover, Anderson gave Weaver too much space, and she struck a well-taken effort from long range into the upper-right corner past Morche.

Orlando kept probing — Ovalle fired wide in the 76th minute off a Marta pass — but Portland was always a threat on the counter. Lyles picked up a yellow card in the 78th minute for a hard foul on Dyke, and Wilson fired off target a minute later after another Orlando giveaway.

The Pride caught a break in the 80th minute, but it only prevented the final score from being worse. Wilson got in behind, rounded Morché after the goalkeeper came off her line, and looked certain to score into an empty net. However, the USWNT star fired her shot off the left post. The rebound came back to her but struck her arm before she could get another shot away, and the handball ended the threat.

Washington won a corner at the other end in the 81st minute, and Marta’s delivery found Anderson at the back post, but the defender’s header sailed over, handing Portland a goal kick on another chance that went wanting.

Thomas made her final double change in the 84th minute, sending on Rafaelle and Kerry Abello for Anderson and Oihane, with Perry fouling Banda yet again just after the switch, and again there was no second yellow card shown to the Portland defender.

If the game wasn’t already out of Orlando’s reach, Portland pmade sure of it in the 88th minute. A poor Orlando throw-in — the cause of multiple Pride turnovers in the match — gave the ball straight back to the Thorns, and Wilson slipped a pass in behind for Lyles to run onto behind Dyke and Mace. Lyles’ finish made it 4-1.

Washington had one more go, firing a shot straight at Arnold in the 89th minute.

Morché then denied Weaver in the 90th as Portland continued to carve through a tiring Orlando back line. Three minutes of stoppage time were added, during which Angelina wasted a free kick, Orlando had a late attempt blocked, and Morché produced one final save to turn away a close-range effort during a late Portland break, sending it behind for a corner in the match’s closing seconds.

Portland dominated on the scoreboard, but Orlando finished with the advantage in possession (53%-47%), shots (19-17), and corners (8-4). Portland held a big edge in shots on target (13-6) and a slight advantage in passing accuracy (85%-83%).

“It’s a tough result,” Thomas said after the match. “In the end, we made some decisions to try to get a win because we need three points, so we weren’t too worried about risking potentially getting scored on. Obviously, that didn’t work out for us, but I think probably the biggest disappointment is we have momentum and we don’t take advantage of those times in the game, and then it punishes us.”

The Pride head out west to take on Bay FC on Sunday, Sept. 27.

Michael Citro also contributed to this story.

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Orlando Pride

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

The Pride look to build on their recent run of points as they welcome the Portland Thorns to Orlando.

Published

1 day ago

on

September 19, 2026

By

Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Justin Glatt

Welcome to your match preview and live thread as the Orlando Pride (9-12-3, 30 points) welcome the Portland Thorns (11-7-6, 39 points) to Inter.co Stadium. This is the second and final time the two teams will meet during the NWSL regular season.

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

History

The Pride have struggled historically against the Thorns with a record of 5-16-2 in 23 games (5-15-2 in league play and 0-1-0 in the playoffs). Orlando is 4-5-2 at home in the series.

The most recent meeting between the two teams came on Aug. 15 in Portland. The hosts took the lead just before the hour mark when Deyna Castellanos caught Anna Moorhouse off her line. The Pride equalized five minutes later when an Oihane cross bounced around, eventually going off Jacquie Ovalle and in. It looked like the game would end in a draw until Caiya Hanks beat Moorhouse from distance in stoppage time, giving Portland the 2-1 win.

The first meeting of 2025 took place on May 3 in Oregon. The difference was a nice goal by Reyna Reyes, who made a turn to create space and put her shot past Anna Moorhouse to give the Thorns a 1-0 win. The last meeting in Orlando happened on Oct. 10, 2025. In second-half stoppage time, Mallie McKenzie redirected in a Marta corner kick for an own goal, lifting the Pride to a 1-0 win.

The first game in 2024 took place May 24 in Orlando. It was the Barbra Banda show as the Pride striker scored two goals 10 minutes apart, giving her team a 2-0 halftime lead. Izzy D’Aquila got one back for the visitors, but it wasn’t enough as the Pride won 2-1.

The Pride secured the NWSL Shield the game before the match between these two teams on Oct. 11, 2024, so Orlando gave several starters a break. It showed on the field as the Pride lost 2-0, ending a league-record, 23-game unbeaten run. Morgan Weaver gave hosts the lead early and Christine Sincalir doubled the advantage in the second half.

The first meeting of 2023 took place March 26 at Providence Park. Weaver opened the scoring early and Sophia Smith doubled the advantage a few minutes later. Hina Sugita made it three, and Michele Vasconcelos tacked on another as the Thorns won 4-0. On June 11, 2023, in Orlando, Smith gave the visitors the lead, but the Pride took over after that. Adriana scored a brace and Messiah Bright’s strike sealed a 3-1 Pride win. 

The teams met twice in 2022, with the series finale coming on Sept. 9 at Exploria Stadium. Yazmeen Ryan gave the visitors the lead and Sugita doubled the advantage as the Thorns won 2-0. The teams also met on June 19 in Portland. In Seb Hines’ second game as interim head coach, the Thorns smashed the Pride, 6-0.

The Pride and Thorns played on May 26, 2021, in Orlando. The host Pride won 2-1 with goals from Alex Morgan and Sydney Leroux. The second meeting that year came on July 18 in Portland, and the home team won again. Smith gave the hosts the lead and Marissa Everett doubled the advantage. Marisa Viggiano got one back in second-half stoppage time, but the Thorns won, 2-1. They met a third time on Aug. 14. The Pride took an early lead when Courtney Petersen found Jodie Taylor for the opening goal. But Simone Charley equalized and the teams drew 1-1.

The Pride and Thorns didn’t play in 2020 after the season was canceled due to the global pandemic, and they weren’t in the same group for the NWSL Fall Series. As a result, the most recent meeting prior to 2021 happened in 2019.

The teams opened the 2019 season against each other in Orlando, but the Thorns got the better of the clash. The game was decided on either side of halftime as Caitlin Foord scored just before the break and Tobin Heath scored minutes after the restart, lifting Portland to a 2-0 win. They met again in Orlando on May 11 and the Thorns won again. Toni Pressley gave the Pride an early lead, but it was all Portland after that. Dagny Brynjarsdottir equalized, Andressinha gave Portland the lead, and Foord finished it off.

The final meeting between the two in 2019 was a goal fest in Portland and another Thorns win. Hayley Raso gave Portland the lead early and Midge Purce’s goal made it look like it would be a dominant performance by the hosts. But Marta got one back to make it 2-1. Sinclair made it 3-1, followed by a Thorns own goal by Emily Menges. It looked like the Pride would get a rare point through Erin Greening’s 90th-minute goal, but Tyler Lussi scored in second-half injury time, dooming the Pride to another loss in Oregon.

The teams faced each other three times in 2018, which featured the Pride’s lone win in Portland to date. The Thorns won the first game, 2-1 on April 15. But on May 12, goals by Morgan and Christine Nairn gave the Pride a 2-0 lead. Sinclair got one back for the hosts, but the Pride held on for their only result at Providence Park. The third meeting went back to usual, with the Thorns winning 2-0 through Lindsey Horan and Raso.

The teams started the 2017 season against each other in Portland with the Thorns winning 2-0. They met again in the penultimate game of the season in Orlando, ending in a scoreless draw. The most important game between the two teams was the Pride’s first playoff appearance. Unfortunately, it was all Portland, as the Thorns beat the Pride 4-1.

The first meeting of 2016 was the Pride’s first-ever game. Steph Catley gave the expansion Pride a surprising lead, but Brynjarsdottir equalized and Horan won it for Portland. They met again on June 26 at Camping World Stadium in Orlando. Two second-half goals by Brynjarsdottir and Horan lifted the Thorns to another 2-1 win.

Overview

The Pride are in their best form since before the FIFA World Cup break, which isn’t saying much. They’ve gained points in three of their last four games, including a 1-0 win over the Washington Spirit on Aug. 23, a 3-1 win over the Houston Dash on Sept. 6, and a 2-2 draw with the Kansas City Current on Sept. 11.

A large part of that recent success is due to Banda’s production. The Zambian has goals in each of the last three games, including a brace in Kansas City. The striker scored on either side of halftime in that game and it looked as though the Pride were headed for three points away from home. But the Pride conceded twice in three minutes shortly after the second goal, allowing the hosts to take a point.

The Pride have gone through quite a bit of turmoil in recent weeks. First, head coach Seb Hines was fired on Aug. 31, with assistant coach Yolanda Thomas taking over on an interim basis. Then, the team sent starting goalkeeper Moorhouse on loan to Manchester City. Cosette Morche is now the number one in her place.

On a positive note, Banda signed an extension this week, keeping her in Orlando through 2029. It’s a big lift for a team that sits in 11th in the NWSL with slim chances of making the postseason.

Today, the Pride return home with a chance to extend their point streak to three games. However, it will be a tall task as they face one of the better teams in the league. Portland currently sits in sixth place on 39 points, tied with the North Carolina Courage for fifth.

The Thorns’ offense is their strength. They’re tied for fifth in the league in goals with 38. They’re led by U.S. international striker Sophia Wilson, who missed the entire 2025 season on maternity leave. Wilson continues to be one of the most dangetrous strikers in the league with 12 goals in 24 games. Other attacking threats to be aware of include Pietra Tordin with seven goals and Reilyn Turner and Olivia Moultire with five goals each.

Portland is coming off a 1-1 draw against the Chicago Stars on Sept. 13, which followed a 2-1 loss to the Spirit on Sept. 6. Both games were at home. For this reason, the Pride might be catching the Thorns at the right time.

“We’re excited. Excited to play at home in front of our fans,” Thomas said about today’s game. “Didn’t obviously get the three points in the last game, but still walked away feeling like we had a pretty good performance and we’re building on that. So, we’re ready to tackle a really good opponent. We’re ready to play in front of our fans.”

The Pride are as healthy as they’ve been all season, only missing Kylie Nadaner (maternity leave) and Viviana Villacorta (knee). The Thorns will be without Bella Bixby (knee), Julie Dufour (knee), Moultrie (knee), Isabelle Obaze (thigh), M.A. Vignola (hip), and Valerin Loboa (international duty).

Official Lineups

Orlando Pride (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Cosette Morche.

Defenders: Hailie Mace, Hannah Anderson, Cori Dyke, Oihane.

Defensive Midfielders: Haley McCutcheon, Ally Lemos.

Attacking Midfielders: Solai Washington, Luana, Summer Yates.

Forward: Barbra Banda.

Bench: Cara Martin, Kerry Abello, Sanne Lekven, Rafaelle, Zoe Matthews, Angelina, Julie Doyle, Jaquie Ovalle, Marta.

Portland Thorns FC (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Mackenzie Arnold.

Defenders: Marie Muller, Jayden Perry, Carolyn Calzada, Reyna Reyes.

Defensive Midfielders: Jessie Fleming, Nina Nijstad.

Attacking Midfielders: Caiya Hanks, Pietra Tordin, Reilyn Turner.

Forward: Sophia Wilson.

Bench: Morgan Messner, MacKenzie Wood, Sam Hiatt, Cassandra Bogere, Shae Harvey, Mallie McKenzie, Renee Lyles, Morgan Weaver, Maddie Padelski.

Referees

REF: Elvis Osmanovic.
AR1: Zeno Cho.
AR2: Alicia Messer.
4TH: Alejo Calume.
VAR: Jamie Padilla.
AVAR: Jay Norris.

How to Watch

Match Time: 4 p.m.

Venue: Inter.co Stadium — Orlando.

TV: Ion.

Streaming: None.

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

Enjoy the game. Go Pride!

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Orlando Pride

Orlando Pride Exhibit Unity in Kits, Division in Performance

The Pride’s new kit looks excellent on the field, but many of the players wearing it have regressed in 2026.

Published

2 days ago

on

September 18, 2026

By

Image courtesy of Orlando Pride

In late February the Pride released their Unity Kit, a beautiful away jersey that replaced another outstanding jersey, the Citrus Kit that they had started wearing for the 2024 season. The Unity Kit was so nice that we wrote two articles on it in two days. I followed our Ben Miller’s advice to add one to my collection, and I wore it to every Pride game that I attended this season. It looks good. I mean, really good. Ron Burgundy knows what I am talking about.

It is extremely difficult to create two consecutive brand new ideas for jersey designs that are nearly universally beloved, but the Pride went back-to-back with top tier away jersey designs.

While they have looked resplendent in those jerseys this season, the play on the field has not always been quite as good, and with six games remaining, the Pride are seven points back from the final playoff spot. Seven points back with only six games to play is not impossible to make up, but nearly everything will have break right for the Pride to qualify for the playoffs for a third consecutive season.

It is hard to go back to back in sports, as the Pride found out last season, but the 2025 team at least followed up its championship season in 2024 with a fourth-place finish, making the playoff playoff semifinals before losing to eventual champion Gotham FC. The 2026 team seems on the verge of an even larger drop in the standings, and even though the regular season contains four more games in 2026 than in 2025, the Pride may not even reach the 40 points they earned last season. That is not good. I mean, really not good.

There are many different factors that can lead to a dip in a team’s performance, but at the macro level, the main two are that other teams around them improve and/or that the team itself does not play up to the same level as it did previously.

Demonstrating that there has been improvement across other teams is difficult, as sports leagues are zero-sum endeavors. Opta has had the NWSL as the strongest league top to bottom for several years, though it also has had the top-rated NWSL team behind several European teams for years as well. Gotham is currently the top-rated NWSL team in Opta’s rankings, at eighth in the world, and the top team in the NWSL has generally been around that range during the last few years with the Current reaching as high as sixth during their record-setting season in 2025.

Suffice to say, the NWSL is a strong league, and as of this moment, six of the eight teams that made the playoffs last season are in playoff positions again, with only Louisville and Orlando falling out of the top eight. Some argument could be made that the top teams are improving compared to last year, but it is hard to use anything other than the eye test to really demonstrate that.

What is easier, however, is to look at the play of individual players, and for that we have our old friend goals added (g+) from the tracking database at American Soccer Analysis (ASA). As a brief reminder, the definition of goals added is the estimated impact of a player on a team’s goal differential, so positive values indicate that a player increased a team’s goal differential, and negative values indicate that they decreased the goal differential as compared to the average player at their position.

There is no way to sugarcoat it, the g+ stats for the Pride’s players this year are not great. This is not a huge surprise, considering the team is outside of the playoff places and closer to last place than first place, but the numbers themselves were revealing and eye-opening (all data comes from ASA’s goals added database for players who have played more than 300 minutes this season, including stoppage time):

MetricPrideNWSL Rank
Count of players with a positive g+ in 20265T-11
Percent of players with a positive g+ in 202623% T-14
Percent of players with g+ improvement over 202539%T-14
Count of g+ improved vs. 2025 and is negative in 20263*
Count of g+ improved vs. 2025 and is positive in 20264*
Count of g+ declined vs. 2025 and is negative in 202611*
Count of g+ declined vs. 2025 and is positive in 20260*
  • * Each of these subsets is so small that most teams are bunched up and ranking does not make sense

The five players with positive g+ values are Barbra Banda (+5.1), Rafaelle (+0.98), Solai Washington (+0.75), Kerry Abello (+0.30), and Hannah Anderson (+0.16). Every other player is considered league average or below league average through last week’s games, and the Pride have 22 players who have played at least 300+ minutes, so that means 17 of 22, or 77%, are showing as negative goal differential players.

Among the 18 players on the Pride’s roster that have a g+ value from last season’s NWSL, seven improved and 11 declined. The breakouts of the seven improvers were three that improved but were still negative (Ally Lemos [-1.34 to -0.29], Julie Doyle [-0.97 to -0.47], and Marta[-0.70 to -0.62]) and four that improved and were still positive (Banda, Rafaelle, Abello, and Anderson). Every other Pride player that was in the league last year has a worse g+ than they did in 2025, and I do not want to pick on her, but Anna Moorhouse’s -7.00 g+ value ranks 195th out of 199 goalkeeper-seasons since 2016.

Just because a g+ value decreases from year to year does not necessarily mean a player got worse, as g+ values are comparisons against the overall performance of all players at a specific position. What it does mean is that the Pride’s roster construction is slipping as compared to the rest of the league, because players are declining and/or the rest of the league is improving. Some of that comes from coaching, and we will see Yolanda Thomas’ influence on both the team’s performance and the players’ performances during the final stretch of the season, but we will probably also see a good bit of roster turnover in the off-season as Caitlin Carducci remakes the roster after her first season as vice president of soccer operations and general manager.

Hopefully, the Pride will go on a last-gasp run and sneak into the playoffs, and then with Banda on the roster (with a new High Impact Player contract through 2029, whoop whoop), who knows what is possible? If they make the playoffs, it will mean the team and the players executed tremendously well during their final six games, just like members of the club’s marketing team did when they designed the beautiful Unity Kit. And considering how much ground the team still has to make up, the Pride would probably be on the road throughout the playoffs, wearing those kits.

Maybe this whole season has just been a ploy to try to get the most exposure for the Unity Kit by tanking for a low seed and then wearing them throughout the playoffs. I’m here for it, if the Pride can make it happen.

Vamos Orlando!

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