Top 10 Moments of 2025: Luana’s Goal Caps Pride Win to Clinch NWSL Semifinal Spot

As we count down to the new year of 2026 — which will be Orlando City’s 12th in MLS, the Orlando Pride’s 11th in the NWSL, and OCB’s fourth in MLS NEXT Pro — and say goodbye to 2025, it’s time to look back at the club’s 10 best moments of the year as selected by The Mane Land staff via vote.

As emotional as it was when Luana returned to the field for the first time since her Hodgkins lymphona diagnosis in early 2024, it may pale in comparison to her shining individual moment at the end of the Orlando Pride’s team moment near the end of the 2025 NWSL campaign. But we’ll get to that later.

The Orlando Pride withstood a nine-match winless streak in NWSL play (0-5-4) to finish the regular season strong. Seb Hines’ team went 3-0-2 down the stretch to secure a home playoff match for the second straight year. The Pride could have clinched third place with a win over the Seattle Reign at home on Decision Day, but the teams drew (as they usually do) 1-1, trading late goals three minutes apart on Nov. 2. That draw cost Orlando one spot in the final standings due to Portland finishing one goal better in goal differential, but the Pride still clinched a home match in the postseason.

Their reward was a rematch with the Reign, as Seattle finished one point and one place below Orlando in the final NWSL regular-season standings.

The Reign chose to stay in Orlando on a short week rather than flying back and forth across the country. Seattle Head Coach Laura Harvey also opted to rotate some starters, inserting some players who had been successful in the second half against Orlando on Decision Day. Hines countered with the same starters he used in the regular-season finale.

Julie Doyle scuffed a good early chance to put the Pride on the board, but she made up for it a few minutes later. Cutting in from the right side, Doyle found Marta with a pass and made a run up the right channel. Marta delivered a good no-look pass that Doyle ran onto and quickly made a great pass to find Haley McCutcheon entering the box. McCutcheon didn’t get much on her shot, but she placed it perfectly, tucking it just inside the left post and inches out of the reach of Reign goalkeeper Claudia Dickey. The Pride led 1-0 in the 21st minute.

McCutcheon scoring first in a playoff game has proven to be a great omen, and so it was on the evening of Nov. 7. But it wasn’t easy. The Pride made it to halftime with the lead and then had to withstand Seattle’s desperate attempts to find a goal throughout the second half.

Sally Menti rattled the crossbar of Anna Moorhouse’s goal in the 62nd minute on a free kick, coming close to pulling the visitors level. Then, in the 76th minute, Moorhouse came up huge, sticking out her foot to deny a shot by Maddie Mercado to preserve the lead.

Marta went down in the box after being pulled from behind by Jordyn Bugg in the 82nd minute and thought she’d won her team a penalty. That foul wasn’t given, and the preceding sentence is called foreshadowing.

The visitors started raining balls into the area looking for a late equalizer. Orlando withstood a few half chances, and finally used Seattle’s pressure to create the break they needed to put the match away. The Reign sent a long ball into Orlando’s defensive penalty area deep in stoppage time. Carson Pickett headed it out of the box, where it landed at Marta’s feet. The captain went on a run for the ages down the left sideline.

A long ball into the Pride box in the sixth minute of stoppage time was headed out by Pickett, falling to Marta’s feet. The Brazilian sprinted the other way, apparently looking to run the clock out. But it was more than that as she fought through traffic to maintain possession. The Brazilian talisman outpaced one defender and poked the ball past another to maintain possession. Continuing her run, Marta angled into the box toward goal, holding off a defender as another arrived. Samantha Meza came over to help her teammate but stuck out her leg and tripped Marta, conceding a penalty.

One would expect Marta to take the penalty herself. The captain has been the club’s primary penalty taker since her arrival in Orlando in 2017. But Marta showed her leadership by handing the ball to her Pride and Brazil international teammate Luana.

“I was looking to do something for Luana, not only in this game, but before too. So I had the opportunity to give the ball to her and let her take the penalty,” Marta said. “Also, I know she’s an amazing penalty taker. She does well. She did tonight. You guys saw it. And I just come to her and told her take and finish this f***ing game. And I’m so happy that she converted the penalty, and we ended the game this way. She deserves it. We deserve it.”

With only seconds left in the match, the Pride had almost certainly done enough to win the game with or without a late insurance goal. However, Luana stepping up to the spot gave the moment additional gravity. The midfielder had missed the club’s last 48 consecutive competitive matches during her treatment and recovery from cancer. She was used sparingly during the final weeks of the season but had shown flashes of her old quality in her limited minutes. The fact she was even on the pitch in such a big game was a testament to her fortitude and spirit, as well as Hines’ belief in her.

She had never scored a goal for the Pride before.

Luana wasn’t fazed. She took a little bit of a stutter-step approach and calmly blasted the ball into the left side of the net to put the game away, leaving very few dry eyes in the house.

It was an incredible way to cap the Pride’s second straight year advancing to the league’s semifinal round. While Orlando was knocked out of the playoffs on a heartbreaking late set piece goal a week later by Gotham FC, Luana’s moment to seal the Pride’s win capped a championship defense season that started brightly, seemed to go horribly off the rails, and then finished strong.

The emotional impact of Luana’s first goal, the sheer force of Marta’s will to impact both of the Pride’s goals that night, and the team accomplishment of reaching the penultimate goal of the postseason combine to make this a worthy top spot on our annual list of the club’s best moments.

This concludes our list of the the top 10 moments of 2025 for Orlando City, the Orlando Pride, and OCB. (OK, this year OCB missed the list.) The list is surprisingly City heavy, but the Pride finished with two of the top three — including the top spot — and narrowly missed the list several times in a tight vote. Among the moments that came up just short were: Summer Yates’ hat trick against Chorrillo FC, the signing of Jacquie Ovalle, and the Pride’s 6-0 opening day win over Chicago. We had a lot of fantastic moments to choose from in 2025, so if we didn’t pick your favorites, well…maybe next year. Hopefully you enjoyed reliving these moments as much as we did writing about them.

Previous Top Moments of 2025

10. Orlando City clinches a playoff berth for a sixth consecutive season on Alex Freeman’s late game-tying goal.

9. Luis Muriel’s hat trick powers Lions to Leagues Cup knockout rounds.

8. Martin Ojeda scores Orlando City’s first hat trick since Cyle Larin did so all the way back in 2015.

7. Orlando City sweeps rival Inter Miami during the regular season, winning both games by three goals.

6. Martin Ojeda breaks Orlando City’s single-season record for goal contributions.

5. Orlando Pride midfielder Luana returns to the pitch after being out for a year due to cancer treatment.

4. Alex Freeman has a breakout season, winning MLS Young Player of the Year and becoming the first Orlando City player to be named to the MLS Best XI.

3. Barbra Banda makes history by scoring the first hat trick by an Orlando Pride player.

2. Pedro Gallese’s penalty shootout heroics (both offensively and defensively) lead Orlando City to the Leagues Cup semifinals.