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Orlando Pride vs. Boston Legacy FC: Final Score 1-0 as Pride are Swept by Expansion Boston

The Pride finish 0-3-1 against expansion teams after a toothless attacking night against Boston Legacy FC.

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1 month ago

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

The Orlando Pride (6-7-2, 20 points) fell 1-0 at home to Boston Legacy FC (4-7-4, 16 points) in front of a Wednesday night crowd of 6,004 disappointed fans. Boston struck early and the Pride laid on a relentless attack in the second half, but they lacked precision in the final third and couldn’t overcome the Legacy’s stubborn defense. Barbara Olivieri scored the game’s only goal.

Orlando Pride Head Coach Seb Hines deployed his typical 4-2-3-1 formation for tonight’s match. The back line in front of goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse was made up of Cori Dyke, Hannah Anderson, Zara Chavoshi, and Oihane. Haley McCutcheon and Ally Lemos served as the defensive midfielders, with Angelina, Jacquie Ovalle, and Solai Washington taking up the attacking midfield roles and Marta up top.

“Yeah, I mean they took their goal well. You know, some quick combination play, but I feel like every goal is preventable,” Hines said after the match. “You know, that’s just my mindset and how I think. And you know there was a couple of give-and-goes, and then you know getting close to people and affecting people wasn’t quite there in the first half.”

In the first minute, Oihane worked her way down the right and fed a ball through to Washington, who sent in a low cross that Casey Murphy collected easily.

In the sixth minute, Lilly Reale responded by sending a harmless ball over the crossbar.

Marta worked down the left a minute later and sent a high cross into the box, but it was too far in front of Washington and Angelina, who were trying to catch up to the play. The pass went harmlessly out the other side of the area, wasting a numerical advantage in transition.

In the 12th minute, Boston worked the ball down the right and sent in a cross that McCutcheon blocked behind for a corner. Jorelyn Carabali met the ensuing delivery with a free header, but it didn’t have much pace on it and popped up right to Moorhouse. Five minutes later, Moorhouse got over to gather a cross in from Reale.

Boston struck in the 17th minute, carving through the Pride midfield as Alba Caño found Ella Stevens, who tapped it centrally to Olivieri. The Boston attacker fired toward Moorhouse’s left. The goalkeeper dove but couldn’t make the save as the ball was able to sneak inside the post to make it 1-0.

The Pride attempted to pull the goal back in the 22nd minute, working up through the middle, but could not break down the stubborn Boston defense.

In the 26th minute, McCutcheon turned the ball over to Olivieri, who muscled her way into the box and cut back a pass to Caño, who fired wide. McCutcheon was shown a delayed yellow card for trying — and failing — to hold back Olivieri on the play, with the referee playing advantage.

The Pride responded in the 28th minute, following a throw-in, working wide on the left. Dyke sent in a good cross to Angelina right in front of goal. The Brazilian did well to get a foot on it, but hit it poorly and sent the ball wide left.

In the 36th minute, the Pride earned a free kick following a foray into the Boston 18-yard box that was defended away. Murphy collected the ensuing ball in from Ovalle without difficulty.

Boston managed a shot in the 40th minute after winning the ball off an Orlando throw-in and working it out to Caño, who centered for Annie Karich. She fired a shot but sent it right at Moorhouse.

Orlando had its own chance seconds later when an Ovalle effort flew just wide, needing a touch from Murphy to put it out for a corner. It looked like the Pride had equalized on the corner, with Ovalle curling the ball directly in for an Olimpico, but the goal was called back for a foul by Lemos who lightly bumped into Murphy. It was a curious call, as Lemos stood her ground and Murphy had to move back toward her goal away from Lemos to try to get to Ovalle’s delivery, but the goal didn’t count and a free kick was awarded to Boston.

Aïssata Traoré fired over the crossbar in the 43rd minute after some buildup down the Boston left.

Washington managed a decent cross in the 44th minute, but it was just too far in front of an onrushing Ovalle. Oihane added a cross of her own in the 46th minute, but it again went right to Murphy.

Boston won another corner moments later from an attack down the right, but the delivery flew over everyone except Reale at the back post. She put it out for an Orlando goal kick. The Pride survived a penalty scare on the play, as Ovalle had tangled with Carabali in the box, with a lot of shirt pulling and no attempt to play the ball. Referee Cristian Campo went to the monitor after a lengthy delay waiting for the video assistant referee. Campo looked at the play and confirmed the call as no foul and a goal kick, evening out the game’s two most controversial plays.

The first half came to an end without another good look at goal and Boston leading 1-0.

The half finished with Orlando leading in possession (51%-49%) but Boston had the advantage in shots (7-4), shots on target (2-0), and passing accuracy (87%-81%). Both teams won two corner kicks in the opening half.

Orlando saw more of the ball in the second half and created more opportunities, but in the end, the Pride were wasteful with those chances and gave the ball away too cheaply in the final third.

Hines brought on Julie Doyle at halftime for her 100th appearance for the club. She replaced Oihane at right back.

“Yeah, I mean, just want to say how grateful I am too. I mean, not every single player gets to hit 100 — and hit 100 at the same team,” Doyle said. “I’m so grateful just for the staff and the organization for believing in me every single year and every single contract and have had some highs and lows, but winning a championship was the best soccer memory.

“We’ve got to figure out how to break down a low block. I think that’s probably the hardest thing to do in soccer. You see it even in the World Cup. But yeah, and just like having that grit and mentality, and doing whatever it takes to get another goal, and you know, for us, I think that’s something that we obviously need to figure out.”

Orlando put together some excellent buildup in the 50th minute between Washington and Angelina, following clever holdup play by Marta. The sequence led to a Washington shot that Murphy parried away. The resulting cross found Marta, but her touch deflected off a Boston defender and into touch for a Pride throw-in that led nowhere.

Marta got a shot off in the 55th minute, following buildup through the middle from Anderson and Dyke, but sent it straight at the goalkeeper.

Boston worked a cross into the Orlando box in the 59th minute, sent in by Bianca St-Georges, but McCutcheon cleared it.

Barbra Banda subbed on in the 60th minute for Ovalle, and Orlando immediately started to play more directly with the Zambian international on the pitch. The Pride threatened in the 62nd minute with a ball over the top to Banda out wide, but a good tackle by Carabali snuffed out the attack after Banda had worked her way centrally, trying to clear herself for a shot.

The Pride followed with a free kick that was sent in, recycled, and lobbed back in, glancing off Anderson’s head and over the end line. Washington fired a shot just wide of the left post in the 64th minute. Murphy got a touch to help it, but a goal kick was given.

In the 66th minute, Boston came close to doubling the lead following a scramble in the box. Caño’s free kick found Reale, who crossed it back in, but Dyke cleared the danger off the line.

Hines made a double substitution in the 68th minute, sending on Simone Jackson for Washington and Nicole Payne for Lemos.

In the 77th minute, Jackson fought hard to work the ball toward the center of the box for Banda, who took a swing at a difficult ball that sailed high and wide. Eight minutes later, Orlando nearly forced an own goal when a Doyle cross deflected off Carabali and rattled the post.

The Pride earned a corner in the 86th minute when Emerson Elgin cleared a McCutcheon cross for Banda over the end line. Boston defended two corners in the ensuing goalmouth scramble, with Olivieri prominent in clearing the danger.

Hines made his final substitution in the 88th minute, sending on Seven Castain for McCutcheon.

In the 90th minute, chaos reigned in the box as the Pride had shots from both Marta and Payne blocked. A minute later, a promising attack down the left was snuffed out when Doyle stepped on the side of the ball while trying to beat her defender, handing possession back to the Legacy, who used their possession to try to run out the clock.

In the 95th minute, Marta worked a nice ball over the top that gave Banda a fighting chance, but a slightly heavy touch — with Boston players closing in — cost her the ball.

The final whistle brought Orlando’s second loss to Boston to a close. The Pride took only one point from four matches against the two new NWSL expansion sides.

The match finished with Orlando having the better of the possession battle (52%-48%), shots (13-8), corner kicks (5-2), and passing accuracy (84%-83%) but both teams put two shots on target.

“It’s obviously challenging, especially when she had quite a significant injury leading up into the last couple of games,” Hines said of Banda’s contributions and readiness going forward. “I feel like we’ve managed her really well, but you have to be so cautious with players, especially when they have injuries the way that Barbra had, and she’s such an explosive player, you don’t want to lose her for many more games — we’ll assess where she’s at, how she feels after tonight’s game, and then make a decision on you know if she starts or she can be an impact off the bench again.”

It was a disappointing result and performance for the Pride — their second in the last three matches, sandwiched around one of the team’s best outings of the year on Friday against the Kansas City Current. But the only thing consistent about the 2026 Pride is the team’s inconsistency and inability to get everyone healthy. Both Hailie Mace and Summer Yates sat out the game with knocks.

Things won’t get any easier for the Pride, who must now travel to Utah to face the Royals on Saturday night at altitude.

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

The Pride head west for the daunting task of facing the Portland Thorns in Oregon.

Published

18 hours ago

on

August 15, 2026

By

Dan MacDonald, The Mane Land

Welcome to your match preview and live thread as the Orlando Pride (7-10-2, 23 points) travel west to take on Portland Thorns FC (9-6-4, 31 points) at Providence Park (8:45 p.m., ION). This is the first of two meetings between the two teams with the return game scheduled for Sept. 19 in Orlando.

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

History

The Pride have struggled historically against the Thorns, with a record of 5-15-2 in 22 games (5-14-2 in league play and 0-1-0 in the playoffs). Orlando is just 1-9-0 in Portland, with the only win coming in 2018.

The most recent meeting between the two teams came on Oct. 10, 2025, in Orlando. 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 previous game took place May 3 of last year 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 the 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 Oct. 11, 2024 match between these teams, so several starters were given 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 game between the two teams in 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 wrapped up the scoring 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 first 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. That was the second meeting of the season after the teams met on June 19 in Portland. In Seb Hines’ second game as interim head coach, the Thorns smashed the Pride, 6-0.

The teams met earlier in the year during the 2021 season, playing on May 26 in Orlando. The Pride won for only the second time against Portland since the team’s inception — 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 was 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 in the game 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 the middle of a rough stretch that dates back to end of the FIFA World Cup break. The team has lost five of its last seven games, dropping Orlando to 11th in the NWSL standings and out of the playoff places.

The biggest problem has been in the attack, where the Pride have only scored five goals in seven games and three of those came in a 3-0 victory over the Kansas City Current. However, the team has struggled defensively in the last two games, falling 5-0 to the North Carolina Courage and 3-1 to Racing Louisville FC.

A major reason for the lack of goals is the absence of Banda, who left for international duty at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations. Despite slowly returning from an injury and departing to play for Zambia, her 12 goals still lead the league, one ahead of North Carolina’s Ashley Sanchez.

Louisville appeared to be the right team to end their bad streak as Racing sits in 15th place and the game was in Orlando. But the Pride were outplayed once again and now head to one of the most difficult places to play in the NWSL.

The Thorns are currently fifth in the league table with 31 points and are undefeated at home (5-0-3). Their 32 goals scored ties them with the Coruage for the league lead. They’ve not been quite as good defensively, conceding 28 goals, which ranks 12th in the 16-team league.

The team’s defensive struggles have been on full display over the past two games. After a 5-1 loss to the Utah Royals on Aug. 2, the Thorns defeated Boston Legacy FC 4-3 on Sunday afternoon.

The Thorns are unsurpingly led in the attack by U.S. international Sophia Wilson. In her return from maternity leave, the striker has scored nine goals. Pietra Tordin leads the team in goal contributions with seven goals and eight assists. The other players with multiple goals for Portland this season are Reilyn Turner and Olivia Moultrie with five goals each.

The recent defensive problems can be attributed to substantial changes to the back line. While Mackenzie Arnold has remained in goal, the back line in front of her has changed each of the last three games.

Regardless of the Thorns’ current form, this will be a tough game for the Pride. They’ve only won once in their history at Providence Park, including the lone playoff meeting against tonight’s opponent.

“It’s always a tough environment to go play. Obviously the fans really get behind the team,” Pride Head Coach Seb Hines said about tonight’s game. “We need to bounce back from two disappointing results. It hasn’t been good enough, and it gives us a week to really prepare for this game and change things around.”

The Pride will play tonight without Kylie Nadaner (maternity leave), Viviana Villacorta (knee), Hannah Anderson (lower leg), Marta (head), and Kerry Abello (thigh). The Thorns will be without Bella Bixby (knee), Julie Dufour (knee), Valerin Loboa (excused absence), Olivia Moultrie (knee), and Reilyn Turner (knee).

Projected Lineups

Orlando Pride (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Anna Moorhouse.

Defenders: Cori Dyke, Rafaelle, Zara Chavoshi, Oihane.

Defensive Midfielders: Ally Lemos, Angelina.

Attacking Midfielders: Jacquie Ovalle, Haley McCutcheon, Solai Washington.

Forward: Julie Doyle.

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

Goalkeeper: Mackenzie Arnold.

Defenders: M.A. Vignola, Sam Hiatt, Jayden Perry, Reyna Reyes.

Defensive Midfielders: Jessie Fleming, Nina Nijstad.

Attacking Midfielders: Pietra Tordin, Deyna Castellanos, Marie Muller.

Forward: Sophia Wilson.

Referees

REF: Brad Jensen.
AR1: Katarzyna Wasiak.
AR2: Sarah Gaddes.
4TH: Justin St Pierre.
VAR: Danielle Chesky.
AVAR: Seun Yinka-Kehinde.

How to Watch

Match Time: 8:45 p.m.

Venue: Providence Park — Portland, OR.

TV: None.

Streaming: Ion.

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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Barbra Banda Continues to Make Offers Scoreboard Can’t Refuse

Barbra Banda’s scoring prowess in 2026 and a comparison of her performance against others in 2026-only competitions.

Published

2 days ago

on

August 14, 2026

By

Image courtesy of Orlando Pride

We do not spend a lot of time writing about mafia movies here at The Mane Land, and I will not in this article either. But I am going to borrow Michael Corleone’s famous line from The Godfather Part III — “just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in” — and paraphrase it to be “just when I thought I was out (of Barbra Banda topics), she pulled me back in.”

Sadly, she pulled me in via a four-goal, one-assist performance for Zambia, not the Pride. It was another reminder of Banda’s all around talent. It’s that talent that the Pride sorely missed while she was playing for her country in the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON). Stathead’s database lists out only eight instances in the last 10 years of a women’s player having at least five goal contributions in a single international tournament game, and Banda’s name is now on that list among legends like Sam Kerr and Alex Morgan.

Funnily enough, three of those eight players have ties to Orlando, as former Pride player Emily van Egmond joined Banda and Morgan on that list thanks to her four-goal, four-assist performance against Indonesia (the final score was 18-0, yikes) in the 2021 Women’s Asian Cup.

Zambia was eliminated after the group stage in this summer’s WAFCON, but in those three games Banda scored five goals, added one assist, and drew a penalty that was converted by one of her teammates. She has missed three Pride games while away, during which Orlando as a full team scored…two goals. For all intents and purposes, Banda contributed to seven goals in three games for Zambia, and the Pride have scored a total of five goals in their last seven games. As anyone who follows the Pride is well aware, Banda is the straw that stirs the drink here in Orlando.

Even after missing those games in July, Banda remains the NWSL’s leading goal scorer with 12, and even though Zambia was eliminated in the group stage, she is still the WAFCON’s leading goal scorer with five. That is a combined 17 goals scored for Banda, and with one assist in each competition, she has a total of 19 goal contributions thus far in 2026.

I looked at every top women’s competition that has taken place exclusively in 2026, and Banda’s 17 goals ranks third overall. Among Opta’s top ranked women’s leagues, many play fall-to-spring and are therefore excluded, but I included games from all of the following competitions (Opta’s global league rank is included in parentheses for the domestic leagues):

  • Africa Cup of Nations (international tournament)
  • Asian Cup (international tournament)
  • UEFA World Cup Qualifying (international torunament)
  • UEFA Champions League (club tournament)
  • USA: National Womens Soccer League (1)
  • Sweden: Damallsvenskan (8)
  • Brazil: Feminino A1 (9)
  • Mexico: Liga MX Femenil (13)
  • Norway: Toppserien (14)
  • Canada: Northern Super League (15)

There certainly are more domestic leagues that play spring-to-fall seasons, but the resources put towards tracking women’s soccer statistics remain far behind the men for sites that track player stats, so with help from fbref.com, FotMob, and Sofascore I pulled together as many as I could find that took place exclusively in 2026.

As mentioned earlier, Banda’s total of 17 goals ranks third overall, trailing only Diana Ordóñez from Tigres (25) and Eugénie Le Sommer (19) from Toluca, both from Liga MX Femenil in Mexico. Sadly, assist data was not available anywhere for that league, so for both of those women and everyone else from that league their goals scored are also their total goal contributions.

Banda’s 17 goals were scored in more than 300 fewer minutes than those other two players, however, so while Ordóñez still beats her on goals scored per 90 minutes, Le Sommer does not.

An obvious issue with ranking raw totals of any metric in soccer is that players rarely play the same number of games and minutes, and this is especially true with how I set this analysis up by blending tournaments with domestic leagues. Therefore, the fairest way to compare is standardizing goals (on the x-axis) and goal contributions (on the y-axis) on per-90-minute basis, which leads to the chart below for players with at least four goal contributions across all of the listed competitions:

A graph showing players' goals (on the x-axis) and goal contributions (on the y-axis) on per-90-minute basis.

Four Pride players made the list, three you are likely familiar with (Banda, Haley McCutcheon, and Jacquie Ovalle) with and one (Sanne Lekven) who the Pride just acquired on Wednesday. Lekven’s stats are from her time with Aalesunds FK in Norway’s Toppsieren, where she was off to a good start with five goals in only 759 minutes, for a goals-per-90-minutes value of 0.59, which is 71st among those on the chart above.

Banda’s goals per 90 of 1.11 ranks tied for 11th, and her goal contributions per 90 of 1.24 ranks 27th, but many of those ahead of her racked up their stats in lesser competitions (the two outliers on the chart — Kiko Seiki and Riko Ueki — both play for Japan and won their three group stage games in the Asian Cup by a combined score of 22-0). Banda ranks in fourth place in both metrics in the NWSL (Opta’s top-ranked league among all domestic women’s leagues), and hopefully hits the ground running at that same high level when she returns to action.

Perhaps she can match her four goals in a game for Zambia with a similar game for Orlando. I support this idea.

The Pride are desperate for offense, and hopefully the combination of Banda’s return and the recent acquisitions of Lekven and Gabi Nunes can turn the season around. Banda is undoubtedly a boss, and we will see shortly if she and her consiglieri can whack a few teams in the final portion of the season and leave them swimming with the non-playoff fishes.

Vamos Orlando!

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Orlando Pride Sign Norwegian Forward Sanne Lekven

The 25-year-old attacker joins Orlando on a deal through at least 2028 with the Pride badly in need of more goal contributions.

Published

4 days ago

on

August 12, 2026

By

Image of the Orlando Pride's team flag being displayed prior to a match.
Dan MacDonald, The Mane Land

The Orlando Pride continue looking for ways to bolster the team’s anemic attack with today’s announcement that the club has signed forward Sanne Lekven. The Norwegian attacker has signed a deal through the 2028 season with a club option for 2029 and will join Orlando once the NWSL has received her P-1 visa and International Transfer Certificate.

“Sanne is a strong, dynamic attacker with the speed to stretch defenses and the work rate to impact the game in multiple phases,” Orlando Pride Vice President of Soccer Operations and General Manager Caitlin Carducci said in a club press release. “At 25 years old, she has already gained valuable experience and is entering an exciting stage of her career. We believe she can make an immediate contribution to our attack, and we’re excited to welcome her to Orlando.”

Lekven is the third player Carducci has added in the past month, joining Zoe Matthews and Gabi Nunes, as the Pride continue searching for answers to an offense that struggles to score goals both with and without Barbra Banda in the lineup. Orlando has scored 23 goals in 19 matches (1.21 goals per game), and Banda has 12 of those.

The Pride’s latest signee arrives after scoring five goals in 10 matches with Norwegian top flight side Aalesunds FK, the Toppserien (which translates to “the top series”). Lekven came up through the Stord Idrettslag youth system, making her senior team debut in 2016 in Norway’s fourth division. She scored 60 goals in 71 appearances from 2016 through 2019, before jumping to the top flight with Idrettslaget Sandviken in 2020. However, she played in only four matches with Sandviken. Signing with Viking FK, Lekven played three years from 2021 through 2024 and scored 33 times in 70 matches. She then moved to Arna-Bjørna for 2025-2026, where she struggled for a team that suffered relegation, scoring just four goals in 34 games. She then landed with Aalesunds.

Although she has not yet featured for Norway’s senior team, Lekven has represented her country at the U-16 and U-17 youth levels.

Lekven will wear jersey No. 22 for the Pride.

What It Means for Orlando

Carducci obviously has seen the team struggling to score goals, and signings like Lekven and Nunes are attempts to address the issue. The Pride have added youth (Matthews), experience (Nunes), and now, a player breaking into her prime in Lekven. Jacquie Ovalle needs more talent around her to unlock her playmaking abilities and Banda needs someone to take some of the heat off of her in the attacking third. While Lekven can’t do that alone, the trio of recent signings may collectively address some of the issues Orlando has had this season.

At the same time, the NWSL is a big step up in degree of difficulty. Lekven will need to adjust to a new league, a new culture, and the usual variables that any foreign-born player experiences when arriving in the United States — more demanding travel, a variety of climates and altitudes, and the speed and physicality of the league.

It is interesting that the club lists her as a forward, as she has played quite a bit of wingback while in Norway, where she’s shown good pace and strength while being adept at dribbling past opponents. One should always beware relying too heavily on highlight videos, but the one below shows good crossing skills as well.

She seems to be well suited to play on either wing, and that’s an area where the Pride could use more help. Ovalle’s pace limits her effectiveness out there, but the Mexican international has shown some promise when playing through the middle, which could be a good spot for her after Marta departs.

Time will tell whether bringing Lekven can produce in this league, and with her signing being for the next couple of years, this is essentially the first new player to whom Carducci has made a significant commitment. Matthews and Nunes are only on deals through the end of this season, with no option years.

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