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Orlando Pride vs. Washington Spirit: Final Score 4-1 as Loss Eliminates Orlando from Challenge Cup Contention

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3 years ago

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A late first-half flurry by the Washington Spirit allowed the hosts to take control and thump the Orlando Pride 4-1 at Audi Field. The Pride (0-3-1, 1 point) had at least played solid defense to this point in the 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup, but near the end of the first half, that came to a screeching halt as the Spirit (1-0-3, 6 points) ran unchecked through the Orlando penalty area for much of the rest of the game.

Ashley Sanchez, Andi Sullivan, Ashley Hatch, and Trinity Rodman provided the home team’s fireworks.

With the loss, the Pride were officially eliminated from contention in the Challenge Cup, but beyond that, it’s a worrying sign from a team that has struggled to score but at least has limited clear-cut opposition scoring chances. As a consolation prize, Gunny Jonsdottir’s second-half strike gave the team its first goal under Head Coach Amanda Cromwell and snapped the club’s 501-minute scoreless streak in competitive action.

“I thought it was going to be nil-nil and then kind of the wheels came off there the last five minutes of the (first) half,” Cromwell said after the match. “Going forward, we just have to be better.”

Cromwell started Anna Moorhouse for the second straight game, behind a back line of Carrie Lawrence, Megan Montefusco, Amy Turner, and Courtney Petersen. The midfield was made up of Angharad James, Jonsdottir, and Meggie Dougherty Howard. Sydney Leroux missed the match with a leg injury, so the attacking line consisted of Darian Jenkins, Mikayla Cluff, and Erika Tymrak.

Both teams came out pressing and counter-pressing in the early going. Orlando had some early success creating some turnovers and playing through the Spirit’s press. The Pride fashioned the first shot of the match, with Jonsdottir firing a shot just over the crossbar in the third minute.

The Spirit’s first opportunity came on a ball sprayed out wide to Anna Heilferty. She crossed it into the box and Rodman flicked it toward goal but it was right at Moorhouse for the easy save in the ninth minute.

The first big save of the game came in the 16th minute when a back-post ball was sent from right to left for Heilferty. Lawrence did well to head it away at the last second but it didn’t go far. Taylor Aylmer got to it first and her shot was met by a charging Moorhouse, who made a crucial save.

As the first half wore on, Orlando started to make mistakes against the Spirit press. In the 22nd minute, Dougherty Howard took too long on the ball and had her pass blocked by Rodman, but Moorhouse was able to collect the ball before it became a problem. A minute later, Kelley O’Hara fizzed a shot just wide of goal from outside the area after Washington won the ball back in a good spot.

The Pride nearly got Jonsdottir in behind in the 24th minute but her pace allowed the defender to catch up. The Icelandic international had her run cut off by a defender, but before she could try a shot or flick the ball into an area for a teammate, the whistle went for a foul that was shockingly called on Jonsdottir, who appeared to have done nothing to warrant it.

The Spirit should have scored in the 28th minute when Sanchez found Hatch in transition after what appeared to be an obvious foul on the other end went uncalled and instead was a Pride turnover. Hatch’s shot deflected and was nearly put in but Lawrence cleared it off the line.

Cluff had a shot blocked from the top of the area in the 31st minute, and another Pride shot from the scrum got blocked on the ensuing corner as the Pride continued to struggle getting clean looks at goal.

The Spirit broke through just before halftime with a pair of goals just two minutes apart as the Pride defense fell apart. Rodman crossed in from the right flank and Hatch dummied the ball through the area. No one was tracking Sanchez’s run and she had no trouble slotting home to make it 1-0 in the 43rd minute.

“The first one, cross and finish, just a lack of marking when we had numbers back to mark. We just didn’t pick up runners,” Cromwell said. “And we’ve been really good about that thus far. So, that was surprising.” 

Things got worse in the 45th minute when a ball came in from Rodman — on the left this time — and nobody bothered staying with Sullivan, who was the only Spirit player in front of goal. Sullivan had time to collect the ball, turn and fire the second goal past Moorhouse. (Try to ignore the overzealous NWSL Twitter admin.)

“The second one was definitely momentum crushing because it was from a restart,” Cromwell said. “And one of the keys to our game was just the awareness on restarts, making sure we slow them down, and we’re very defensive-minded in those instances to get back and get organized. Another cross. We had numbers in the box to mark up. So, those were two disappointing goals very quickly right before half. That definitely changed a bit of the momentum going in.”

The Pride generated a couple of late set pieces in stoppage time but did nothing with them and the Spirit took their seemingly insurmountable 2-0 lead to the locker room as the Pride rode a 492-minute scoreless streak dating back to Oct. 16, 2021.

The Spirit led in shots (7-5), shots on goal (6-0), possession (53.1%-46.9%), and passing accuracy (79.6%-71.7%). The Pride had more corner kicks (4-2).

The Spirit needed only four minutes after the break to add to their lead. Camryn Biegalski took the ball on the left and found Hatch in front completely unmarked for the easy third goal in the 49th minute.

“Giving up that third goal early…we said that next goal is going to make a big difference,” Cromwell said.

Orlando finally got its first goal of 2022 in the 54th minute. Jenkins took the ball down the right flank in transition and crossed into the box. Jonsdottir took a lunging, sliding shot and beat former Pride goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury, who didn’t start but had subbed on at the half.

Jonsdottir’s goal was the Pride’s first since Jodie Taylor scored in the third minute at Racing Louisville last October in the team’s penultimate game of the 2021 season.

“I’m proud of Gunny for getting the goal,” Cromwell said. “(She’s) A really hard worker.”

Cromwell sent some subs into the match but the Pride seemed much more likely to concede a fourth than to score a second through much of the second half, turning the ball over while trying to connect longer passes into the attack. Washington had no trouble intercepting them and turning them into transition opportunities. The Spirit nearly had a fourth when Rodman put the ball in the net but was ruled offside in the 79th minute.

Jonsdottir had a chance for a brace in the 83rd minute but couldn’t get her spinning shot attempt on frame off a deflected set piece that fell a bit behind her.

A minute later, Petersen gave the ball away cheaply in her own end and Rodman’s cross deflected off second-half sub Toni Pressley on what could have been another Washington scoring chance.

Rodman got her goal in the 87th minute, beating Montefusco in the air and heading an O’Hara cross inside the right post. Moorhouse appeared to have a chance to stop it but was frozen and couldn’t dive over to make an attempt on it.

Washington led in most of the statistical categories, as the score would suggest, leading in shots (24-9), shots on target (13-2), possession (51.4%48.6%), and passing accuracy (75.1%-71.1%). Orlando held a slim edge in corner kicks (7-6).

“It was a tough loss,” Montefusco said. “You never want to get scored on that many times. But I think there were a lot of positives too, a lot of good takeaways. You know, we had a couple of good stretches of play and a lot of people battled hard. So, I think we’re going to take this game and just learn and grow from it. That’s all we can do.”

The Pride are out of contention, but they have a couple of weeks to regroup before resuming their Challenge Cup campaign on Saturday, April 16, when they host the North Carolina Courage at 7 p.m.

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A 360-Degree View of the First 360 Minutes of the Orlando Pride’s Season

A look at the Pride’s offensive and defensive performance through the season’s first four games

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1 day ago

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April 17, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

We are four games into the 2025 Orlando Pride season, and the symmetry of 360 minutes played and looking at the full 360 degrees of the Pride’s performance thus far was too perfect to pass up. A circle, as you all remember from geometry, or trigonometry, or Sesame Street, is perfectly symmetrical, as it can be divided into two congruent parts by any diameter. We will break this article into two parts as well, and I hope you are sitting down because it might shock you that those two parts will be the Pride’s performance thus far on….offense and defense.

Let’s start with offense, as that first letter o looks an awful lot like a circle and we are on a (donut-shaped) roll. The Pride’s offense is off to a fantastic start, with a league-leading 11 goals scored through the first four matches. They have actually scored nine of those goals themselves, seven from open play and two from penalty kicks, and their opponents put two into their own net as well to give them 11. No other Pride team had scored more than six goals through their first four matches, so this squad is off to an unprecedentedly fast start.

The Pride’s performance is not just excellent compared to their own history, but they are near the top in most of the key offensive categories. If you look at Opta’s tracking in the table below you can see how well they have done relative to the rest of the league (all data sourced from fbref.com and fotmob.com; goals scored excludes own goals and NWSL Avg. is the average of every team excluding the Pride).

Metric2025 PerformanceRank in NWSLNWSL Avg.
Goals Scored924.5
Shots on Target %38%534%
Goal Conversion per Shot15%38%
Expected Goals (xG)6.435.1
Goals – Expected Goals+2.613-0.6
Big Chances Created746.6
Big Chances Conversion Rate71%238%

The one major offensive stat that is not great on the above chart is goals – expected goals. That stat is pronounced as “goals minus expected goals,” and is calculated thusly: nine goals scored minus 6.4 expected goals gives the value of +2.6. This means that while the Pride were only expected to score 6.4 goals, they actually scored nine, and so it could be interpreted that they are overperforming, and have been lucky.

Expected goals are really just the measure of how often goals are scored from the locations where the shot was taken from, and so while one interpretation could be that the Pride’s players were lucky, another could be that the Pride’s players are really good, and are simply outperforming the historical expectation that is used for xG. The Pride have Barbra Banda and Marta, two players who were named to the 2024 FIFPro World 11 team (and just received their trophies this week), and a wealth of attacking talent around them, and so while the stats say that the Pride may be benefitting from luck, I think the statisticians might need to circle back on those calculations when there are Pride players on the field.

The last two rows of that table show data about “big chances,” and how the Pride are creating almost two per game. The Pride create their chances off the dribble more than any other team in the NWSL, and they also create their chances by being more accurate with their passes and taking care of the ball better than any other team in the NWSL, as you can see in this table below:

Metric2025 PerformanceRank in NWSLNWSL Avg.
Progressive Carries per 9017.5112.3
Carries into the 18 per 908.013.9
Long Passes Completed per 9037.5330.5
Long Passes Completion Rate59%148%
Short + Med. Passes Completion Rate87%183%
Miscontrols per 9013.0118.7

The Pride’s offense picked up where it left off last season, which makes sense considering they brought back most of their pieces from that 2024 team. They did add one significant new piece, Prisca Chilufya, and she has fit right in as a player with pace and skills who has averaged nearly 30 minutes per game coming off the bench. The team may be without Julie Doyle and Summer Yates for a while though, as both suffered injuries during the first four matches, though the team has yet to announce the severity for either. We still have yet to see Grace Chanda on the field for the Pride, and with the Doyle and Yates’s returns still to be determined, the Pride will need Chanda or another player to provide depth minutes behind the usual starting group of Angelina, Marta, Ally Watt and Banda.

Switching over from the top half of the circle to the bottom half, the Pride’s defense has played even better defensively than the offense has offensively. The Mane Land’s Sean Rollins covered some of this in his excellent article earlier this week on the Pride’s defensive lineup configurations, but the team has given up only one goal in four games, and that goal had to go to video review before it was given. The Pride’s defense has been smothering, and if we look at the same stats we did for the Pride’s offense — but consider them in terms of what the Pride are allowing from the offenses of their opponents — we can see just how well they are playing (same notes as earlier the data source and the definitions):

Metric2025 PerformanceRank in NWSLNWSL Avg.
Goals Allowed115.1
Shots on Target % Allowed29%235%
Goal Conversion per Shot Allowed2%110%
Expected Goals (xG) Allowed4.345.3
Goals Allowed – xG Allowed-3.31-0.2
Big Chances Allowed446.8
Big Chances Conversion Rate Against25%440%

The Pride are not allowing real goals or even very many expected goals, and the credit definitely should be shared between Anna Moorhouse, with her 91.7% save percentage and her overperformance (+1.6) in the messily acronymed PSxG +/- (PSxG = post-shot expected goals, a measure of how well a ball was struck by the attacking player; Moorhouse’s positive value means that Opta, the coders, viewed that the shots taken by the opponents were taken well, but Moorhouse still saved them), and also the defensive back line, which has had Kerry Abello, Kylie Nadaher, and Emily Sams on the field for 1,064 of 1,080 possible minutes, and then a mix of Cori Dyke (222), Rafaelle (107), Oihane Hernández (30), Carson Pickett (16), Zara Chavoshi (4), and Bri Martinez (1) for the rest of the minutes.

The recent addition of Hernández is almost a champagne problem, as with so many high-level defenders, there will not be enough minutes to go around. Competition will be fierce, and iron sharpers iron, so this is a good thing, but there will inevitably be some frustrated players for the Pride’s coaching staff to manage. With some of the recent injuries in the midfield, perhaps some of these defenders may be considered as possible backups for wing attacking positions, but those injured players will eventually return, as will some of the players from the long-term injured list (we hope), and the upshot is that the Pride have an incredibly deep team with the best problem to have: more good players than available minutes.

We are only four games into the season, so it is far too early for anything other than statements about early trends, but these early trends have definitely been positive. The Pride have 12 points from a possible 12 and the stats on both offense and defense emphatically back up the the 100% record.

And that is not circular reasoning.

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The Orlando Pride Are Dominant With Any Back Line

The Pride have three shutouts in four games despite a key injury on the back line and shuffling of the back four.

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3 days ago

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April 15, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

Last season, the Orlando Pride were the best defensive team in the NWSL. They flirted with the league record for fewest goals conceded before resting starters and conceding seven in the final three games. The Pride are picking up where they left off last season by consistently keeping the opposition off the scoresheet.

To say the Pride defense has been stingy this season would be an understatement. They’ve conceded one goal through four games, completing their third clean sheet Saturday night in a 1-0 win over Seattle Reign FC. The only goal came in the team’s 2-1 win over San Diego Wave FC on Mar. 29 via Chiamaka Okwuchukwa, and that required video review to overturn a foul call for it to stand.

The fact that the Pride have been so successful defensively goes back to the roster construction by Haley Carter and Seb Hines. The pair have focused on bringing in versatile players who can play multiple positions, making it easier to change tactics mid-game with making additional substitutions.

Last year, the Pride started with a back line of Kerry Abello, Kylie Nadaner (then still known as Kylie Strom), Rafaelle, and Emily Sams. However, Rafaelle tore her right quadricep while representing Brazil at the Olympics. With the starting center back out, Hines inserted rookie Cori Dyke at right back and moved Sams back to her natural center back position alongside Nadaner.

The Pride didn’t miss a beat. With the new back line, the Pride went on a streak of five consecutive clean sheets. They gave up just one goal in seven games before resting their starters in a 2-0 loss to the Portland Thorns, ending their league-record, 24-game unbeaten run.

Rafaelle was taken off the season-ending injury list prior to this season and started alongside Nadaner. As she continued to gain fitness, Hines was careful about the number of minutes she received.

“Rafa missed a lot of football last year. You can see what she brings when she’s on the field. And so getting her to 45 minutes was a goal of ours,” Hines said after her first game back on March 7. “We would have liked to keep her on the field for longer, but, you know, you’re putting a player at risk at that moment.”

The Brazilian played 45 minutes against the Washington Spirit in the Challenge Cup and 62 minutes in the regular season opener a week later. However, she was taken off at halftime in the second league game against NJ/NY Gotham FC, something Hines said was precautionary.

“It’s disappointing for Raf, because she was building good momentum, getting good minutes,” Hines said after the game. “You know, it’s just a caution. We don’t want any sort of setbacks either, so we’re not taking any risks with that.”

Despite Hines’ insistence that the substitution was a precaution, the defender has missed the last two games. For most teams, losing a veteran international center back would be damaging. But not so with the Pride. They continue on like nothing’s changed.

“The transition is seamless with bringing Cori on and Em obviously shifts back to a more natural position at center back,” he said. “Kylie shifts across, and it’s only Kerry Abello that keeps her position.”

That back line, which was so successful last year, became the starting defense in the following two games. They conceded the team’s lone goal in the first of those two against San Diego but got back to keeping clean sheets in Seattle Saturday night.

The Pride set records left and right in 2024 and are already off to the same thing this year. They’ve scored 11 goals so far, one more than the second-place Kansas City Current. Combined with the one goal conceded — tied with the Current — the Pride are the first team in NWSL history to have a +10 goal difference after four games.

According to Hines, the defensive success of this team is support. They back each other up when mistakes are made, keeping the opposition from taking advantage.

“I thought Ky and Em were seamless back there and then Anna (Moorhouse) comes up with a massive save. And It could’ve really changed the game,” Hines said after Saturday night’s win. “So, everyone plays a role in the defending. Sometimes when we make errors, we’ve got players who support.”

It’s unclear when Rafaelle will return, but one thing’s for certain: It doesn’t matter who starts where on the back line for the Pride. The versatility of the players means they can fill in multiple positions without missing a beat.

The team’s defensive prowess will be put to the test in the coming weeks. The Pride welcome the Spirit back to Orlando on April 19, including U.S. internationals Ashley Hatch and Trinity Rodman. The following week, they welcome an Angel City team that features the always dangerous Alyssa Thompson and Claire Emslie. It would be even more difficult since they travel to Portland the next game, but Sophia Wilson (nee Smith) is out for the year. It will still be difficult, but the Pride won’t have to contend with Wilson.

Regardless of how the Pride play defensively in those games, it’s been a stellar start to the 2025 NWSL season. The back line led the Pride to unprecedented heights in 2024 and appears to be doing the same this season. It seems there’s no limit to how good this defensive unit can be.

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Orlando Pride vs. Seattle Reign FC: Final Score 1-0 as Pride Win Fourth Straight To Start The Season

The Pride won their fourth straight game with only their second-ever road victory against Seattle Reign FC.

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6 days ago

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April 12, 2025

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

The Orlando Pride (4-0-0, 12 points) continued their stellar start to the 2025 NWSL season, defeating Seattle Reign FC (1-2-1, 4 points) 1-0 at Lumen Field in Seattle. Barbra Banda gave the Pride the lead in the 41st minute — the fourth time this season the Pride have scored first. The Reign tried to claw their way back in the second half, but the visitors held on for all three points.

Pride Head Coach Seb Hines made two changes to the team that beat San Diego Wave FC 2-1 on March 29. Ally Lemos and Summer Yates entered the starting lineup for Morgan Gautrat and Angelina, who started on the bench after captaining Brazil during the international break.

The back line in front of Anna Moorhouse was Kerry Abello, Kylie Nadaner, Emily Sams, and Cori Dyke. Lemos and Haley McCutcheon were the defensive midfielders behind Yates, Marta, and Ally Watt with Banda up top.

This was a game of two halves in every sense of the phrase. The Pride dominated the first 45 minutes and could’ve been up multiple goals at halftime. But Seattle came storming back in the second half, causing the Pride to defend for most of it. After being outshot 6-5 in the first half, Seattle outshot the Pride 7-1 in the second half. But some good defending and excellent goalkeeping kept the hosts off the board.

The Reign tried to get off to a strong start, sending a long ball downfield in the 12th minute. Moorhouse came out to collect but was unable to do so. Ainsley McCammon was following up and attempted a weak shot, allowing Sams to clear the danger.

The first chance for the Pride came in the 14th minute, when Yates used some quick feet to create a chance. However, her right-footed shot was right at Seattle goalkeeper Claudia Dickey.

While the Reign got off to a strong start, the Pride began to take over as the game neared the 20-minute mark. 

“It took us some time. They adapted. They played five in the back, which kind of caught us off guard,” Hines said about the beginning of the game. “I think something that we have to be mindful of is teams adapting to us. So, no surprises when they went to five at the back, two sixes, two 10s, and one nine. We had to kind of change our build-up shape within that, and once we made that adjustment, I thought we looked after the ball. We switched the point of attack. We looked more threatening in moments.”

In the 21st minute, Yates built an attack, sending Banda through and giving the striker a chance. The Zambian had an opportunity to shoot on goal but didn’t get much on it and caused little trouble for Dickey.

The Reign created their second shot in the 22nd minute when Dahlien took an attempt. However, it was weak and didn’t cause any trouble for Moorhouse.

In the 23rd minute, Lemos nearly scored from a corner kick. The set piece was curling towards goal and went over the outstretched hand of Dickey, but it struck the crossbar. Banda met the ball just beyond the back post and tried to head the rebound on goal, sending her attempt over the frame.

McCutcheon was called for a foul near midfield in the 26th minute, and the ensuing free kick went into the Pride box. There was some confusion while trying to clear, allowing McCammon to get a shot off. However, Sams got in front of the attempt and the Pride eventually sent the ball upfield.

The Pride finally converted in the 41st minute, taking a lead for the fourth consecutive game. It started when Yates received a pass just outside the box and to the left of goal. The midfielder created space from her defender and sent a low cross across the top of the six-yard box. Banda got behind the back line and stayed onside, meeting the ball. It was an easy finish for the striker, tapping it in to give the Pride the 1-0 lead.

“We’re just pleased that Summer was able to get the cross off and Barbra is in the right place,” Hines said about the goal. “A good goal movement from Barbra and a tap-in goal.”

“I think we had a good amount of opportunities in the first half, but we just really couldn’t finish one. So, I think finishing one at the very end of the half really set us up nicely for the second half,” Lemos added. “Especially with that momentum going and I just really think like we were dictating the pace. And it was really, really good for us.”

The Pride have now scored first in all four games they’ve played this season. Scoring first is something Hines had spoken about and he made a point to mention it again tonight.

“It’s all mentality. It’s all character,” Hines said about scoring first. “We make a real point of scoring that first goal. It can obviously dictate the outcome of the game. So, for us to get that first goal’s vital for us.”

Unfortunately, Yates went down during the attack. After receiving attention from the medical staff, she left the field. The injury left Hines with a decision to make. Either use a substitution window or play with 10 until halftime. The Pride head coach went with the former, replacing Yates with Angelina.

The Brazilian substitute tried to make an immediate impact on the game, creating a chance in the 45th minute. She made a run from outside the box, finding enough space to send a shot on target. However, Dickey was there to tip it over the crossbar.

That was the final attempt of the first half as the Pride took a 1-0 lead into the break. After 45 minutes, the Pride had the advantage in possession (57%-43%), shots (6-5), shots on target (4-1), crosses (7-2), corner kicks (3-0), and passing accuracy (82%-77%). Most importantly, they took a 1-0 lead into the locker room.

The Pride stayed with their same lineup to start the second half, but Seattle made one change. Lynn Biyondolo (née Williams) came into the game for Jordyn Huitema. It was an inspired change, as the U.S. international caused problems for the Pride back line.

The Reign nearly found an early second-half equalizer, creating an attack in the 49th minute. Maddie Dahlien was sent behind the back line, sending a shot on target. Moorhouse made the save but was unable to control it. Rather than pushing it aside, she blocked the shot right in front. Nerilia Mondesir was the quickest player to react, but the Haitian international sent her attempt over the top.

Mondesir played a one-two with Biyendolo in the 56th minute, sending her behind the back line. However, she was forced wide and took a shot from a difficult angle. The attacker was aiming for the near post, but Moorhouse had it covered, blocking the attempt away.

Hines made a pair of changes in the 61st minute. Oihane and Prisca Chilufya entered the game for Dyke and Marta. It was Oihane’s Pride debut.

“Where I’ve been most impressed with how she’s just fitting in with the tenacity to go out there and defend and defend one-v-ones, and stop crosses, and get really tight to the forward,” Hines said about Oihane getting her Pride debut. “So, tonight was her first opportunity. And, like I said, she’s bought into what we’re trying to do here, and knowing that role and responsibility as a fullback.”

In the 63rd minute, Maddie Mercado used a couple of stepovers to lose her defender and create a chance at goal. She took a shot, but it was right at Moorhouse, who didn’t have any trouble making the save.

Hines made his final two changes in the 75th minute. Carson Pickett and Viviana Villacorta came on for Watt and Abello.

The Reign created problems in the 80th minute when a set piece into the box resulted in a scramble. Angharad James-Turner took a shot near the penalty spot that hit Sams. Eventually, the Pride were able to clear without conceding an equalizer.

A bad turnover under pressure in the 81st minute by McCutcheon allowed Mondesir to find Biyendolo going the other way. The midfielder sent Maddie Dahlien behind the Pride back line and it looked like the attacker might slip the ball past Moorhouse. However, the Pride goalkeeper did well to come off her line, blocking the shot with her left leg and keeping the clean sheet alive.

In the 85th minute, Emeri Adames played a ball to the top of the box, where Biyondolo did well to bring it down with her chest. Adames continued her run into the box and Biyondolo found her. Adames took a touch to her right before aiming for the near post. But Pickett did well to get in front and block the attempt.

The Pride tried to double their advantage in the 87th minute when Chilufya made a long run to the top of the Seattle box before the ball was knocked off her. Fortunately, it went straight to Banda, who was making a run to her right. Banda’s second touch was a shot for the near post, but the striker missed wide.

Seattle won a corner kick in the 88th minute and it resulted in a good chance for an equalizer. The set piece was sent into the box, where it found Shae Holmes. The defender tried to redirect the ball on goal, but she sent the attempt over the top.

The fourth official displayed five minutes of stoppage time and the Reign continued to push for an equalizer. But the Pride did well to clear any balls into the box, keeping the hosts from threatening. In the end, the visitors held on for the 1-0 win, moving to 4-0-0 on the season.

At full time, the Pride had the advantage in possession (61%-39%), crosses (10-9), corner kicks (4-3), and passing accuracy (83%-73%). However, a furious second half saw the Reign end up with more shots (13-7) and shots on target (5-4). Fortunately, the Pride’s bend-but-not-break defense stood tall and kept the hosts from equalizing, securing all three points.

“Really pleased, really happy. You know, the league and the parity within the league, it’s so difficult to come away with three points away from home. So, I’m super proud of the players,” Hines said. “They showed their character today. I thought we did a really good job of dictating play, looking after the ball in moments. And the goal was phenomenal. I thought Summer Yates, unfortunately got injured, but I thought she was outstanding today and set the tone. And that’s just one player, but I thought there was some really good performances tonight. And then towards the end, when a team’s trying to get back into the game again, we showed character. New players coming in. Oihane making a debut today, fitted right in. Carson comes back as well is important. And so, yeah, overall, really pleased with the togetherness and to come away with three points.”

“It was a hard game. I think we took a little bit to get into the game, but after the goal, I think we did really well,” Angelina said. “We kept the ball a little bit more, so I think we got into our game.”

The Pride continue their dominant start to the 2025 NWSL regular season. In addition to their 4-0-0 record, they now have 11 goals scored and only one conceded. They’ve started this year where they left off in 2024 — with a stingy defensive unit, recording three clean sheets in their first four games.

“The whole team is doing really well. We know the great season that we had last year, and we continue to do that this year,” Angelina said about the three clean sheets in four games. “So, it makes us proud, and it makes us feel really confident, because we know the quality of this team in the front, in the back, middle. So we’re really happy with the results that we’ve been getting.”

“We just really picked up where we left off last year. Defensively, you can’t ask for better,” Lemos added. “I mean, like you said, three shutouts in four games — that’s almost unheard of. And I just think we’re not even at our top yet. And I just think if we keep doing what we’re doing, it’ll all work out. And, you know, a shutout is a dub for the defense.”

The three points keeps the Pride on top of the NWSL standings, pending the result of the Kansas City Current’s game against the Wave later tonight. Regardless, the Pride once again appear to be the team to beat in the league.

The Pride return home next Saturday looking to keep their 100% record alive. It will be a tall task as they welcome the Washington Spirit for a 5 p.m. kickoff at Inter&Co Stadium in a rematch of the 2024 NWSL final.

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