Connect with us

Orlando Pride

Orlando Pride vs. North Carolina Courage: Final Score 3-0 as Pride Suffer Third Straight Road Shutout Loss

The North Carolina Courage dominated the Pride, handing them their fifth loss in seven road games.

Published

on

Image courtesy of Orlando Pride

The Orlando Pride (4-7-1, 13 points) were dominated by the North Carolina Courage (6-4-2, 20 points) tonight in Cary, NC, falling 3-0. Kerolin opened the scoring in the first half and Meredith Speck doubled the lead after the break. A late own goal by Haley McCutcheon in the 83rd minute put the game away as the Pride lost for the fifth time in seven games away from Exploria Stadium and the third straight without scoring a goal.

Pride Head Coach Seb Hines made one change to the team that beat the Portland Thorns 3-1 last weekend. Marta was unavailable due to a thigh injury, replaced by Messiah Bright. The back line in front of Anna Moorhouse remained the same, with Kylie Strom, Emily Madril, Megan Montefusco, and McCutcheon. Mikayla Cluff and Viviana Villacorta were in the defensive midfield behind Julie Doyle, Adriana, and Ally Watt. Bright returned to the starting lineup after starting on the bench last weekend as the lone striker.

The Pride had the first attack of the game inside the first minute through Bright on the left, but her cross sailed out of play. Two minutes later, Adriana intercepted a poor pass by Kaleigh Kurtz. The Brazilian found Watt to her right, but her shot was deflected out by Malia Berkely for a corner kick. Unfortunately, the ensuing set piece was cleared away at the near post.

Watt had a second chance in the fifth minute with a long run down the right. The speedy attacker got into the box, but her shot was weak, from a poor angle, and right at Casey Murphy, allowing the goalkeeper to make an easy save.

The Courage got their first chance in the sixth minute when Narumi Miura carried the ball into the Pride box. She cut back to beat Montefusco and create a shot, but it was always going wide of the far post.

It looked like North Carolina would open the scoring in the seventh minute when Narumi played a long ball over the top of the Pride back line for Kerolin to run onto. She beat Madril to the ball, but the center back did well to catch up. Meanwhile, Moorhouse came off her line to clear the ball and Kerolin wasn’t able to get off a shot.

In the 12th minute, Berkely sent Tess Boade behind the Pride defense. Madril went in to challenge the attacker, but Boade came away with the ball and only Moorhouse to beat. The Pride goalkeeper came off her line to cut down Boade’s angle and made a great save to keep the game scoreless.

The Pride nearly created something in the 20th minute when Watt made a strong run through the midfield and played it long for Doyle. The second-year attacker almost reached it near the top of the box, but Murphy got there just before Doyle to clear it away.

Adriana created an opportunity in the 28th minute after McCutcheon won the ball from Mille Gejl near the North Carolina box. The Brazilian sent a low cross into the box that was flicked on by Watt for Doyle making a run behind. But Doyle couldn’t get to the ball and it went harmlessly through.

In the 32nd minute, North Carolina broke through. It started with a great ball forward by Gejl for Boade behind the Pride defense. Boade’s first touch didn’t allow for a shot, but she laid it off for Kerolin, who put it past Moorhouse and in off the post to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.

A long ball by Montefusco for Doyle in the 42nd minute created a chance for the Pride. Doyle caught up to the ball before it crossed the end line and sent it in for Watt. The ball was cleared, but only to Bright near the top of the box. The striker attempted to create space to shoot, but couldn’t get around Berkely, who blocked it.

That was the last decent chance of the half as the Pride went into the break down, 1-0. At halftime, North Carolina had more possession (70.8%-29.2%), shots (6-4), shots on target (3-1), and crosses (8-5), and passed more accurately (90.3%-68.1%). Both teams had two corner kicks and the Pride didn’t lead in any meaningful statistical categories.

“We had a good talk in the locker room,” Watt said about the team’s mood at halftime. “We need to get our energy up. We need to fix our press. And we did. And it was working in the second half.”

The Courage had a golden opportunity to double their lead in the 48th minute when Emily Fox made a run into the Pride box behind Villacorta. Kerolin spotted the run and played it forward, sending Fox in on goal. Moorhouse came off her line to challenge Fox, staying on her feet and blocking the shot to keep the deficit at one.

The Pride felt they should’ve had a free kick in a dangerous position in the 49th minute, when Cluff found Doyle making a run behind Ryan Williams. Murphy came out to the top of the box to challenge the attacker. Doyle went down and the ball was caught between Murphy’s legs. The Courage goalkeeper scooted back inside the box to pick up the ball. It seemed as though Doyle wanted a penalty, but referee Calin Radosav allowed play to continue.

Hines made his first change of the game in the 53rd minute, bringing Kerry Abello in for Bright. It was a forgetful night for the rookie striker, who was rarely in possession of the ball and only threatened the Courage back line once in the first half.

The Pride were given a great opportunity in the 56th minute when Denise O’Sullivan fouled Watt at the edge of the North Carolina box and directly in front of the goal. Adriana stepped up to take the set piece, but sent it directly into the wall. It went to Villacorata, who took a shot, but it was blocked. Eventually, the ball ended in the arms of Murphy and North Carolina was able to clear.

In the 63rd minute, it appeared as though the Courage found their second goal when Kerolin lifted a ball towards the back post for Boade. McCutchen challenged the attacker, but was behind her, allowing Boade to get to the ball first. The attacker fell forward, knocking the ball off Moorhouse and inside the far post.

Immediately following the goal, the assistant’s flag went up for offside. Radosav put his hand to his ear as the video assistant referee checked to see if Boade was in an offside position when the ball was played. While she was behind McCutchen, Madril, and Montefusco, it was much closer with Strom at the opposite post. However, the call was upheld and the Pride stayed within a goal.

The Pride had conceded a significant amount of possession without hitting the Courage on transition. They made a change in the 72nd minute, replacing Doyle with veteran midfielder Erika Tymrak.

In the 73rd minute, an Adriana corner kick was punched out by Murphy. It ended up with Montefusco, who laid it off for McCutcheon, but the pass was too soft and North Carolina sprinted the other way with an advantage in numbers. Fortunately, Villacorta got back to put pressure on the cross and McCutcheon cleared it out of play.

The Courage finally doubled their lead in the 78th minute when second-half substitute Olivia Wingate played the ball into the box for fellow substitute Speck. The midfielder used a good first touch to beat Montefusco and create enough space for a shot. Moorhouse got down to get a hand on the ball, but she didn’t get enough of it. The ball rolled just inside the post to give the hosts a 2-0 lead.

North Carolina struck again in the 83rd minute when a long ball from the back found Kerolin sprinting down the right. Madril tried to catch up, but Kerolin reached the ball first and sent a cross into the box. Montefusco intercepted the cross, but a bad touch gave it back to Kerolin. The Brazilian redirected the ball towards goal, but it went off the post. McCutcheon tried to clear it, but sent it off Montefusco and in for an own goal and a 3-0 lead for the Courage.

Hines made two final changes in the 86th minute. With the game out of hand, Amanda Allen and Summer Yates entered for Cluff and Watt.

Despite the result being beyond doubt, the Pride did their best to avoid being shut out. They created three consecutive corner kicks in second-half injury time. Strom was charging in on the second, but the cross was headed away just before it reached her. The other two were cleared much easier, maintaining the clean sheet.

In the end, the Courage ended up with more possessions (67%-33%), shots (16-11), shots on target (6-1), and passing accuracy (86.9%-69.7%). The Pride had more corner kicks (6-4) and crosses (14-13), but couldn’t break through the North Carolina defense.

“We weren’t at it today,” Hines said about the performance. “Every second ball of North Carolina was there. They pressed effectively, (we) didn’t have that sharpness, and it’s becoming a theme away from home. And that was the message after the game. We’ve got to figure this out away from home, we need to start picking up points away from home. You know, we can’t always rely on our home form.”

“Energy,” Watt said about the difference between the Portland win last weekend and tonight’s loss. “We just had to want it more. We were just a little passive and just wasn’t getting it done right.”

The Pride’s game plan was clear from the outset. They’d give up plenty of possession in the game and hit the hosts on the transition. For this reason, the Courage had 70% of the ball in the first half and 67% at full time, leaving the Pride defending for the majority of the game.

“The game plan was to be threatening in transition,” Hines said after the game. “I felt early on we caused them problems. They weren’t able to play through the lines as often as they’re probably used to in previous games. And there was moments where we could have been threatening in transition and we just weren’t threatening in transition.”

Statistically, North Carolina dominated the game. They consistently sent long balls behind the back line for Kerolin to run onto, creating trouble for the Pride defense. Two of those passes resulted in goals. It looked as though Madril and Montefusco weren’t ready for those balls, but Hines said they’ve worked on those plays.

“One thing North Carolina did more than Portland was they played a lot more longer balls in behind the back line,” Hines said. “And we work on that quite often, dealing with long balls, making sure that we’re race ready, dealing with the space behind. You know, it looked like today we just weren’t prepared for that.”

The game had a significant impact on the crowded NWSL standings. The three points for North Carolina saw them jump from sixth to first. Meanwhile, the Pride remain in eighth, three points behind the Houston Dash and five points behind NJ/NY Gotham FC for the final playoff spot.


The Pride will look for a better performance next Saturday night when they face the Kansas City Current. While they lost to the Current earlier this season, they’ll be returning to the friendly confines of Exploria Stadium against the last-place team in the league.

Orlando Pride

Pride Must Finish More Chances

A look at the Pride’s shot conversion and chance creation.

Published

on

Image of Barbra Banda taking a shot against Seattle.
Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Mark Thor

There are a lot of nice things about the NWSL’s expansion from a 26-game regular season to a 30-game regular season, but one in particular is that it is much easier to break the season out into definable percentages. Every three games is 10% of a 30-game season, so the Pride are a nice, even, 20% of the way through the 2026 season. Last season’s total of 26 games does not divide well, aside from splitting it in half into 13-game segments, and with some obvious exceptions like Duncan McGuire and Jacquie Ovalle, most people tend toward being triskaidekaphobiacs.

And now that we are done with gratuitous word choices, let’s focus on the Orlando Pride’s first 20% of the season.

In this week’s TML membership newsletter, UpRoar, which you can sign up for by clicking this hyperlink, Michael Citro wrote about some of the Pride’s defensive issues through six games and how opposing teams are converting a high percentage of their shots on goal into goals. Not great. The Pride are doing a little better on the offensive side of the ball, and offense is generally more fun to write about anyway, so let’s dive into the numbers on the Pride’s attack.

The good news for the Pride is that they have been working hard, though not so hard that the attack is going to give themselves a heart attack-ack-ack-ack-ack-ack-ack (timely Billy Joel reference), and through the first six games they are averaging 1.5 goals scored per game. At first glance I did not think that 1.50 was very good at all, but then I took a look at Opta’s top-ranked women’s leagues around the world and found the following:

LeagueNation1.5 goals per game would rank…
WSLEngland6 of 12
NWSLUSA6 of 16
Primera División FemeninaSpain5 of 15
Frauen-BundesligaGermany9 of 14
Serie A FemminileItaly3 of 12
Feminine Première LigueFrance5 of 12
  • * I did not include Sweden’s Damallsvenskan because that league’s season just started

In every league except the German league, 1.5 goals scored per game would at least be in the top half of the league. If we focus just on the NWSL, 1.5 goals scored per game ranks sixth currently and is tied for 44th all-time out of 142 total team-seasons, which puts it just inside the top third.

The eye test says that the Pride probably should be doing even better than 1.5 goals per game, however, and the data backs that up. According to Opta’s tracking on fotmob.com, the Pride’s expected goals (xG) tally is 10.7, so with only nine goals scored they are underperforming in that metric. That metric is always a hotly contested one, but what is not contested is that Orlando leads the league in shots taken, averaging 17 per game (34% higher than the league average) and is putting 39% of its shots on target, which ranks third in the league. Unlike the Pride’s opponents, who are scoring on nearly half of the shots they put on target, the Pride are only converting on 23% of their shots on target, which ranks 12th among the 16 offenses.

This is now a two-year trend for Orlando, as it ranked last in the league in goal conversion for shots on target in 2025 at 21%. Absent that trend, one would expect some positive regression to the mean for the conversion rate, but this might just be the reality for this Pride attacking group, most of whom were also on the team last season. They are quite good at getting shots off, and even putting them in between the posts, but they are not great at putting them into the back of the net. There is so much goal and so little goalkeeper, perhaps they need to try to hit the goalkeeper instead, and take advantage of missing that target.

With a low conversion rate, the onus then becomes on creating chances, and in particular big chances. The table below shows Opta’s tracking for how the Pride are doing at chance creation among the 192 players who have played at least 100 minutes and created at least one chance thus far this season:

CategoryIn Top 50%In Top 25%In Top 10%
Total Chances Created652 (Banda, Ovalle)
Chance Creation per 90661 (Ovalle)
Total Big Chances Created840
Big Chances Created per 90851 (Ovalle)

It is not too surprising to see a lot of Pride players in the top segments of these categories, as the team leads the league in shots taken. An issue, however, is that Ovalle has been the top creator on a per-90-minute basis, and she is out for a still yet-to-be-announced period of time. Marta is back and played nearly 60 minutes in the game against Racing Louisville, but she did not look fully healthy and still might not be for the Washington Spirit game this weekend. Seven Castain, Solai Washington, and Summer Yates need to match the first letter of their names (a la a certain superhero) by helping set their teammates up for super goal scoring opportunities, especially if Ovalle is going to be out for a while.

The teammate they of course will primarily, secondarily, and tertiarily be looking for is Barbra Banda, the current league leader in goals and the league’s second-leading goal scorer since she arrived in 2024. Banda is once again Wonder Woman for the Pride, as she leads the team in both goals scored and chances created and is the only player in the league who is in the top five leaguewide in both categories. Banda is outperforming her expected goals, with five actual goals as compared to an expected 3.5, and she is probably the single-most game-planned-against player in all of NWSL. That is partly a testament to her skill, but also to the Pride’s reliance on her for their offense, especially since they still have yet to be able to roll out a lineup featuring Banda, Marta, and Ovalle.

Orlando dominated the box score against Louisville, but its season-long issues with finishing left them short on the scoreboard at the final whistle. Washington has several gifted offensive players, chief among them Trinity Rodman and Leicy Santos, and Orlando will need to continue to create a high number of chances and improve its finishing in order to protect its home turf and pick up all three points.

The Pride have the talent and the personnel to make it happen, and like it has so many times in her career, it will probably come down to Banda and her ability to convert her chances. Thus far this season she has scored three goals on the road and two at home, and I recommend that she at least equalize those numbers, if not flip the home tally to be leading the road tally by the end of the game on Saturday. Since I quoted Billy Joel earlier, I might as well once again, and ask Banda to take advantage of the white hot spotlight and be Big Shot Banda. Hopefully she will start the fire.

Vamos Orlando!

Continue Reading

Orlando Pride

Orlando Pride vs. Racing Louisville FC: Final Score 3-2 as Pride Fall On The Road

The Pride dominated in every statistical category except goals as they remained winless on the road at Racing Louisville.

Published

on

Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

The Orlando Pride (2-2-2, 8 points) fell to previously winless Racing Louisville FC (1-3-1, 4 points) 3-2 this evening at Lynn Family Stadium in Louisville, continuing their winless streak in Kentucky. The hosts took the lead through Lauren Milliet in the 19th minute before Barbra Banda equalized just before halftime. However, early second-half goals by Sarah Weber and Milliet were too much for the Pride to overcome. Banda scored a consolation goal in stoppage time as the Pride come away with a difficult loss.

Pride Head Coach Seb Hines made just one change to the team that beat Angel City FC 2-1 on April 3. Jacquie Ovalle was out injured and replaced by Marta.

Goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse started before a back line of Cori Dyke, Rafaelle, Hailie Mace, and Oihane. Angelina and Ally Lemos were the defensive midfielders behind Marta, Haley McCutcheon, and Solai Washington with Banda up top.

If you looked at the statistics of this game without knowing the score, you’d think the Pride had the game won by halftime. But poor finishing and some excellent goalkeeping by Jordyn Bloomer had the game even at 1-1 at the break. The team then fell apart defensively for a brief three minutes, allowing Louisville to take a 3-1 lead. The rain began to fall as the second half progressed, dampening more than the field. The game lost the intensity it had in the first half, limping towards the final whistle. The Pride surged in an attempt to come back in stoppage time but could only find one goal — not enough to get something from the game.

Shots too close to the goalkeeper or off target were Orlando’s biggest problem in the match, and it started early. In the fifth minute, McCutcheon dribbled to the end line before playing the ball behind her for Marta. The Pride captain went down after contact from Katie O’Kane in the box, but referee Alyssa Pennington determined it wasn’t enough to point to the spot. McCutcheon took possession and laid it off for Angelina who fired straight at Bloomer.

McCutcheon intercepted a poor Louisville pass in the ninth minute and played it forward for Marta. After dribbling outside to find space, the Brazilian sent Banda behind the back line. It looked like it would result in the opening goal, but Bloomer did well to get down and make the stop. It wouldn’t have counted anyway as the flag went up for offside.

Moorhouse nearly made a costly mistake in the 13th minute when the Pride goalkeeper came out of her box to field a ball. Instead of clearing it up th field, Moorhouse tried to turn and take it into the box to recover it, however, she misplayed it, allowing Kayla Fischer to challenge her. The Pride were lucky Fischer didn’t make them pay as the ball went off her and out of play for a goal kick.

McCutcheon and Marta combined for a chance again in the 14th minute when a short pass back to the top of the box gave Marta some space. Unfortunately, she was leaning back and sent the attempt over the crossbar.

The Pride almost opened the scoring in the 16th minute when Banda made a run to the end line before playing it central for Washington. The rookie’s shot was blocked, but she got it over to McCutcheon. The second shot was too close to Bloomer again, allowing her to get her fingertips to it, sending it off the far post and keeping the game scoreless.

On the other end, Louisville took the lead in the 19th minute from an unlikely source. Milliet dribbled to the top of the box and no one closed her down. She fired a rocket of a shot toward the upper left corner that was past Moorhouse before the goalkeeper could get to it, giving Louisville the 1-0 lead.

The Pride had another good chance to score in the 21st minute when Banda made a run down the left before playing it back for Lemos at the top of the box. The near-post effort was again toward the Louisville goalkeeper, who did well to block it away.

The Pride won the ball back from Louisville at midfield in the 28th minute, with McCutcheon taking over. The midfielder immediately played the ball to Banda on the left, and the Zambian international beat Milliet to get a shot off toward the near post. However, the attempt was just wide.

Washington had a chance in the 38th minute, when a long pass across the field gave her the ball in space. Opting not to take a long shot, she went one-on-one with Milliet. The attacker beat the right back into the box and shot toward the far post, but Bloomer had only to shift slightly to her right to make the save.

A minute later, Rafaelle sent Banda down the right. The striker outran the back line before laying it off for McCutcheon in space entering the box. McCutcheon’s first touch was a shot over the crossbar, wasting a big chance.

Lemos’ shot from outside of the box in the 41st minute forced Bloomer to dive to her right for the block. The ball went into the center of the box, but nobody was there to put the rebound in, allowing Louisville to clear.

Banda had another chance in the first minute of stoppage time, turning to create a shot toward goal. Her attempt went between center back Ellie Jean ‘s legs and behind Bloomer but wide of the far post.

In the sixth minute of stoppage time, a Pride clearance landed at the feet of former Pride defender Courtney Petersen, who sent a beautiful cross to the top of the six-yard box. It went straight to Weber, who put it on target, forcing Moorhouse into a quality one-handed save.

The Pride immediately went the other way, with Mace sending the ball forward for Marta. The Brazilian’s second touch led Angelina making a run forward. The midfielder quickly sent a ball over the top that put Banda behind the Louisville back line. The striker shot early, placing the ball past Bloomer and just inside the right post to even the game at 1-1 just before the break.

The hosts created one last chance when a poor clearance attempt allowed O’Kane to play it forward for Weber. The striker did well to shield Rafaelle and get a shot off, but it was wide.

At halftime, the Pride had the advantage in possession (61%-39%), shots (15-7), shots on target (6-3), crosses (11-5), corner kicks (3-1), and passing accuracy (84%-64%). But some good saves by Bloomer, wasteful shooting, and wide-open misses had the game scoreless at the break.

It didn’t take Louisville long to retake the lead after the restart, doing so in the 48th minute. Ella Hase made a strong run down the left and attempted to cross, but Oihane blocked it out for a corner kick. The ensuing set piece found Weber’at the back post. The striker put her header off the hands of Moorhouse and in to give her team the lead.

Moments later, the lead grew to 3-1. Dyke blocked Taylor Flint’s long ball from the right in the 49th minute, but it went right to O’Kane, who immediately sent the ball out wide for Emma Sears. The attacker dribbled to the end line before sending a low cross into the box. Milliet got a touch on it, putting it past Moorhouse and in for the right back’s first-ever brace.

“We were very complimentary of the first half,” Hines said. “I thought we’d create some really good opportunities. We felt we’re back into the game, just getting the goal just before halftime, and it’s just been a moment where we just switched off, and then we concede another one, and we just can’t allow that to happen. I do feel like it’s the start of the second half. As soon as that whistle goes, we’ve got to be straight at it. And we were very passive in that moment, and so we got punished for it.”

Washington received a long ball on the left in the 51st minute, taking Milliet one-on-one. The rookie cut inside to create enough space for a shot, sending her attempt over the crossbar. In the 55th minute, Washington received a pass from Banda, but her heavy touch allowed Milliet to take possession. Out of frustration, she pushed Milliet down with an extended arm, getting called for the foul.

Hines used the stoppage to make his first change of the game, replacing Marta with Summer Yates. Looking for a way back into the game, Hines made three more changes in the 63rd minute. Hannah Anderson, Seven Castain, and Simone Jackson came on for Washington, Lemos, and Oihane.

“The message was, the game’s not over yet,” Anderson said. “And lock it down in the back, but also create any chances we can up front.”

The Pride’s best buildup came in the 68th minute, when pressure forced Louisville into a turnover in its own third. Angelina played it forward for Mace, who played a quick give-and-go with Yates. Mace’s first touch was a shot that was blocked out of play by Arin Wright. Flint won the ensuing corner kick, and Louisville cleared the danger without Bloomer having to do anything.

Hines made his final change in the 75th minute, replacing Dyke with Julie Doyle.

In the 81st minute, Yates made a run into the Louisville third of the field before being taken down by O’Kane. Angelina took the set piece, which was too far in front of Banda for the striker to get on the end of it. Instead, it went straight to Bloomer.

Louisville won a pair of corner kicks in the 84th minute, resulting in a good chance to put the game away. The first set piece was a near-post ball that was knocked out of play. The second found Makenna Morris with space. The second-half substitute didn’t get much on the ball, sending it wide.

Banda received the ball in the 87th minute and dribbled into the box before laying it off for Castain. After briefly settling the ball, the young attacker sent a shot straight to Bloomer, causing the goalkeeper little concern.

In the second minute of stoppage time, Angelina found Banda at the top of the box. The striker turned and fired, but her shot was deflected just wide.

Angelina’s ensuing corner kick found Anderson, who headed it down and into the six-yard box. Shielding her defender, Banda got a toe on the ball, sending it off Bloomer’s hands and in to make it a 3-2 game.

“Ang has such great service. So, I told her I would find it,” Anderson said. “I told her, just to find the middle of the box and I would get on it. Thankfully, Barb was in there just to redirect it in the goal.”

Yates had a chance for an equalizer in the sixth minute of stoppage time when Rafaelle touched the ball forward. The substitute fired from the top of the box but didn’t get much on it, sending it straight to Bloomer.

A minute later, Angelina saw her shot from outside the box blocked. The ball ended up with Castain, who tried to put the ball over Bloomer, but she again sent it over the crossbar.

The Pride won a pair of corner kicks in the dying moments, but neither resulted in a shot on goal. The final touch was a header over the crossbar and would have been another Pride corner, but the referee blew full time and the Pride came away with a disappointing loss.

At full time, the Pride had the edge in possession (62%-38%), shots (27-11), shots on target (11-5), crosses (26-14), corner kicks (10-5), and passing accuracy (79%-66%). But a poor three minutes at the beginning of the second half was the difference.

“Frustrated, obviously. Never like losing games, especially in the way, or the manner, that we lost today,” Hines said. “I thought we did well in the first half, created a lot of opportunities. They scored a great goal from the edge of the box, but we get ourselves back into the game going into halftime, and then we just came out flat. You know, allowing a team like Louisville to go two goals up after five minutes into the second half. We can’t allow teams to do that. And so we built momentum into the second half, created some decent opportunities, got one right at the end. And it just didn’t land for us to get that equalizing goal. And it really did come down to those five minutes in the second half. We talk about it a lot. How do we get that intensity? How do we start the half how we finished? And that’s going to be a real reflection point for us going into the next game.”

“I think we kind of talked about it. Last 20 minutes or so, we were on fire,” Anderson added. “So, we kind of just need to have that leading into all minutes of the game, being present the whole game, however many minutes it is, on offense and on defense. It’s a tough one, but I think there’s definitely lessons to be learned.”

Being the first team to lose to Louisville this season will be a tough pill for the Pride to swallow, especially with how they dominated the possession and chances. It leaves Boston Legacy FC as the only team in the NWSL without a win.


The Pride will have to bounce back from this one as they return to action on May 2 when they host the Washington Spirit.

Continue Reading

Orlando Pride

Orlando Pride vs. Racing Louisville: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

The Pride return to action after an extended break as they face Racing Louisville in Kentucky.

Published

on

Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

Welcome to your preview and match thread as the Orlando Pride (2-1-2, 8 points) travel to Kentucky where they’ll play Racing Louisville FC (0-3-1, 1 point) in a late afternoon affair (5:30 p.m., Victory+). It’s the first of two meetings between the teams this season, with the return game in Orlando scheduled for Aug. 7.

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

History

This is the fifth season of existence for Racing Louisville, and the Pride have played the Kentucky-based side 13 times in that span, with Orlando going 3-4-4 in NWSL games and 3-4-6 in all competitions (0-0-1 in both the NWSL Challenge Cup, and the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup). The Pride are winless in Louisville all-time in league matches (0-4-1) and in all competitions (0-4-2).

The most recent meeting between the two teams occurred on Aug. 9, 2025, in Orlando. Marisa DiGrande scored against her old team just before halftime to give Louisville the halftime lead. It looked like the visitors would claim all three points until an Ary Borges own goal in second-half stoppage time resulted in a 1-1 draw. On June 20 last year in Louisville, Arin Wright gave the hosts the lead at the half-hour mark and former Pride midfielder Taylor Flint doubled the advantage in the second half as the Pride fell 2-0 to end the first half of the season.

The first game in 2024 between the two took place on March 16 in Louisville. The season opener for both teams looked like it would be a long day for Orlando, as Elexa Bahr and Uchenna Kanu gave the hosts a 2-0 lead inside 20 minutes. The Pride got on the board in the 24th minute with an own goal by Elli Pikkujämsä, but the task was made more difficult when Kylie Strom received her second yellow card in the second half. However, Amanda Allen and Summer Yates combined on a late goal by Yates, as the Pride pulled out an unlikely 2-2 draw.

On May 5, 2024, in Orlando, an Emily Sams cross in the 17th minute found Barbra Banda’s head at the back post, and she nodded home the game’s only goal in a 1-0 Pride win. On Aug. 1, 2024, in the Summer Cup, Evelina Duljan scored her lone Pride goal to give the Pride the lead. However, Reilyn Turner equalized, sending the game into penalties. The Pride took the early shootout lead when Jaelin Howell missed, but saves by Jordyn Bloomer on Morgan Gautrat and Ally Watt saw Louisville take the extra point.

The first game of 2023 was held on May 6 at Exploria Stadium. Messiah Bright gave the Pride an early lead, and the hosts held on for 69 minutes for the 1-0 win. It was the first home win of 2023 for the Pride and their second win of the season. The second meeting took place on Oct. 6, 2023, in Louisville. The Pride got off to a great start with goals by Marta from the spot early and an excellent individual effort by Kerry Abello to make it 2-0. However, Bright took Savannah DeMelo down in the box just before halftime and Nadia Nadim converted the penalty. A five-minute swing with a goal by Kristen Davis and an own goal by Pride goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse resulted in the Pride losing the critical game 3-2.

The first meeting between the two teams in 2022 took place Sept. 16 in Louisville. Racing struck first when Nadim was left open in front of goal for a tap-in. The hosts doubled their lead on a great strike by DeMelo from outside the box, and the Pride fell 2-0.

The first meeting of 2022 was in a unique setting, taking place at Daytona International Speedway on July 3. The game was a part of the 2022 Daytona SoccerFest and was the first time a professional soccer game was played at a racetrack. Emina Ekic gave Louisville a halftime lead and DeMelo doubled the lead shortly after the break. However, the Pride fought back with goals by Strom and Darian Jenkins, pulling out a 2-2 draw. The game launched a seven-game unbeaten run that pulled the Pride back into the playoff race.

The first year the two teams met was in 2021 during the NWSL Challenge Cup in Louisville. CeCe Kizer gave the hosts the lead early, but Taylor Kornieck equalized just before halftime. It looked like the Pride would win when Abi Kim scored late, but Brooke Hendrix equalized in second-half injury time and the teams drew 2-2.

The teams played three times in the 2021 regular season, with the first meeting coming on July 9 in Orlando. Ebony Salmon gave Louisville the lead, but Sydney Leroux scored to force a 1-1 draw with a goal in second-half injury time. The second meeting was held Sept. 11 in Orlando. The Pride took a 2-0 lead into the break with goals by Leroux and Marta. Kizer got one back, but Alex Morgan’s conversion sealed three points for the Pride.

The final meeting of 2021 came in the penultimate game of the year for both teams. The Pride needed a win to keep their playoff hopes alive and they got off to a good start when Jodie Taylor scored in the third minute. However, the game slipped away as Salmon and Katie McClure scored on either side of halftime and Yuki Nagasato made the final 3-1.

Overview

The Pride got the season off to a tough start, claiming just one point from a two-game, season-opening homestand. However, they turned things around away from home, defeating Chicago Stars FC 3-0 and playing to a scoreless draw against NJ/NY Gotham FC. They kept that momentum going by defeating Angel City FC 2-1 at Inter&Co Stadium on April 3, just before the international break, when the league halted for two weeks.

While some teams welcomed the two weeks to regroup, the Pride likely aren’t one of them. The team was playing much better than it had in the first two games and the new players were getting acclimated to their new club.

However, the break comes after a flurry of games. Since the start of the season, the Pride haven’t gone more than five days between games. The rest was surely welcomed by the players before they get back into the run-up to the FIFA World Cup break.

The back line has been a strength for the Pride, which has only conceded multiple goals in the season opener. Hailie Mace and Rafaelle have been the primary center backs and have gotten better since the first homestand. When Hannah Anderson was inserted while Rafaelle was injured, she performed well, netting her first goal for the Pride and helping the team to a clean sheet.

After looking unfamiliar with each other in the season opener, Banda and Jacquie Ovalle connected for the lone Pride goal in the team’s 1-1 draw against Denver Summit FC. They followed that up with a game in which both scored and Ovalle added an assist on Anderson’s goal. Unfortunately, Ovalle is out for this game with a thigh injury. As a result, the Pride will be looking elsewhere to provide service for Banda.

The most recent scoring threat has been an unlikely source. After the team played to a scoreless draw in New Jersey, Haley McCutcheon scored twice against Angel City, including the winning goal in the eighth minute of second-half stoppage time.

Tonight, the Pride take on a team that’s struggled to open the season. Louisville has claimed just one point in its first four games, a 2-2 draw at home against the Washington Spirit. Racing is coming off a 4-3 defeat to the Houston Dash in Texas.

Louisville is led from the back by veteran goalkeeper Bloomer, who’s been with the club since 2022. The back line features two former Pride players in Flint and Courtney Petersen. While Petersen has been primarily a left back throughout her professional career, it’s a new role for Flint, who was previously a midfielder. The team’s leading scorers are striker Sarah Weber and Flint, each with two goals. Meanwhile, Emma Sears, Kayla Fischer, and Macy Blackburn each have scored one.

Sears has been the leading provider with two assists, while Weber and Fischer each have one.

“It’s always a tough environment to go play (in). Bev (Yanez) has done a great job in the last couple of years, really installing an identity,” Pride Head Coach Seb Hines said about today’s opponent. “They’re physical, they’re fast, they’re direct, and we’ve got to face those challenges whilst also trying to play our own game. We want to build on the first five games. We’ve had a nice break and just start to kick on now.”

The Pride will take the field today without Kerry Abello (hip), Zara Chavoshi (lower leg), Cosette Morche (ankle), Ovalle (thigh), Kylie Nadaner (maternity leave), and Viviana Villacorta (knee). Louisville will be without DeMelo (illness), DiGrande (maternity leave), and Olivia Sekany (knee). Erynn Floyd (hand) and Mirann Gacioch (quad) are listed as questionable.


Official Lineups

Orlando Pride (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Anna Moorhouse.

Defenders: Cori Dyke, Rafaelle, Hailie Mace, Oihane.

Defensive Midfielders: Ally Lemos, Angelina.

Midfielders: Solai Washington, Haley McCutcheon, Marta.

Forward: Barbra Banda.

Bench: Cara Martin, Luana, Julie Doyle, Nicole Payne, Summer Yates, Seven Castain, Reagan Raabe, Hannah Anderson, Simone Jackson.

Racing Louisville FC (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Jordyn Bloomer.

Defenders: Courtney Petersen, Arin Wright, Ellie Jean, Lauren Milliet.

Defensive Midfielders: Taylor Flint, Katie O’Kane.

Midfielders: Ella Hase, Kayla Fischer, Emma Sears.

Forward: Sarah Weber.

Bench: Maddie Prohaska, Makenna Morris, Macey Hodge, Taylor White, Quincy McMahon, Maja Lardner, Avery Ciorbu, Macy Blackburn, Audrey McKeen.

Referees

REF: Alyssa Pennington.
AR1: Jacob Little.
AR2: Jackson Krauser.
4TH: Thomas Snyder.
VAR: Anya Voigt.
AVAR: Karsten Gillwald.


How to Watch

Match Time: 5:30 p.m.

Venue: Lynn Family Stadium — Louisville, KY.

TV: None.

Streaming: Victory+.

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


Enjoy the game. Go Pride!

Continue Reading

Trending