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Orlando Pride vs. OL Reign: Final Score 1-0 as the Pride Win Their Second Straight

Messiah Bright’s 16th-minute header was the difference as the Pride beat OL Reign at Exploria Stadium.

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Dan MacDonald, The Mane Land

The Orlando Pride (6-8-1, 19 points) won their second straight game, beating OL Reign (7-5-3, 24 points) 1-0 at Exploria Stadium tonight. Messiah Bright’s 16th-minute header from a perfect Julie Doyle cross was the difference in the contest.

It was just Orlando’s second win ever against OL Reign in the all-time series (2-6-7).

The Pride came out with the same 4-3-3 starting lineup from last weekend’s 3-0 win over the Washington Spirit. The back line in front of Anna Moorhouse was the usual of Kylie Strom, Emily Madril, Megan Montefusco, and Haley McCutcheon. Kerry Abello, Viviana Villacorta, and Mikayla Cluff were in the midfield behind a front line of Doyle, Bright, and Erika Tymrak.

The Reign were missing nine players in this game, which was noticeable as the Pride dominated the entire 90 minutes. The visitors had a brief attack right after kickoff, but they didn’t challenge Moorhouse and the Pride controlled the rest of the game. Even when the Pride brought on defensive substitutions late in an attempt to see the game out, the Reign couldn’t create opportunities in the final third.

OL Reign kicked off and quickly created the first chance of the game. Bethany Balcer and Elyse Bennett used some quick passing to create a shot for the latter, but Moorhouse got down to block it wide and out for a corner kick. The ensuing set piece was headed out by Sam Hiatt for a goal kick, ending the early threat.

The Pride got their first chance shortly after on the other end, when former Pride center back Phoebe McClernon attempted to shield the ball from Doyle. But she was the last to touch it, giving the Pride a corner kick. The ensuing kick ended up with McCutcheon, but her shot was blocked out of play by Olivia Athens. She had a second chance from a second Villacorta corner kick, but this one went high and wide left.

The Pride nearly took the lead in the fourth minute with an own goal. Reign goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce came out to collect the corner, but Ryanne Brown got to it first. The collision sent the ball back towards goal, where it bounced off the post, allowing the visitors to clear it.

Tymrak had a chance to open the scoring in the 14th minute when Abello found her on the left side of the box. The veteran midfielder attempted to beat Tullis-Joyce from a tough angle, but the Reign goalkeeper did well to get down and make the stop.

In the 16th minute, the Pride did take the lead from a fantastic individual effort by Doyle. The attacker received the ball on the left and beat Brown one-on-one, before sending a beautiful ball to the top of the six-yard-box. Bright beat Lauren Barnes to the spot and powered her header past Tullis-Joyce to give the Pride an early 1-0 lead.

“I really was just trying to make sure that I stayed within the frame of the goal and just making sure I was in areas to put myself in a position and my team in a position to get the finish. And it worked out really perfectly,” Bright said about her goal. “The buildup was perfect coming from each individual, so I was just happy to get on the frame with it.”

“You see Julie’s intent to take the fullback on and Messiah times her run perfect and it’s some bullet header. It’s brilliant. I love headed goals,” Hines added. “So, I was excited for her and, you know, it’s great for Messiah to get that other goal because she’s deserved it. All the work ethic and what she puts into the game. The harsh reality as a forward, you’re always gonna get judged on goals. So now you’ve seen her put herself in good positions to score goals and the execution was perfect.”

Already down a goal, things got worse for the visitors in the 20th minute when Jess Fishlock went down away from the ball. The midfielder received treatment on the field for a few minutes before coming off for Nikki Stanton.

The Reign were unable to clear the ball in the 28th minute, creating another opportunity for the Pride. Bright got to the ball before Stanton, knocking it back to Abello. The midfielder was far from goal, but attempted an ambitious shot anyway. It was difficult to tell if it was on target, but Tullis-Joyce palmed it away to be sure.

Bright had a chance for a brace in the 34th minute when Tymrak sent her behind Hiatt. The striker dribbled deep into the box and got a shot off, but Tullis-Joyce came out to cut down the angle, blocking it out of play.

Abello created a chance in the 39th minute when she cut inside to beat McClernon and sent a low shot towards goal. Unfortunately, the ball rolled just wide of the far post. Tymrak was making a back-post run, but couldn’t get there in time to redirect the ball on target and the Reign survived the scare.

In the 44th minute, McCutcheon played a long ball for Tymrak who just stayed onside. The midfielder played it across for Bright, but it was a little too far for a one-touch shot. The rookie forward did well to hold the ball up, shielding and eventually turning Brown to get off a shot. But it was right to Tullis-Joyce, who made the stop.

Both teams put one shot on target in stoppage time. McClernon found Bennett in the box for the first, but her header was right to Moorhouse. On the other end, McCutcheon found Bright, but she couldn’t get much on the header and Tullis-Joyce made an easy stop.

The Reign had more possession in the first 45 minutes (52.6%-47.4%), but the Pride had more shots (12-3), shots on target (6-2), corners (6-2), and crosses (12-7). The visitors had two shots during their first attack, but didn’t find another shot until first-half stoppage time and the Pride took a 1-0 lead into the break.

The Pride got the first shot of the second half in the 50th minute when Abello sent an ill-advised shot towards goal from the left that went right into the arms of Tullis-Joyce. A better attempt came on the other end when Veronica Latsko sent a dangerous ball through the box. It went over the head of a ducking Bethany Balcer and just out of the reach of Olivia Van der Jagt and Olivia Athens, going harmlessly out of play.

In the 54th minute, Cluff and Tymrak used a nice give-and-go to beat Van der Jagt, opening up a shot for Cluff at the top of the box. The midfielder attempted to chip Tullis-Joyce, but sent the ball over the crossbar.

The Pride made their first change in the 62nd minute, as Ally Watt entered the game for Doyle. It was a like-for-like change, as Watt and Doyle are arguably the two fastest players on the team. Watt took over Doyle’s position and the Pride remained in the same formation.

Watt didn’t take long to make her presence felt. In the 64th minute, she took the ball from Van der Jagt after Cluff applied pressure. Carrying the ball to the top of the box, the speedster attempted to play Bright behind the defense, but the pass was a bit too far in front.

The Pride made their second change in the 67th minute, resulting in some shifting of positions but keeping the same formation. Celia came on and took over at right back, replacing defensive midfielder Abello. McCutcheon moved from right back into the defensive midfield.

In the 72nd minute, second-half substitute McKenzie Weinert was sent behind the Pride defense by fellow substitute Alyssa Malonson. Moorhouse came off her line to block the attempt, but it went to Balcer, whose shot was blocked by Celia. It didn’t matter anyway as the assistant’s flag went up for offside on the initial ball forward.

A scary moment occurred for the Pride in the 76th minute when Barnes sent Bennett into the Pride box with a long aerial ball. Moorhouse came out to collect it and Bennett slammed into the Pride’s starting goalkeeper. Moorhouse went down hard and had to receive attention from the Pride medical staff, but was able to continue. Meanwhile, Bennett was issued a yellow card for the challenge.

The Pride continued to look for a second goal to put the game away and Bright had multiple chances as the clock neared 90 minutes. In the 84th minute, Tymrak played the ball wide for Watt and the substitute sent a low cross into the box for the striker. Bright collected it and turned, but hit the ball well over the crossbar.

In the 86th minute, Bright made a great run into the box, using some slick moves to beat McClernon and Barnes. She created enough space for a shot, but hit the outside of the near post.

After Bright’s second miss, the Pride made their two final changes, looking to see out the three points. Defensive players Jordyn Listro and Brianna Martinez came into the game for attackers Bright and Tymrak.

Due to some extended stoppages where players required medical attention, the fourth official displayed nine minutes of injury time, a large number the Pride weren’t wanting to see. While the Reign won a pair of free kicks in the opposing half, they weren’t able to get any shots off and the Pride held on for the 1-0 win.

The Reign ended the game with more possession (51.3%-48.7%), but the Pride led the other statistical categories. The hosts had more shots (16-5), shots on target (7-2), corners (6-2), and crosses (15-12), and better passing accuracy (72.7%-67.3%).

“It was exciting. Especially when the fourth put nine minutes up at the end,” Hines said about the game. “But now listen, the players put a lot of work into that performance today and they got the reward for it. They started the game really fast. The front four put Seattle under pressure straight from kickoff, got an early goal, probably could have scored a couple more if the ball just dropped inside the frame of the goal, but you know they were brilliant from start to finish and that’s what it takes to win a game of football in this league.”

This is the second clean sheet for the Pride in as many games after keeping the Spirit scoreless last weekend. Also notable is that the Pride hung onto their lead late with nine minutes of added time. Seeing out games was something the team struggled with earlier this season, but they were able to see this one out to claim all three points.

“I think that was almost the best thing that could have happened to us because we’ve learned through experience and learned the hard way,” Montefusco said about conceding late goals earlier this season. “Not always the way you want to do it, but honestly, I look back and I’m thankful for it. Because you see it tonight. We’re so focused, we’re so tuned in and locked in those moments. The nerves are there and you just don’t want it to happen again. So you do anything you can to see the game out and the look on everyone’s face was just so motivated to finish out the game because we just wanted to end it and show the crowd and everyone here tonight that we deserve that win and we’re not going to let it slide.”

“Early on, we learned the hard way. It was obviously disappointing because we dropped points early on in the season,” Hines added. “You’ve seen the progression of the players have made, the team’s made since that moment. So now we’re holding the ball in the corner seeing it out. We have that determination to not concede and that’s brilliant, managing games much better.”

This was the last game before the Pride head into the World Cup break that lasts until late August. The next NWSL regular season game for the team will take place on Aug. 20 when they welcome the Chicago Red Stars to Exploria Stadium.

The Pride enter the break on a two-game winning streak with two clean sheets. It’s a great way to enter the extended time off, but Hines said that he has mixed feelings about the momentum heading into the down period.

“You can go two ways, right? Because, you know, you have good momentum, we’ve got six points the last two games, two clean sheets, four goals. You know, you want the next game to come around quickly, but I think the players deserve this time off now,” Hines said. “It’s important for them to reset the batteries and go again for the last push at the end of the season. Because you know there’s still a lot of points left on the table.”

The three points gained tonight don’t move the Pride far up the table, but it keeps them within touching distance of the sixth and final playoff spot. They’re currently on 19 points, tied with Racing Louisville for seventh in the league, and jumped the Houston Dash, who fell to the Red Stars tonight. They’re one point out of sixth place behind San Diego Wave FC, who play tomorrow.


While the Pride have over six weeks between league games, they’ll have four Challenge Cup games in that time. That stretch begins on July 23 when they welcome NJ/NY Gotham FC to Exploria Stadium.

Orlando Pride

Top 10 Moments of 2024: Orlando Pride Win NWSL Championship

Our No. 1 moment of 2024 features the Orlando Pride bringing home an NWSL Championship to clinch the league’s double and cap a historic season.

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Mark Thor

As we count down to the new year of 2025 — which will be Orlando City’s 11th in MLS, the Orlando Pride’s 10th in the NWSL, and OCB’s third in MLS NEXT Pro — and say goodbye to 2024, it’s time to look back at the club’s 10 best moments of the year as selected by The Mane Land staff via vote.

What do you do after you’ve won the NWSL Shield, went unbeaten for 24 consecutive games, set NWSL records for wins, points, clean sheets, and consecutive shutout minutes? Well, to paraphrase Jake Taylor in Major League, there’s only one thing left to do…win the whole f#@%ing thing! That’s exactly what the Orlando Pride did after the 2024 NWSL regular season. The Pride earned the right to play at home up until the championship game by virtue of finishing with the league’s best record in the regular season, and doing all those things I mentioned above. So, the team entered the postseason needing three victories to leave no doubt about which team was the league’s best.

It’s not that a regular-season title would be a hollow victory without a playoff championship, but it had been a few years since the league’s shield winner had completed the double and won the NWSL Championship. Orlando had high aspirations after such a successful regular season, and three wins in a row — even against a trio of the better teams in the league — seemed like child’s play for a Pride team that had winning streaks of eight, six, and three matches during the regular season. On the other hand, every team wanted to be the one to bring down the mighty Pride.

The team’s run to the double started at home against the Chicago Red Stars, a team that the Pride have famously struggled against, especially in Orlando. I won’t belabor it here, as it was the No. 5 moment in our countdown of the club’s biggest moments of the year in 2024. I’ll simply point out that the Pride breezed past the Red Stars so easily that Barbra Banda and Marta were playing goal frame challenge after Orlando built up a big lead, and Anna Moorhouse gave up a silly goal just to give Chicago one solitary moment of happiness in the match. I kid, but only just. Few playoff wins have come more easily.

That left the Pride with an NWSL semifinal matchup against the Kansas City Current — a team desperate to beat Orlando for perceived slights earlier in the season and because the title game was scheduled to take place in their home stadium. If Current players didn’t like Orlando celebrating in their stadium, they hadn’t seen anything yet. But first, the Pride had to get past Kansas City, a team they beat while down a player on the road July 6 and played to a scoreless stalemate in Orlando on Sept. 13.

The Pride took care of business, building a 3-1 lead after falling behind early, with Haley McCutcheon and Banda starting the comeback and Marta ultimately scoring the game-winner (our No. 7 moment of the year). Orlando had to withstand a desperation rally attempt by the Current that came too close for comfort after a late penalty kick goal cut the lead to one, but the Pride held on as they did throughout the season and booked their ticket to Kansas City to face the Washington Spirit.

If fans needed some good omens, there were a few. The Pride had swept the season series, so they knew they could beat Washington. Orlando had played the Spirit in a trophy-clinching game weeks earlier, beating them to clinch the NWSL Shield (our No. 2 moment of the year). The Pride and the Spirit headed to CPKC Stadium on Nov. 23 with a championship trophy on the line.

The game was every bit as tight and nervy as you could expect from a championship match. The teams were physical with each other, and referee Alyssa Nichols was letting them play. Well, everyone except Banda, who was called for every collision and bump, even when she was trying to fight through a hold by the defense. The Spirit and their fans no doubt weren’t happy when the physical play wasn’t called on the game’s only goal.

Angelina won the ball in the midfield and Washington’s Leicy Santos bodied her from behind, trying to win it back. The Brazilian fought Santos off in a physical confrontation and then launched a good long ball down the right channel for Banda to run onto.

Despite getting to the ball first, Banda had a lot left to do from the right flank. She cut inside, flicked the ball with her back heel to beat her defender, working her way nearly to the corner of the six. Former Pride goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury saw the ball on Banda’s left foot and thought Orlando’s striker might try to pick out a runner in the middle of the box. Instead, Banda smashed the ball with her left foot. Kingsbury got a piece but the shot had a lot of powper and surprised the goalkeeper, opening the scoring in the 37th minute.

That was the only goal celebration in the 2024 NWSL Championship. The Pride held off Washington’s repeated advances into the final third. The Spirit chased the game hard, finishing with advantages in many statistical categories, including possession (58%-42%), shots (26-9), shots on target (5-3), corner kicks (8-3), crosses (25-11), and passing accuracy (79%-69%). But the league’s best defense in the regular season held strong, and the Pride had their second major trophy in a 48-day span with the 1-0 win over Washington.

The Pride were even more effusive in their celebrating than they’d been in their last trip to Kansas City, when they’d suffered down a player for more than half the game and won the battle of the NWSL’s last two undefeated teams in the Current’s seemingly impenetrable home fortress. Team captain Marta can perhaps be forgiven for getting on the bad side of the television censors when expressing the intense relief of finally winning the league championship. Pride fans, who had suffered through some miserable seasons since the team’s inception, likely were experiencing similar feelings.

Upon returning home, the Pride were honored with a parade through downtown Orlando, showing off the team’s two trophies to a huge crowd downtown in front of City Hall. The players, coaches, and front office were showered with adulation from the fans, and rightfully so. Even entering the season with raised expectations, few could have foreseen the club achieving so much, and it was the culmination of an extraordinary amount of work and chemistry from everyone.

While winning the NWSL Shield is considered by some to be the bigger accomplishment of the two trophies Orlando won in 2024, doing the double was twice as nice. With the victory, the Pride became the first professional sports team from Orlando to win a major league trophy. As such, the NWSL Championship is worthy of the top spot on our list of the biggest moments of 2024. It wasn’t a unanimous choice by our staff in the voting, but it was the overwhelming winner.


This concludes our list of the the top 10 moments of 2024 for Orlando City, the Orlando Pride, and OCB. There’s no doubt the list was heavy on the Pride accomplishments this season, but that’s what happens when you win the double and set so many league and club records along the way. We had a lot of fantastic moments to choose from in 2024, so if we didn’t pick yours, well…maybe next year. We tried to work OCB into the list, but the Young Lions didn’t make the final 10 in our staff vote. Hopefully you enjoyed reliving these moments as much as we did writing about them.

Previous Top Moments of 2024

10. Orlando City’s massive second-half surge clinches top-four spot in Eastern Conference.

9. The Orlando Pride sign Zambian international striker Barbra Banda ahead of the 2024 season.

8. Facundo Torres scores his 47th goal for Orlando City, breaking the Lions’ all-time goal record.

7. Marta’s magical goal pushes the Orlando Pride past Kansas City and into the NWSL Championship.

6. Orlando City wins nervy three-game MLS Cup playoff series to advance past Charlotte FC.

5. Orlando Pride pick up the club’s first-ever playoff win in their first-ever time hosting a postseason match.

4. Orlando Pride rewrite club and NWSL record books throughout 2024 season and playoffs.

3. Orlando City dumps rival Atlanta United to advance to the club’s first-ever MLS Eastern Conference final appearance.

2. Orlando Pride earn the club’s first trophy by claiming the 2024 NWSL Shield with a win over Washington.

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Orlando Pride

Top 10 Moments: Orlando Pride Win NWSL Shield

In our No. 2 moment of the year, the Pride’s regular-season dominance culminated in the winning of the NWSL Shield.

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride

As we count down to the new year of 2025 — which will be Orlando City’s 11th in MLS, the Orlando Pride’s 10th in the NWSL, and OCB’s third in MLS NEXT Pro — and say goodbye to 2024, it’s time to look back at the club’s 10 best moments of the year as selected by The Mane Land staff via vote.

I usually do not compare myself to Ernest Hemingway, as the comparison is not very flattering to one of us. It is not important to delineate to whom it is not flattering, but suffice it to say one of us has significantly more writing talent than the other. Either way, I am going to borrow, and slightly modify, a line of Hemingway’s from The Sun Also Rises that I think perfectly encapsulates how the Pride won the NWSL Shield in 2024:

“How did you win the Shield?” Andrew asked. “Two ways,” Seb said. “Gradually and then suddenly.”

The actual question from the novel was about how a character went bankrupt, but the 2024 Orlando Pride were, as the kids say, money all year long, gradually stacking up point after point until Oct. 6, when they defeated the Washington Spirit 2-0 and suddenly they were the NWSL regular-season champions.

In order to get to that night in October, however, the sun had to also rise (sorry, that line was right there) on 22 other game days, and during that run of 22 games the Pride were better than any team in league history, going undefeated with 16 wins, six draws, and a +27 goal differential. For some context, only two NWSL teams had ever even won 16 games in a full season prior to 2024, and neither of them opened with 54 total points in their first 22 games.

In looking back at that season-opening stretch, it is somewhat amusing to see that the Pride drew their first two games, and neither of the teams they drew against (Racing Louisville and Angel City) made the playoffs. They then drew with Chicago, which ultimately made the playoffs as the lowest seed, and then, after whipping off a league-record eight straight wins, the Pride drew with San Diego…which also did not make the playoffs. So in a 12-game opening stretch, the Pride won eight games and drew four, and those four draws were with the teams who ended up ranked ninth, 12th, eighth and 10th of 14 total teams.

It is almost certainly not a coincidence that there were draws in the first three games and all three were played without FIFPRO World Best XI superstar Barbra Banda, but in looking back at the season, it is a bit of a stunner to see that the team that won the league started so meekly.

The Pride finally got their first win of the season in Game 4, against another non-playoff team, the Utah Royals, and that became the first of the eight wins in a row I mentioned earlier. Banda dressed for the first time in the next game, and with her in the lineup, the team scored 15 goals in the next seven games and put the entire league on notice that something special was happening in Orlando.

San Diego put a stop to the eight-game winning streak when the Pride traveled west for a Friday night matchup, but the Pride held on for a 1-1 draw despite playing without a few key players who had just returned from international duty. The team then traveled all the way back across the country for its next match, a hard fought 0-0 draw at North Carolina, becoming the first team all season to take a point from the Courage in their home stadium.

That took the Pride to a season-opening lucky number 13 straight games without a loss and also had the entire league looking ahead and salivating at a possible undefeated team vs. undefeated team matchup in Kansas City in a few short weeks. The Pride held up their end of the bargain, smashing Utah 6-0 and Angel City 3-0, and Kansas City did its part as well. Orlando went into the matchup at Kansas City undefeated through 15 games and tied on points with the Current, who also were 10-0-5 at that point.

I do not think it is hyperbolic to say that the anticipation before the game was as big as any regular-season game in NWSL history. The game was played in prime time on Saturday night, with no other games going on when it kicked off, and the opening 40 minutes of the game were everything everyone had hoped for, including goals from Banda and Kansas City’s Temwa Chawinga, who each had been on fire during opening half of the season. A red card on Orlando’s Carrie Lawrence in the 42nd minute changed the tone of the game, but in the second half Adriana earned a penalty kick that Marta converted, and the Pride held on for a gritty 2-1 victory while playing the entire second half down a player. Kansas City did not like the Pride’s postgame celebrations, although someone with two thumbs and who is writing this article certainly did.

That win over the Current opened up a three-point gap at the top of the table for Orlando, a lead the Pride would never relinquish. After a month-long break for the Olympics and the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup, the Pride returned to NWSL regular-season action and proceeded to win three straight games in shutout fashion. They then tied the Current at home (another shutout) before going on another two-game win streak, though sadly the Houston Dash (another team that did not make the playoffs) were able to score a goal to break up the run of shutouts. The win over the Dash took the Pride to a record of 16-0-6 and brings us back to the night of Oct. 6, when the Pride won the NWSL Shield suddenly, after having set themselves up to win it gradually.

At this point of the NWSL season, there were only two teams remaining that could win the league — the Pride and their opponents on the night, the Washington Spirit, who entered the game trailing the Pride by seven points. A win for the Pride would put them up 10 points with only three games remaining, clinching the Shield.

“It’s number one versus number two, so we expect a very competitive game,” Pride Head Coach Seb Hines said going into the match. “Washington has been in a good run of form, as well as us, so I would expect both teams going out to get a win.”

The Mane Land’s Sean Rollins wrote an excellent recap of the match, and this paragraph of his really encapsulates how the match went:

This was a dominant performance by the Pride. They took the game to the Spirit early and didn’t let up. There were some moments when it looked like the visitors might find a way through, but the Pride took a deserved lead when Marta scored from the spot in the 53rd minute. An Adriana shot in the 73rd minute was deflected in by Tara McKeown and determined to be an own goal. The second goal ensured the Pride would take all three points and secure the shield.

Washington did not go down quietly, creating a few chances in the final 15 minutes of the game, but they were unable to get anything past the outstanding Orlando defense, and when the whistle blew, the Pride had their first-ever piece of NWSL hardware. If you have not seen the NWSL Shield in person, you need to find a way to get to a Pride game and see it, because it would give Captain America’s a run for its money. The NWSL and Tiffany & Co. were not messing around with this design.

“I mean, a lot of praise has to go to the players and what they’ve done. They’ve been incredible, their efforts and what they’ve put into this year,” Hines said after that match. “And, you know, I said to them before, it wasn’t our time last year. They were bitterly disappointed how the season ended and it just wasn’t meant to be. And so they took that into fuel going into this year. And, you know, I can’t doubt them. They’ve been absolutely amazing from start to finish. And I’m so happy for them that they finally got the job done in front of our own fans.”

Marta, who famously was a little loose with her tongue after winning the NWSL playoffs a few weeks later, was able to keep her postgame comments rated PG after this one. “We worked so hard from the beginning and every single game,” Marta said. “And we looked to have this moment, especially here in our house. You know, in front of our fans and families and friends. It’s unbelievable. Something that I dreamed about.”

The Sun Also Rises was Hemingway’s first novel, and it is considered by many to be his finest work. This was the Pride’s first-ever league championship, and while it remains to be seen whether it will eventually be considered their finest, there is no doubt whatsoever that it was an amazing season and one that will be remembered for a long time. Interestingly, Hemingway thought that a later novel, The Old Man and the Sea, was his best work, so perhaps there is another epic season coming for the Pride as well, and they will catch the their version of a giant marlin, the full undefeated season.

That would be a fish tale for another day, but on this day we celebrate a season-long dominant performance by Orlando, and one that culminated with the Pride celebrating their reign in the rain on Oct. 6, holding the NWSL Shield aloft as 2024’s regular-season champions.


Come back through New Year’s Eve as we count down the remainder of the top 10 moments of 2024 for Orlando City, the Orlando Pride, and OCB.

Previous Top Moments of 2024

10. Orlando City’s massive second-half surge clinches top-four spot in Eastern Conference.

9. The Orlando Pride sign Zambian international striker Barbra Banda ahead of the 2024 season.

8. Facundo Torres scores his 47th goal for Orlando City, breaking the Lions’ all-time goal record.

7. Marta’s magical goal pushes the Orlando Pride past Kansas City and into the NWSL Championship.

6. Orlando City wins nervy three-game MLS Cup playoff series to advance past Charlotte FC.

5. Orlando Pride pick up the club’s first-ever playoff win in their first-ever time hosting a postseason match.

4. Orlando Pride rewrite club and NWSL record books throughout 2024 season and playoffs.

3. Orlando City dumps rival Atlanta United to advance to the club’s first-ever MLS Eastern Conference final appearance.

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Orlando Pride

Top 10 Moments of 2024: Orlando Pride Rewrite Club, League Record Books

The Orlando Pride set so many club and league records in 2024. We collected them as one truly special No. 4 “moment” for the club this year.

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

As we count down to the new year of 2025 — which will be Orlando City’s 11th in MLS, the Orlando Pride’s 10th in the NWSL, and OCB’s third in MLS NEXT Pro — and say goodbye to 2024, it’s time to look back at the club’s 10 best moments of the year as selected by The Mane Land staff via vote.

It seems odd to lump a whole heap of record-setting accomplishments into one “moment” of 2024, but the Orlando Pride set and/or tied so many new club and league marks that it’s impossible to separate them all out and give them each their own due. For the purposes of this “moment,” we were originally considering it to be the Pride setting new NWSL records in three vital categories — consecutive wins, consecutive games unbeaten, and consecutive shutout minutes. However, where’s the fun in limiting yourself? We ended up just throwing all the records we can think of at you, not only because it’s more fun that way, but also because it truly illustrates how remarkable this season was in terms of club and NWSL history.

The Pride struggled out of the gate to three consecutive draws to open the season and then really got going. By midseason, it seemed like Orlando was setting a new club or NWSL record every game — sometimes both in the same match. After a lot of thought about it, we decided not to break out individual records, putting them together as one shining example of what the Pride was able to accompish this season. Given that none of the records alone were bigger than the team achievements of winning the NWSL Shield and NWSL Championship double, the combined records should simply stand up and be their own collective thing.

The first record the Pride set was a dubious one for two reasons. First, it was merely an extension of the team’s own mark. Second, it wasn’t good. The Pride began the season with a 2-2 draw at Racing Louisville on March 16, which extended Orlando’s streak of never having won on opening day. The club is 0-5-3 in regular-season openers since its inception. Because there was no regular season in 2020, that’s one fewer game than seasons of existence, but if you include the 2020 NWSL Fall Series — the only competition Orlando competed in that year — the Pride are 0-5-4 in their competitive openers across nine seasons. That’s not a good record. However, almost all the rest of the ones they set are either neutral or positive.

Orlando set a new club record and tied another one on March 29 in a 1-1 home draw against the Chicago Red Stars. When a corner kick from Angelina went in off Chicago’s Taylor Malham for an own goal in the 21st minute, it extended the Pride’s consecutive games streak of scoring on a set piece to three games, establishing a new club record. The draw itself was Orlando’s third in a row, tying a club record set from July 17 through Aug. 7, 2022. The Pride equaled that draw streak later in 2024 by tying each of their three NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup games.

On April 26, the Pride went to Audi Field and beat the Washington Spirit 3-2. That set a new club record for most consecutive games scoring at least one goal, extending the streak to 10 games dating back to Sept. 17, 2023. That streak eventually stretched out to 16 games, where the new club record now stands after a 1-1 draw at San Diego on June 7. The streak was snapped in a scoreless draw at North Carolina June 15.

On May 1, Barbra Banda appeared in just her third match since joining Orlando. It was her second start and she starred, scoring a brace and adding an assist. She becamse the first player in NWSL history to record both a goal and an assist in each of her first two starts as the Pride defeated the Courage, 4-1. It was the eighth consecutive result with a point (a win or a draw) in NWSL play for the Pride dating back to the 2023 season finale, another club record streak.

Just one match later, the record book expanded even more. The 1-0 home win over Racing Louisville on May 5 established a new club record for the longest streak of results from the start of an NWSL season (8), which continued to grow for nearly the entire season. It broke the old Pride mark of seven, established in 2021 when Orlando began the season 4-0-3 to kick off the NWSL schedule.

The Pride won a club-record sixth straight game May 11, beating Bay FC 1-0, thanks to an Adriana penalty drawn by Banda. That record also got extended before the streak ended.

The Pride broke its old mark of nine consecutive results across all competitions (set in 2021 with two in the NWSL Challenge Cup and the first seven games of the regular season) in Game 10 of the 2024 season, a 3-2 road victory over the Seattle Reign May 19. It was Orlando’s first road victory in the series against the Reign.

Just one game later, the Pride defeated the Portland Thorns 2-1 at home on May 24. The win was the last of eight consecutive by Orlando, setting new NWSL and club records. That streak came to an end in the next match June 7 at San Diego, but the team continued to get results, and after a pair of road draws, the winning and the records continued to pile up.

On June 21, the Pride piled up the goals in a 6-0 destruction of the Utah Royals. The Pride set or tied multiple records in the match, including the club marks for most goals in a game (6), goals in a half (4, second half), largest margin of victory (six goals), and largest shutout victory. The six-goal margin of victory tied an NWSL record. Banda scored a brace in the match, becoming the first NWSL player to score 10 goals in her first 10 appearances and setting the Pride’s single-season record for braces with her fourth.

Two games later, the Pride met the Current in Kansas City and won 2-1 despite going a player down in the first half, claiming the battle of the only remaining two unbeaten teams in the NWSL. The win halted Kansas City’s league-record 17-game unbeaten run and Orlando tied that mark with the result, entering the Summer Cup and Olympic break riding plenty of momentum.

Orlando drew all three Summer Cup games, marking the first time the club had participated in a penalty shootout, doing so after all three matches. McKinley Crone was the goalkeeper of record for the Pride’s first shootout, which North Carolina won 5-4, despite Crone making two saves. Orlando’s first penalty shootout victory came in the second Summer Cup game, as the Pride capped a 2-2 draw against CF Monterrey with a 5-4 shootout win behind Sofia Manner, making her Orlando debut in the club’s first-ever competitive contest against international competition.

Returning to league play, Orlando set a new NWSL mark with its 18th consecutive game in the regular season without a loss, beating the Houston Dash 1-0 on the road on Aug. 23. The Pride set a team record for wins in a season with their 12th and a new record for points in a season (41), and Anna Moorhouse not only became the club’s career leader in clean sheets with her 15th, but she also set the single-season club record with her eighth. All of those numbers grew more by the end of 2024, starting with the very next game.

Seb Hines became the Pride’s all-time winningest coach Sept. 1 in a 2-0 home win over Gotham FC, passing Tom Sermanni by earning his 26th win as the Pride’s head coach. Orlando tied its single-season mark for home victories (7) in the match as well. The Pride picked up another shutout win at Chicago on Sept. 8 and then hosted the rematch against the Current, which ended in a scoreless draw. That 0-0 game Sept. 13 set a new Pride record for consecutive shutouts (4) as Moorhouse tied the NWSL record for most clean sheets by a goalkeeper in a single season with her 11th.

Every game continued to not only increase the Pride’s ongoing club- and league-record streaks, but also brought new marks in the process. Banda tied the NWSL record with her sixth game-winning goal of the season in the 1-0 win at Bay FC Sept. 20 and Moorhouse captured sole possession of the single-season NWSL shutout record with her 12th. The Pride clinched a home playoff game for the first time in franchise history and completed their fifth straight shutout, establishing a new club record for consecutive clean sheets while tying the NWSL’s all-time mark. It was Orlando’s eighth and final road victory of the regular season, setting a new club single-season record and tying the NWSL record. Banda, who scored the only goal of the match, tied the club record with her 13th regular-season goal of the year, equaling the record Marta set in 2017.

The Pride’s shutout streak ended in the 53rd minute of the next game when Yuki Nagasato scored for the Houston Dash in what was ultimately a 3-1 Orlando victory. The Pride established a new club Inter&Co Stadium attendance record with 17,087 fans in the stands to witness the victory. Those fans also saw Nagasato’s goal end Orlando’s new NWSL-record streak for consecutive shutout minutes (554). In addition, Moorhouse set the club’s new career record for goalkeeper wins (24).

It’s a bit of a shame Nagasato scored for Houston, because the Pride posted another shutout in the next game against Washington on Oct. 6. The Pride clinched the NWSL Shield with a 2-0 victory over the Spirit — the club’s first-ever trophy. Orlando equaled the league records for most wins (17) and points (57) in a season, which were obviously both new franchise marks, and those were extended in the regular-season finale. Moorhouse completed her 13th clean sheet of the season to set the NWSL single-season record. The victory turned out to be the final match of the team’s unbeaten streak, with the Pride setting the bar high. Orlando’s NWSL-record unbeaten streak finished at 24 matches (18-0-6) and the league record unbeaten streak from the start of a season was set at 23 games (17-0-6).

The Pride dropped their first games of the season on a two-game road swing against playoff qualifiers Portland and Gotham. Although an unbeaten season was spoiled, the players had achieved one of the goals they set out to accomplish at the start of the season, clinching home field throughout the playoffs. It’s understandable if there was a bit of a hangover afterwards, but more records were waiting.

Orlando hosted the Seattle Reign in the final game of the regular season, winning a hard-fought 3-2 match and establishing a new club record and tying the NWSL record for home wins in a season (10). The Pride’s 18th win set a single-season record for both the club and the league, as did the team’s 60 points earned across the regular season.

Playoff Record Epilogue

Orlando’s postseason included several records as well, which isn’t surprising since it was only the second time the club had reached the playoffs and the first time the Pride played in more than one playoff match in a single postseason. Banda set a league postseason record by scoring four goals. The Pride set new club single-season records for playoff matches (3), home playoff matches (2), wins (3), braces (1, by Banda), shutouts (1), penalty kicks (1), penalties conceded (1), and goals scored (8), as well as fewest goals conceded in a postseason (3). Orlando also established new club single-game playoff records for most goals scored (4), most goals by one player (2, by Banda vs. Chicago on Nov. 8), most penalties (1, Nov. 8 vs. Chicago), most penalties conceded (1, Nov. 17 vs. Kansas City), and fewest goals conceded (0, Nov. 23 vs. Washington). The Pride scored their latest goal in a playoff game with Marta’s 82nd-minute winner against Kansas City Nov. 17, however, Orlando also conceded the latest goal in NWSL playoff history with Vanessa DiBernardo’s penalty in the 13th minute of stoppage time in that same game.

The Pride also set a record for combined home wins in the regular season and playoffs (12) with the NWSL semifinal victory over the Current. Banda set a club record for most goals across all competitions (17).


The sheer number of club and league records that the Pride either set or tied in 2024 is astounding. Some of those may fall in 2025, while others may last for many years. Regardless of how long they last — and expansion will likely increase the number of games, making some of them more likely to fall — the 2024 Orlando Pride campaign was one of the most successful in the history of any team sport. Even those who took part in it could hardly have predicted the level of dominance and success the Pride achieved.

It simply made sense for us to honor the collective volume of the Pride’s firsts, records broken or tied, and history made into one of our top moments of 2024. We hope you enjoyed reliving all of the above, and we’re sure there were probably a few we missed.


Come back through New Year’s Eve as we count down the remainder of the top 10 moments of 2024 for Orlando City, the Orlando Pride, and OCB.

Previous Top Moments of 2024

10. Orlando City’s massive second-half surge clinches top-four spot in Eastern Conference.

9. The Orlando Pride sign Zambian international striker Barbra Banda ahead of the 2024 season.

8. Facundo Torres scores his 47th goal for Orlando City, breaking the Lions’ all-time goal record.

7. Marta’s magical goal pushes the Orlando Pride past Kansas City and into the NWSL Championship.

6. Orlando City wins nervy three-game MLS Cup playoff series to advance past Charlotte FC.

5. Orlando Pride pick up the club’s first-ever playoff win in their first-ever time hosting a postseason match.

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