The Orlando Pride returned from the break and picked up basically where they left off, playing well enough to beat the Seattle Reign on the road, while not exactly impressing with the performance that earned those three points. All wins in the NWSL are good, and none seem to come easily, but the Pride made things unnecessarily difficult on themselves in the second half with giveaways and inconsistent defending. Anna Moorhouse had to come up huge late in the game to preserve a 1-0 lead that Barbra Banda had supplied just before halftime.

We look back at another low-scoring Pride win, check our score predictions from last week’s show, and make our selections for Player of the Match.

This week’s mailbagbox wants to know how the Pride turned around their history of past failures, how smart USWNT Head Coach Emma Hayes is, narratives about the Pride-Spirit series, and more. Remember, you can ask us anything by hitting us up on Twitter at either @TheManeLand or @SkoPurpSoccer and using the hashtag #AskSkoPurp. You can use that same hashtag and hit @TheManeLand.bsky.social up on Bluesky. Or you can visit our show page, scroll down, and fill out the handy form. We’d also appreciate any ratings or reviews you can leave wherever you get your podcasts, and if you do that on Apple Podcasts, we’ll find them easily and read them on the show.

Following our mailbagbox segment, we look ahead to Saturday’s matchup between the Pride and the Spirit. Orlando may have won trophies with consecutive victories over the Spirit, but Washington got the last laugh by winning the postgame penalty shootout to claim the 2025 NWSL Challenge Cup at Inter&Co Stadium. The Pride will have to be sharper than they’ve been at both ends in recent games to hold off one of the league’s top contenders. We provide our key matchups and our score predictions.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.

Here’s how Episode 82 went down:

0:15 – The Pride pick up just their second road win against Seattle in club history. It was anything but easy.

13:24 – Our listeners have many questions and we are always going to have some kind of answers.

33:00 – The Pride return home for a pivotal match against the Washington Spirit.

Orlando City played much better against the New York Red Bulls than it did on the road at Philadelphia, but a lack of finishing precision and two ill-advised yellow cards on Rodrigo Schlegel eventually turned a game full of promise into an exercise in protecting a point. To their credit, the Lions did that, but the way they’d been dominating play, it was a disappointing home result, despite running the team’s unbeaten streak to five games.

We look back at our score predictions to see if we came close, discuss the game’s big talking points, and make our selections for Man of the Match.

The mailbagbox asks about Orlando being a defensive-minded team now, our first dates, David Brekalo at left back, and more. Remember, if there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the show, just ask us by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC, or hitting us up on Bluesky Social with that same hashtag.

OCB became the first team to score on New England Revolution II last week, as Shak Mohammed’s late goal lifted the Young Lions to a 1-0 home victory. The reserve team is off to a strong start, but may be shorthanded Tuesday night against Inter Miami after several OCB players took part in the Generation Adidas Cup group stage from Saturday through Monday.

Orlando City is right back on the road for its fifth away match in seven games Saturday night when the Lions visit Stade Saputo to face CF Montreal. We look at the series history, provide our key matchups to the game, and try our hand at making our final score predictions for the match.

Be sure to rate and review our show wherever you get your podcasts. Remember, we’ll read any five-star reviews we get on Apple Podcasts on the next show.

Here’s how No. 473 went down:

0:15 – The Lions are shut out for the second straight week but also shut out the opponent for the second weekend in a row. You have to take the good with the bad, I guess.

17:02– The mailbagbox is full, and OCB is playing well at home.

37:14 – Orlando City takes off to the Great White North looking for a beauty way to go as the Lions visit Montreal.

The Orlando Pride had the weekend off with the exception of a few international players. Emily Sams didn’t play Saturday and we recorded this week’s show before Tuesday’s late night match against Brazil in California. Angelina played for the Brazilians, but it was the Yanks who prevailed in the opener.

This week’s mailbagbox wants to know how quickly the NWSL will expand, whether international officiating was bad in the USWNT-Brazil match, our favorite in-person Pride experience, whether Orlando’s internationals will be available for Saturday’s game, and more. Remember, you can ask us anything by hitting us up on Twitter at either @TheManeLand or @SkoPurpSoccer and using the hashtag #AskSkoPurp. You can use that same hashtag and hit @TheManeLand.bsky.social up on Bluesky. Or you can visit our show page, scroll down, and fill out the handy form. We’d also appreciate any ratings or reviews you can leave wherever you get your podcasts, and if you do that on Apple Podcasts, we’ll find them easily and read them on the show.

The Pride go to Seattle on Saturday to face the Reign. Orlando has historically not done well in the Pacific Northwest and the Pride have only one road win in this series. Will the Pride be able to stay focused, play hard, and get a result in the state of Washington? We preview the game, give you our key matchups for Saturday, and make our predictions for the final score. We get to come back next week and talk about it!

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.

Here’s how Episode 81 went down:

0:15 – Pride players with their national teams and a heaping helping of the mailbagbox.

31:29 – The Pride head northwest to Seattle and we’ve got your preview.