Orlando Pride
Orlando Pride vs. Chicago Stars FC: Final Score 3-0 as Pride Dominate for First Win of 2026
The Pride claimed their first win of the season, beating Chicago Stars FC 3-0 away from home.
The Orlando Pride (1-1-1, 4 points) claimed their first win of the 2026 season, defeating Chicago Stars FC (1-2-0, 3 points) 3-0 at Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium in Evanston, IL. First-half goals by Barbra Banda, Jacquie Ovalle, and Hannah Anderson were the difference in the team’s first road game of the year.
Pride Head Coach Seb Hines made two changes to the team that drew 1-1 with Denver Summit FC on Friday night. Angelina and Solai Washington entered the starting lineup, replacing Seven Castain and Summer Yates.
The back line in front of goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse was Cori Dyke, Anderson, Hailie Mace, and Oihane. Angelina and Ally Lemos were the defensive midfielders behind Ovalle, Haley McCutcheon, and Washington with Banda up top.
Apart from a 10-minute spell to start the second half, the Pride were by far the better team in this game. They created more chances than the opposition and the first half was the best 45 minutes the team has played this year. Most importantly, they converted on multiple chances, something that plagued this team in the first two games.
The Stars were the more threatening team early, creating a pair of corner kicks inside the first five minutes. However, the first chance came in the 10th minute when Jameese Joseph sent Ryan Gareis behind the Pride back line. The midfielder was kept onside by Anderson and was in on goal, but she sent her shot over the crossbar.
The Pride had their first chance in the 13th minute and converted. A poor pass by Washington near the top of the Chicago box gave possession away. But McCutcheon won it back and Lemos sent Banda behind the back line. Sam Staab slid in a desperate attempt to stop the striker, but the Zambian put it past Alyssa Naeher to take the early 1-0 lead. For Lemos, it was her first pro assist.
The goal gave the Pride their first lead of the 2026 NWSL season. It was Banda’s third goal of the year, scoring the first three goals for her team.
“I think it’s so important to score the first goal, especially in this team,” Hines said about the early conversion. “I think the record speaks for itself. It gives you that foundation. It kind of changes the opponent’s game plan.”
“It was huge,” Washington added about scoring first. “Super great of Barbra to be able to convert that super early in the game, because the last few games we’ve been trailing to begin with. So I think just getting that confidence of that first goal really helped us and is a big testament to why we were able to continue to just get more comfortable into the game and kind of play our game and trust in ourselves. And I think that’s what got us three points.”
In the 18th minute, Banda received a pass in the Chicago third and turned Staab, who pulled back the striker. Ovalle took the set piece, sending it toward the back post where Anderson was making a run. However, the ball was a little too far in front of the center back, who was unable to get on the end of it.
The Stars had a chance in the 21st minute off of a short free kick. The ball into the box was headed on by Michelle Alozie and out by Mace. But the center back didn’t get enough on the clearance, allowing Staab to head the ball toward goal. Fortunately, she didn’t get much on it, allowing Moorhouse to make the easy catch.
A minute later, the Pride doubled their advantage. It started when the Pride took the ball away from Maitane Lopez near midfield. Banda tapped the ball back for Angelina who sent it long for Ovalle. The Mexican international reached the top of the box and shot, but it was blocked by Bea Franklin. The ball went right back to Ovalle, who played it wide for Washington. The rookie sent a low pass just behind Ovalle, but the attacker spun and backheeled the ball past Naeher to make it 2-0.
“I got the ball on the width, and at that point, it’s kind of just betting on myself, taking players on one-v-one and just having confidence in myself and then commit to finish,” Washington said about her first professional assist. “And I played it into Jacquie, and she had a fantastic finish, back heel kind of finish. So, you know, super grateful to be able to have, you know, first assist and first start, and obviously just a great finish by Jacquie as well.”
“It’s always going to be a tough adjustment coming to the league, and I think now we’re starting to see her qualities,” Hines said about Ovalle’s goal “It’s a terrific finish from individuality to see that and apply it is important. And shout out to Solai as well, getting her first assist in the process; that’s important for her to get off the mark.”
The Pride continued to push and found a third goal in the 35th minute. Ovalle went down after some contact from behind by Lopez, earning a free kick in the Chicago half. The free kick by Ovalle was headed out of play by Alozie for the Pride’s first corner kick of the night.
Ovalle took the set piece, sending it to the back post where Anderson was making a run. The center back was defended by Tessa Dellarose, but she got behind the left back and volleyed the ball in with her left foot to score her first goal against her former team. It gave Ovalle an assist to go along with her goal.
“Obviously, I know that we have great service, so my job is kind of just to find the ball and get on the end of it,” Anderson said. “Jacquie had a great ball in, and I kind of made a double movement to get to the back of the post. And really, all I was thinking was get good contact on the ball.”
“We talked about set pieces a lot, and it’s becoming a lot more important in the game,” Hines said. “And for Hannah to not only get a clean sheet, but score the goal against her former team as well, I know that felt good for her, so again, really pleased for her, really pleased with the delivery and how we applied it.”
Banda looked for her second goal in the 41st minute after McCutcheon took the ball off Manaka Hayashi. Banda took possession, dribbling to the top of the Chicago box. Despite the Stars defense collapsing around her, Banda found space for a shot from distance and forced Naeher into a diving stop at her near post.
The Pride nearly had a chance for a fourth in the second minute of stoppage time when Banda sent a dangerous ball across the top of the Chicago six-yard box. McCutcheon and Washington were making runs, but the cross was behind both of them.
It was a dominant first 45 minutes for Orlando, which had more possession (52%-48%), shots (6-4), shots on target (4-1), and crosses (11-3). Chicago had better passing accuracy (85%-83%) and both teams won three corner kicks.
The Stars got the second half off to an attacking start. Ivonne Chacon was sent behind the Pride back line fewer than 30 seconds after the restart, but Moorhouse did well to come off her line and collect it.
Seconds later, Julia Grosso made a strong run to the top of the Pride box before Mace touched it away. The ball went to Joseph, who took a hard shot that went just wide of the near post.
Chicago’s high press made it difficult for the Pride to get the ball out of their own end and created another chance for the hosts. In the 49th minute, Grosso collected the ball and made a strong run to the top of the Pride box. Anderson was on her hip, but Grosso got a shot off, sending the attempt high and wide.
“It’s a bit different, because now Chicago are chasing the game, and we had to work at the start,” Hines said about the start of the second half. “I would have liked us to start the second half a bit better, but albeit, we kept the ball out the net, didn’t give them much joy.”
The Pride got their first second-half chance in the 54th minute when Banda drew a foul on Staab. Ovalle sent the ensuing set piece into the middle of the box where Banda flicked it on with her head. It went just wide of the left post.
The Pride nearly had a fourth goal in the 61st minute when Banda played the ball square for Ovalle, who couldn’t control it. McCutcheon took possession and fired from long distance, sending her attempt beyond Naeher’s outstretched arm and off the crossbar.
A minute later, Hines made his first change of the game, replacing Angelina with Yates.
Grosso was more selfish in the second half and it resulted in her creating dangerous chances. That happened again in the 67th minute when the midfielder received the ball near the top corner of the Pride box. She dribbled through defenders and in on goal before firing for the near post. However, Moorhouse stayed on her line and blocked the attempt, ending the attack.
In the 71st minute, Dyke made a run to the end line before her cross was headed over the end line by Jenna Bike. Hines made two more changes during the stoppage, replacing Mace and Washington with Rafaelle and Castain.
Hines made his final two changes in the 82nd minute. Ovalle and Banda came off for Julie Doyle and Marta. It was the club captain’s first appearance of the season.
Lemos received a pass in a seemingly innocuous position. However, the midfielder fired from long distance. It was an excellent strike that forced Naeher to go after the ball, which went just over the crossbar.
Oihane received a long pass across the field in the 86th minute and her first touch was forward for Doyle. Doyle did well to bring the ball down and dribble into the box before sending her shot wide of the near post. The final attempt of the game came in the dying seconds as Doyle dribbled to the end line and played the ball across for Marta entering the six-yard box. The Brazilian tried to redirect the ball on target, but sent it wide.
That was the last touch as the final whistle blew, giving the Pride their first win and first clean sheet of the season. Chicago had more possession (52%-48%) and better passing accuracy (85%-82%), but the Pride had more shots (11-8), shots on target (4-2), and crosses (15-10). Both teams ended the game with four corner kicks.
“I thought we were terrific,” Hines said. “You know, we wanted to start off on the right foot. I think, obviously, getting that 3-0 lead in the first half really gives the foundation to go on and win the game. Second half was obviously a little bit different because Chicago put on a bit more pressure. And we had to weather a storm in that sense. And I felt we handled it really well. It was nice to get some players onto the pitch as well, and allow us to rest a few players in the lead up into Sunday’s game. So overall, really pleased. A lot of really good performances. It’s been coming as well. We’ve been disappointed with the results and other performances in the first two games, and so it was nice for it all to come together tonight.”
This game lifted a weight off the Pride in two ways. Despite having the majority of the chances in the first two games, they were only able to net one goal in each. They also conceded in both games, something the team was disappointed in. The ability to score three times lifts a weight off the attackers’ backs, especially Banda and Ovalle, who have had such high expectations going into this season. It was also the most complete performance defensively in the early part of the season.
“I feel like these past two games, we’ve really done well defensively, and kind of the team talks have been like we need to be locked in for all 90 minutes,” Anderson said about the clean sheet. “I think the stats have reflected that we’ve played better than the product of the match. And so, really, the goal was just to make sure we’re locked in, get the shutout. And obviously having three goals definitely helps keeping the balls out of our net, too.”
“We have spoken about it as a collective, especially with the defenders and goalkeeper. And we have a job to do. We have a job to keep the ball out of the net, whatever it takes,” Hines added. “Bodies on the line, blocks, getting close to people. And I thought they were brilliant in that, and it’s not just those at the back, it’s the midfielders, the forwards. It’s dictating the press as well. I think it’s been tough with the first two games as well, because we haven’t given the opponent too many opportunities to score, but we’ve been punished when we have, and so it’s been really pleasing that it was almost close to perfection.”
After a disappointing homestand that saw the Pride only claim one point from two games, their first win of the season provides some confidence going forward. They’re now on four points, tied for sixth, and two points behind the league-leading teams.
It’s a short turnaround for the Pride as they travel to New Jersey for a Sunday night matchup against the defending NWSL champions – and the team that knocked them out in the semifinals last year – NJ/NY Gotham FC.
Orlando Pride
Orlando Pride vs. Portland Thorns FC: Final Score 4-1 as Pride Get Punished at Home
Pride see short unbeaten run snapped at home as Thorns overrun Orlando’s defense to hand Yolanda Thomas her first loss.
The Orlando Pride (9-13-3, 30 points) were undone by a slow start, profligate finishing, poor defending, and a pair of late daggers in a 4-1 home loss to the Portland Thorns FC (12-7-6, 42 points) on Saturday at Inter.co Stadium. If not for a few vital saves, a post, and a few misses, the final score could have been a lot worse for a Pride team that missed several chances as well.
Nina Nijstad’s third-minute opener and a Sophia Wilson penalty put Portland up two goals inside the first half hour, and although Ally Lemos pulled one back before the break, the Thorns pulled away for good in the final 20 minutes on goals from Morgan Weaver and Renee Lyles.
Orlando Pride interim head coach Yolanda Thomas sent the Pride out in a 4-2-3-1, with goalkeeper Cosette Morché behind a back line of Hailie Mace, Hannah Anderson, Cori Dyke, and Oihane. Haley McCutcheon and Ally Lemos served as the defensive midfielders, with Solai Washington, Luana, and Summer Yates taking up the attacking midfield roles and Barbra Banda up top.
The match opened with some early back-and-forth, though the visitors started much more quickly and were more dangerous. Dyke conceded a corner just seconds after the opening kickoff, and Morché took a shot to the back while claiming the delivery with no foul given. Orlando tried to respond moments later when Oihane whipped in a cross looking for Banda, but the Spaniard sent her effort too close to Portland goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold.
Portland broke through late in the third minute. Wilson played a cutback into the middle, and a wide-open Nijstad fired it home from outside the box as the Pride back line got itself pulled apart to make it 1-0.
Orlando had a golden chance to answer almost immediately. In the sixth minute, Washington created space and squared the ball for McCutcheon from close range, but Reyna Reyes got across to block the shot before it could reach Arnold, denying a good opportunity.
Banda tested the Thorns defense again in the 11th minute, latching onto a pass from McCutcheon and firing from just outside the box, but she sent her shot right at Arnold.
McCutcheon turned the ball over in the 14th minute, and Morché had to come up with a save on a shot from the top of the box to keep the score at 1-0. Portland kept coming. Wilson forced two saves out of Morché in the 17th and 18th minutes to keep the deficit at one goal.
Reilyn Turner beat Mace down the right flank in the 20th minute to win a corner, which Jessie Fleming delivered. Anderson headed it clear.
The match turned in the 25th minute. Jayden Perry hauled down Banda to stop a clear run in behind, and while Orlando felt the challenge deserved more than a caution, referee Elvis Osmanovic showed only yellow. Banda would have had a step on the other center back and would easily have reached the ball first, but the decision stood at just a yellow. The Pride could do nothing with the long-range set piece.
Two minutes later, Caiya Hanks charged into the box down the left, and Oihane made a foolish decision to go to ground and lunge at the ball, catching Hanks and conceding a penalty. Wilson converted in the 28th minute, doubling Portland’s lead to 2-0.
Orlando players huddled after the penalty and seemed to wake up — a bit late — playing well for the rest of the half. The Pride answered Wilson’s penalty kick goal two minutes later. Washington cut in from the left and squared the ball across the top of the area for Lemos, whose first-touch strike curled inside the top-left corner. Arnold got a hand to it but couldn’t keep it out, and it was 2-1 in the 30th minute on a play that looked similar to Portland’s opening goal.
The Pride searched for a quick equalizer. Yates headed a McCutcheon cross just wide of the right post in the 32nd minute, and Oihane survived a scare a minute later when she lost possession to Hanks in her defensive end, but the Pride recovered before any damage was done. Washington nearly created another chance in the 34th minute, but her cross was too high for Banda.
Yates forced another save out of Arnold in the 35th minute, drilling a high shot the goalkeeper tipped over the bar for a corner. She delivered the resulting set piece herself, but Portland cleared the danger. Two minutes later, Orlando worked a good move down the right through Oihane, but McCutcheon’s eventual effort from the top of the box lacked the pace to trouble Arnold.
Banda drew a foul well outside the box in the 39th minute — Perry’s second foul on her of the afternoon — setting up a free kick that Arnold punched clear.
Oihane won a corner in the 41st minute. That led to a deflection off McCutcheon that Arnold easily collected. Yates was run over at the top of the box in the 45th minute with no whistle, and if there was a second look by the video assistant referee, it was a quick one.
Despite three first-half goals, including a long delay for a penalty, the first half ended after just one minute of stoppage time with Portland ahead, 2-1.
The Pride led in shots (9-7) and possession (54%-46%), while the Thorns held the edge in shots on goal (7-5), and passing accuracy (88%-87%). Both teams won two corners.
Portland came out the sharper side to start the second half, much like the first. Hanks tested Morché from outside the area in the 46th minute, and the goalkeeper answered with a diving save to keep the deficit at one.
Orlando had a couple of half-chances of its own soon after — a tight-angle Washington effort that was palmed away, and Yates’ follow-up attempt that was blocked — before a whistle went against Banda in the box to end the sequence in the 47th minute.
Orlando nearly broke clear in the 50th minute when Banda ran onto a Yates pass and reached the end line, but her cutback deflected off a teammate and the chance died.
Wilson fired wide two minutes later at the end of a Portland transition.
Banda was fouled again in the 54th minute as Fleming went through the back of her just outside the Portland box. She needed treatment before continuing. Luana stepped up to the resulting free kick in the 57th minute, but it deflected off Weaver in the wall and out for a corner. A foul by Washington wasted the ensuing set piece.
Thomas then made a double substitution, sending on Angelina and Jacquie Ovalle for Luana and Yates.
Washington drove past her defender and into the box from the left in the 61st minute, but her effort drifted wide right, as Orlando was more wasteful in the second half.
Orlando kept pressing. Washington won a corner in the 66th minute after driving down the left and forcing a deflection behind. Ovalle’s delivery off the ensuing corner drew a lengthy review for a potential handball in the box. After a long look, no penalty was given, and the sequence continued as a corner.
Marta entered for Lemos in the 69th minute, and Orlando strung together a flurry of set pieces. Anderson rose for a header at the back post and put her shot on goal, but it was right over Arnold, who tipped it over for another corner. Ovalle’s follow-up effort on the next delivery was blocked and out of play rather than finding the target.
Portland nearly doubled its cushion back to two in the 71st minute when Wilson got a shot away, but Oihane made a vital block to deny her.
Washington then made another good individual move to create a look in the 73rd minute but yet again she couldn’t direct her effort on target, missing wide again.
Portland got its insurance goal in the 74th minute. Following a turnover, Anderson gave Weaver too much space, and she struck a well-taken effort from long range into the upper-right corner past Morche.
Orlando kept probing — Ovalle fired wide in the 76th minute off a Marta pass — but Portland was always a threat on the counter. Lyles picked up a yellow card in the 78th minute for a hard foul on Dyke, and Wilson fired off target a minute later after another Orlando giveaway.
The Pride caught a break in the 80th minute, but it only prevented the final score from being worse. Wilson got in behind, rounded Morché after the goalkeeper came off her line, and looked certain to score into an empty net. However, the USWNT star fired her shot off the left post. The rebound came back to her but struck her arm before she could get another shot away, and the handball ended the threat.
Washington won a corner at the other end in the 81st minute, and Marta’s delivery found Anderson at the back post, but the defender’s header sailed over, handing Portland a goal kick on another chance that went wanting.
Thomas made her final double change in the 84th minute, sending on Rafaelle and Kerry Abello for Anderson and Oihane, with Perry fouling Banda yet again just after the switch, and again there was no second yellow card shown to the Portland defender.
If the game wasn’t already out of Orlando’s reach, Portland pmade sure of it in the 88th minute. A poor Orlando throw-in — the cause of multiple Pride turnovers in the match — gave the ball straight back to the Thorns, and Wilson slipped a pass in behind for Lyles to run onto behind Dyke and Mace. Lyles’ finish made it 4-1.
Washington had one more go, firing a shot straight at Arnold in the 89th minute.
Morché then denied Weaver in the 90th as Portland continued to carve through a tiring Orlando back line. Three minutes of stoppage time were added, during which Angelina wasted a free kick, Orlando had a late attempt blocked, and Morché produced one final save to turn away a close-range effort during a late Portland break, sending it behind for a corner in the match’s closing seconds.
Portland dominated on the scoreboard, but Orlando finished with the advantage in possession (53%-47%), shots (19-17), and corners (8-4). Portland held a big edge in shots on target (13-6) and a slight advantage in passing accuracy (85%-83%).
“It’s a tough result,” Thomas said after the match. “In the end, we made some decisions to try to get a win because we need three points, so we weren’t too worried about risking potentially getting scored on. Obviously, that didn’t work out for us, but I think probably the biggest disappointment is we have momentum and we don’t take advantage of those times in the game, and then it punishes us.”
The Pride head out west to take on Bay FC on Sunday, Sept. 27.
Michael Citro also contributed to this story.
Orlando Pride
Orlando Pride vs. Portland Thorns FC: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
The Pride look to build on their recent run of points as they welcome the Portland Thorns to Orlando.
Welcome to your match preview and live thread as the Orlando Pride (9-12-3, 30 points) welcome the Portland Thorns (11-7-6, 39 points) to Inter.co Stadium. This is the second and final time the two teams will meet during the NWSL regular season.
Here’s everything you need to know about today’s game.
History
The Pride have struggled historically against the Thorns with a record of 5-16-2 in 23 games (5-15-2 in league play and 0-1-0 in the playoffs). Orlando is 4-5-2 at home in the series.
The most recent meeting between the two teams came on Aug. 15 in Portland. The hosts took the lead just before the hour mark when Deyna Castellanos caught Anna Moorhouse off her line. The Pride equalized five minutes later when an Oihane cross bounced around, eventually going off Jacquie Ovalle and in. It looked like the game would end in a draw until Caiya Hanks beat Moorhouse from distance in stoppage time, giving Portland the 2-1 win.
The first meeting of 2025 took place on May 3 in Oregon. The difference was a nice goal by Reyna Reyes, who made a turn to create space and put her shot past Anna Moorhouse to give the Thorns a 1-0 win. The last meeting in Orlando happened on Oct. 10, 2025. In second-half stoppage time, Mallie McKenzie redirected in a Marta corner kick for an own goal, lifting the Pride to a 1-0 win.
The first game in 2024 took place May 24 in Orlando. It was the Barbra Banda show as the Pride striker scored two goals 10 minutes apart, giving her team a 2-0 halftime lead. Izzy D’Aquila got one back for the visitors, but it wasn’t enough as the Pride won 2-1.
The Pride secured the NWSL Shield the game before the match between these two teams on Oct. 11, 2024, so Orlando gave several starters a break. It showed on the field as the Pride lost 2-0, ending a league-record, 23-game unbeaten run. Morgan Weaver gave hosts the lead early and Christine Sincalir doubled the advantage in the second half.
The first meeting of 2023 took place March 26 at Providence Park. Weaver opened the scoring early and Sophia Smith doubled the advantage a few minutes later. Hina Sugita made it three, and Michele Vasconcelos tacked on another as the Thorns won 4-0. On June 11, 2023, in Orlando, Smith gave the visitors the lead, but the Pride took over after that. Adriana scored a brace and Messiah Bright’s strike sealed a 3-1 Pride win.
The teams met twice in 2022, with the series finale coming on Sept. 9 at Exploria Stadium. Yazmeen Ryan gave the visitors the lead and Sugita doubled the advantage as the Thorns won 2-0. The teams also met on June 19 in Portland. In Seb Hines’ second game as interim head coach, the Thorns smashed the Pride, 6-0.
The Pride and Thorns played on May 26, 2021, in Orlando. The host Pride won 2-1 with goals from Alex Morgan and Sydney Leroux. The second meeting that year came on July 18 in Portland, and the home team won again. Smith gave the hosts the lead and Marissa Everett doubled the advantage. Marisa Viggiano got one back in second-half stoppage time, but the Thorns won, 2-1. They met a third time on Aug. 14. The Pride took an early lead when Courtney Petersen found Jodie Taylor for the opening goal. But Simone Charley equalized and the teams drew 1-1.
The Pride and Thorns didn’t play in 2020 after the season was canceled due to the global pandemic, and they weren’t in the same group for the NWSL Fall Series. As a result, the most recent meeting prior to 2021 happened in 2019.
The teams opened the 2019 season against each other in Orlando, but the Thorns got the better of the clash. The game was decided on either side of halftime as Caitlin Foord scored just before the break and Tobin Heath scored minutes after the restart, lifting Portland to a 2-0 win. They met again in Orlando on May 11 and the Thorns won again. Toni Pressley gave the Pride an early lead, but it was all Portland after that. Dagny Brynjarsdottir equalized, Andressinha gave Portland the lead, and Foord finished it off.
The final meeting between the two in 2019 was a goal fest in Portland and another Thorns win. Hayley Raso gave Portland the lead early and Midge Purce’s goal made it look like it would be a dominant performance by the hosts. But Marta got one back to make it 2-1. Sinclair made it 3-1, followed by a Thorns own goal by Emily Menges. It looked like the Pride would get a rare point through Erin Greening’s 90th-minute goal, but Tyler Lussi scored in second-half injury time, dooming the Pride to another loss in Oregon.
The teams faced each other three times in 2018, which featured the Pride’s lone win in Portland to date. The Thorns won the first game, 2-1 on April 15. But on May 12, goals by Morgan and Christine Nairn gave the Pride a 2-0 lead. Sinclair got one back for the hosts, but the Pride held on for their only result at Providence Park. The third meeting went back to usual, with the Thorns winning 2-0 through Lindsey Horan and Raso.
The teams started the 2017 season against each other in Portland with the Thorns winning 2-0. They met again in the penultimate game of the season in Orlando, ending in a scoreless draw. The most important game between the two teams was the Pride’s first playoff appearance. Unfortunately, it was all Portland, as the Thorns beat the Pride 4-1.
The first meeting of 2016 was the Pride’s first-ever game. Steph Catley gave the expansion Pride a surprising lead, but Brynjarsdottir equalized and Horan won it for Portland. They met again on June 26 at Camping World Stadium in Orlando. Two second-half goals by Brynjarsdottir and Horan lifted the Thorns to another 2-1 win.
Overview
The Pride are in their best form since before the FIFA World Cup break, which isn’t saying much. They’ve gained points in three of their last four games, including a 1-0 win over the Washington Spirit on Aug. 23, a 3-1 win over the Houston Dash on Sept. 6, and a 2-2 draw with the Kansas City Current on Sept. 11.
A large part of that recent success is due to Banda’s production. The Zambian has goals in each of the last three games, including a brace in Kansas City. The striker scored on either side of halftime in that game and it looked as though the Pride were headed for three points away from home. But the Pride conceded twice in three minutes shortly after the second goal, allowing the hosts to take a point.
The Pride have gone through quite a bit of turmoil in recent weeks. First, head coach Seb Hines was fired on Aug. 31, with assistant coach Yolanda Thomas taking over on an interim basis. Then, the team sent starting goalkeeper Moorhouse on loan to Manchester City. Cosette Morche is now the number one in her place.
On a positive note, Banda signed an extension this week, keeping her in Orlando through 2029. It’s a big lift for a team that sits in 11th in the NWSL with slim chances of making the postseason.
Today, the Pride return home with a chance to extend their point streak to three games. However, it will be a tall task as they face one of the better teams in the league. Portland currently sits in sixth place on 39 points, tied with the North Carolina Courage for fifth.
The Thorns’ offense is their strength. They’re tied for fifth in the league in goals with 38. They’re led by U.S. international striker Sophia Wilson, who missed the entire 2025 season on maternity leave. Wilson continues to be one of the most dangetrous strikers in the league with 12 goals in 24 games. Other attacking threats to be aware of include Pietra Tordin with seven goals and Reilyn Turner and Olivia Moultire with five goals each.
Portland is coming off a 1-1 draw against the Chicago Stars on Sept. 13, which followed a 2-1 loss to the Spirit on Sept. 6. Both games were at home. For this reason, the Pride might be catching the Thorns at the right time.
“We’re excited. Excited to play at home in front of our fans,” Thomas said about today’s game. “Didn’t obviously get the three points in the last game, but still walked away feeling like we had a pretty good performance and we’re building on that. So, we’re ready to tackle a really good opponent. We’re ready to play in front of our fans.”
The Pride are as healthy as they’ve been all season, only missing Kylie Nadaner (maternity leave) and Viviana Villacorta (knee). The Thorns will be without Bella Bixby (knee), Julie Dufour (knee), Moultrie (knee), Isabelle Obaze (thigh), M.A. Vignola (hip), and Valerin Loboa (international duty).
Official Lineups
Orlando Pride (4-2-3-1)
Goalkeeper: Cosette Morche.
Defenders: Hailie Mace, Hannah Anderson, Cori Dyke, Oihane.
Defensive Midfielders: Haley McCutcheon, Ally Lemos.
Attacking Midfielders: Solai Washington, Luana, Summer Yates.
Forward: Barbra Banda.
Bench: Cara Martin, Kerry Abello, Sanne Lekven, Rafaelle, Zoe Matthews, Angelina, Julie Doyle, Jaquie Ovalle, Marta.
Portland Thorns FC (4-2-3-1)
Goalkeeper: Mackenzie Arnold.
Defenders: Marie Muller, Jayden Perry, Carolyn Calzada, Reyna Reyes.
Defensive Midfielders: Jessie Fleming, Nina Nijstad.
Attacking Midfielders: Caiya Hanks, Pietra Tordin, Reilyn Turner.
Forward: Sophia Wilson.
Bench: Morgan Messner, MacKenzie Wood, Sam Hiatt, Cassandra Bogere, Shae Harvey, Mallie McKenzie, Renee Lyles, Morgan Weaver, Maddie Padelski.
Referees
REF: Elvis Osmanovic.
AR1: Zeno Cho.
AR2: Alicia Messer.
4TH: Alejo Calume.
VAR: Jamie Padilla.
AVAR: Jay Norris.
How to Watch
Match Time: 4 p.m.
Venue: Inter.co Stadium — Orlando.
TV: Ion.
Streaming: None.
Social Media: For live updates and rapid reaction, follow the Orlando Pride’s official Twitter (@ORLPride) or Bluesky (@orlpride.com) feed.
Enjoy the game. Go Pride!
Orlando Pride
Orlando Pride Exhibit Unity in Kits, Division in Performance
The Pride’s new kit looks excellent on the field, but many of the players wearing it have regressed in 2026.
In late February the Pride released their Unity Kit, a beautiful away jersey that replaced another outstanding jersey, the Citrus Kit that they had started wearing for the 2024 season. The Unity Kit was so nice that we wrote two articles on it in two days. I followed our Ben Miller’s advice to add one to my collection, and I wore it to every Pride game that I attended this season. It looks good. I mean, really good. Ron Burgundy knows what I am talking about.
It is extremely difficult to create two consecutive brand new ideas for jersey designs that are nearly universally beloved, but the Pride went back-to-back with top tier away jersey designs.
While they have looked resplendent in those jerseys this season, the play on the field has not always been quite as good, and with six games remaining, the Pride are seven points back from the final playoff spot. Seven points back with only six games to play is not impossible to make up, but nearly everything will have break right for the Pride to qualify for the playoffs for a third consecutive season.
It is hard to go back to back in sports, as the Pride found out last season, but the 2025 team at least followed up its championship season in 2024 with a fourth-place finish, making the playoff playoff semifinals before losing to eventual champion Gotham FC. The 2026 team seems on the verge of an even larger drop in the standings, and even though the regular season contains four more games in 2026 than in 2025, the Pride may not even reach the 40 points they earned last season. That is not good. I mean, really not good.
There are many different factors that can lead to a dip in a team’s performance, but at the macro level, the main two are that other teams around them improve and/or that the team itself does not play up to the same level as it did previously.
Demonstrating that there has been improvement across other teams is difficult, as sports leagues are zero-sum endeavors. Opta has had the NWSL as the strongest league top to bottom for several years, though it also has had the top-rated NWSL team behind several European teams for years as well. Gotham is currently the top-rated NWSL team in Opta’s rankings, at eighth in the world, and the top team in the NWSL has generally been around that range during the last few years with the Current reaching as high as sixth during their record-setting season in 2025.
Suffice to say, the NWSL is a strong league, and as of this moment, six of the eight teams that made the playoffs last season are in playoff positions again, with only Louisville and Orlando falling out of the top eight. Some argument could be made that the top teams are improving compared to last year, but it is hard to use anything other than the eye test to really demonstrate that.
What is easier, however, is to look at the play of individual players, and for that we have our old friend goals added (g+) from the tracking database at American Soccer Analysis (ASA). As a brief reminder, the definition of goals added is the estimated impact of a player on a team’s goal differential, so positive values indicate that a player increased a team’s goal differential, and negative values indicate that they decreased the goal differential as compared to the average player at their position.
There is no way to sugarcoat it, the g+ stats for the Pride’s players this year are not great. This is not a huge surprise, considering the team is outside of the playoff places and closer to last place than first place, but the numbers themselves were revealing and eye-opening (all data comes from ASA’s goals added database for players who have played more than 300 minutes this season, including stoppage time):
| Metric | Pride | NWSL Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Count of players with a positive g+ in 2026 | 5 | T-11 |
| Percent of players with a positive g+ in 2026 | 23% | T-14 |
| Percent of players with g+ improvement over 2025 | 39% | T-14 |
| Count of g+ improved vs. 2025 and is negative in 2026 | 3 | * |
| Count of g+ improved vs. 2025 and is positive in 2026 | 4 | * |
| Count of g+ declined vs. 2025 and is negative in 2026 | 11 | * |
| Count of g+ declined vs. 2025 and is positive in 2026 | 0 | * |
- * Each of these subsets is so small that most teams are bunched up and ranking does not make sense
The five players with positive g+ values are Barbra Banda (+5.1), Rafaelle (+0.98), Solai Washington (+0.75), Kerry Abello (+0.30), and Hannah Anderson (+0.16). Every other player is considered league average or below league average through last week’s games, and the Pride have 22 players who have played at least 300+ minutes, so that means 17 of 22, or 77%, are showing as negative goal differential players.
Among the 18 players on the Pride’s roster that have a g+ value from last season’s NWSL, seven improved and 11 declined. The breakouts of the seven improvers were three that improved but were still negative (Ally Lemos [-1.34 to -0.29], Julie Doyle [-0.97 to -0.47], and Marta[-0.70 to -0.62]) and four that improved and were still positive (Banda, Rafaelle, Abello, and Anderson). Every other Pride player that was in the league last year has a worse g+ than they did in 2025, and I do not want to pick on her, but Anna Moorhouse’s -7.00 g+ value ranks 195th out of 199 goalkeeper-seasons since 2016.
Just because a g+ value decreases from year to year does not necessarily mean a player got worse, as g+ values are comparisons against the overall performance of all players at a specific position. What it does mean is that the Pride’s roster construction is slipping as compared to the rest of the league, because players are declining and/or the rest of the league is improving. Some of that comes from coaching, and we will see Yolanda Thomas’ influence on both the team’s performance and the players’ performances during the final stretch of the season, but we will probably also see a good bit of roster turnover in the off-season as Caitlin Carducci remakes the roster after her first season as vice president of soccer operations and general manager.
Hopefully, the Pride will go on a last-gasp run and sneak into the playoffs, and then with Banda on the roster (with a new High Impact Player contract through 2029, whoop whoop), who knows what is possible? If they make the playoffs, it will mean the team and the players executed tremendously well during their final six games, just like members of the club’s marketing team did when they designed the beautiful Unity Kit. And considering how much ground the team still has to make up, the Pride would probably be on the road throughout the playoffs, wearing those kits.
Maybe this whole season has just been a ploy to try to get the most exposure for the Unity Kit by tanking for a low seed and then wearing them throughout the playoffs. I’m here for it, if the Pride can make it happen.
Vamos Orlando!
Orlando City B vs. Atlanta United 2: Final Score 4-2 as OCB Falls Out of Playoffs on Decision Day
Orlando City vs. New England Revolution: Five Takeaways
Orlando City vs. New England Revolution: Final Score 4-2 as Lions Cough Up Two Goals Late in Loss
Orlando City vs. Columbus Crew, U.S. Open Cup: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
Lion Links: 9/16/26
Orlando City vs. Columbus Crew, U.S. Open Cup: Final Score 2-1 as Orlando City’s Cup Run Ends
-
Orlando City2 weeks agoOrlando City vs. San Diego FC: Five Takeaways
-
Orlando Pride2 weeks agoOrlando Pride vs. Houston Dash: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
-
Orlando City5 days agoOrlando City vs. Columbus Crew, U.S. Open Cup: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
-
Orlando Pride2 weeks agoOrlando Pride vs Houston Dash: Final Score 3-1 as Yolanda Thomas Wins Her First Game in Charge
-
Orlando City2 weeks agoOrlando City vs. Atlanta United: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
-
Orlando City2 weeks agoOrlando City vs Atlanta United: Final Score 3-2 as Lions Secure First Win in Atlanta Since 2023
-
Orlando City1 week agoOrlando City vs. Toronto FC: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More
-
Orlando City1 week agoOrlando City vs. Toronto FC: Final Score 3-0 as Lions Keep Rolling