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Orlando Pride Media Day Highlights

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8 years ago

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We’re just a month out from the Orlando Pride’s 2019 NWSL season opener against the Portland Thorns and the team held its annual preseason Media Day event at Orlando City Stadium. The event featured a press conference with Pride GM Erik Ustruck and Head Coach Marc Skinner, with six players made available to the media in a roundtable format.

The players who spoke to media members today were almost all internationals, with former USWNT automatic selection Ali Krieger being the only player of the six not currently involved in her national team setup. The five current internationals were Ashlyn Harris and Alex Morgan of the U.S., Alanna Kennedy of Australia, Marta of Brazil, and Chioma Ubogagu, who has recently been getting England call-ups.

The players unanimously lauded the atmosphere, attitude, and attention to detail that Skinner has brought to the Pride this preseason and seemed energized.

Here are the highlights from today’s event.

Ustruck/Skinner Press Conference

  • Skinner said he was “over the moon” at being selected as the Pride’s head coach and said he was “proud and privileged to be here.”
  • Initial interviews with players are nearly complete, as Skinner is finally getting to sit down with the international players who were late to arrive.
  • The buzz around camp, according to Skinner, is “really, really something that energizes you as a person.”
  • Skinner said he’s identified his targets and what his ideal team would look like, however, he said he’s still identifying the abilities of his players and giving players an opportunity to show what they can do.
  • Although Skinner said Tom Sermanni is a wonderful person and is sure he’ll do well at New Zealand, he’s here to bring a new direction to the club and said he coaches to allow his players to make decisions on the field because they have to know what they’re doing even when they can’t hear the coach in hostile environments.
  • Skinner spoke often of getting to know the players’ character, as well as treating the players as people first, and players second, regardless of whether they’re stars. He said he thinks of the players as he would if they were his daughters, and works with them to make them as successful as possible.
  • Ustruck said he hasn’t yet spoken with club partner Wolfsburg on the women’s side. He said he’d like the Pride to explore options such as bringing them over during their preseason period or to look at potential player loan opportunities.
  • Skinner, who has watched all of last year’s games, said the team was far off from performances last season but not far off in results. He stressed that there is some time involved in getting the team to play the way he wants it to play and that it might seem a bit high risk at first.
  • Both Skinner and Ustruck said the team will play an attractive brand of football and the GM said he expects that will help bring more fans to the stadium.
  • Skinner said the athleticism in the NWSL is massive but the transition part of the game could be better. “We have to re-educate players or just switch on their senses to do that. That’s what we’ll be doing in training.”
  • “I’m 100 percent sure that our players will love how we’re asking them to play,” Skinner said. “But they have to be brave. If you want to do something different and you want success to come to Orlando then they’re going to have to be brave. And that’s how I will expect them to be. My job is to support them through that process.”
  • Skinner said he’s not just here to coach players to win, but to improve as players.
  • The idea of having North Carolina (on the preseason schedule) was to get the Pride up to speed in playing an NWSL team, said Skinner.
  • “We will play fixtures that will challenge the players in different ways,” Skinner said of the preseason schedule. Ustruck said the full preseason schedule will be out in the next few days.
  • Ustruck mentioned that the North Carolina game in preseason would give the club an opportunity to learn how far they still need to go to get to the level of the defending champs.
  • Ustruck said the idea of a preseason invitational tournament would be difficult due to the MLS side having started its season but it’s something the club might look into if they can find the right location or if the stadium was available.
  • Skinner said his team likes to play tactically and force the other team into playing a way in which is to Orlando’s advantage.
  • Ustruck said Camila is still in Brazil because she’s working on getting her green card. Her interview was scheduled for today and she’s expected back by the weekend.
  • There will be a recognized Orlando Pride supporters group this year, said Ustruck. He said he wasn’t at liberty to speak about it just yet, however.
  • “There needs to be patience for this team to understand what we want them to do,” Skinner said. He added that he’s seen a desire from the players to buy into that.

Ashlyn Harris

  • “I have to say that I’ve been blown away by Marc,” Harris said about her new coach. “I’m very, very impressed with what he has brought just in the short amount of time that I’ve met him.”
  • Harris said the spark and enjoyment are back at training this preseason. “It’s like a breath of fresh air. This is a chance for people to start over and have new energy and a new opportunity.”
  • Harris said Skinner demands excellence and is detail-oriented. “He’s very organized and very, very specific about things.”
  • Harris said the international players are used to being in and out of the lineup but admitted this year would be challenging due to the time demands of the World Cup.
  • Last year is in the past for Harris and she wants to focus all her energy on 2019 and not what didn’t work in 2018. “We have a fresh start and I want to enjoy that taste in my mouth.”
  • “Marc is going to bring an element to this organization that people are going to be proud of and I’m excited to be on that train,” Harris said.
  • Harris said that Skinner sent her video clips from every touch from every game with notes attached, he has drones flying overhead every practice to record the players, and he frequently texts with thoughts as they occur.
  • Harris said that the feeling of unity hasn’t quite been there the last few years but that’s what Skinner is restoring in Orlando.

Ali Krieger

  • Krieger said that players can only change the culture of a team by bringing their best and control their work ethic and attitude each day.
  • “I think it’s so great to have somebody come in that makes every player feel like they’re the most important player,” Krieger said of Skinner. “I think that if we continue to create that positive atmosphere that will translate for sure on the field.”
  • Krieger said last year the team played more individually than as a collective group and expects the opposite this year.
  • Skinner creates an atmosphere where everybody feels important, said the veteran defender.
  • “Little specific movements, footwork stuff, the way your body is angled, or the pace of your pass,” – Krieger on the details that Skinner notices and brings to the team.
  • Skinner is “bringing the fun back into the game.”
  • Krieger reiterated Skinner’s statements in the presser about treating each person individually based on their needs.
  • “I don’t mind playing the underdog role,” she said. “If people think they’re going to come in here and it’s going to be easy-breezy, then good on them because we’re going to just crush it.”
  • Having a new coach will be an advantage for the Pride because no one in the league is going to know what to expect from Orlando.

Marta

  • “I like it here,” the Brazilian legend said. “I like the club. I like the atmosphere we have here. I like the city, the players. I think we have so much potential to [have] a very good season.”
  • Marta said her first impression of Skinner was good. “I see the energy he brings to the training and the ideas he brings to the players [are] good.”
  • Sermanni and Skinner are different. Skinner wants to keep the ball more and having the ball more means more opportunities to score.
  • “It’s about how we work together when we have the ball and when we don’t have the ball,” Marta said of the team’s philosophy.
  • Marta said players have to play hard and do their best for their club or they risk not being ready when called up to the national team. So there is no benefit in taking things easy with the club side to stay healthy for the World Cup.
  • When asked if she would continue to play internationally after this World Cup, Marta responded, “Let’s live day after day, you know?” She said if she feels good with her club and her teammates she can continue to do so with Brazil, too.
  • Marta said she was a little sad to see Monica and Poliana leave the club and hopes that they find a good new club to play for because that’s also important for the Brazilian national team.
  • When asked if she had any goals for the season, Marta replied, “Make more goals!”
  • Marta said Skinner’s system allows the freedom to roam and feel the game, so that she can play as both a midfielder and a forward, moving to spaces wherever she’s needed. “Not whatever I want,” she laughed, “but to produce good for the team.”

Alex Morgan

  • “I’m just eager to be coached by [Skinner], and for him to just implement his style, and for us to apply that in games,” Morgan said.
  • Morgan said she was happy with Ustruck’s decision to bring in Skinner to take the job.
  • “In previous years, just playing college teams is really difficult because that’s a hard gauge to see on like where we are in terms of how ready we are for the season,” Morgan said of the preseason. “So going in and playing North Carolina, obviously having them be the reigning champions from last year, it’s going to be just right away we’ll know what we still need to work on, where we are in terms of fitness, and in terms of Marc’s style being adapted by the team. So I’m really happy we’re making this trip.”
  • The team not having a lot of turnover is a good thing, Morgan said.
  • Morgan said the challenge for the Pride is the number of international players leaving for a big chunk of the season.
  • Younger players can learn from the internationals’ professionalism and they have to be eager to learn.
  • Morgan lauded France’s acceptance of women in sport as “exciting to see” and was glad to see the number of tickets sold for the World Cup games.
  • “I’m hopeful that we look very organized and have clear direction,” she said.
  • Morgan said she was impressed with Ustruck and his ability to bring in someone like Skinner.
  • She said she feels there’s still room for her to learn and grow as a player and she’s looking forward to Skinner helping her do that.

Alanna Kennedy

  • “I really like his direction and his philosophy,” Kennedy said of Skinner. “It’s something that’ll make all of us better, hopefully, as a collective.”
  • Kennedy talked about having surgery “thrown in there” during a six-week break. She said she’d played about 80 games in the previous 12 to 18 months. She said she’s now feeling good and is excited to be back in Orlando.
  • “When you’re in a positive environment, your well-being is taken care of, that’s when you’re able to thrive on the field,” she said. “I’ve loved every minute of the couple days I’ve been here.”
  • Kennedy said she thinks that with the style of play Skinner will have, she’ll be able to play both midfield and defense. She said she loves her midfield role but also loves her role on defense with Australia, because that’s where the team needs her and she can thrive there.
  • Kennedy noted the team has always had the personnel to succeed but needed to have more of an identity.
  • “To know your role and to know what’s expected of you every minute is important and that’s something Marc will bring with his experience and his personality,” she said.
  • “You don’t really” get used to all the international travel, Kennedy said. But she added that it’s helpful when you have people in place to take care of you, as the Pride have.

Chioma Ubogagu

  • When asked what kind of Chioma Ubogagu the Pride are getting back, as opposed to the one who left to go play in Australia at the start of the off-season, she replied, “I think just someone who understands even more now the definition of being a professional.”
  • She said she learned more about recovery, watching film, and working on details while playing in Australia.
  • Ubogagu said that coming in from overseas, she was expected to be an impact player in the W-League, and that challenged her and she learned how to deal with pressure.
  • Having three nationalities — English, American, and Nigerian — she said all three are very important to her and she feels connected to all three and they combine equally to make her who she is.
  • “That experience to put on the England kit and represent the Lionesses is something I’ll never forget,” she said of her time with the England national team.
  • Ubogagu said she got the call on her birthday that she’d be getting her first call-up to England and it was the best birthday gift ever.
  • She said her national team coach, Phil Neville, texts the whole team and he told her to train hard this preseason.
  • Ubogagu said she met with Skinner yesterday. She said he’s very intelligent and noted that he showed her an iPad with screen shots and detailed notes on it.
  • “I think everyone has been really impressed with training sessions and the detail and energy,” she said “[Skinner is] always saying ‘brains over brawn.’ He wants us to make sophisticated decisions with the ball.”
  • “I don’t want to label myself a leader because I think I’m learning every day,” she said.
  • “Last year, if we’re going to be frank [the North Carolina Courage] killed everyone in the league. They scored the most goals. I think they had the fewest goals against. They had this confidence, this swagger on the field that you weren’t going to touch them when you’re on the field,” Ubogagu said. “So I think that’s awesome that one of our first preseason games is going against the defending champions. We’re going to see what we’re about early on in the preseason. It’ll be really cool to see how we adapt and how we come out against a team like that.”
  • Ubogagu said she wanted to help with the game so she became the players union representative for the Pride. She said her main job was to bring information back to the club so the players had a voice on things like, for example, when the league would break for the World Cup.

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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.

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2 days ago

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September 19, 2026

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Image of Solai Washington playing the ball against Portland.
Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

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.

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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.

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2 days ago

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September 19, 2026

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Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Justin Glatt

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!

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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.

Published

3 days ago

on

September 18, 2026

By

Image courtesy of Orlando Pride

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):

MetricPrideNWSL Rank
Count of players with a positive g+ in 20265T-11
Percent of players with a positive g+ in 202623% T-14
Percent of players with g+ improvement over 202539%T-14
Count of g+ improved vs. 2025 and is negative in 20263*
Count of g+ improved vs. 2025 and is positive in 20264*
Count of g+ declined vs. 2025 and is negative in 202611*
Count of g+ declined vs. 2025 and is positive in 20260*
  • * 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!

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