Preview: Spirit Seeks Revenge Against Undefeated Orlando Pride in Battle Between NWSL’s Best
Orlando, Fla. (10/04/2024) – The Washington Spirit will face the Orlando Pride on Sunday in the final regular season matchup between the sides this year. The match begins at 5 p.m. EDT at Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando, Florida and will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2.
The Spirit
The Spirit clinched its 15th win of the season last Friday in a road battle with Angel City FC. Ashley Hatch netted the first goal of the match, extending her club record (44) for career regular season goals. The goal marked the 51st total of her regular season career, tying her with Megan Rapinoe for sixth all-time in NWSL history. Germantown, Maryland native Makenna Morris added the game-winning goal off a transition breakaway feed from Rosemonde Kouassi, who recorded the first assist of her NWSL career.
The victory over Angel City marked the fourth straight win and second consecutive season series sweep against the Los Angeles-based side for Washington. Angel City is now the fifth different opponent the Spirit has swept this season, joining Bay FC, the Houston Dash, NJ/NY Gotham FC and Utah Royals FC.
When scoring first this season, the Spirit is 12-0-1. This unbeaten streak extends to 32 straight matches (24-0-8).
Sunday’s matchup is one of the most anticipated matchups of the season with the undefeated and top-ranked Orlando Pride playing host to the #2-ranked Spirit. While the Spirit is only one shy of matching Orlando’s NWSL record 16 wins this season, seven points separate the two teams. The NWSL Shield is still in play, so a win versus over Orlando this weekend is crucial to the Spirit’s hopes of capturing the best regular season campaign in the NWSL.
The Spirit has already clinched an NWSL Playoff berth, but it could capture a NWSL Quarterfinal home match this weekend with a win, a draw or a North Carolina Courage loss or draw.
Despite a close record between the two teams in the all-time regular season series, Orlando has dominated the recent regular season matchup history. This weekend, the Spirit will search for its first victory over the Pride since August 2021. This dry spell includes three consecutive losses.
In regular season road matches against the Pride, the Spirit is 2-4-3, including one victory at Inter&Co Stadium (formerly Exploria Stadium). The Spirit has earned victories against every opponent in which it dropped the first match of the season series to this season (Portland and Seattle) and will look to do the same against the Pride this weekend.
If the last match between these two sides was any indication, Sunday’s matchup will be tightly contested. The two teams both rank within the top five in the following statistical categories: goals, assists, shots, shots on target, corners and big chance total.
Orlando’s defense is its calling card as only one opponent has scored more than a single goal on Orlando since the Spirit’s two-goal effort against the Pride in April.
Following a grueling three-match away stretch, the Spirit returns home to Audi Field after Sunday’s match. The Spirit will take on Racing Louisville FC on Sunday, October 13 in the penultimate regular season match played at Audi Field. Hispanic Heritage Night will be celebrated with several engaging activations. To purchase tickets, click here.
The Opposition
Orlando dismantled the struggling Houston Dash in its last match with a decisive 3-1 result. The victory extends its unbeaten streak to 23 games, dating back to October of last year. The Pride is undefeated this season with a sterling 16-0-6 record (54 points).
Pride defender Carson Pickett, who was traded from Racing Louisville FC in August, scored her first goal in a Pride jersey last weekend. Later in the match, the Pride’s NWSL record for consecutive shutout minutes was snapped – a record that would stop at 554 minutes and extended over seven different matches.
Also of note, the Pride drew a record-breaking crowd of 17,087 for its match last week. It was the largest-attended Pride match at Inter&Co stadium and the second-highest attended match in club history, only outmatched by the first home match in the club’s history that took place at Camping World Stadium.
This year’s Pride squad has cemented itself as one of the best in NWSL regular season history. Unbeaten through 22 matches in 2024, the Pride has surrendered only 13 goals — two of which came from the Spirit. The NWSL average is just shy of 29 goals.
Though, the Pride’s offense is also firmly established as one of the best in the NWSL. With 40 goals on the season, the Pride is home to Barbra Banda who has become one of the most dangerous strikers in the world. She sits second in the NWSL Golden Boot race with 13 goals and has tied NWSL single season records for braces (4) and game-winning goals (6).
The last match between the Pride and Spirit was a barn burner with two Pride goals in the span of six minutes sealing the result. Ouleye Sarr and Ashley Hatch scored for the Spirit while Banda, Angelina and Summer Yates accounted for Orlando’s goals.
The Spirit offense threatened the Pride nearly the entire match, controlling 60% of possession and outshooting the Pride 16 to eight. The Pride sat back in a five- or six-player backline for nearly the final third of the second half.
Next up, the Pride faces Portland Thorns FC on Friday, October 11 at 10 p.m. EDT.
Series History
The Washington Spirit owns a 6-7-6 regular season record against Orlando Pride. On the road, the Spirit has not fared well, losing seven of the nine total matches played in Orlando. Additionally, the Spirit is looking for its first regular season win against Orlando since August 2021.
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