Photo Copyright Mike Watters for USA TODAY Sports
The Orlando Pride enter Friday night’s matchup against Kansas City in foreign territory.
Sitting atop the National Women’s Soccer League standings, the Pride are in unfamiliar territory carrying a record 20-game unbeaten streak that stretches back to last season. Winners of their last six and already qualified for the NWSL Playoffs, the Pride are also a far cry from the team that they were just two years ago.
The team’s last – and only – NWSL playoffs appearance came in 2017. In the years that followed, they struggled, with 2019 being the team’s worst season yet. They finished that year with a 4-4-16 record, conceding 53 goals and finishing ninth in the league.
Then-coach Marc Skinner took over midway through the 2021 season, and recorded just nine wins during his tenure. Two interim coaches, one other head coach, and just five wins total later, the club brought in Seb Hines in June of 2022.
In the time since, the club has been on an upward trajectory – and Hines has become the Pride’s winningest head coach all time. He’s got more wins than he does losses – a first for an Orlando coach – and he’s helped to establish one of the league’s best defenses.
“One thing about this team is their character and they take a lot of pride in their defending,” Hines told the media on Thursday. And defend they do. Through 19 games played, the team has allowed a league-low 12 goals against. That’s a far cry from last season when they allowed 28 goals in 22 matches played. They allowed 45 the year prior.
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There’s been a lot of roster turnover in those years since. For some teams, that could spell trouble. But it’s been the opposite for Orlando.
Barbra Banda, the team’s high-profile offseason addition, has provided a boost to the offense with her 12 goals (good for second in the league). A number of Brazilians, from Rafaelle to Adriana, have joined Marta. Others like Emily Sams and Morgan Gautrat (who just signed a contract extension with the club) have helped bring the club stability in the midfield and on the back line.
“I think we’ve grown a lot this season and I think we just settle a little bit more on our style of game,” Angelina told the media on Thursday. “Our midfields are really good midfields. They’re really technical and they can defend, they can come to the top of the box to get shots too and I feel like these last games we’ve been trying to do that with our midfields and we’ve been having opportunities and hopefully we can get more goals.”
But a lot of them weren’t around when the club was at its lowest. Just Marta and Carson Pickett. Up until one month ago, Pickett had been with Racing Louisville. And Marta had been holding down the fort for a club that’s been strategic in its acquisitions.
“It’s pretty unfamiliar for all of us,” Hines told the media on Thursday when asked about what being in the team’s current position felt like. “There’s probably only Marta who’s been here that’s clinched playoffs since the existence of Orlando Pride. And I think that also can be a positive to us because we just take it game by game.”
Speaking to the media last week, Pickett touched on what it’s been like returning to the Pride and how different the club is now from what it was then.
“Coming mid-season is always a challenge you’re having to meet your teammates, meet new people, play with different people that you’ve never played with before but honestly the transition has been incredible because of the girls,” she said. “I think the coaching staff and Haley have created such a great culture and environment here. … They made me feel really comfortable right away and I think that that’s one of the biggest things as a professional athlete.”
One thing she pointed at as a specific change was the Pride having their own training facility – which was renovated in 2020 and made the Pride the first team in the NWSL to have its own exclusive training facility – calling the new conditions “first class.”
“I think when I was here last time we were still sharing with the boys and I remember we had to go to the gym when they weren’t in the gym and whenever they had a schedule change our schedule changed. We were on different fields that the club teams 12-year-olds were playing on and there were divots everywhere when I was here last time. To be able to have our own training facility, our own cafeteria, our own meeting room, gym and especially the fields that they have now are absolutely incredible and I think it’s first class.”
But even as the club continues to find itself in uncharted waters, one thing remains the same.
“We want to continue to keep winning and keep that separation from the pack that’s trying to chase us,” Hines said. “We can’t take our foot off the gas and that is really pushed by the players and the leaders that we have here. … We want something to show for all the stuff that we’ve done this year. It’s nice breaking records and it’s nice that we’re making a statement within the season, but we obviously want something to show for it at the end.”
