NWSL Shield winners Orlando Pride have officially booked their spot. NWSL Championship Next Week On Sunday, they survived a 3-2 battle with the Kansas City Current. The semifinals were evenly contested through halftime, which isn’t surprising considering the teams were only five points apart during the regular season. However, Current scored the first goal in the 33rd minute of the first half through Debinha, who evaded the Pride’s defensive line and gave his team the lead. But just eight minutes later, Haley McCutcheon scored from close range.
While the Currents outpaced the Pride in the second half, the Pride managed to make the most of their shots. They had six shots, but three on target and two in the back of the net, with MVP contenders Barbra Banda and Marta both on the scoresheet. In the 53rd minute of the first half, Banda scored with a brilliant individual shot, and in the 82nd minute of the second half, Marta caught the ball near the halfway line, ran toward the goal, and struck.
There was a bit of drama towards the end of the game when the Currents converted a Vanessa DiBernardo penalty kick in the 13th minute of added time. Current took a total of 15 shots during the second half, but had only 3 effective shots and was unable to return to the game as a result.
The Pride will play the Washington Spirit in the NWSL Championship on Saturday at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, a game that will be broadcast on CBS at 8 PM ET.
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The Pride are aiming to become the first NWSL team to win both the Shield and Championship in the same season since the North Carolina Courage in 2019. That’s been the trend for the team, which has gone undefeated in a record 23 games this year. But considering that Pride has rarely competed for silverware, this is an even more impressive feat.
Before this season, they had made the postseason only once since they began playing in 2016, instead finishing in the bottom half of the NWSL. Things started to look up with the hiring of Seb Hines as head coach, first on an interim basis in 2022, and then with the hiring of Haley Carter as general manager in 2023. The Pride have successfully built a team that is comfortable without the ball but has no trouble scoring goals. , Thinking quickly and always efficiently to take advantage of opportunities. They were one of the NWSL’s top offensive teams in 2024 and ranked in the top three in scoring, shots and expected goals during the regular season.
While Marta has long-time league veteran and Defender of the Year candidate Emily Sams only three years into her professional career, the Pride have made the most of their unsung heroes with international league experience. Anna Moorhouse, a NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year contender and part of the NWSL’s joint-best defense, earned the award just two years after joining the Pride after playing primarily in her native England. Another candidate in Kylie Strom has a similar story, joining the Pride in 2021 after spending seven years in the NWSL in another European league.
They may be inexperienced entering Saturday’s championship game, but they are arguably the favorites. They have already won a trophy in the Shield and with Hines rounding out their style of play, they look like the complete package this season.
Martha stands out.
There are several notable stories surrounding the Pride’s 2024 win, including Marta’s journey to her first NWSL championship. Marta, a six-time FIFA World Player of the Year, joined the Pride in 2017 and is the only remaining member of the Pride’s only playoff run, surviving several iterations of the team before becoming an integral part of this year’s squad.
Marta has also completed her own evolution. Over the past few years, her age has started to show and her influence at both Pride and Brazil has begun to wane, which is not surprising for a player in her late 30s. But the Olympic silver medalist is back in good form in 2024. She has 10 goals and one assist this season, earning MVP and Midfielder of the Year nominations in the process.
She will no doubt play a big part in Saturday’s Pride as she aims for her first championship, which will be another big stop in Marta’s redemption year. She was a member of the Brazilian team that competed in the gold medal match at the Summer Olympics. , winning a second silver medal in the process.
