The Orlando Pride face a tough rival on the road in a difficult place to play, desperate to get a win after three consecutive losses.
Orlando (7-11-2, 23 points) and the Washington Spirit (11-5-4, 37 points) kick off at Audi Field on Sunday at 4 p.m. The Pride have tumbled all the way to 13th place in the NWSL standings. Washington is second in the standings.
“Always a tough game going to Washington. They’ve got a good set of players,” Orlando head coach Seb Hines said. “Historically, we’ve done all right there in the last couple of occasions we’ve been to Audi Field, and that should give us a lot of confidence that we can go out there and get three points.”
Orlando is 11-11-8 against Washington all-time and the Pride have won the last three matches at Audi Field, though they are just 2-7-1 on the road this season. Washington beat Orlando 4-2 on May 2 at Inter.co Stadium in the teams’ most recent encounter.
With Barbra Banda and her league-leading 12 goals back, the Pride players have reason to feel like they can find their form against such a challenging opponent.
The biggest question mark for Orlando is how quickly some of the team’s new signings can make their way into the lineup. Norwegian forward Sanne Lekven and Brazilian forward Gabi Nunes joined the club recently. Nunes was a last-minute substitute against Portland in a 2-1 loss last weekend, and should be working her way into the lineup soon.
Both of these players were brought in to help take the attacking pressure off of Banda and free up more options on the field. Orlando’s leading goal-scorers behind Banda — Marta, Hannah Anderson, Haley McCutcheon, and Jacquie Ovalle — have only two goals apiece. The Pride need more attacking threats to make a run at the playoffs this season.
They face a Washington side that boasts plenty of firepower. Trinity Rodman (10 goals, five assists) leads the team, while Sofia Cantore (five goals and an assist) and Leicy Santos (five goals, four assists) are alongside her in attack. Cantore scored twice and Rodman once in the Spirit’s victory over the Pride in May.
“The likes of Trinity Rodman and Cantore and some of the other players who are coming back from the African Cup of Nations might be available, and so we need to make sure that we get the end product,” Hines added. “One way to stop them from scoring is us scoring as well. So the end product is going to be really important to get crosses, shots, test the keeper, and obviously ultimately try and score in those areas.”
Orlando will return home for its next match, Aug. 29 against the Utah Royals.
Orlando loans forward to Swedish team
Orlando loaned forward Simone Jackson to Sweden’s FC Rosengård through June 2027, the club announced. Jackson joined the Pride in the middle of the 2025 season and has made 20 appearances, scored one goal and recorded one assist across all competitions for Orlando.
Jackson finished her collegiate career with 22 goals scored and 13 assists in four years at the USC. In her senior year in 2024, she played a career-high 1,304 minutes for the Trojans and scored six goals.
Based in Malmö, Sweden, FC Rosengård plays in the Damallsvenskan, the highest division of women’s soccer in Sweden. Marta played for the Nordic side from 2014-17.