Haley McCutcheon scored three minutes into the match and the Orlando Pride made it stand up to earn a 1-0 victory over the Washington Spirit on Sunday in front of 16,417 fans at Audi Field in Washington, D.C.
Orlando ended a three-match losing streak and improved to 8-11-2 with 26 points in the NWSL. Washington fell to 11-6-4 and remained at 37 points. Washington defeated Orlando 4-2 when the teams met in Orlando on May 2.
“A terrific result,” Orlando coach Seb Hines said. “Really gritty performance. We took an early lead and the attention to detail was really good with players playing their roles and doing their responsibilities and throwing their bodies on the line throughout the whole game.”
McCutcheon’s third goal of the season — Orlando’s earliest goal of 2026 — came courtesy of Barbra Banda, who had been leading the league in goals until being overtaken by Ashley Sanchez of North Carolina. Sanchez has 13 goals coming out of the weekend to Banda’s 12.
It was Banda’s effort as a defender, however, that led to Orlando’s goal. She hounded Washington back Elisabeth Tse, forcing a turnover near midfield and sprinted free down the right side.
As the defense started to collapse on her, Banda spotted McCutcheon cutting into the box from the left side and crossed a grounder that McCutcheon caught in stride and fired a right-footed shot from the center of the penalty area into the bottom left corner of the goal, beating Washington keeper Sandy MacIver.
The goal ties McCutcheon’s career high for most goals in a season. Banda recorded her second assist of the year and ninth career regular-season helper, which ties her with Alex Morgan for second-most in club history.
Cosette Morché started in goal for Orlando in her NWSL debut and made three saves in recording a clean sheet, the Pride’s seventh shutout of the season. Morché is the first keeper in club history to record a clean sheet in her debut. Anna Moorhouse had started the previous 20 matches for the Pride and played every minute of the season. Moorhouse was a designated substitute for the contest.
Orlando’s backline and Morché withstood several attacks from the Spirit, including a sequence in the 12th minute when consecutive shots by Washington’s Sofia Cantore and Tamara Bolt hit the woodwork. Washington also applied a ton of pressure as the match reached stoppage time, with three shots on target in the extra 12 minutes, including two by Ashley Hatch — one of which hit the woodwork — and another stopped with a diving save by Morché.
“Yeah, we had a little bit of luck,” Hines said. “Good teams are always going to create opportunities to score, and the post helped us out, but a really good collective performance from everyone.”
With the win, Hines became the fifth NWSL coach to record 50 career regular-season wins with one club. The road team has now won each of the last four regular-season meetings between Orlando and Washington, with the Pride winning four straight league matches at Audi Field dating back to 2023. The victory Sunday makes Orlando just the second club in NWSL history to win four consecutive regular-season road matches against the Spirit.
Orlando hosts the Utah Royals on Saturday at Inter.co Stadium in its next action. Kickoff is 7 p.m.