ORLANDO, Fla. (Sept. 19, 2026) – The Orlando Pride (9-13-3, 30 points) fell 4-1 to the Portland Thorns (12-7-6, 42 points) at Inter.co Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The visitors opened the scoring in the third minute when Sophia Wilson dribbled into the box before playing a diagonal ball back to Nina Nijstad, who fired a right-footed shot into the back of the net to give Portland an early lead.
Portland doubled its advantage in the 28th minute when Wilson converted from the penalty spot after drawing a foul inside the box.
Two minutes later, the Pride responded through midfielder Ally Lemos, who curled a right-footed strike from the top of the box into the right side of the net after Solai Washington’s cutback pass found her in space. The goal was Lemos’ first in NWSL play since joining the Pride during the 2024 campaign and her second across all competitions for the club, while Washington’s assist was the 20-year-old’s second of the season.
As the Orlando continued to push for an equalizer, the Thorns added two second-half goals through Morgan Weaver and Renee Lyles to extend their lead and secure the victory.
Interim Head Coach Yolanda Thomas:
“It’s just a tough result. In the end, we made some decisions to kind of go and try to get a win, because we need three points, so we weren’t too worried about risking potentially getting scored on. Obviously, that didn’t work out for us, but I think probably the biggest disappointment is we have momentum, and we don’t take advantage of those times in the game, and then it punishes us.”
Orlando Pride Forward Solai Washington:
“It’s unfortunate not to come away with the result we wanted. Some of the things are avoidable mistakes that we made and we can grow from. But there’s also good things to take from the game. Just trying to bounce back for the next one.”
The Pride will now head west to face Bay FC on Sunday, Sept. 27, at PayPal Park (5 p.m. ET | ESPN).