Welcome to your preview and match thread as the Orlando Pride (2-3-2, 8 points) look to bounce back from a tough loss as they welcome the North Carolina Courage (2-2-3, 9 points) to Inter&Co Stadium (8 p.m., Prime Video). This is the first of two meetings between the two teams this season, with the return game in Cary, NC scheduled for July 31.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s everything you need to know about tonight\u2019s game.<\/p>\n
History<\/p>\n
The Pride and Courage have played 28 times since the Western New York Flash moved to North Carolina and became the Courage in 2017. The Pride are 6-11-3 in the all-time series in NWSL play and 6-14-8 in all competitions (0-0-2 in the Fall Series, 0-3-2 in the NWSL Challenge Cup, and 0-0-1 in the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup.). Orlando is 3-6-0 at home in league play and 3-7-2 in home matches against the Courage in all competitions.<\/p>\n
The most recent meeting between the two teams took place Sept. 19, 2025. The game appeared to be headed towards a scoreless draw until the end of normal time, when Shinomi Koyama converted to give the Courage the 1-0 win<\/a>. <\/p>\n Prior to that game, the teams met on May 10 in Cary, NC. Feli Rauch scored in the first half to give the hosts the lead and it looked like they would hold on for all three points. But Prisca Chilufya\u2019s equalizer in second-half stoppage time saw the game end in a 1-1 draw<\/a>.<\/p>\n The first meeting in 2024 was held on May 1 in Orlando. Barbra Banda set up Ally Watt for the opener in the first half, and Watt repaid the favor just over 10 minutes later, as the Pride went up 2-0. Julie Doyle added a goal just before halftime, giving the Pride a commanding lead. Emily Sams\u2019 own goal was the only scoring for the Courage, and Banda\u2019s second of the night gave the Pride a 4-1 win<\/a>.<\/p>\n On June 15, the Pride were the better team with more possession, shots, and shots on target, but the game ended in a scoreless draw<\/a>. While they were disappointed with the result, the Pride were the first team to take points in North Carolina in 2024. On July 20 in the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup in North Carolina, Manaka Matsukubo gave the hosts the lead just before halftime before Celia equalized late for the Pride. The game went into penalties and the Courage won the shootout 5-4<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The first game between the Pride and Courage in 2023 took place April 19 in Orlando. The Pride took the lead after halftime when Summer Yates set up Watt for the opening goal, but Denise O\u2019Sullivan equalized deep in second-half injury time, resulting in a 1-1 draw<\/a>. On June 17 in North Carolina, it was all Courage. Kerolin and Meredith Speck gave the hosts a 2-0 lead before a Haley McCutcheon own goal made it 3-0 to North Carolina.<\/a><\/p>\n The Pride didn\u2019t show up for the July 29 Challenge Cup contest in North Carolina, getting demolished by the Courage. Brittany Ratcliffe and Malia Berkely gave the hosts a 2-0 halftime lead before Frankie Tagliaferri made it three, and a late brace by Haley Hopkins completed the 5-0 beating<\/a>. The Pride finally got a win over the Courage in 2023 on Sept. 17 at home. Watt scored inside the first minute. After assisting on the first goal, Adriana doubled the lead before halftime. Matsukubo got one back for the visitors, but it wasn\u2019t enough and the Pride won 2-1<\/a>.<\/p>\n The first meeting in 2022 came on May 18 in North Carolina. Sydney Leroux scored early and Mikayla Cluff doubled the lead with her first professional goal. A late goal by Brianna Pinto got the Courage back within one, but it wasn\u2019t enough as the Pride took the2-1 win<\/a>. On Sept. 21, 2022, at Exploria Stadium, Debinha scored early, assisted Tess Boade in first-half injury time to double the lead, and later added another goal, dooming the Pride to a 3-0 defeat<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Pride and Courage were placed in the same division for the 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup, so the teams played twice before the regular season started. The first game took place March 26 in North Carolina. Merritt Mathias converted a penalty after Gunny Jonsdottir was called for a handball in the box, lifting the hosts to a 1-0 win<\/a>. The return match in the tournament took place on April 16 in Orlando. The Courage scored three goals in the first nine minutes. Darian Jenkins netted a brace to make it 3-2, but a late Debinha goal put the game away and North Carolina won 4-2<\/a>.<\/p>\n The teams played three times during the 2021 NWSL season. On May 22 in North Carolina, goals by Leroux and Alex Morgan gave the Pride a 2-0 lead late into the game. Jessica McDonald scored late to pull one back but the Pride held on for a 2-1 win<\/a>. On July 4 in Orlando, Debinha and Havana Solaun goals helped the Courage take home a 2-0 win<\/a>. The final game was played July 31 in North Carolina. Leroux opened the scoring but Ratcliffe equalized moments later and the teams drew 1-1<\/a>.<\/p>\n The two teams were also matched up in the 2021 NWSL Challenge Cup but they only played once in that tournament. Neither team was able to find the back of the net in a scoreless draw<\/a>.<\/p>\n Similar to the Challenge Cup, the teams were in the same group of the 2020 Fall Series, meeting twice. The first took place Sept. 19 in North Carolina and ended in a scoreless draw. The second was held on Oct. 17 at Exploria Stadium. Led by a Debinha brace, the Courage went up 3-0. But the Pride came back with goals by Marisa Viggiano, Kristen Edmonds, and Ally Haran for an exciting 3-3 draw.<\/p>\n The Pride and Courage played three times during the 2019 season. The first game was on April 17 in North Carolina. The Courage took a 1-0 lead into halftime but scored four times in the second half to win 5-0<\/a>. They played a second time on June 1 in Orlando. Again, it was a dominant performance by the Courage as the Pride fell 3-0<\/a>. The final meeting that year was another thrashing by North Carolina as the Pride fell 6-1<\/a>.<\/p>\n The teams also met three times in 2018. On May 23 in Orlando, goals by Alanna Kennedy and Rachel Hill saw the Pride come back from a 3-1 deficit. But McDonald scored a winner in the 90th minute and the Courage won 4-3<\/a>. The Pride went down by three goals in the final two games that season, but were unable to come back and fell 3-0 in both contests.<\/p>\n The 2017 season saw the teams meet for the first time. The Courage took the first game 3-1 on April 29 in North Carolina. They played a second time two weeks later in Orlando when the Pride took the 3-1 win. The final meeting in 2017 came in the final game of the season on Sept. 30. Kennedy netted a late winner, leading the Pride to a 3-2 win.<\/p>\n Overview<\/p>\n The Pride went into the three-week international break on a four-game point streak, recording a pair of wins and a pair of draws. However, they\u2019ve had two poor results since then, a 3-2 loss<\/a> to Racing Louisville on the road and a 4-2 loss<\/a> to the Washington Spirit at home.<\/p>\n The most recent game got off to a terrible start as Sofia Cantore scored twice in the first five and a half minutes to give the Spirit a 2-0 lead. It looked worse when Ally Lemos had her penalty saved by Sandy MacIver. But Banda scored twice before the break to even the game at 2-2.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, Claudia Martinez and Trinity Rodman scored in the second half, lifting the visitors to a two-goal win and handing the Pride their second consecutive loss. The losses put the Pride in 12th place in the league standings, but just one point behind eighth.<\/p>\n With Kerry Abello and Kylie Nadaner out, the Pride\u2019s back line has consisted of Cori Dyke, Rafaelle, Hailie Mace, and Oihane. Together with starting goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse, the defensive unit has conceded seven goals in the last two games. But that\u2019s not the only reason they\u2019ve struggled the last two weeks.<\/p>\n Finishing has been another problem for the Pride. The only player able to convert has been Banda, who has scored four goals in the two most recent games. As previously mentioned, that included a Lemos penalty saved against the Spirit.<\/p>\n Tonight, the Pride face a foe in a similar position, as the Courage also sit on nine points. They\u2019ve played three games since the break. They returned from the international break with a 1-0 win over the Houston Dash before drawing Boston Legacy 2-2 and losing to the Kansas City Current 2-1.<\/p>\n The Courage are tied for the sixth-most goals conceded through their first seven games. That\u2019s despite adding Canadian international goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan, who joined from San Diego Wave FC, where she was one of the league\u2019s top shot stoppers.<\/p>\n The back line in front of Sheridan has been consistent recently, consisting of Dani Weatherholt, Maycee Bell, Uno Shiragaki, and Ryan Williams. However, Bell missed the team\u2019s loss against Kansas City with a lower body injury.<\/p>\n Offensively, the Courage are led by U.S. international Ashley Sanchez, who has five goals. Matsukubo is second on the team with two goals and Weatherholt has the remaining one.<\/p>\n Williams leads the Courage with three assists so far this season, followed by Carly Wickenheiser, Matsukubo, Payton Linnehan, and Shinomi Koyama with one each.<\/p>\n \u201cI think in any game in this league, it\u2019s always going to be a tough matchup. I think they\u2019re looking to bounce back from a defeat this past weekend. Similarly, we are as well,\u201d Pride Head Coach Seb Hines said leading into tonight\u2019s game. \u201cWe want to get our home form going again. Looking back at the Washington game, we\u2019re very disappointed in the goals we conceded. We created some of our own as well and we have to capitalize on those moments. But there\u2019s been a big emphasis on getting back to who we are as a team and not conceding sloppy goals.\u201d<\/p>\n The Pride will play tonight without Kerry Abello (hip), Hannah Anderson (illness), Zara Chavoshi (lower leg), Cosette Morche (ankle), Jacquie Ovalle (thigh), Kylie Nadaner (maternity leave), and Viviana Villacorta (knee). The Courage are without Maycee Bell (knee), Payton Crawford (knee), Natalie Jacobs (ankle), Feli Rauch (suspension), and Olivia Wingate (knee).<\/p>\n Official Lineups<\/p>\n Orlando Pride (4-2-3-1)<\/p>\n Goalkeeper: Anna Moorhouse.<\/p>\n Defenders: Oihane, Raelle, Cori Dyke, Hailie Mace.<\/p>\n Defensive Midfielders: Haley McCutcheon, Ally Lemos.<\/p>\n Attacking Midfielders: Solai Washington, Angelina, Summer Yates.<\/p>\n Forward: Barbra Banda.<\/p>\n Bench: McKinley Crone, Nicole Payne, Reagan Raabe, Luana, Seven Castain, Julie Doyle, Simone Jackson, Marta<\/p>\n North Carolina Courage (4-3-3)<\/p>\n Goalkeeper: Kailen Sheridan.<\/p>\n Defenders: Dani Weatherholt, Natalia Staude, Uno Shiragaki, Ryan Williams.<\/p>\n Midfielders: Manaka Matsukubo, Shinomi Koyama, Riley Jackson.<\/p>\n Forwards: Ashley Sanchez, Evelyn Ijeh, Lauryn Thompson.<\/p>\n Bench: Molly Pritchard, Sydney Schmidt, Cameron Brooks, Ivy Younce, Carly Wickenheiser, Ally Schlegel, Hannah Betfort, Cortnee Vine, Chioma Okafor.<\/p>\n Referees<\/p>\n REF: Lauren Aldrich. How to Watch<\/p>\n Match Time: 8 p.m.<\/p>\n Venue: Inter&Co Stadium \u2014 Orlando.<\/p>\n TV: None.<\/p>\n Streaming: Prime Video.<\/p>\n Social Media: For live updates and rapid reaction, follow @themaneland.bsky.social<\/a> on Bluesky and the Orlando Pride\u2019s official Twitter (@ORLPride<\/a>) or Bluesky (@orlpride.com<\/a>) feed.<\/p>\n Enjoy the game. Go Pride!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome to your preview and match thread as the Orlando Pride (2-3-2, 8 points) look to bounce back…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":268242,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[139,141,140],"class_list":["post-268241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268241"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268241\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
AR1: Zeno Cho.
AR2: Seun Yinka-Kehinde.
4TH: Elvis Osmanovic.
VAR: Anya Voigt.
AVAR: Kaili Terry.<\/p>\n