{"id":364610,"date":"2026-08-06T20:00:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T20:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/364610\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T20:00:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T20:00:08","slug":"orlando-pride-returns-home-ready-to-bounce-back-against-racing-louisville","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/364610\/","title":{"rendered":"Orlando Pride returns home, ready to bounce back against Racing Louisville"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Orlando Pride<\/a> are looking for a rebound performance when they host Racing Louisville on Friday at 7 p.m. at Inter.co Stadium.<\/p>\n

In its previous match last Friday, Orlando fell to North Carolina<\/a> 5-0. The margin of defeat was the largest in the NWSL this season. The loss dropped Orlando below the playoff line as the 30-match season has passed the halfway point.<\/p>\n

The Pride (7-9-2, 23 points) is 10th in the standings and chasing eighth-place Angel City FC and the ninth-place Seattle Reign. All three clubs have 23 points but Angel City and Seattle both have two matches in hand. Racing Louisville (4-11-2, 14 points) is 15th in the standings in the 16-team league.<\/p>\n

Orlando head coach Seb Hines said improvement is imperative.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we come home and we play in front of our fans, we need to put a show on and we need to really bounce back from a disappointing result against North Carolina,\u201d Hines said. \u201cWe let ourselves down, we let the fans down, and we need to respond in the best way and that\u2019s by getting three points this Friday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Orlando\u2019s defense had been more settled after the summer break, with Cori Dyke and Zara Chavoshi starting in the back line. Dyke, though, made several mistakes against the Courage, including an error that led directly to a goal. Zoe Matthews made her Pride debut off the bench against the Courage and is another young defensive option.<\/p>\n

Racing Louisville, is not exactly an offensive juggernaut with just six goals in its last five matches. Neither, however, is Orlando.<\/p>\n

The Pride has scored once in two matches without NWSL goals leader Barbra Banda, and she will not be available Friday. Zambia was eliminated from the Women\u2019s Africa Cup of Nations tournament Wednesday and did not qualify for the 2027 Women\u2019s World Cup, so Banda should return soon. Marta and Jacquie Ovalle will try to carry the attack until she does.<\/p>\n

Someone needs to pick up the offensive slack. The Pride is 2-4 since returning to action following the league\u2019s World Cup break and has been shut out in all four of the defeats.<\/p>\n

Taylor Flint, Louisville\u2019s top midfielder, has two goals and 13 starts this season. She was taken off in Louisville\u2019s last game as a precaution and her status for Friday is unknown. If she is good to go, Orlando will need to key in on her to shut down Louisville\u2019s progression through the midfield.<\/p>\n

Mirann Gacioch and Kayla Fischer scored second-half goals in Louisville\u2019s 2-1 win over Chicago last time out. Fischer has three goals and two assists this season. Louisville has won two of its last three after five straight defeats and beat Orlando 3-2<\/a> at Lynn Family Stadium in April.<\/p>\n

The result in the spring continued a trend in the series. History has favored the hosts whenever Orlando and Louisville meet. Across 14 all-time meetings in all competitions, the away side has never come away with a victory.<\/p>\n

Orlando\u2019s next match is Aug. 15, a trip to Portland to face the Thorns.<\/p>\n

Orlando signs forward Nunes<\/p>\n

Orlando announced this week it signed forward Gabi Nunes through the end of the 2026 season. Nunes will join the Pride pending receipt of her visa and International Transfer Certificate.<\/p>\n

\u201cGabi is a player with extensive experience at both the club and international levels, and we\u2019re excited to welcome her to Orlando,\u201d said Caitlin Carducci, vice president of soccer operations and general manager. \u201cShe has consistently performed in top leagues around the world and brings quality, versatility and a proven ability to score goals. We believe she will be a valuable addition to our group as we continue pursuing our goals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nunes, 29, joins the Pride following a stint with Aston Villa of England\u2019s Women\u2019s Super League. She has also played in Spain\u2019s Liga F and in Brazil\u2019s pro women\u2019s league. Nunes has tallied 118 goals across all competitions at the club level.<\/p>\n

Nunes has represented Brazil internationally since 2016. The S\u00e3o Paulo native has tallied eight goals in 38 appearances for the national team.<\/p>\n

\"OrlandoThe Orlando Pride signed forward Gabi Nunes of Brazil through the end of the season. (Mark Thor\/Orlando City SC)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Orlando Pride are looking for a rebound performance when they host Racing Louisville on Friday at 7…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":364611,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[28,1335,139,141,140,3968,2062,76046,110],"class_list":["post-364610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-florida","tag-orange-county","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-orlando-pride","tag-soccer","tag-social-sports","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364610","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=364610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364610\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/364611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=364610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=364610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=364610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}