ORLANDO, Fla. (Sept. 28, 2024) – The Orlando Pride (16-0-6, 54 points) extended its unbeaten streak to 22 matches in a 3-1 victory over the Houston Dash (4-13-5, 17 points) on Saturday night at Inter&Co Stadium. The side did so in front of crowd of 17,087 – a new team record at Inter&Co Stadium and the second highest attendance record in the team’s history.
The Pride will now have the opportunity to clinch the NWSL Shield next week when the team hosts the Washington Spirit on Sunday, Oct. 6 in a 5 p.m. ET kickoff in Orlando. Tickets for that match can be purchased at Orlando-Pride.com/Tickets. Fans can also secure tickets to the team’s first-ever home playoff game, set to be hosted at Inter&Co Stadium the weekend of Nov. 8-10, at the link here.
The win served as the eighth home win of the season for the Pride, which sets a new single-season record for the Club for most home wins in a season, surpassing last year’s total of seven wins in Central Florida.
In the 47th minute, the Pride also set an NWSL record for consecutive minutes played without conceding a goal, hitting 548 minutes at that mark, extending that record to 554 minutes before the Dash’s lone goal of the match.
With their second win in the “Space Race”, the Pride swept the season series against the Dash for the first time in the all-time series history.
The Pride took the early lead thanks to a goal from Carson Pickett, her first-ever goal for the Pride and fourth career regular season goal. Rookie Cori Dyke recorded her first NWSL assist with the set up.
Angelina followed it up with a goal from outside the box, serving as her second goal of the 2024 season. After the Dash cut the lead to 2-1, Marta scored in second-half stoppage time to put the game away and secure the three points for the Pride. Making her 100th career start, the Brazilian international scored her seventh goal of the 2024 season, which is the second-most scored on the team this season.
Coming on in the 89th minute, midfielder Viviana Villacorta made her first appearance since Sept. 17, 2023, when she suffered a season-ending knee injury, making her return a year and 11 days later.
Scoring Summary:
29’ Carson Pickett (Cori Dyke) – ORL 1, HOU 0
The Pride pulled ahead for an early 1-0 lead midway through the first half. Marta gathered control on the outside of Houston’s defensive zone before sending a pass back to defender Cori Dyke. Dyke sent a long cross inside the box to an unmarked Carson Pickett who headed in her first-ever goal as a member of the Pride.
51’ Angelina – ORL 2, HOU 0
The Pride doubled their lead early in the second half from Angelina. Barbra Banda maneuvered her way into the box before a Houston defender got a foot on the ball. Angelina quickly got control back and took a touch before drilling a shot past the Houston goalkeeper from well outside the box.
53’ Yuki Nagasato (Elin Rubensson) – ORL 2, HOU 1
Just two minutes later, the Dash got one back on a goal from Yuki Nagasato. Houston built up an attack deep in the Orlando defensive zone led by Elin Rubensson. Rubensson pushed ahead and led Yuki Nagasato inside the box, beating an Orlando defender to the pass and slipped a quick touch past goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse to cut the lead in half.
90+2’ Marta (Barbra Banda) – ORL 3, HOU 1
Orlando extended its lead back to two goals and iced that match with a second-half stoppage time finish from Marta. The Pride captain received a pass from Barbra Banda and dribbled her way in the midfield and into the Houston box before sending a low shot to the bottom right corner of the net.
Head Coach Seb Hines:
“At the beginning of the season, it was one of our goals to get more fans to come out and watch us play at home this season. I know behind the scenes the front office is doing a terrific job to continue to promote fans to come out and support this team. It's our job to put the performances together as the players are giving absolutely everything on the pitch. They are doing the most to perform at their highest levels and get victories. I think tonight with the crowd coming out and showing their support for this team, it really helped the players out. They have been doing so well this year and it is something that I cannot put it into words.”
Match Notes:
- With the win on Saturday night, the Pride earned their eighth home win of the season, setting a new single-season record in the category and passing the record of seven won in 2023.
- Carson Pickett scored her first-ever goal with the Pride with the first half finish. The goal served as the fourth regular season finish of her career.
- Angelina scored her second goal of the season and the fourth career goal of her NWSL career.
- Marta recorded her seventh goal of the season, which is the second most scored by a Pride player this season, increasing her all-time team lead to 38.
- Cori Dyke earned the first assist of her NWSL career the Pickett finish.
- Barbra Banda earned her sixth assist of the 2024 campaign on Marta’s stoppage time finish.
- Earning the start in midfield, Marta started in her 100th regular season match, all of which have come with the Pride.
- Coming in as a second-half substitute, Viviana Villacorta made her first appearance of the 2024 season and first since September 17, 2023.
- Goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse earned her 24th career win, tying former Pride goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris for the most in Club history by a goalkeeper. Only 10 goalkeepers in the NWSL have achieved 25 or more wins.
- The Pride have now played 20 consecutive regular season matches without trailing.
- The Pride set an NWSL record, going 554 consecutive minutes played without giving up a goal. The team broke the record in the 47th minute, the 548 straight minutes without conceding.
- The Pride crowd set a new Inter&Co Stadium attendance record at 17,087, which also serves as the second-highest attended game in Pride history.
- Head Coach Seb Hines made two changes to the Starting XI from the team that earned a 1-0 victory at Bay FC last week, with Kylie Strom and Summer Yates earning the starting spots.
Next Match: The Pride will remain home at Inter&Co Stadium to take on the Washington Spirit on Sunday, Sept. 6. The match is set to kick off at 5 p.m. ET and will be broadcast nationally on ESPN 2.
