Orlando Pride (9-0-5, 32 points) at Angel City FC (4-7-3, 15 points)
When: Sunday, June 30, 7:30 p.m. ET
Where: BMO Stadium
TV: NWSL+ (National), Bally Sports Florida (Local), Paramount+ (National), CBS Sports Golazo Network (National)
As the Pride face the LA-based team, here are five things to watch for on Sunday night:
Going Back to Cali
Historically, the Pride have enjoyed traveling to Los Angeles to take on 2022 expansion side Angel City FC. The Pride have won both road matches against Angel City, first with a 1-0 victory in the two side’s inaugural matchup in 2022, then another 1-0 victory later in the 2023 season. The home team has never won a match in the Pride and Angel City series history. The two sides played to a 1-1 draw earlier this year at INTER&Co Stadium with Marta scoring the leveler in the 88th minute.
Racking up the Points
The Pride currently sit in second place in the NWSL standings with 32 points. They are one of three NWSL teams that have more than 30 points through 14 matches alongside the Kansas City Current and Washington Spirit. Only two other teams in the league’s history have reached the 30-point mark in 14 games or less. The 32 points for the Pride are the second most they have ever had in a season, only behind the 40 points they secured in 2017. Last season, the Pride finished with 31 points over the entirety of the 2023 season, missing the postseason due to tiebreakers.
1,2,3,4,5,6
The Pride saw a flurry of goals in their last match as they beat the Utah Royals 6-0. The six-goal margin was the largest margin of victory in Orlando Pride history and tied the league record for largest margin of victory all time. The six goals were also the most scored in a single match by the Pride. Four of the Club’s six goals came in the second half, which served as the most goals scored in any half by the team in Club history. The Pride had four different goal scorers with Summer Yates and Ally Watt finding the back of the net along with braces from Marta and Barbra Banda.
The Inevitable
Forward Barbra Banda continues to take the NWSL by storm earning a brace against the Royals and reaching double digit goals on the year with 10. She became just the second player in Pride history to score 10 or more goals in a single season after Marta had 13 in 2017. Banda became the first player in NWSL history to score 10 goals in their first 10 appearances, and also broke the Club record for most headed goals in Club history with five after her first half finish against the Royals.
Brace Yourself
The match against the Royals saw both Banda and Marta tally braces. For Marta it served as her first brace of the season and her first since July 6, 2019 when she did it against the Washington Spirit. For Banda, it was her fourth brace of the season, which breaks the Pride record for most braces in a single season. The four braces also ties a single-season league record as she became just the fifth player in history to have four braces in a single season.
Milestone Tracker
- Marta is two assists away from 20 in her NWSL career.
- The next clean sheet for Anna Moorhouse will tie the Club record for most career regular season clean sheets (14).
- Kylie Strom is four appearances away from 80 NWSL across all competitions.
- Angelina is five appearances away from 50 NWSL across all competitions.
