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.
Scoring Summary:
3' Nina Nijstad (Sophia Wilson) – POR 1, ORL 0
28' Sophia Wilson (Penalty Kick) – POR 2, ORL 0
30' Ally Lemos (Solai Washington) – POR 2, ORL 1
74' Morgan Weaver (Cassandra Bogere) – POR 3, ORL 1
88' Renee Lyles (Sophia Wilson) – POR 4, ORL 1
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."
Match Notes:
- Ally Lemos’ goal in the 30th minute marked the midfielder’s first career NWSL goal and second across all competitions with the Pride.
- Solai Washington’s assist on Lemos’ goal marked the second assist of her professional career.
- Coming on as a second-half substitute, Marta made her 150th regular-season appearance for the Pride, extending her club record for most NWSL regular-season appearances all-time.
- Midfielder Haley McCutcheon made her 100th regular-season appearance for the Orlando Pride, joining Marta as the only players in club history to surpass the century mark.
- Interim head coach Yolanda Thomas made two changes to the starting lineup since the Club’s last match against the Kansas City Current, with Luana and Solai Washington entering the starting XI.
- Kylie Nadaner (maternity leave) and Viviana Villacorta (knee) missed the match.
Next Match:
The Pride will now head west to face Bay FC on Sunday, Sept. 27, at PayPal Park (5 p.m. ET | ESPN).
