ORLANDO, Fla. (Nov. 8, 2024) – The No. 1 Orlando Pride defeated No. 8 Chicago Red Stars by a 4-1 scoreline on Friday night at Inter&Co Stadium. The win is the Pride’s first-ever NWSL playoff victory as the team will move onto the semifinal round which will also be hosted at Inter&Co Stadium.
The Pride will now look ahead to the semifinal match that will be next weekend on either Saturday, Nov. 16 at 12 p.m. ET or Sunday at 3 p.m. ET at Inter&Co Stadium. That match, presented by Heart of Florida United Way, Inter&Co and Publix, will be played against the winner of the Kansas City Current and the North Carolina Courage quarterfinal. Tickets for the semifinal match next weekend are available here.
Haley McCutcheon opened the scoring for the Pride in the first half, which was her first goal of the season. It was also her first goal since April of the 2023 season, both of which were headers. The goal also served as the Pride’s first-ever home playoff goal in Club history.
The Pride were also backed by a brace from Barbra Banda on the night. The brace served as her 14th and 15th goals of the season across all competitions and was the first-ever brace in the NWSL Quarterfinals.
Marta ended the Pride scoring with a finish from the penalty spot. The penalty was given via video review after Barbra Banda was taken down in the box, her fourth penalty earned in all competitions this season, all of which have resulted in goals. For Marta, it was her 10th goal of the 2024 season across all competitions and her first NWSL playoff goal.
Scoring Summary:
26’ Haley McCutcheon (Ally Watt) – ORL 1, CHI 0
The Pride struck first on a corner kick with Summer Yates driving the line and centering the ball into the box. After the ball was pinged around, Ally Watt got a foot to it which then found the head of Haley McCutcheon who made no mistake with the finish.
39’ Barbra Banda (Emily Sams) – ORL 2, CHI 0
The Pride added another in the first half as defender Emily Sams one-timed a loose ball into space for Barbra Banda as she sprinted past the Chicago backline. Banda went one-on-one with goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher and calmly slotted the ball to the lower-right corner to extend the Orlando lead.
45+6’ Barbra Banda (Ally Watt) – ORL 3, CHI 0
With just one minute of first-half stoppage time left, the Pride added a third to further increase their lead of the Red Stars. Ally Watt controlled the ball in Orlando’s defensive half and sent a lobbed through ball to Barbra Banda behind the Chicago line once again. Banda went head-on with Naeher again, this time taking a dribble around her that needed nothing more to bag her first-half brace.
57’ Marta (Penalty Kick) – ORL 4, CHI 0
After going to video review, the Pride were awarded a penalty kick just over 10 minutes into the second half. Pride captain Marta stepped up to take on the opportunity and roofed it past Alyssa Naeher to the right corner for the Pride’s fourth of the night in Downtown Orlando.
60’ Jameese Joseph – ORL 4, CHI 1
The Chicago Red Stars got one back just three minutes later as Jameese Joseph put goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse under pressure on a pass back from her defensive line. Joseph was able to get to the ball before Moorhouse and send it into the net to lessen the gap between the Pride and Red Stars.
Head Coach Seb Hines:
“Brilliant. They were brilliant from start to finish. We started the game really well, created two great opportunities within the first two minutes. You could see the hunger within the team, you could see the commitment and [it was] fully deserved, I think we were phenomenal today.”
Match Notes:
- Captain Marta scored her 10th of the campaign across all competitions.
- With the opening goal of the match in the 26th minute, midfielder Haley McCutcheon scored the first-ever Pride playoff goal at home in Club history.
- The goal served as McCutcheon’s first since April 29 of last season against San Diego Wave FC.
- Forward Barba Banda tallied her 14th and 15th goals of the season across all competitions. Also serving as her first NWSL playoff goals.
- Banda became the first African international to score in the NWSL playoffs since 2016 when Francisca Ordega did it for the Washington Spirit.
- Banda’s brace is also the first ever brace scored in an NWSL quarterfinal match and is the first international player to score a brace in NWSL playoffs.
- Defender Emily Sams provided her third helper of the year across all competitions and her second in as many games.
- Ally Watt recorded her second and third assists of the season and the firsts of her playoff career as a member of the Pride.
- Watt also became just the fourth player in NWSL history to record a multi assist game in the NWSL playoffs.
- The match marked the Pride’s first-ever home playoff match in the Club’s history.
- Head Coach Seb Hines made one change to the Starting XI with Angelina reentering the Starting XI.
Next Match: The Pride advance to the semifinals and will host the winner of the Kansas City Current and North Carolina Courage quarterfinal match. That match will be played on either Saturday, Nov. 16, or Sunday, Nov. 17, at Inter&Co Stadium, with exact details to be announced in the near future.
