SkoPurp Soccer: An Orlando Pride PawedCast

The Pride (minus several starters) went to North Carolina and — much like the first time they went there — they came home with a point. The 1-1 draw wasn't a terrible result, but it would have been a lot better if Orlando had managed to win the extra point that was just sitting there, waiting for them, in the ensuing penalty shootout. We discuss the team's Summer Cup opener with two home g...

We open this week's show with a discussion of the Orlando Pride signing two young players to new contracts through the 2025 season with option years for 2026. Rookie Cori Dyke and second-year pro Summer Yates have earned new deals and the Pride didn't want to waste time getting them to stick around for a bit longer. We discuss both players' accomplishments in 2024, and of course we rec...

If people were skeptical about the Orlando Pride before Saturday night, they are probably believers now. The Pride went into a sold-out CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, struck first, withstood the answer from the hosts, lost a player to a second yellow card, and then outplayed the Current the rest of the way to take over the top spot in the NWSL. The Pride beat Kansas City in its own fortress with one...

It's our 50th episode! When we embarked on our Orlando Pride-centric podcast, we didn't know if there would be an audience, but we have found one and it continues to grow. Thanks, as always, for your support. The Orlando Pride went to Los Angeles to play their third road game in four matches and did what they've done most of the season — they won. The Pride shut out their third consecu...

The Orlando Pride did some heavy editing to the club record book on Friday when the Utah Royals visited. In front of nearly 10,000 fans, the Pride put the visitors to the sword, beating Utah 6-0 at Inter&Co Stadium. Led by braces from Barbra Banda and Marta, the Pride set several new team marks, including most goals, biggest margin of victory, largest shutout win, and most-attended home game t...

The Orlando Pride got some players back and lost some others, as the revolving door continues. Seb Hines would probably love to have his entire squad available at some point, but so far it's worked out fine, with the team remaining unbeaten after a scoreless draw at North Carolina. Sometimes the ball doesnt' go in, sometimes the opposing goalkeeper plays well, and sometimes both of those t...

The Orlando Pride played without Adriana and Rafaelle and got only a half out of Marta and Barbra Banda, but still managed to bring home a hard-fought road point after a 1-1 draw against the Wave in San Diego. The Pride remain unbeaten in Southern California and on the 2024 season thanks to an acrobatic goal from Julie Doyle. We break down the match, check back on our score predictions (one of us...

The Orlando Pride were off this week, but that doesn't mean there wasn't something significant to discuss. The club announced the signing of Zambian international attacking midfielder Grace Chanda last week, and we break down the signing, what it means for the Pride, and (perhaps more importantly) what it might mean for star striker Barbra Banda. Could she be even more effective with her Z...

The Orlando Pride got a signature win Friday night in the club's 2-1 home win over the Portland Thorns. While Sophia Smith's absence was a blow to the visitors, the Thorns have plenty of talent, and it's not like the Pride aren't dealing with some key absences. The end result was an NWSL-record eighth win on the bounce. The Pride have now gone 11 games this season without a loss, a...

The Orlando Pride appeared to be headed to an absolute beatdown of the Seattle Reign on the road Sunday, but a third goal was (correctly) overturned, and a Seattle goal late in first-half stoppage time gave the hosts a lifeline. The Reign tied the game eventually, but the Pride have Barbra Banda. Sometimes that's the only difference you need. Orlando won in Seattle for the first time and tied...

The Orlando Pride squeaked past expansion side Bay FC with a 1-0 win at home on Saturday, but the scoreline was more than a bit flattering to the visitors, who got a big performance from their goalkeeper to keep the score from getting completely out of hand. The Pride dominated and should probably have done better from their plethora of scoring chances. Still, when you keep a clean sheet, one goal...

The Orlando Pride keep winning. We aren't used to that, but we're here for it. Barbra Banda has brought her lethal finishing to the City Beautiful and her fourth goal in three games was just enough for the Pride to squeak past previously undefeated Racing Louisville, 1-0. We check in on our score predictions, discuss the game in detail, and make our selections for Player of the Match. Our...

The Orlando Pride continued their winning ways on Friday, but that news has been overshadowed by Brazilian midfielder Luana's diagnosis of Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Luana will miss the rest of the season undergoing treatment and we wish her all the luck, love, and positive vibes we can possibly send. We know she's a battler, so we believe she will overcome this illness and return stronger th...

The Orlando Pride suddenly find themselves on a winning streak to go with their unbeaten streak to start the season. Orlando dispatched the San Diego Wave 1-0 in a game that should not have finished that close, as the Pride dominated long stretches of the match, but largely wasted a 20-4 advantage in shots. We break down the match, check on our score predictions, and make our selections for Player...

OK, so we forgot to talk about the end of the SheBelieves Cup, and we recorded Monday night, so we were done before the news broke about the Orlando Pride waiving Kaylie Collins and Tori Hansen on Tuesday morning. Let's just say we still had plenty to talk about, because the Pride won their first match of 2024 and stayed unbeaten at 1-0-3. We discuss the Pride's trip to Utah and how Orland...

The Orlando Pride had the weekend off with the international window upon us, so there's no new match for us to recap this week. Instead, we turned our attention (to start the show, anyway) on the SheBelieves Cup semifinals. Both matches on Saturday were compelling, with the U.S. falling behind in the first minute but rallying against a stubborn Japanese side to win, 2-1. It wasn't pretty,...

The Pride are undefeated! The Pride are winless! Both things are true and it's a bit maddening. Orlando scored first through a Chicago own goal off a good corner kick cross, but then conceded with some panicky defending in the second half en route to a 1-1 draw at home against the Red Stars. The Pride perhaps should have been up a player with plenty of time left had actual rules been applied....

The Pride are getting used to adversity early in the season. A week after opening the schedule on the road, falling behind by two goals, and losing a player to a red card before coming back to draw, Orlando again faced a tough situation. The Pride were missing even more defenders (playing nothing but fullbacks on the back line), had a goal disallowed because of a foul off the ball just before it c...

The 2024 season did not get off to a fast start for the Orlando Pride. Just 20 minutes into the season the Pride found themselves down two goals on the road. A while later, while still trailing, Orlando then found itself short one player when Kylie Strom was shown a second yellow card. Things looked bad. But the Pride pulled themselves together, fought back valiantly, and earned a 2-2 road draw ag...

The NWSL season is finally upon us, and as such, we are back to our weekly schedule as far as the SkoPurp Soccer podcast is concerned. We'll be with you throughout the year to cover all of the Pride's big doings. To that end, this show starts with where we left off last time. The Pride have suffered a few injuries and made some signings since we last produced an episode, and we take you th...

Our off-season schedule continues. After a lot of news in January, the news has been slow of late, despite it being a time of year when it's normally busy. The Orlando Pride have been exceedingly secretive this preseason, because, when the season is coming up quickly, why be fun or informative when you can be neither? One thing we know is that defender Megan Montefusco had foot surgery and has...

Our off-season schedule continues and we slipped our January episode in just under the wire. But the wait was worth it! First of all, there was a ton of news in January, and the Pride are already hard at work in preseason camp for what could be a pivotal 2024 season. Orlando said goodbye to some players, added a few (including via the 2024 NWSL Draft), and dropped both the preseason and season sch...

Our off-season schedule continues as we reconvene for a December episode and there was more to talk about this time around. The Pride have been busy since our last show and the pattern has started to clarify what the 2024 squad will look like, as well as some of the position groups beyond the next NWSL campaign. The discussion begins at the back as we talk about the Pride adding one goalkeeper bef...

We're back for our November monthly episode and so far it's been a quiet off-season for the Orlando Pride. However, business should be picking up soon and just within the last week there has been plenty of news to chew on. The Pride made a couple of trades to stay safe during the upcoming NWSL Expansion Draft. We break down what Orlando sent to Bay FC and the Utah Royals, including draft p...

The off-season is officially underway for the Orlando Pride. The 2023 season was a surprisingly positive one for a team that we frankly didn't expect that much out of before the NWSL kicked off in the spring. The fact that Seb Hines got this team to Decision Day in contention for a playoff spot and the Pride finished tied for fifth is a huge step in the right direction. But now that 2023 is ov...