**ORLANDO, FL** – The Orlando Pride (9-0-5, 32 points) defeated the Utah Royals (2-11-1, 7 points) at Inter & Co Stadium. The Pride celebrated Pride Month with 9,656 fans in the stadium, and their team provided plenty of fireworks.
Orlando, coming in as the first-place team on the NWSL table, had little trouble dominating the last-place Royals. Besides working on a win to extend their eight-game unbeaten streak, Orlando aimed to extend their record streak of never trailing by a point in a game, which at game time stood at 11 games.
After the match, Orlando added to their tally of 14 games unbeaten this season. The six goals tonight are the most in team history, and 6-0 is the team’s largest-ever margin of victory. This match had the largest crowd of the year and the third-largest crowd in Pride history.
Orlando spent the first 15 minutes of the game in the Utah third of the field, not letting them get the ball out and dominating play.
In the ninth minute, Barbara came close to opening the scoring. She caught Utah goalkeeper Mandy Haught by surprise as Banda got a piece of the ball that Haught was trying to clear. Banda went down, and Utah managed to clear the ball. It was a taste of things to come.
In the 27th minute, Banda started the scoring when defender Kerry Abello took the ball deep into the Utah box before sending in a cross to the far post where Banda headed in her ninth goal of the season.
In the 43rd minute, Summer Yates scored. Yates intercepted a would-be Royals pass along the back line that left her one-on-one with Haught before she slipped in a shot for the goal.
In the 47th minute, Marta got into the action. Adriana took control of the ball and sent a cross into the box that was deflected off a Utah defender. The ball landed at Marta’s feet at the top of the box, and she sent in a shot that squeezed in between the near post and goalkeeper.
The Pride scored three goals in the first 47 minutes of the match.
The game had multiple hydration breaks because of the high Florida humidity, which definitely worked to Orlando’s advantage.
Towards the end of the match, Orlando managed a trio of goals as Utah seemed to run out of gas.
Royals defender Ana Tejada couldn’t keep up with Banda, as late in the game Banda got past her over and over.
In the 86th minute, Banda ran onto a bad pass from a Utah defender and found herself with just the goalkeeper to beat. After making a move deep inside the box, Banda put a goal in on the empty net for the brace, making the score 4-0.
Just two minutes later, Banda set up Marta for her own brace on the night. Banda caught up to a long pass that took her deep into the Utah defensive third. After dribbling into the box, Banda gave a centering pass to Marta, who beat the Royals defense and put a shot in the back of the net.
To cap things off, in stoppage time, second-half substitute Ally Watt joined in with a goal of her own. Marta controlled the ball on the outside of the field and dropped off a pass to Banda towards the endline. Banda crossed the ball into the box to Watt, who beat a defender and notched her second goal of the season.
Pride head coach Seb Hines was, of course, thrilled with his team’s performance.
“It was an outstanding performance, flawless really,” said Hines, “with the number of goals the players scored and to get a clean sheet. I think most importantly it was for the fans tonight.”
“It means a lot for the community, and so we had to do our job tonight. The players fully did that and put on a real show for the fans and the supporters who stood by us and have gone through moments of adversity over the eight years. That performance epitomizes what this team is about and the determination, their grit, and their relentlessness to go after it and get a comprehensive win.”
Banda scored her ninth and tenth goals of the season, making her the first NWSL player to reach double-digit goals this season and the current league leader in goals. She set a Pride record for most headed goals in club history with five and became the first player in NWSL history to score 10 goals in 10 appearances.
The six goals scored are the most scored in a single match by the Pride. The four goals scored in the second half were also the most scored in any half by the Pride in club history.
The Pride will travel across the country and take on Angel City FC at BMO Stadium on Sunday, June 30.
