The 2021 Orlando Pride season was Orlando Pride's sixth season in the National Women's Soccer League, the top division of women's soccer in the United States.
Notable events On November 12, 2020, with the addition of Racing Louisville FC ahead of the 2021 NWSL season, the NWSL held the 2020 NWSL Expansion Draft. Alanna Kennedy, who had been with the Pride since 2017, was selected as were the NWSL rights to Caitlin Foord which Orlando had acquired from Portland Thorns FC as part of the trade for Emily Sonnett in January 2020 but she had elected to sign outside the NWSL with English FA WSL team Arsenal instead.
On January 12, Orlando announced Ian Fleming had joined from the Houston Dynamo and Dash group to become general manager of the Pride, filling the vacant role left by Erik Ustruck in January 2020.
On February 25, the NWSL announced the list of federated players for the upcoming season. It included four Pride players: US internationals Ashlyn Harris, Ali Krieger and Alex Morgan all retained their status while Canadian goalkeeper Erin McLeod was given federated status for the first time since 2015 meaning she would no longer require an international roster slot.
On April 5, U.S. Soccer and NWSL announced it would be trialing the new IFAB approved concussion substitutes rule allowing for two additional substitutions in each match to be used for players with suspected concussions. The new rule was implemented on top of the increase from three to five "normal" substitutes carried over from the 2020 season.
On April 21, Orlando Pride beat Washington Spirit 1–0 in the Challenge Cup, their first win since August 21, 2019, snapping a streak of 13 winless games in 609 days. The match also marked the first time Marta, Sydney Leroux and Alex Morgan all started a game for Orlando together since July 2018.
Four Orlando Pride players were selected to represent their nations at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics in July: Marta, Erin McLeod, Alex Morgan and Ali Riley.
On July 21, the sale of Orlando City SC and related soccer assets including Orlando Pride by Flavio Augusto da Silva, who took over in 2013, was completed. Zygi, Leonard and Mark Wilf became the new majority owners with the DeVos family, led by Dan DeVos, entering as minority owners. The combined value of the deal was estimated at $400–450 million.
On July 23, Marc Skinner stepped down as head coach amid reports he had agreed terms with Manchester United. His assistant, Carl Green, took temporary control for the team's match against OL Reign the following day before also departing. Becky Burleigh, who had retired after 26 seasons as head coach of the Florida Gators in April, was appointed interim head coach for the remainder of the 2021 season on July 25.
On July 28, it was announced Alex Leitão, the chief executive officer of the Orlando City SC organization since 2015, was stepping down from his role.
On October 1, the NWSL announced all scheduled games would not take place that weekend following allegations of historic abuse and sexual coercion against former North Carolina Courage coach Paul Riley. Riley was the fourth head coach to be sacked having been accused of misconduct during the 2021 season after Farid Benstiti, Richie Burke and Christy Holly.
Roster
NationalityNamePosition(s)Date of birth (age)Previous clubNotesGoalkeepers1Erin McLeodGK Växjö DFFFED18Kaylie CollinsGK USC Trojans–24Ashlyn HarrisGK Washington SpiritFED30Brittany WilsonGK Denver PioneersSUPDefenders3Toni PressleyDF Houston Dash–4Amy TurnerDF Manchester UnitedINT7Ali RileyDF Bayern Munich–11Ali KriegerDF Washington SpiritFED12Carrie LawrenceDF UCF KnightsSUP17Courtney PetersenDF Virginia Cavaliers–21Phoebe McClernonDF Växjö DFF–23Kylie StromDF Atlético Madrid–26Ally HaranDF Houston DashSUPMidfielders5Emily van EgmondMF West Ham UnitedINT6Jade MooreMF ReadingINT8Gunnhildur JónsdóttirMF Kansas City NWSL–14Marisa ViggianoMF Northwestern Wildcats–15Erika TymrakMF Utah Royals–20Parker RobertsMF Florida Gators–22Taylor KornieckMF Colorado Buffaloes–27Chelsee WashingtonMF Bowling Green FalconsSUP28Meggie Dougherty HowardMF Washington Spirit–32Viviana VillacortaMF UCLA BruinsForwards2Sydney LerouxFW FC Kansas City–9Jodie TaylorFW Olympique LyonINT10MartaFW FC Rosengård–13Alex MorganFW Tottenham HotspurFED29Abi KimFW Fiorentina–31Crystal ThomasFW Washington Spirit–
Staff .
ExecutiveCoaching staff
Match results
Friendlies As per the league schedule, NWSL teams were permitted to begin preseason activities on February 1, 2021. Orlando Pride scheduled five preseason friendlies.
National Women's Soccer League
The NWSL regular season will begin on May 15 and conclude on October 30. Six teams will qualify for the playoffs.
Results summary
Results by round
Results
League standings
NWSL Challenge Cup
Following the success of the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup as a replacement tournament, the NWSL announced the return of the competition as part of the regular schedule in 2021. The competition is scheduled to begin on April 9, prior to the start of the NWSL regular season. With the league split regionally into two groups of five, teams were scheduled to play each divisional opponent once with the top team progressing to the final. Orlando Pride were placed in the East division with North Carolina Courage, NJ/NY Gotham FC, Washington Spirit, and new expansion franchise Racing Louisville.
Group stage
Squad statistics
Appearances
Starting appearances are listed first, followed by substitute appearances after the + symbol where applicable.
! colspan=12 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Goalkeepers
! colspan=12 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Defenders
! colspan=12 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Midfielders
! colspan=12 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Forwards
|colspan="12"|Players away from the club on loan:
Goalscorers
NameNWSLTotal12FW Sydney Leroux819213FW Alex Morgan505310FW Marta40449FW Jodie Taylor30322MF Taylor Kornieck213615MF Erika Tymrak20278MF Gunnhildur Jónsdóttir10114MF Marisa Viggiano10117DF Courtney Petersen10129FW Abi Kim011Total24327
Shutouts
NameNWSLTotal 1 24 GK Ashlyn Harris 325 2 1 GK Erin McLeod 100Total426
Disciplinary record
NameNWSLTotal 2FW Sydney Leroux1000104DF Amy Turner4000407DF Ali Riley2010308MF Gunnhildur Jónsdóttir3000309FW Jodie Taylor30003010FW Marta20103011DF Ali Krieger20002013FW Alex Morgan10001014MF Marisa Viggiano30003015MF Erika Tymrak10001017DF Courtney Petersen20002021DF Phoebe McClernon30003022MF Taylor Kornieck10102023DF Kylie Strom30003024GK Ashlyn Harris10102025DF Konya Plummer00101028MF Meggie Dougherty Howard500050Total36050410
Transfers and loans
2021 NWSL Draft
Draft picks are not automatically signed to the team roster. The 2021 college draft was held on January 13, 2021. Orlando had four selections. All four draftees elected to take up the NCAA waiver in light of the COVID-19 pandemic that meant they were able to remain in college to contest the rescheduled college spring season. The Pride retained the NWSL rights to all four. At the end of the college season, Kaylie Collins signed a National Team Replacement contract on June 4, and Viviana Villacorta was signed to a one-year plus option year contract and immediately placed on the season-ending disabled list on August 6. Mikayla Colohan and Kerry Abello both announced they would return to their respective colleges for the 2021 season and exhaust their final year of eligibility. RoundPickPlayerCollegeStatus19 Viviana VillacortaMF University of California, Los AngelesSigned214 Mikayla ColohanMF Brigham Young UniversityNCAA returnee324 Kerry AbelloDF Pennsylvania State UniversityNCAA returnee434 Kaylie CollinsGK University of Southern CaliforniaSignedInitially signed National Team Replacement contract, later signed through 2021 season
Transfers in DatePlayerPrevious clubFee/notesRef. December 21, 2020 Alex MorganFW Tottenham Hotspur Federation player, returned to the league December 24, 2020 Meggie Dougherty HowardMF Washington Spirit Acquired in a trade with a first-round pick in the 2021 NWSL Draft, a first-round pick in the 2022 or 2023 draft (tbd) and $140,000 in allocation money in exchange for Emily Sonnett. January 22, 2021 Phoebe McClernonDF Växjö DFF Re-signed following short-term contract with Växjö January 30, 2021 Gunnhildur JónsdóttirMF Kansas City NWSL Acquired in exchange for Kristen Edmonds and the natural second-round pick in the 2022 NWSL Draft. Erika TymrakMF February 23, 2021 Crystal ThomasFW Washington Spirit Free agent signing March 2, 2021 Abi KimFW Fiorentina April 5, 2021 Gabby EnglishGK Boavista National Team Replacement signing June 25, 2021 Amy TurnerDF Manchester United Signed using allocation money July 5, 2021 Kylie StromDF Atlético Madrid Free agent signing July 8, 2021 Jodie TaylorFW Olympique Lyon Free agent signing, acquired playing rights in exchange for Carson Pickett in February 2021 August 26, 2021 Parker RobertsMF Florida Gators Free agent signing, acquired discovery rights from Kansas City NWSL in exchange for the natural fourth-round pick in the 2022 NWSL Draft October 7, 2021 Emily van EgmondMF West Ham United Free agent signing
Transfers out DatePlayerDestination clubFee/notesRef.October 29, 2020 Julie KingDFWaived Morgan ReidDFWaived Abby ElinskyMFWaivedOctober 30, 2020 Zandy SoreeMF Houston DashShort-term contract expired Deneisha BlackwoodMF Houston DashShort-term contract expired Savanah UvegesMF MSV DuisburgShort-term contract expired Kate HowarthFWShort-term contract expired November 12, 2020 Alanna KennedyDF Racing Louisville Selected in the 2020 NWSL Expansion Draft. December 24, 2020 Emily SonnettDF Washington Spirit Traded in exchange for a first-round pick in the 2021 NWSL Draft, a first-round pick in the 2023 NWSL Draft, Meggie Dougherty Howard and $140,000 in allocation money. December 31, 2020 Claire EmslieFW Everton Permanent transfer CamilaMF Palmeiras Out of contract January 7, 2021 Shelina ZadorskyDF Tottenham Hotspur Permanent transfer January 8, 2021 Emily van EgmondMF West Ham United Permanent transfer January 30, 2021 Kristen EdmondsMF Kansas City NWSL Traded with the natural second-round pick in the 2022 NWSL Draft in exchange for Gunnhildur Jónsdóttir and Erika Tymrak. February 4, 2021 Carson PickettDF North Carolina Courage Traded in exchange for the playing rights to Jodie Taylor. March 30, 2021 Jordyn ListroMF Kansas City NWSL Traded in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2022 NWSL Draft. April 14, 2021 Gabby EnglishGK Hibernian End of National Team Replacement contract
Loans out DatePlayerLoaned toNotesRef.August 17, 2021 Konya PlummerDF AIKUntil November 15, 2021
Preseason trialists Orlando Pride began preseason training on February 1, 2021. The squad included two non-roster invitees on trial with the team during preseason. Haran had been with Orlando during the 2020 Fall Series and made two appearances. Tymrak was not yet contracted and rostered having come out of retirement when Orlando acquired her playing rights in a trade in January. They were later joined by Gabby English who had most recently been in Portugal with Boavista and Jamaican international Lauren Silver who had spent the 2020 Fall Series signed to Houston Dash.
2021 Orlando Pride trialistsPlayerPositionPrevious team Ally Haran DF Orlando Pride Erika Tymrak MF Utah Royals Gabby English GK Boavista Lauren SilverDF Houston Dash
References
External links