The 2024 Orlando Pride season was the Orlando Pride's ninth season in the National Women's Soccer League, the top division of women's soccer in the United States. The Pride won the NWSL Shield, its first trophy, by finishing the regular season in first place. On November 24, 2024, the Pride defeated the Washington Spirit 1-0 to become NWSL champions for the first time in franchise history.
Notable events Two new expansion franchises, Bay FC and Utah Royals, joined the NWSL in 2024. Orlando traded for full protection from both teams in the 2024 NWSL Expansion Draft and therefore had no players selected.
After four-and-a-half seasons under the Exploria sponsorship name, Orlando City's home stadium was rebranded as Inter&Co Stadium ahead of the 2024 season.
Ahead of the 2024 season it was announced that after four seasons as a league cup competition, the NWSL Challenge Cup would become a super cup between the previous season's NWSL Shield (regular season) and NWSL Championship (post season) winners. As a result, Orlando Pride did not participate in the 2024 Challenge Cup. It made way for the Summer Cup, a similar style tournament including Liga MX Femenil teams.
On March 7, the team signed Zambian forward Barbra Banda from Shanghai Shengli for a transfer fee reported to be $740,000; a new club record transfer fee and the second-highest in women's soccer history.
The Pride won the NWSL Shield, the team's first trophy, clinching it with a win over Washington Spirit on October 6. They did so while setting several NWSL records, notably going undefeated through the first 23 regular season games until a loss to the Portland Thorns FC on October 11. The streak stretched back to the previous season, lasting 24 NWSL regular seasons games and 27 games in all competitions in total. Goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse also set a new NWSL record for shutouts in a single season with 13, beating Adrianna Franch's 11 shutouts set with Portland Thorns in 2017.
Orlando ended a five-year playoff drought and earned the first postseason victory in club history on November 8 with a 4–1 victory over Chicago Red Stars. The team reached the NWSL Championship game for the first time. It also marked the first time an NWSL Shield winner had reached the Championship since North Carolina Courage in 2019 and similarly the first time since 2019 that the #1 and #2 seeds met in the Championship. On November 23, Orlando became the second club after North Carolina to win the double, defeating Washington 1–0 in the final.
At the end of the season, Emily Sams, Marta and Barbra Banda were named NWSL Best XI first team. Anna Moorhouse and Kerry Abello were named NWSL Best XI second team. Seb Hines was named Coach of the Year.
Roster
NationalityNamePosition(s)Date of birth (age)Previous clubNotesGoalkeepers1Anna MoorhouseGK Bordeaux–21Sofia MannerGK FC HonkaINT40McKinley CroneGK Alabama Crimson Tide–Defenders2Haley McCutcheonDF Houston Dash–3Kylie StromDF Atlético Madrid–4Rafaelle SouzaDF Arsenal–5Megan MontefuscoDF Houston Dash SEI6Emily SamsDF BK Häcken–12Carrie LawrenceDF UCF Knights–13CeliaDF Seattle Reign FC–19Carson PickettDF Racing Louisville–25Kerry AbelloDF Penn State Nittany Lions–31Cori DykeDF Penn State Nittany Lions–32Brianna MartínezDF Notre Dame Fighting Irish–Midfielders8LuanaMF CorinthiansINT, SEI14Viviana VillacortaMF UCLA Bruins–15AngelinaMF Seattle Reign FC–16Morgan GautratMF Kansas City Current–17Evelina DuljanMF JuventusINT23Grace ChandaMF Madrid CFFINT, SEI28Summer YatesMF Washington Huskies–30Ally LemosMF UCLA Bruins–Forwards7Mariana LarroquetteFW Club León–9AdrianaFW Corinthians–10MartaFW FC Rosengård–11Ally WattFW Seattle Reign FC–18Simone CharleyFW Angel City FC SEI20Julie DoyleFW Santa Clara Broncos–22Barbra BandaFW Shanghai ShengliINT
Staff .
ExecutiveCoaching staff
Match results
Friendlies Orlando Pride opened preseason camp on January 23. Six friendly matches were scheduled with all played behind closed doors.
National Women's Soccer League
The NWSL regular season was played on a balanced schedule i.e. each team will play every other team twice; once at home and once away. The top eight teams qualified for the playoffs, an increase of two from the previous year.
Results summary
Results by round
Results
League standings
Playoffs
The top eight teams qualified for the playoffs. All rounds were single elimination. Orlando qualified for the first time since 2017 and entered as the #1 seed, matching them at home to the #8 seed in the quarterfinals.
NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup
In 2024, NWSL and Liga MX Femenil combined for a new tournament, the Summer Cup. All 14 NWSL clubs and six Liga MX clubs competed in a group stage before a knockout round.
Group stage
Squad statistics
Appearances
Starting appearances are listed first, followed by substitute appearances after the + symbol where applicable.
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Goalkeepers
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Defenders
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Midfielders
! colspan=14 style=background:#dcdcdc; text-align:center|Forwards
|colspan="14"|Players away from the club on loan:
|colspan="14"|Players who appeared for the club but left during the season:
Goalscorers
NameNWSLPlayoffsSummer CupTotal122FW Barbra Banda134017210FW Marta9201139FW Adriana6006428MF Summer Yates5005511FW Ally Watt300320FW Julie Doyle201372DF Haley McCutcheon020215MF Angelina200296DF Emily Sams100113DF Celia001117MF Evelina Duljan001119DF Carson Pickett100125DF Kerry Abello100133FW Alex Kerr0011Own goals3003Total468458
Shutouts
NameNWSLPlayoffsSummer CupTotal 1 1 GK Anna Moorhouse 131014Total131014
Disciplinary record
NameNWSLPlayoffsSummer CupTotal 1GK Anna Moorhouse0001000001002DF Haley McCutcheon2001000003003DF Kylie Strom2100000002104DF Rafaelle Souza1000000001006DF Emily Sams2000000002008MF Luana20000000020010FW Marta40000000040011FW Ally Watt10000000010012DF Carrie Lawrence11000000011013DF Celia00000020020015MF Angelina10010000020016MF Morgan Gautrat30000000030019DF Carson Pickett30000000030020FW Julie Doyle20010000030022FW Barbra Banda00010000010025DF Kerry Abello20010000030029FW Amanda Allen10000000010030MF Ally Lemos10000000010031DF Cori Dyke00010000010032DF Brianna Martínez11000000011036MF Claire Winter000000100100Total29307003003930
Transfers and loans 2024 NWSL Draft
Draft picks are not automatically signed to the team roster. The 2024 college draft was held on January 12, 2024. Orlando made four selections. RoundPickPlayerCollegeStatus19 Ally LemosMF University of California, Los AngelesSigned222 Cori DykeDF Pennsylvania State UniversitySigned450 Alex KerrFW Texas Tech UniversitySigned56 Talia GabarraMF University of Central FloridaNot signed
Transfers in DatePlayerPrevious clubFee/notesRef. December 1, 2023 Sofia MannerGK FC Honka Undisclosed fee. December 13, 2023 AngelinaMF Seattle Reign Free agent signing. December 14, 2023 LuanaMF Corinthians January 2, 2024 Evelina DuljanMF Juventus Free agent signing. January 11, 2024 Morgan GautratMF Kansas City Current Acquired with $50,000 in allocation money in exchange for a 2024 international roster spot. January 24, 2024 Simone CharleyFW Angel City FC Free agent signing. March 7, 2024 Barbra BandaFW Shanghai Shengli Undisclosed fee. Reportedly $740,000. May 30, 2024 Grace ChandaMF Madrid CFF Free agent signing. July 18, 2024 Kenna CaldwellGK Texas A&M Aggies National Team Replacement contract. Claire WinterMF FC Thy-Thisted Q National Team Replacement contract. August 16, 2024 Carson PickettDF Racing Louisville Acquired in exchange for $75,000 in allocation money.
Transfers out DatePlayerDestination clubFee/notesRef. November 15, 2023 Mikayla CluffMF Utah Royals Traded with the No. 26 overall selection in the 2024 NWSL Draft in exchange for $90,000 in allocation money and 2024 NWSL Expansion Draft protection. November 20, 2023 Thais ReissMF Villarreal Option declined Caitlin CosmeDF Stjarnan Out of contract Jordyn ListroMF Tampa Bay Sun Out of contract December 12, 2023 Carly NelsonGK Utah Royals Traded with $65,000 in allocation money in exchange for a 2024 international roster spot January 16, 2024 Erika TymrakMF Tampa Bay Sun Mutually terminated contract January 26, 2024 Messiah BrightFW Angel City FC Traded in exchange for $130,000 in allocation money. April 16, 2024 Kaylie CollinsGK Seattle Reign Waived Tori HansenDF Brooklyn FC Waived August 28, 2024 Alex KerrFW Como Waived August 3, 2024 Kenna CaldwellGK End of National Team Replacement contract. Claire WinterMF Lexington SC End of National Team Replacement contract.
Loans out DatePlayerLoaned toNotesRef.September 5, 2024 Amanda AllenFW Lexington SCUntil May 2025; terminated on December 9, 2024, and placed on SEI list
Preseason trialists Orlando Pride began preseason training on January 23, 2024. The squad included four non-roster invitees on trial with the team during preseason. McKinley Crone returned to Orlando having played with the Pride during the previous season before her contract expired while five-year NWSL veteran Simone Charley was a free agent having been with Angel City FC for the last two seasons. Two undrafted rookies were also included: goalkeeper Kenna Caldwell out of Texas A&M University and defender Raegan Cox out of Michigan State University. Emily Moxley also trained with the team in preseason.
2024 Orlando Pride trialistsPlayerPositionPrevious team McKinley Crone GK Orlando Pride Simone Charley FW Angel City FC Kenna Caldwell GK Texas A&M Aggies Raegan CoxDF Michigan State Spartans Emily MoxleyDF North Carolina Tar Heels
References
External links