Imagine a cursed franchise or suffering fan base — say, the Cleveland Browns, to name one easy example. Now imagine that team putting together the best season in league history, rattling off 23 games without defeat.
What sounds unthinkable is reality for the Orlando Pride in 2024. The franchise that was once the laughingstock of the National Women’s Soccer League is now the team everyone is chasing heading into the playoffs, and it is one of the best sports stories of the year.
“People wrote us off,” Orlando coach Seb Hines said after his team clinched the NWSL Shield in October, marking its 23rd match without a loss. “People didn’t want to come to the club. People had no hope with this club.”
Hines isn’t exaggerating. Waves of players have left Orlando in recent years amid ongoing tumult, and years of poor performances made the team an afterthought even in a small, 14-team league. That dire history is what makes this year’s run even more remarkable. Among the Pride’s league records are an eight-game winning streak this year and an unbeaten streak that reached 24 games including last year’s finale. Their 18th win of the season on Saturday also set a record — one that the Washington Spirit would match later that night — as did reaching 60 points.
“Pride is a dangerous thing, so…
