When Orlando Pride midfielder Ally Watt came into preseason camp this year, she thought while she watched a scrimmage: “This is gonna be a good year.”
What a good year it turned out to be.
On Saturday night, the Pride capped an NWSL Shield-winning season with the ultimate hardware by defeating the Washington Spirit 1-0 and lifting the 2024 NWSL championship trophy.
Barbra Banda — who else? — scored the lone goal for the Pride with a near-post slice in the 37th minute, taking one of the Pride’s limited chances in the match. It was her 17th goal of the NWSL season overall and fourth in the three postseason games.
The Spirit heavily outshot the Pride, 26-9, and forced Orlando to defend to the last in the final 15 minutes. While the Spirit was high volume in its attacking, it lacked intensity and could not get Trinity Rodman — struggling with a recurring back injury — into dangerous positions.
GO DEEPER
Orlando and Marta win first NWSL championship
It’s easy in hindsight to apply words like destiny to a winning team. There were plenty of doubts, especially when Orlando had two losses in a row last month near the end of the regular season. But as the team recovered its balance and fought its way through the playoffs, it managed the tricky balance of all championship…
.){kind=link}