Look, this Orlando Pride season is starting to feel like that friend who keeps promising they’re going to get it together and then slams into the same damn wall. Saturday night, the Pride looked poised to win against Utah and give their home fans a well-deserved victory. Instead, they served up the exact same movie we’ve been watching all year: a pretty first-half highlight, then the second half turns into a crime scene. Utah 2, Pride 1. Banda scores, everyone exhales, and then the back line goes to sleep. Pride dropped to 8-12-2, 26 points, in 12th place. That’s not “a mediocre night.” That’s a pattern.
For 45 minutes, it looked like they remembered they had Barbra Banda. Summer Yates, still finding her legs after the injury carousel, slipped her through late in the half. Banda outran everybody, McGlynn came flying out, the ball bounced back, and Banda finished into an empty net. 1-0 at the break. 13th of the year. McCutcheon physical as always. Morché made the saves she had to make. Individual quality papered over the cracks, though. Same story as half the season.
Utah already had the ball, the shots, and the corners in the first half. 60 vs. 40 possession. 9 shots to 3, 5 corners to 0. You don’t need a clipboard to see that.
Five minutes after the restart, Palacios cooked Rafaelle down the flank, the cross skipped past Oihane, and Cloé Lacasse tapped it in. Then in the 69th, Lacasse beat her mark and cut it back for Paige Cronin, first goal since April, and it’s 2-1. The midfield of Lemos and McCutcheon was run over. Center backs looked like they were standing on wet cement.
Seb Hines went into the locker room up 1-0, got outplayed, and came out with the same shape. That’s the problem. The team’s high lines, slow reactions, and a midfield that fails to sit and protect are not brave against runners like Lacasse and Palacios.
Mathematically? Sure. Practically? They’re hanging off a ledge by two fingers. Top eight. They’re 12th with 26 points through 22 games. The teams above them are not going to gift-wrap the playoffs. Seb needs to put someone in midfield so the center backs aren’t isolated, especially due to their recent inconsistent performances. That could stop the defensive lapses. Stop waiting for Banda to invent a goal every week; there’s got to be more chance creation up top as well.
Saturday was the 2026 Pride in 90 minutes plus a weather delay: Banda does something special, everybody feels hope, then the structure caves, and you’re explaining another home loss to a crowd that keeps showing up in the rain.
See you Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. on The Pride Pod Live on our YouTube channel.
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