Angel City FC topped the Orlando Pride 2-0 on Friday as the NWSL returned from its extended summer break.
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Orlando fell to 5-6-2 and remain at 17 points in the league standings. The Pride played without NWSL scoring leader Barba Banda (11 goals), who was unavailable because of a thigh injury.
Banda had departed the 3-1 victory over Bay FC on May 29 in the last match before the break and her status for Friday was up in the air. There is no indication whether Banda will play in Orlando’s next match, this coming Friday at home against the Kansas City Current.
On Friday in front of 13,900 fans at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, the Pride dominated possession (57% to 43%) but little else against Angel City (5-6-1, 16 points). ACFC fired 14 shots — six on goal — while Orlando managed just five shots. Only one was on target, by attacker Solai Washington in the 80th minute.
Maiara Niehues scored for the third straight game and Sveindis Jonsdottir scored in her return from injury to give Angel City the win at home. Niehues fired home a rebound for the opening goal in the 36th minute. Jonsdottir forced a turnover in the 56th minute, dribbled, and scored from a tight angle to double Angel City’s lead. Jonsdottir returned to the starting lineup after missing the last four matches with a foot injury.
Orlando head coach Seb Hines was not pleased.
“Never good enough to lose a game two-nil,” Hines said in a news release provided by the club. “Two things in this league that you have to deal with is, one is direct play, and you have to deal with teams who are going to be really aggressive and try to get back to front really quickly, and you have to be prepared for transition.
“We can’t allow gifts in this league and we gave Angel City two gifts and they capitalized on those moments. We had some good possession and didn’t break anything up until probably the last 10 minutes of the game.”
It was a different story on the other side of the pitch, as interim head coach Leif Gunnar Smerud led Angel City in its first match since the firing of Alex Straus. The win was ACFC’s first since a 2-1 victory over Kansas City on May 20.
“I’m pretty happy,” Smerud said. “It was a good win against a good team. The players showed character, had some good moments, pressed well and dealt with the ball well against a good team.”
With the result, Orlando saw its streak of consecutive matches with a goal end at eight, one match shy of the club-record, a nine-game scoring streak set during the 2024 season.
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Goalkeeper Angelina Anderson recorded one save for her third shutout of the season.
The Pride and Angel City have established a fierce rivalry in their short history. Going into Friday’s match, six of their first eight clashes had featured either the tying or winning goal after the 85th minute.
The teams’ first meeting this season, April 3 in Orlando, exemplified the wild moments in the series. Orlando scored in the 84th minute, Angel City scored an equalizer in the second minute of stoppage time, then Orlando secured the win in the eighth minute of stoppage time.
The sides are also bunched together in the NWSL table, with Orlando in eighth place and ACFC a point behind in ninth position. The Pride’s match against Kansas City will kick off at 8 p.m. at Inter&Co Stadium. It will be televised on Amazon Prime. Kansas City (8-5-0) returned from the break with a 3-0 victory over Denver Summit FC and have 24 points.
Keeper loaned to Denver
The Orlando Pride have loaned goalkeeper Kat Asman to Denver Summit FC for the remainder of the 2026 NWSL season, the club announced.
Asman joined the Pride prior to the 2025 season and has not made an appearance for the club. Most recently, she was on loan with Lexington FC of the USL W League. Her contract with the Pride expires at the end of the year.
Asman spent the 2024 season with the Portland Thorns after being selected in the third round, No. 39 overall, of the 2024 NWSL Draft by the Thorns out of Penn State.
This report was compiled using information from the Associated Press, the Los Angeles Daily News, the Orlando Pride and Orlando Sentinel research.
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