The Orlando Pride travel to Salt Lake City on a short turnaround after Wednesday’s 1-0 home loss to Boston Legacy FC, facing a Utah Royals side that is also searching for answers after the summer break.
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The Pride (6-7-2, 20 points) and Utah (7-4-3, 24 points) kick off from America First Field on Saturday at 8:45 p.m.
“Games come thick and fast. We’ve got to stick together. We’ve got to keep pushing, and I feel like it’ll turn in our favor,” Orlando head coach Seb Hines said. “We’ve just got to keep focused and think about the things that we can continue to control.”
Orlando’s start to the second half of the season has been uneven. The Pride beat the Kansas City Current 3-0 on July 10 in a match where Marta scored her 50th goal in a Pride uniform and Barbra Banda added her league-leading 12th of the season off the bench.
Five days later, the Pride could not break down Boston at home, losing on a Barbara Olivieri goal in the 17th minute and managing zero goals for the second time in three matches.
Banda has not started a post-break match because of a thigh injury, and this trip to Utah is her last chance before she leaves for the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations that starts July 26. Hines knows how important she is, but whether she is ready to go for a full 90 is still up in the air.
“It’s obviously challenging, especially when she had quite a significant injury leading up to the last couple of games,” Hines said. “It was a quick turnaround from Friday to Wednesday, and then we’ve got obviously another quick turnaround going on the road to Utah. So we’ll assess where she’s at.”
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Utah was riding high on a 10-match unbeaten streak and held first place in the NWSL before the summer break. Since returning, the Royals have dropped two straight to fall to fifth in the NWSL table. Utah lost 3-2 at the Chicago Stars and 3-1 at home to Gotham FC, its first home loss since March.
Cloé Lacasse leads Utah with five goals, and Mina Tanaka has four goals and four assists. Cecelia Delzer scored in both losses and is another threat for Orlando to worry about.
Head-to-head history favors Orlando, with the Pride leading the all-time series 4-3-3. The Royals have not beaten the Pride since returning to the league in 2024, going 0-3-1 across four meetings. The most recent matchup ended 1-1 in August 2025.
Pride signs 19-year-old forward
Orlando signed forward Zoe Matthews through the end of the season, the club announced Thursday.
“We are excited to welcome Zoe to Orlando,” said Caitlin Carducci, the Pride’s vice president and general manager. “She is a young player with tremendous potential who brings valuable depth and competition to our roster.”
Matthews, 19, began her pro career in 2024 with the Houston Dash at 17 and made three appearances. She spent time on loan in Europe, first with Spanish side Dux Logroño, where she appeared in eight matches, making five starts, and most recently, with SL Benfica in Lisbon, Portugal. A native of Southlake, Texas, Matthews has also represented both Jamaica and the United States at the youth level.
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Pictures: Orlando Pride vs Boston Legacy FC