SAN DIEGO – The Orlando Pride (4-5-2) edged past the San Diego Wave (7-4-1) to move into playoff position. Orlando took a tight 1-0 victory over the Wave on Sunday afternoon at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego.
Before Sunday’s matchup, the Wave were tied for the top spot in the National Womens Soccer League (NWSL) standings. Prior to the win, Orlando sat near the bottom of the standings, despite the impressive season from forward Barbra Banda. Banda currently leads the league in goals and is in early contention for the Golden Boot.
San Diego was coming off of a draw with the Houston Dash, while the Pride dropped to the Denver Summit last week. Both teams were looking to bounce back on Sunday afternoon.
The game started slow as Orlando and San Diego struggled to gain momentum early. The Wave maintained possession for most of the first half, but had some missed opportunities, namely a missed goal from midfielder Kenza Dali in the 46th minute.
“I think we create chances, but we just need to be able to put them in the back of the net,” said Kristen McNabb, a defender for the Wave.
After the missed goal for San Diego, the Pride quickly made their way down the field. In the 48th minute, defender Nicole Payne was able to secure a goal for Orlando to put them up 1-0 before the end of the half.
The Wave continued to struggle to convert in the second half as forward Ludmila missed a goal in the 54th minute. Head coach Jonas Eidevall attributed some of San Diego’s lack of offensive success to the Pride’s talented defense.
“They are obviously two world class defenders and they have a very solid team,” Eidevall said. “We’ve seen that throughout the season so far as one of the teams in the league that concedes the low amount of really high value chances and that comes from them being a very solid defense.”
To switch things up for the Wave, Eidevall made multiple substitutions throughout the second half, but no one could get anything past the Orlando defense. Payne’s first half score became the game’s only goal and sealed the 1-0 victory for the Pride.
Both teams will play one more game this month, with Orlando taking on Bay FC on May 29 and San Diego playing the Chicago Stars on May 31. During June, the NWSL will go on a month-long break for the 2026 FIFA men’s World Cup and will resume play in early July.
Featured image via Soleil Dam/@mediabysoleil.
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