LAKE MARY, Fla. — The Orlando Pride are starting to find themselves again.
A win over the Houston Dash two weeks ago and a well-earned draw on the road against the Kansas City Current have the team getting back to form at just the right time as the final seven matches of the season are in view. Now, the Pride welcome the Portland Thorns to Inter.co Stadium on Saturday, in what is a crucial match to remain in playoff contention.
"We're excited to play at home in front of our fans," Interim Head Coach Yolanda Thomas said on Tuesday at Orlando Health Training Ground at Sylvan Lake Park. "We didn't obviously get the three points in the last game, but we still walked away feeling like we had a pretty good performance, and we're building on that. So we're ready to tackle a really good opponent."
The last time these two sides met back on Aug. 15 at Providence Park, the Pride fell 2-1 in a match that felt like Orlando was minutes away from taking points from Providence Park for the first time since 2017. The team now hopes to look past the scoreline and take the performance from that match into Saturday's game.
"There's actually a lot of positives to take away," Thomas said of the previous match. "If you look at the totality of that game, that is actually the most quiet I have ever experienced Providence Park. We certainly had periods where we were able to control play, whether in or out of possession, and came close to getting a result. It's a game we look back on knowing that we can draw confidence from, because we caused them problems."
Portland arrive in Central Florida having struggled to get results over the past few weeks, with their last result coming in the form of a 1-1 draw with the Chicago Stars. For Thomas, her message this week has been about Orlando, not the opponent. Since stepping into the interim head coaching role, her priority has been creating an environment where her players feel free to perform, and the results are beginning to show.
"A big focus of mine is: if I can get them to feel comfortable to perform their best, we can fix the small tactical things we need to fix," she said. "A lot of it has been really supporting individuals to be able to perform their best, regardless of what the tactical plan is."
The week also brought the big news that Barbra Banda had signed a long-term contract extension with the Pride, committing her future to Orlando at a moment when she is arguably one of the most in-form strikers in women's soccer.
"It's huge, and it's massive even beyond what she does on the field," Thomas said of Banda's contract. "Obviously she scores goals like nobody's business. But even if she's not scoring the goal, she's creating for others. Her presence usually consumes two to three defenders on the other team, so it opens spaces for her teammates.
"She's a Zambian and African woman signing a huge deal in women's football, and I think that in and of itself deserves to be celebrated and I'm happy that the Orlando Pride could be a part of making history."
Kickoff against the Portland Thorns at Inter.co Stadium is set for Saturday afternoon at 4:00, with the match broadcast on ION.
