Unbeaten Orlando Pride clinches 1st NWSL Shield

The Orlando Pride clinched their first National Women’s Soccer League Shield at home on Sunday with a 2-0 win over the second-place Washington Spirit at Inter&Co Stadium.

Pride playmaker and captain Marta scored from the penalty spot in the 56th minute before Orlando midfielder Adriana saw her shot deflected for a Spirit own goal in the 73rd minute.

The Pride remain unbeaten through 23 games. No team has ever finished an NWSL season unbeaten. The Shield is the first trophy of any kind for the Orlando Pride.

Washington played the match without several stars, including United States international forward Trinity Rodman and French forward Ouleye Sarr, the team’s co-leading scorers with eight goals each. Starting defender Casey Krueger and midfielder Leicy Santos also missed the match due to injuries.

“It feels incredible. I’m going to get emotional,” Orlando defender Kylie Strom said. “We’ve gone through so much, this team, and to have Marta score the goal — I mean, you can’t write it. We’re so, so over the moon.”

Orlando is just the fifth franchise to win the NWSL Shield, which is awarded annually to the team that finishes No. 1 in the regular-season standings. San Diego Wave FC won the Shield last year.

The Portland Thorns, Seattle Reign, and the Western New York Flash/ North Carolina Courage franchise, which relocated to North Carolina in 2017, accounted for the previous 10 Shields.

NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman was in attendance in Orlando to present Orlando’s players and staff with the newly redesigned trophy.

Orlando’s final three games are away to the Portland Thorns on Friday, followed by a trip to reigning champions NJ/NY Gotham FC on Oct. 20 and a home game against Seattle Reign FC.

The Pride only made the playoffs once in seven prior seasons in the NWSL. Their lone previous playoff appearance came in 2017.

Orlando’s history has mostly been defined by futility prior to this season. The Pride finished in the bottom three of the standings in five of those seven seasons prior to this campaign. That includes a last-place finish in 2019 that saw them concede 53 goals in 24 games, still a single-season record.

Orlando was also the only team not to participate in the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup, the competition that replaced the regular season when the league shut down for the COVID-19 pandemic that year, because of uncertainty around positive COVID results after several players went to social establishments in Orlando right before that tournament.

“I think that’s what makes this season even more special, is to kind of know what this club and this organization has been through,” said Strom, who joined the team in 2021, on Friday. “It wasn’t always easy, but I think we’ve got the right people in the right places, and we have something really special here. So, it’s super exciting now and for the future.”

Five NWSL teams, including the Spirit, have clinched playoff berths with three weeks remaining in the season. The top eight teams make the playoffs, an expansion from six last year. Orlando will host a playoff game for the first time in early November when the Pride welcome the No. 8 seed in the quarterfinal round.