After several seasons of rebuilding and rebooting, Orlando Pride have their first-ever trophy. The Pride are the 2024 NWSL Shield winners after beating the Washington Spirit on Sunday, 2-0. The title is awarded to the team with the most points in the regular season, and Orlando have gone on a remarkable run this year, unbeaten over 23 games, and they have already clinched their place in the postseason.
The Pride got their winning goal from a penalty via legend Marta and an own goal by the Spirit made it 2-0. The Brazilian international has been with the club since 2017 — the last time they also made the playoffs — and the title is her first ever while playing in NWSL.
“We’ve gone through so much this team and to have Marta score the goal, I mean you can’t write it,” defender Kylie Strom said after the game. The 32-year-old defender went undrafted to NWSL in 2014 but played in Europe till she joined the Pride in 2021.
The Spirit were the team closest in point total to chase down Orlando with seven points between the two sides with four games remaining in the season. Washington had been bit by the injury bug lately, with several injuries to key players the last few weeks, and ahead of their match against Orlando, they were missing many usual starting players. They also saw Andi Sullivan stretchered off the pitch later during the game, adding to more uncertainty around player health as the NWSL postseason looms near.
Orlando’s first title is also the first presentation of a newly rebranded trophy. The NWSL partnered with Tiffany & Co. last season to redesign the NWSL Championship trophy and MVP award. This year they unveiled a new shield that functions as a literal “hero’s shield,’ and will unveil newly designed awards for other individual end-of-year awards.
What’s next
The Pride now have claimed the No. 1 seed through the NWSL playoffs and will host a home playoff game. They look to continue their unbeaten run next week against Portland Thorns FC on Saturday.
Read the full article here
