Barbra Banda Scores First Hat Trick in Orlando Pride History as Pride Beat Royals, 3-1

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NWSL Orlando Pride

Barbra Banda Scores First Hat Trick in Orlando Pride History as Pride Beat Royals, 3-1

May 24, 2025 - National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Orlando Pride News Release


SANDY, Utah - Orlando Pride (6-3-1, 19 points) defeated Utah Royals FC (1-7-2, 5 points) 3-1 on Friday night at America First Field. The win secures the Pride unbeaten streak against the Royals since they relaunched last season, now reaching three consecutive games.

Barbra Banda recorded the first hat trick in Orlando Pride history, all coming in the first half of the match. Banda also became just the third player in NWSL history to secure a first-half hat trick and the first to do so on the road. The Zambian international is the first African international to record a hat trick in the NWSL.

The forward now has 24 goals across all competitions for Orlando, which is the second most in Club history, passing former Pride player Alex Morgan (23). She has seven goals in the 2025 season, which is tied for the Golden Boot, and her one assist this year gives her the upper hand on the tiebreaker. Banda also recorded her second game-winning goal of the 2025 season and her eight in her regular season career, which is the second most in Club history, also passing Morgan.

Ally Watt and Haley McCutcheon both earned their first assists of the 2025 campaign helping Banda record her hat trick. McCutcheon's assist is her first since joining the Pride back in the middle of the 2022 season. Watt earned her sixth assist across all competitions with the Pride, three of which have come by assisting a Banda goal.

Scoring Summary:

6' Barbra Banda (Ally Watt) - ORL 1, UTA 0

The Pride opened the scoring with Oihane driving the ball down the right wing and finding Ally Watt in space. Watt sent a ball into the box that found Barbra Banda who was able to redirect the cross with a one-time finish to take the early lead.

14' Brecken Mozingo (Claudia Zornoza) - ORL 1, UTA 1

The Royals answered after Claudia Zornoza found Brecken Mozingo some space behind the Pride backline. Mozingo was one-on-one with the Pride goalkeeper and was able to level the match by sliding the ball into the bottom corner of the net.

37' Barbra Banda - ORL 2, UTA 1

The Pride retook the lead with Barbra Banda scoring her second goal of the first half. Banda intercepted a back pass from the Royals defense and was able to outrun the Utah backline. The Zambian international then dribbled past the keeper and slotted the ball into the empty net.

38' Barbra Banda (Haley McCutcheon) - ORL 3, UTA 1

Just one minute and 37 seconds later, Barbra Banda recorded the first hat trick in Pride history extending the Pride's lead. Haley McCutcheon won the ball in her own end, took a couple dribbles and sent the ball forward to Banda. Banda got on the end of it, took a few touches to get her into the box and sent a shot to the near post that got by the Royals goalkeeper.

Head Coach Seb Hines:

"Priority was to come away with three before we go into the international break. I think in our recent games, we have played well but we haven't really gotten the results. We wanted to make sure we performed and got the result. It is great to come away from this game with three points with a nice 3-1 victory."

Match Notes:

Barbra Banda recorded the first hat trick in Pride history, recording three first half goals and brining her season total to seven, which is tied for the Golden Boot.

Banda is now the Pride's second all-time leading scorer with 24 goals across all competitions, passing former Pride player Alex Morgan who had 23.

Banda is just the third NWSL player in history to record a first half hat trick and the first to do it away from home.

Ally Watt earned her first assist of the year, getting the helper on the first Banda goal. She now has six career assists with the Pride across all competitions.

Haley McCutcheon earned her first assist of the 2025 season and her first while donning the Pride kit on Banda's third goal of the match.

Head Coach Seb Hines made two changes to the Starting XI after his side's last match against the Kansas City Current with Cori Dyke and Ally Watt entering the lineup.

Next Match: The Orlando Pride will enter an international break before returning back to action on Saturday, June 7, against the Houston Dash. The Dash will visit Inter&Co Stadium with the kickoff for that match set for 7 p.m. ET on NWSL+.

Check out the Orlando Pride Statistics



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