What to Watch For, Powered by Verizon, as the Orlando Pride Host the Portland Thorns in a Crucial Late-Season Matchup
NWSL Orlando Pride

What to Watch For, Powered by Verizon, as the Orlando Pride Host the Portland Thorns in a Crucial Late-Season Matchup

Published on October 10, 2025 under National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Orlando Pride News Release


Orlando Pride (9-8-6, 33 points) vs Portland Thorns (9-7-7, 34 points)

When: Friday, October 10, 8:00 p.m. ET

Where: Inter&Co Stadium, Orlando, Fla.

TV: Amazon Prime

As the Pride return home in a quest to clinch the playoffs, here are five things to watch for

A Spooky Sight For Defenders

The Pride have won its last two matches against the Thorns at home by a combined score of 5-2. On the flip side, the Pride have lost their last two matches on the road against the Thorns including earlier this season via a 1-0 scoreline back on May 3. The match will prove pivotal for both teams as they head into the final three games of the NWSL regular season with the Pride and Thorns are only separated by a single point in the standings. Portland currently sits fourth in the standings and holds the final home-field advantage spot while the Pride are just below them in sixth place

Boo-ya!

In the Pride's last match, which was a 1-1 draw against the Houston Dash, Simone Charley scored a late goal to snag a point on the road for the Pride. Charley, who came on as a second half substitute, found the back of the net for the first time in her Pride career. The goal was Charley's first goal since Sept. 2022, as she has battled back from multiple injuries, missing the entire 2024 season after rupturing the Achilles tendon in her right ankle, after having also sat out the 2023 season due to the same injury in her left foot

Don't Be A Chicken! Actually... Be A Chicken!

Haley McCutcheon assisted on Charley's equalizer last Friday, her sixth goal contribution of the season with three goals and three assists. The six contributions are one more than she has had in her first six NWSL seasons combined recording two goals and three assists. The assist was also one of McCutcheon's three chances created in that match as her nine chances created since the start of September are more than she had all season in the buildup before that with seven

Striking At The Final Spell

Charley's goal against the Dash marked the ninth goal the Pride have scored in the final 15 minutes of a match this year, the highest tally in all of the NWSL so far this season. With that, Orlando has earned eight points from losing positions in the 2025 campaign with only the Thorns and Dash recovering more with 10 and 12 respectively

Tricks

The National Women's Soccer League announced the 11 players named to the Best XI of the Month, presented by Prime, for the month of September by the NWSL Media Association. Seven teams are represented in the league's Top 11 including the Pride as defender Carson Pickett earned the recognition. In September, Pickett scored three goals across all competitions, including the first game-winner of her career with the winning strike coming on the road against the San Diego Wave.

Check out the Orlando Pride Statistics

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National Women's Soccer League Stories from October 10, 2025


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