Exploria Stadium | Orlando, Florida – Sunday, October 15 at 5:00 PM ET
Players to watch:
After scoring the opening goal of the game and providing the assist for teammate Kerry Abello’s goal on Friday, attacker Marta has two games this season with multiple goal contributions in league play. The only players in the NWSL with more multi-goal contribution games are Sophia Smith and teammate Adriana, each with four.
Houston midfielder Andressa Alves scored her first NWSL goal against Angel City in just her fourth career game in the club’s last time out. She is now the fifth Brazilian player to score within her first four regular season games in NWSL, joining a great list of Louisville’s Ary Borges, North Carolina’s Kerolin, Kansas City’s Debinha, and Orlando’s Marta.
Match facts: It has all come down to this… one final regular season weekend left, and four playoff positions up for grabs with all six NWSL matches kicking off at 5 PM ET on Paramount+ and other outlets. For most details on the league’s broadcast plan, check out where to view expanded coverage here.
The Orlando Pride are still on the cusp of the playoff line as they sit in 7th place with 28 points, one off OL Reign in 6th place and that final playoff spot. The Pride would need to win to remain in contention, as even an Orlando draw would require both the Reign and Angel City to lose by a substantial enough margin to sink their respective goal differentials.
Orlando fell to Racing Louisville on Friday by a 3-2 scoreline, despite scoring the first two goals of the game. It was the first time in franchise history that the Pride lost a game after having a two-goal lead in all competitions and just the second time by any team this season in league play.
Meanwhile, the Houston Dash are the least likely team to qualify that still has a shot at making the playoffs, as they sit in 10th place with 26 points. For Houston to earn a spot, they would need to not only beat Orlando by a sufficient enough margin, but the Dash would also need all of the Reign, Angel City, and Racing Louisville to lose by enough margin in each match for Houston to go into 6th place.
Houston have won their last two road matches, though, keeping clean sheets in both games. The Dash have won three consecutive road matches just once in all competitions, spanning the 2022 and 2023 seasons, but have never kept clean sheets in three straight away from home.
In five games between the teams over the last three seasons, Houston have three wins to Orlando’s one (D1), with the Dash scoring 10 goals to the Pride’s three. However, the Pride’s win and the draw in that time took place in Orlando.
