Orlando Pride rearranged the NWSL playoffs in dramatic fashion

Back in April, when Orlando first announced the signing of Marta, I had a conversation with someone about her arrival in the NWSL. The point, and both of us agreed on this, was that Orlando was, by far, the worst team she’d ever played for. We looked back on her time with the LA Sol, FC Gold Pride and the Western NY Flash in the Women’s Professional Soccer days. All three of those teams had made it to the championship in whatever year. And two of three — the Sol the lone exception — had won that title game.

One thing those teams all had in common was, obviously, Marta, but she also was never the only part, or even the main part necessarily, of any of them. And that was a point about Orlando, too. Unlike Gold Pride or the Flash or the Sol, or any of the teams Marta played for in Europe either pre- or post-WPS, Orlando wasn’t stacked with a ton of talent and outwardly world-class players. This was an expansion team in its second season, after all, and though there were a few names, mostly the Pride was still figuring itself out and finding a way; neither quite at a point where they could build from within like Chicago had, or able to go on some massive shopping spree a la Laura Harvey and Seattle circa 2014.

Instead, Orlando looked set to follow up its inaugural season with another mediocre year. Though the Pride had made a few additions — namely adding Ali Krieger — they’d also lost Alex Morgan to European commitments for the first few months of the season. And even after Marta arrived, the question remained: Was she really the thing the Pride needed?

The obvious answer was no. The addition of Marta in Orlando, at first, rang hollow. Sure, this was a big name player who could contribute in certain ways, but if those ways weren’t really where the team was struggling, what was the point?

The Pride, a second-year club in league where the history of expansion teams is whatever perpetual state of disappointment Houston is stuck in, seemed destined to follow in the Dash’s footsteps this season. It took Orlando four games to get its first win of 2017, and though it was a big one — handing North Carolina its first loss of the season — it didn’t amount to much in terms of kicking off some big turnaround. Mostly, Orlando spent the first few months of the season, even after Marta had arrived, beating up on the Houstons and Bostons and otherwise drawing and losing its way through to The Time Where Alex Morgan Returned.

Even that, Morgan’s return, initially came without much promise. Morgan had once been the USWNT’s next big thing, but whatever got broken during her time in Portland hadn’t been fixed once she moved to Orlando in 2016. So just as adding Marta to a not-great team was no guarantee of turning the thing around, the prospect of Morgan’s return to Orlando did little to bolster confidence. And then exactly the opposite happened.

Morgan had what was easily her best season in a very long time, and combined with Marta, who’d she’d played with on that Western NY team way back when, the two became an unstoppable force. Beyond that, Ashlyn Harris returned after missing 11 games due to injury. And suddenly — or maybe not so suddenly — the Pride looked better, more cohesive, and then, unstoppable.

Orlando went into Saturday’s meeting with North Carolina unbeaten in eight. Now, after beating the Courage for the second time this season, the Pride is unbeaten in nine. It’s a streak that stretches back to July 22 and one that’s seen Orlando climb from a mid-to-bottom of the table team into the playoff picture.

On Saturday, with the Courage having already clinched the Shield and Portland owners of the second spot and other home playoff game, there wasn’t much to play for. Orlando was already in, as was Chicago, and though there was the small matter of third and fourth, how much difference there is between the two is something that, historically, hasn’t mattered much. Western NY won the Championship as the fourth seed last year. Kansas City’s won titles following both second- and third-place finishes in the regular season. And Portland’s won once as a third-place team, too. And beyond that, wherever the Pride ended up would be the team’s best-ever finish.

Still, with Chicago losing earlier in the day, Orlando had a chance to end the regular season on a high, and what better way to head into the playoffs than with a win against the league’s best team — a victory that also ensured the Pride wouldn’t have to play the Courage again in this weekend’s semifinal.

On Saturday, Orlando jumped out to a 2-0 lead, with a first half goal from Kristen Edmonds and another just after halftime from Marta. Then, North Carolina, despite not having much to play for at this point, answered back, with two goals from Lynn Williams in the span of five minutes. Williams’ second goal, a 67th-minute PK, looked for a while like it would be the thing that kept the Pride in fourth to end the season. And then, in the first minute of stoppage time, Alanna Kennedy converted a long free kick to give Orlando the lead, and then the win.

Saturday’s win, while impressive in its own right, also saved Orlando from having to play North Carolina again this weekend in the semifinals. Instead, the Pride will now head to Portland, where they’ll take on the Thorns on Saturday. Portland is one team that Orlando’s struggled with this season, losing once, in the season opener, and playing to a 0-0 draw two weeks ago. Still, for a team that looked destined for another season of nothing good just four months ago, that Orlando is even playing one more game is impressive. And given how the Pride’s been playing, it’s not impossible to think that a win in Portland in what will be the biggest game in club history, isn’t something this Orlando team could pull off.

Houston Dash 0 - 4 North Carolina Courage

Portland Thorns FC 3 - 1 Chicago Red Stars

Washington Spirit 2 - 3 Seattle Reign FC

Boston Breakers 3 - 4 Sky Blue FC

North Carolina Courage 2 - 3 Orlando Pride

FC Kansas City 1 - 1 Houston Dash