2021 Orlando Pride season

Orlando Pride

2021 season
Head coach	Marc Skinner (until July 23) Carl Green (interim, July 23 – July 24) Becky Burleigh (interim, from July 25)
Stadium	Exploria Stadium Orlando, Florida
NWSL	8th of 10
Playoffs	Did not qualify
Challenge Cup	3rd (East division)
Top goalscorer	League: Sydney Leroux (8) All: Sydney Leroux (9)
Highest home attendance	5,755
Lowest home attendance	3,407
Average home league attendance	4,227
Home colors Away colors
← 2020 2022 →

The 2021 Orlando Pride season was Orlando Pride's sixth season in the National Women's Soccer League, the top division of women's soccer in the United States.

On November 12, 2020, with the addition of Racing Louisville FC ahead of the 2021 NWSL season, the NWSL held the 2020 NWSL Expansion Draft. Alanna Kennedy, who had been with the Pride since 2017, was selected as were the NWSL rights to Caitlin Foord which Orlando had acquired from Portland Thorns FC as part of the trade for Emily Sonnett in January 2020 but she had elected to sign outside the NWSL with English FA WSL team Arsenal instead.^[1]

On January 12, Orlando announced Ian Fleming had joined from the Houston Dynamo and Dash group to become general manager of the Pride, filling the vacant role left by Erik Ustruck in January 2020.^[2]

On February 25, the NWSL announced the list of federated players for the upcoming season. It included four Pride players: US internationals Ashlyn Harris, Ali Krieger and Alex Morgan all retained their status while Canadian goalkeeper Erin McLeod was given federated status for the first time since 2015 meaning she would no longer require an international roster slot.^[3][4]

On April 5, U.S. Soccer and NWSL announced it would be trialing the new IFAB approved concussion substitutes rule allowing for two additional substitutions in each match to be used for players with suspected concussions.^[5] The new rule was implemented on top of the increase from three to five "normal" substitutes carried over from the 2020 season.^[6]

On April 21, Orlando Pride beat Washington Spirit 1–0 in the Challenge Cup, their first win since August 21, 2019, snapping a streak of 13 winless games in 609 days. The match also marked the first time Marta, Sydney Leroux and Alex Morgan all started a game for Orlando together since July 2018.^[7]

Four Orlando Pride players were selected to represent their nations at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics in July: Marta, Erin McLeod, Alex Morgan and Ali Riley.^[8]

On July 21, the sale of Orlando City SC and related soccer assets including Orlando Pride by Flavio Augusto da Silva, who took over in 2013, was completed. Zygi, Leonard and Mark Wilf became the new majority owners with the DeVos family, led by Dan DeVos, entering as minority owners.^[9] The combined value of the deal was estimated at $400–450 million.^[10]

On July 23, Marc Skinner stepped down as head coach amid reports he had agreed terms with Manchester United. His assistant, Carl Green, took temporary control for the team's match against OL Reign the following day before also departing.^[11][12] Becky Burleigh, who had retired after 26 seasons as head coach of the Florida Gators in April, was appointed interim head coach for the remainder of the 2021 season on July 25.^[13]

On July 28, it was announced Alex Leitão, the chief executive officer of the Orlando City SC organization since 2015, was stepping down from his role.^[14]

On October 1, the NWSL announced all scheduled games would not take place that weekend following allegations of historic abuse and sexual coercion against former North Carolina Courage coach Paul Riley.^[15] Riley was the fourth head coach to be sacked having been accused of misconduct during the 2021 season after Farid Benstiti, Richie Burke and Christy Holly.^[16]

As of October 7, 2021^[17]

No.	Nationality	Name	Position(s)	Date of birth (age)	Previous club	Notes
Goalkeepers
1		Erin McLeod	GK	(1983-02-26)February 26, 1983 (aged 38)	Växjö DFF	FED
18		Kaylie Collins	GK	(1998-05-17)May 17, 1998 (aged 22)	USC Trojans	–
24		Ashlyn Harris	GK	(1985-10-19)October 19, 1985 (aged 35)	Washington Spirit	FED
30		Brittany Wilson	GK	(1997-09-22)September 22, 1997 (aged 23)	Denver Pioneers	SUP
Defenders
3		Toni Pressley	DF	(1990-02-19)February 19, 1990 (aged 31)	Houston Dash	–
4		Amy Turner	DF	(1991-07-04)July 4, 1991 (aged 29)	Manchester United	INT
7		Ali Riley	DF	(1987-10-30)October 30, 1987 (aged 33)	Bayern Munich	–
11		Ali Krieger	DF	(1984-07-28)July 28, 1984 (aged 36)	Washington Spirit	FED
12		Carrie Lawrence	DF	(1997-07-15)July 15, 1997 (aged 23)	UCF Knights	SUP
17		Courtney Petersen	DF	(1997-10-28)October 28, 1997 (aged 23)	Virginia Cavaliers	–
21		Phoebe McClernon	DF	(1997-12-13)December 13, 1997 (aged 23)	Växjö DFF	–
23		Kylie Strom	DF	(1992-03-18)March 18, 1992 (aged 29)	Atlético Madrid	–
26		Ally Haran	DF	(1996-05-21)May 21, 1996 (aged 24)	Houston Dash	SUP
Midfielders
5		Emily van Egmond	MF	(1993-07-12)July 12, 1993 (aged 27)	West Ham United	INT
6		Jade Moore	MF	(1990-10-22)October 22, 1990 (aged 30)	Reading	INT
8		Gunnhildur Jónsdóttir	MF	(1988-09-28)September 28, 1988 (aged 32)	Kansas City NWSL	–
14		Marisa Viggiano	MF	(1997-02-05)February 5, 1997 (aged 24)	Northwestern Wildcats	–
15		Erika Tymrak	MF	(1991-08-07)August 7, 1991 (aged 29)	Utah Royals	–
20		Parker Roberts	MF	(1997-07-30)July 30, 1997 (aged 23)	Florida Gators	–
22		Taylor Kornieck	MF	(1998-11-22)November 22, 1998 (aged 22)	Colorado Buffaloes	–
27		Chelsee Washington	MF	(1997-11-17)November 17, 1997 (aged 23)	Bowling Green Falcons	SUP
28		Meggie Dougherty Howard	MF	(1995-07-27)July 27, 1995 (aged 25)	Washington Spirit	–
32		Viviana Villacorta	MF	(1999-02-02)February 2, 1999 (aged 22)	UCLA Bruins
Forwards
2		Sydney Leroux	FW	(1990-05-07)May 7, 1990 (aged 30)	FC Kansas City	–
9		Jodie Taylor	FW	(1986-05-17)May 17, 1986 (aged 34)	Olympique Lyon	INT
10		Marta	FW	(1986-02-19)February 19, 1986 (aged 35)	FC Rosengård	–
13		Alex Morgan	FW	(1989-07-02)July 2, 1989 (aged 31)	Tottenham Hotspur	FED
29		Abi Kim	FW	(1998-07-19)July 19, 1998 (aged 22)	Fiorentina	–
31		Crystal Thomas	FW	(1994-01-18)January 18, 1994 (aged 27)	Washington Spirit	–

As of July 28, 2021.^[18][19]

Executive
Majority owner and chairman	Mark Wilf
Majority owner and vice-chair	Zygi Wilf
Majority owner and vice-chair	Leonard Wilf
Executive vice president	Amanda Duffy
General manager	Ian Fleming
Coaching staff
Head coach	Becky Burleigh (interim)
Assistant coach	Alan Kirkup (interim)
Coach	Seb Hines
Goalkeeping coach	Lloyd Yaxley

As per the league schedule, NWSL teams were permitted to begin preseason activities on February 1, 2021.^[20] Orlando Pride scheduled five preseason friendlies.^[21]

The NWSL regular season will begin on May 15 and conclude on October 30. Six teams will qualify for the playoffs.^[23]

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
24	7	7	10	27	32	−5	28	3	5	4	13	15	−2	4	2	6	14	17	−3

Results by round

Results

League standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Portland Thorns FC	24	13	5	6	33	17	+16	44	NWSL Shield
2	OL Reign	24	13	3	8	37	24	+13	42	Playoffs – Semi-finals
3	Washington Spirit (C)	24	11	6	7	29	26	+3	39	Playoffs – First round
4	Chicago Red Stars	24	11	5	8	28	28	0	38
5	NJ/NY Gotham FC	24	8	11	5	29	21	+8	35
6	North Carolina Courage	24	9	6	9	28	23	+5	33
7	Houston Dash	24	9	5	10	31	31	0	32
8	Orlando Pride	24	7	7	10	27	32	−5	28
9	Racing Louisville FC	24	5	7	12	21	40	−19	22
10	Kansas City	24	3	7	14	15	36	−21	16

Following the success of the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup as a replacement tournament, the NWSL announced the return of the competition as part of the regular schedule in 2021. The competition is scheduled to begin on April 9, prior to the start of the NWSL regular season.^[20][25] With the league split regionally into two groups of five, teams were scheduled to play each divisional opponent once with the top team progressing to the final. Orlando Pride were placed in the East division with North Carolina Courage, NJ/NY Gotham FC, Washington Spirit, and new expansion franchise Racing Louisville.

Group stage

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	NJ/NY Gotham FC	4	2	2	0	5	3	+2	8	Qualification for the Championship
2	North Carolina Courage	4	2	1	1	9	8	+1	7
3	Orlando Pride	4	1	2	1	3	3	0	5
4	Washington Spirit	4	1	1	2	3	4	−1	4
5	Racing Louisville FC	4	0	2	2	4	6	−2	2

As of match played October 29, 2021

Starting appearances are listed first, followed by substitute appearances after the + symbol where applicable.

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		NWSL		Challenge Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
1	GK	CAN	Erin McLeod	6	0	5+1	0	0	0
18	GK	USA	Kaylie Collins	0	0	0	0	0	0
24	GK	USA	Ashlyn Harris	23	0	19	0	4	0
30	GK	USA	Brittany Wilson	0	0	0	0	0	0
Defenders
3	DF	USA	Toni Pressley	14	0	4+7	0	1+2	0
4	DF	ENG	Amy Turner	14	0	12+2	0	0	0
7	DF	NZL	Ali Riley	24	0	18+2	0	4	0
11	DF	USA	Ali Krieger	26	0	23	0	3	0
12	DF	USA	Carrie Lawrence	0	0	0	0	0	0
17	DF	USA	Courtney Petersen	25	1	21+1	1	1+2	0
21	DF	USA	Phoebe McClernon	25	0	15+6	0	4	0
23	DF	USA	Kylie Strom	9	0	4+5	0	0	0
26	DF	CAN	Ally Haran	2	0	0+2	0	0	0
Midfielders
5	MF	AUS	Emily van Egmond	2	0	0+2	0	0	0
6	MF	ENG	Jade Moore	4	0	0	0	4	0
8	MF	ISL	Gunnhildur Jónsdóttir	26	1	24	1	2	0
14	MF	USA	Marisa Viggiano	25	1	14+7	1	4	0
15	MF	USA	Erika Tymrak	22	2	6+14	2	0+2	0
20	MF	USA	Parker Roberts	2	0	0+2	0	0	0
22	MF	USA	Taylor Kornieck	26	3	13+9	2	4	1
27	MF	USA	Chelsee Washington	11	0	2+8	0	0+1	0
28	MF	USA	Meggie Dougherty Howard	24	0	15+6	0	1+2	0
32	MF	USA	Viviana Villacorta	0	0	0	0	0	0
Forwards
2	FW	USA	Sydney Leroux	27	9	23	8	4	1
9	FW	ENG	Jodie Taylor	13	3	13	3	0	0
10	FW	BRA	Marta	23	4	17+2	4	4	0
13	FW	USA	Alex Morgan	15	5	12+1	5	2	0
29	FW	USA	Abi Kim	8	1	1+5	0	0+2	1
31	FW	USA	Crystal Thomas	10	0	3+6	0	0+1	0
Players away from the club on loan:
25	DF	JAM	Konya Plummer	5	0	0+3	0	2	0

As of match played October 29, 2021

Rank	No.	Pos.	Name	NWSL	Cup	Total
1	2	FW	Sydney Leroux	8	1	9
2	13	FW	Alex Morgan	5	0	5
3	10	FW	Marta	4	0	4
4	9	FW	Jodie Taylor	3	0	3
	22	MF	Taylor Kornieck	2	1	3
6	15	MF	Erika Tymrak	2	0	2
7	8	MF	Gunnhildur Jónsdóttir	1	0	1
	14	MF	Marisa Viggiano	1	0	1
	17	DF	Courtney Petersen	1	0	1
	29	FW	Abi Kim	0	1	1
Total				24	3	27

As of match played October 29, 2021

Rank	No.	Pos.	Name	NWSL	Cup	Total
1	24	GK	Ashlyn Harris	3	2	5
2	1	GK	Erin McLeod	1	0	0
Total				4	2	6

As of match played October 29, 2021

No.	Pos.	Name	NWSL		Cup		Total
2	FW	Sydney Leroux	1	0	0	0	1	0
4	DF	Amy Turner	4	0	0	0	4	0
7	DF	Ali Riley	2	0	1	0	3	0
8	MF	Gunnhildur Jónsdóttir	3	0	0	0	3	0
9	FW	Jodie Taylor	3	0	0	0	3	0
10	FW	Marta	2	0	1	0	3	0
11	DF	Ali Krieger	2	0	0	0	2	0
13	FW	Alex Morgan	1	0	0	0	1	0
14	MF	Marisa Viggiano	3	0	0	0	3	0
15	MF	Erika Tymrak	1	0	0	0	1	0
17	DF	Courtney Petersen	2	0	0	0	2	0
21	DF	Phoebe McClernon	3	0	0	0	3	0
22	MF	Taylor Kornieck	1	0	1	0	2	0
23	DF	Kylie Strom	3	0	0	0	3	0
24	GK	Ashlyn Harris	1	0	1	0	2	0
25	DF	Konya Plummer	0	0	1	0	1	0
28	MF	Meggie Dougherty Howard	5	0	0	0	5	0
Total			36	0	5	0	41	0

Draft picks are not automatically signed to the team roster. The 2021 college draft was held on January 13, 2021. Orlando had four selections. All four draftees elected to take up the NCAA waiver in light of the COVID-19 pandemic that meant they were able to remain in college to contest the rescheduled college spring season. The Pride retained the NWSL rights to all four.^[26] At the end of the college season, Kaylie Collins signed a National Team Replacement contract on June 4,^[27] and Viviana Villacorta was signed to a one-year plus option year contract and immediately placed on the season-ending disabled list on August 6.^[28] Mikayla Colohan and Kerry Abello both announced they would return to their respective colleges for the 2021 season and exhaust their final year of eligibility.

Round	Pick	Player	Pos.	College	Status
1	9	Viviana Villacorta	MF	University of California, Los Angeles	Signed[28]
2	14	Mikayla Colohan	MF	Brigham Young University	NCAA returnee
3	24	Kerry Abello	DF	Pennsylvania State University	NCAA returnee
4	34	Kaylie Collins	GK	University of Southern California	Signed[a][27][29]

Date	Player	Pos.	Previous club	Fee/notes	Ref.
December 21, 2020	Alex Morgan	FW	Tottenham Hotspur	Federation player, returned to the league	[30]
December 24, 2020	Meggie Dougherty Howard	MF	Washington Spirit	Acquired in a trade with a first-round pick in the 2021 NWSL Draft, a first-round pick in the 2022 or 2023 draft (tbd) and $140,000 in allocation money in exchange for Emily Sonnett.	[31]
January 22, 2021	Phoebe McClernon	DF	Växjö DFF	Re-signed following short-term contract with Växjö	[32]
January 30, 2021	Gunnhildur Jónsdóttir	MF	Kansas City NWSL	Acquired in exchange for Kristen Edmonds and the natural second-round pick in the 2022 NWSL Draft.	[33]
	Erika Tymrak	MF
February 23, 2021	Crystal Thomas	FW	Washington Spirit	Free agent signing	[34]
March 2, 2021	Abi Kim	FW	Fiorentina		[35]
April 5, 2021	Gabby English	GK	Boavista	National Team Replacement signing	[36]
June 25, 2021	Amy Turner	DF	Manchester United	Signed using allocation money	[37]
July 5, 2021	Kylie Strom	DF	Atlético Madrid	Free agent signing	[38]
July 8, 2021	Jodie Taylor	FW	Olympique Lyon	Free agent signing, acquired playing rights in exchange for Carson Pickett in February 2021	[39]
August 26, 2021	Parker Roberts	MF	Florida Gators	Free agent signing, acquired discovery rights from Kansas City NWSL in exchange for the natural fourth-round pick in the 2022 NWSL Draft	[40]
October 7, 2021	Emily van Egmond	MF	West Ham United	Free agent signing	[29]

Date	Player	Pos.	Destination club	Fee/notes	Ref.
October 29, 2020	Julie King	DF		Waived	[41]
	Morgan Reid	DF		Waived	[41]
	Abby Elinsky	MF		Waived	[41]
October 30, 2020	Zandy Soree	MF	Houston Dash	Short-term contract expired	[42][43]
	Deneisha Blackwood	MF	Houston Dash	Short-term contract expired	[42][44]
	Savanah Uveges	MF	MSV Duisburg	Short-term contract expired	[42][45]
	Kate Howarth	FW		Short-term contract expired	[42]
November 12, 2020	Alanna Kennedy	DF	Racing Louisville	Selected in the 2020 NWSL Expansion Draft.	[1]
December 24, 2020	Emily Sonnett	DF	Washington Spirit	Traded in exchange for a first-round pick in the 2021 NWSL Draft, a first-round pick in the 2023 NWSL draft, Meggie Dougherty Howard and $140,000 in allocation money.	[31]
December 31, 2020	Claire Emslie	FW	Everton	Permanent transfer	[46]
	Camila	MF	Palmeiras	Out of contract	[42][47]
January 7, 2021	Shelina Zadorsky	DF	Tottenham Hotspur	Permanent transfer	[48]
January 8, 2021	Emily van Egmond	MF	West Ham United	Permanent transfer	[49]
January 30, 2021	Kristen Edmonds	MF	Kansas City NWSL	Traded with the natural second-round pick in the 2022 NWSL Draft in exchange for Gunnhildur Jónsdóttir and Erika Tymrak.	[33]
February 4, 2021	Carson Pickett	DF	North Carolina Courage	Traded in exchange for the playing rights to Jodie Taylor.	[50]
March 30, 2021	Jordyn Listro	MF	Kansas City NWSL	Traded in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2022 NWSL Draft.	[51]
April 14, 2021	Gabby English	GK	Hibernian	End of National Team Replacement contract	[52]

Date	Player	Pos.	Loaned to	Notes	Ref.
August 17, 2021	Konya Plummer	DF	AIK	Until November 15, 2021	[53]

Orlando Pride began preseason training on February 1, 2021. The squad included two non-roster invitees on trial with the team during preseason. Haran had been with Orlando during the 2020 Fall Series and made two appearances. Tymrak was not yet contracted and rostered having come out of retirement when Orlando acquired her playing rights in a trade in January.^[26] They were later joined by Gabby English who had most recently been in Portugal with Boavista and Jamaican international Lauren Silver who had spent the 2020 Fall Series signed to Houston Dash.^[54]

2021 Orlando Pride trialists
Player	Position	Previous team
Ally Haran [A]	DF	Orlando Pride
Erika Tymrak [A]	MF	Utah Royals
Gabby English [B]	GK	Boavista
Lauren Silver	DF	Houston Dash

• Official website