(Reuters) -The Orlando Pride held off the Washington Spirit 1-0 to claim their first NWSL Championship title in Kansas City on Saturday, as Zambian striker Barbra Banda added one more lethal performance to a blockbuster year.
Banda, who had the second-most goals in the regular season with 16, slipped one past two-time NWSL goalkeeper of the year Aubrey Kingsbury in the 37th minute and a stout Orlando defence extinguished Washington’s chances.
The Spirit lost all four of their regular season meetings with Orlando over the last two years and could not crack the code this time around, and their frantic attempts late in the match went unrewarded.
Orlando had only been to the post-season once before and the win gave 38-year-old team captain Marta, a six-time Best FIFA Women’s Player and living legend of the sport, a long sought-after piece of hardware.
“This means so much,” said the Brazilian striker, whose mother was in the stands to watch in the United States for the first time. “Playing with these players, it’s like something really special that I never had before in any other club.”
Orlando began applying the pressure almost immediately in front of a sellout crowd at CPKC Stadium, as Marta drilled the ball straight toward Kingsbury, who flung her hands up to make the stop, in the 15th minute.
The Pride broke through 22 minutes later when midfielder Angelina successfully battled Washington’s Leicy Santos for the ball and kicked it deep down the right side of the field straight toward Banda.
Banda was sharp as ever as she outfoxed defender Esme Morgan in the box and sent a left-footed shot out of Kingsbury’s reach and into the back of the net.
Spirit striker Ashley Hatch nearly had the equaliser eight minutes later but hit the post, and Orlando goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse stopped a powerful header from Rosemonde Kouassi two minutes into the second half.
The English international Moorhouse, who set a league record with 13 clean sheets this regular season, had three more saves in the second half as an increasingly frustrated Washington side could not put the pieces together.
U.S. national team mainstay Trinity Rodman took the final corner kick for Washington late in stoppage, and could only offer a thumbs up as time was called and Orlando erupted in celebration.
It was sweet redemption for years of underperformance for Orlando, who had not qualified for the playoffs since 2017 but finished atop the standings this season thanks to the dynamic duo of Banda and Marta.
The performance earned Banda Championship MVP honours, which she dedicated to her teammates.
The game capped a terrific year for the top-flight North American women’s league, which saw record attendance with more than 2 million fans coming through the turnstiles during the regular season.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Himani Sarkar and William Mallard)
