Banda leads Orlando Pride past Washington for their first NWSL title
The Orlando Pride defeated the Washington Spirit 1-0 in Kansas City on Saturday to win their first NWSL Championship, with Zambian striker Barbra Banda adding another devastating performance to a spectacular season.
Banda, who had the second-most goals in the regular season (16), slipped one past two-time NWSL goalkeeper of the year Aubrey Kingsbury in the 37th minute, and Washington's opportunities were snuffed out by an imposing Orlando defence.
The Spirit had lost all four regular-season meetings with Orlando in the previous two years and were unable to crack the code this time around, with their frantic late-game attempts going unrewarded.
Orlando had only made it to the postseason once before, and the victory provided 38-year-old club captain Marta, a six-time Best FIFA Women's Player and living legend of the sport, with a coveted 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 pressure almost immediately in front of a sellout crowd at CPKC Stadium, when Marta hammered the ball straight at Kingsbury, who flung her hands up to make the stop in the 15th minute.
The Pride broke through 22 minutes later, when midfielder Angelina wrestled Washington's Leicy Santos for the ball and kicked it deep down the right side of the pitch at Banda.
Banda was as deft as ever, outfoxing defender Esme Morgan in the area and sending a left-footed drive past Kingsbury and into the net.
Eight minutes later, Spirit striker Ashley Hatch came close to equalising but struck the post, and Orlando goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse saved a powerful header from Rosemonde Kouassi two minutes after.
Moorhouse, an English international who set a league record with 13 clean sheets this season, made three more stops in the second half as Washington's increasingly frustrated team struggled to put the pieces together.
Trinity Rodman, a key member of the United States national team, took Washington's final corner kick late in stoppage time and could only offer a thumbs up as time expired and Orlando roared in joy.
It was sweet redemption for Orlando, which had not qualified for the playoffs since 2017 but ended first in the standings this season courtesy to the explosive combo of Banda and Marta.
Banda's effort won her Championship MVP honours, which she dedicated to her teammates.
The game concluded a fantastic year for the top-flight North American women's league, which saw record attendance with over 2 million spectators coming through the turnstiles during the regular season.
SportsLigue