Orlando Pride defeated Washington Spirit 2-0 to secure the NWSL regular-season championship.
Brazil great Marta won the 2024 NWSL Shield and led the undefeated Orlando Pride to a 2-0 victory over the Washington Spirit Sunday in the 56th minute thanks to a penalty kick.
With three games remaining, the Pride, who have won the first trophy of any type for the NWSL franchise, are undefeated after 23 games. The Pride want to make history by being the first NWSL team to finish a season undefeated.
Marta and top scorer Barbra Banda were present, but the Spirit were lacking four important starters on Sunday, including USWNT standout Trinity Rodman. Due to a back injury, the winger has not been able to play since mid-September.
Going into the game, Washington was behind the Pride by seven points. If Orlando wins, they will have a 10-point advantage with three games remaining, making it mathematically impossible for any other team to catch up to them.
Orlando is only the fifth team in the NWSL to win the Shield. They had only secured a postseason berth once in the preceding seven seasons, which added extra significance to the 2024 Shield.
Before 2023, Pride coach Seb Hines was the first Black head coach in the league to be appointed permanently. He also became the first Black head coach to win a NWSL trophy.
Marta, 38, a six-time World Player of the Year, broke down in tears as she discussed the win in the postgame.
Marta, who was holding the Shield on stage, exclaimed, “It means so much.” “We put in a lot of effort right from the start, and—whoa. This squad is deserving of this because we proved we could succeed in the first game of the season, and we’ve continued to do so. I hope we can aim higher.
” You know, I had the answers tonight. I feel that when you have faith in something, you know that you can do it, so you just tell yourself, “I’m not going to give up.” I followed through on that. I choose to stay here because I want to help this team create history. We then went for more after what we accomplished tonight.”
The Pride will now focus on the postseason in an attempt to win the NWSL Cup in 2024.
2023 will see NJ/NY The San Diego Wave won the NWSL Shield, while Gotham FC took home the cup.
