Zambian striker Barbra Banda led Orlando Pride, owned by Brazilian Marta, to their first NWSL Championship title in the early hours of this Sunday (24), beating the Washington Spirit 1-0 in Kansas City.
The Pride, who had only made the playoffs once before, showed the maturity of veterans in the postseason. Banda scored the only goal of the match when she beat two-time NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year Aubrey Kingsbury in the 37th minute. Orlando’s solid defense nullified Washington’s chances.
The Spirit have lost all four regular-season matchups against Orlando over the past two years and, once again, have been unable to find a solution. His desperate attempts in the final moments of the game had no effect.
The match capped a banner year for North America’s top women’s soccer league, which saw record attendance with more than 2 million fans during the regular season.
