A battle of the National Women’s Soccer League’s top two teams ended in a tightly contested championship game at CPKC Stadium on Saturday night.

The Orlando Pride and Washington Spirit battled it out in front of an announced sellout crowd in Kansas City. As was the case throughout the postseason, the top seed took care of business.

The Orlando Pride won their first NWSL championship thanks to Barbra Banda’s first-half goal.

As the final whistle sounded, the entire Orlando Pride team ran toward Marta, the team’s captain, who after eight years in Orlando finally delivered a championship.

“It’s an incredible moment to play in the championship final and take this trophy home and share this moment with my mom here,” Marta said during her postgame news conference. “It’s something that even in my best dreams I wouldn’t believe.”

The 38-year-old is one of the greatest to ever play the game, and her accolades are piling up.

As an advocate for women’s soccer and women’s sports, the significance of winning her first NWSL championship in the first purpose-built stadium for a women’s sports team was not lost on her.

“We need to keep working as players, as staff, as people who work in the media, to keep talking about women’s soccer, women’s sport, and how interesting it is,” Marta said. “I want to see more things like (this stadium). We are happy that we had the opportunity to play in this stadium, the first in the world for women’s soccer, and be champions here.”

Banda got Orlando on the scoreboard in the 37th minute. She received a long pass over the top and took the ball to the end line before cutting back inside and dribbling toward the Spirit goal. Her left-footed strike was low and hard past Aubrey Kingsbury for a 1-0 lead.

Marta said she told Banda earlier in the week that “big players show up in big games.”

“And she did today,” Marta said.

Banda was just happy to win the championship for Marta.

“It means a lot to me,” Banda said. “This is the moment that she has been waiting for. I think this is the best gift she has had.”

Washington nearly equalized before halftime but hit the post on a header from a corner kick. Washington took a total of 25 shots in the game, but only five hit the target.

Orlando goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse, who led the NWSL in shutouts during the 2024 regular season, made five saves to keep a clean sheet.

“Our back line was incredible today,” Marta said. “But it wasn’t anything that they didn’t do before. They’ve been defending like that the whole season.”

Overland Park native Haley McCutcheon went the full 90 for Orlando to win her first championship.

DanielSperrycovers soccer for The Star. He can be reached atsperry.danielkc@gmail.com.

This story was originally publishedNovember 23, 2024 at 9:29 PM.