Rafaelle returned to the Orlando Pride starting lineup as the Pride traveled to Snapdragon Stadium to face San Diego Wave on May 24, 2026, with kickoff set for 4:00 p.m. PT (7:00 p.m. ET) and the match broadcast live on Victory+.
Orlando opened the game with a line that mixed experience and first-time starters: Anna Moorhouse in goal behind a back line that included Hailie Mace and Cori Dyke, midfielders Rafaelle and Oihane, and a forward corps of Luana, Nicole Payne and Barbra Banda. Nicole Payne and Luana each made their first starts of the season, Rafaelle returned to the XI, and Zara Chavoshi made her first appearance of the campaign available off the bench. Angelina was suspended for the match after picking up a red card in the previous game.
The substitutes named for Orlando were McKinley Crone, Cara Martin, Hannah Anderson, Kerry Abello, Zara Chavoshi, Seven Castain, Reagan Raabe, Summer Yates and Simone Jackson, giving the Pride a deep bench as they played the third match of a two-week road trip.
San Diego hosted the Pride having launched an unusually aggressive start to the 2026 campaign; the Wave had attempted 152 shots through the opening stretch, 73 more than opponents, who had a combined 79. San Diego entered the match off a 2-2 draw with the Houston Dash on May 20, when Dudinha opened the scoring in the 20th minute and Trinity Byars salvaged a stoppage-time equalizer, and the Wave hoped home advantage at Snapdragon Stadium would turn volume into goals.
Orlando, meanwhile, arrived after a 3-1 loss to Denver Summit FC on May 16; Barbra Banda scored Orlando's lone goal against Denver in the 76th minute and arrived at Snapdragon Stadium leading the NWSL with nine goals for the season. Dudinha came into the match tied for the league lead in goal contributions, with four goals and four assists, setting up a direct clash between San Diego's creative force and Orlando's top scorer.
The meeting was the ninth between the clubs across NWSL competitions but the first this season at Snapdragon; the teams had met eight times previously, with the Pride holding a 5-1-2 edge in the all-time series. The most recent prior meeting came on Sept. 26, 2025, when Orlando won 2-1 at Snapdragon Stadium — Lizbeth Ovalle opened in the eighth minute, Dudinha equalized two minutes later, and Carson Pickett supplied the 54th-minute winner for Orlando.
That history framed the matchup: San Diego's heavy shot totals suggested relentless pressure, but Orlando's recent head-to-head success and Banda's scoring form argued that volume wouldn't necessarily translate to control. In the orlando pride vs san diego wave contest, coaches on both sides had to reconcile form lines that pulled in opposite directions — a Wave side piling up chances and a Pride side leaning on one of the league's most effective finishers.
The suspension of Angelina added a specific strain to Orlando's plans. She sat out after a red card in the previous game, forcing the Pride to shuffle personnel at a moment when they were already trialing new starters. Rafaelle's return and the first starts for Nicole Payne and Luana read as a vote of confidence in depth, but they also made the match a test of how quickly those changes could gel against a team that creates chances at a prodigious rate.
For Orlando, the match on May 24 was less a single result than a referendum on squad resilience: can Rafaelle's presence steady midfield transitions, will Banda continue to shoulder the scoring load away from home, and can the new starters offset the absence of a suspended player? If the Pride can convert a share of their opportunities and blunt San Diego's shot volume, the road trip's tone will change; if not, the match will underline how thin margins have become this season.
