SkoPurp No. 109: Reign Rewind and Gotham Playoff Preview

The Orlando Pride hosted the Seattle Reign for the second consecutive weekend and there was a lot more on the line the second time. The Pride scored a well-worked goal in the opening 21 minutes, defended like hell, and rode the sheer force of Marta's will to a late insurance goal to beat the Seattle Reign 2-0 at home Friday to advance to the NWSL playoff semifinals. It was a match reminiscent of last year's playoff run with Haley McCutcheon opening the scoring and the Pride putting the clamps on the opposition's offense. We look back at a huge win in the playoff opener, McCutcheon going full McClutcheon, Marta's refusal to be denied, and the emotional finish with Luana's first Orlando Pride goal to cap things off. We also checked back on our score predictions and made our selections for Player of the Match.After our Seattle playoff rewind, we dive into a gigantic mailbagbox. Our listeners wanted to know how embarrassed the Kansas City Current should be after losing at home to Gotham FC, whether Seb Hines was snubbed for an end-of-season award, who the Pride should court for a leg sleeve sponsor, whether a certain former-player-turned-pundit should shut up, and more. Remember, you can ask us anything by hitting us up on Twitter at either @TheManeLand or @SkoPurpSoccer and using the hashtag #AskSkoPurp. You can use that same hashtag and hit @TheManeLand.bsky.social up on Bluesky. Or you can visit our show page, scroll down, and fill out the handy form. We'd also appreciate any ratings or reviews you can leave wherever you get your podcasts, and if you do that on Apple Podcasts, we'll find them easily and read them on the show.After our mailbagbox, we previewed Sunday's semifinal match at home against Gotham FC. The Pride fell into a second postseason home match in the 2025 playoffs, and now they have an opportunity to take advantage of playing in front of their own fans with a trip to a second straight league final on the line. Gotham isn't a normal No. 8 seed, so there's no room for taking Sunday's visitors lightly, especially after they ousted the seemingly unbeatable Current. We look at the series history, provide our key matchups, and try our best to predict the final score.If you'd like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we'd love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.Here’s how Episode 109 went down:0:15 – The Pride put a crooked number on the board Friday and didn't allow a goal, so based on that math, you can surmise Orlando won its playoff game over Seattle. We discuss it.19:53 - Our mailbagbox is absolutely supersized and presents a lot of questions and comments at the expense of the Kansas City Current.46:51 - Gotham slew the dragon in Kansas City and will visit the Pride on Sunday in the NWSL semifinals. We preview.