SkoPurp No. 13: Spirit Rewind, Transfers & OL Reign Preview

The Orlando Pride broke out of their doldrums in a big way on Saturday night in the nation's capital. The Pride waltzed into Audi Field and became the first visiting team to capture all three points there in NWSL play this season. Orlando also completed a sweep of the regular-season series, handing the Spirit two of their three league losses so far in 2023. Julie Doyle pounced on the hosts early and the Pride were able to keep a clean sheet on the road for just the second time this season. We break down the victory, check in on our hilariously wrong score predictions, and give you our selections for Player of the Match. The Pride front office was busy this past week, subtracting an attacking player from the roster and adding a defender. We barely knew 19-year-old Malta international Haley Bugeja, but the forward is off to Italy after only a few short appearances in purple. Did the Pride make a mistake in transferring her out or in signing her in the first place? Joining the club after the World Cup will be 32-year-old Brazilian international defender Rafaelle. While she doesn't fit the profile of the Pride's roster build, Rafaelle will be expected to contribute immediately, help some of the younger defenders develop, and provide relief to a defense that has leaked 21 goals so far this season. We answered our mailbagbox questions and discussed some of your answers to our question from last week. Remember, you can ask us anything by hitting us up on Twitter at either @TheManeLand or @SkoPurpSoccer and using the hashtag #AskSkoPurp. Or you can visit our show page, scroll down, and fill out the handy form. Finally, we gave our key matchups and score predictions for the Pride's match this Friday against OL Reign. Here’s how Episode 13 went down: 0:15 – The Pride pounced on the Spirit early and rode that momentum to victory. 18:08 — Transfer news! One player departs and another will arrive in a few weeks. 27:52 - Our mailbagbox and our key matchups and score predicti