SkoPurp No. 23: Seb's Job, Signings, and Courage Preview

The Orlando Pride had the weekend off, so hopefully that will kill off the bad juju that had infected them the previous two matches. Pretty much every game is a must-win situation from here on out, so we certainly hope that's the case. Without a match from this weekend to recap, we turned our attention to Seb Hines. Last year's interim coach got the full-time gig this season and although we think the season so far has been better than expected, we will wait to submit our final grades on Seb's season until the last four matches have been played. After all, this is a team that could finish in dead last or make the playoffs. It's been a crazy season. The Pride signed two players to new deals through 2024 and then promptly loaned them to teams in Australia's A-League. We discussed defender Tori Hansen's signing and loan early in the show, as that news dropped just before we started recording. However, we were caught off guard when the same thing happened with goalkeeper Kaylie Collins, as we were just entering our final segment of the show. Nevertheless, we weighed in on both. We also touched on the Pride's game at Angel City getting rescheduled. There was nothing for us to answer in this week's mailbagbox. 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. We looked ahead to the North Carolina Courage on Sunday and provided our key matchups and score predictions for a critical game. The Pride don't have a good record against the Courage or after the month of August. Hopefully those things will cancel each other out rather than become force multipliers. Here’s how Episode 23 went down: 0:15 – A look at how Seb Hines has done in navigating his young team through the 2023 NWSL season. 18:53 - Tori Hansen is headed to Melbourne for some competitive matches, and the Pride's game at Angel City has been rescheduled. 26:29 - The mailbagbox was empty but we've still got our key matchups and score predictions for Sunday's game vs. North Carolina and Kaylie Collins is also headed for the land down under.