By Kyle Foley
Orlando Sentinel Correspondent
Narrowly missing out on the postseason thanks to a tiebreaker marked a disappointing end to the NWSL season for the Orlando Pride (10-11-1, 31 points) after the progress they showed throughout the year. Now the team starts preparing for next season, hoping to build on that growth.
One of the most exciting Pride players is rookie forward Messiah Bright. A strong contender for Rookie of the Year with six goals in 22 appearances, the second-round draft pick now has a year’s professional experience to help her reach new heights next season.
“Now I’ll be able to settle into the game; I’m not going to have as many nerves as I did when I first stepped into this environment of becoming a pro,” Bright said. “The game brings nerves as it is, but I think now I’ll be more calm, comfortable and a little bit more confident within myself. And I’m going to start as soon as I get home, take some time to just rest and heal my body, and then find a way to just get after it.”
Defender Kylie Strom has been a key player in Orlando’s defense this season, helping the team to a club-record seven wins at home and just 28 goals conceded all season. She sees the team’s core as its most important asset going into 2024.
“I think it’s awesome that the veterans are able to learn from the rookies and the rookies are able to learn from the veterans. We’re all on the same team trying to solve the same problem,” Strom said. “I think we have a really good core group here, which is really exciting. I feel like in the past we’ve had a lot of turnover, and this year I think we’re really excited about what we’ve built and want to continue building on that.”
Fellow defender Haley McCutcheon has been around the league since 2018 and has never seen a season as chaotic as 2023. Orlando defied low expectations coming into the season, and she believes they can carry on and become a force to be reckoned with going forward.
“There was just a buy-in from every player and a belief again that that we could do it, but it was going to have to be a collective effort,” McCutcheon said. “So moving forward, we showed that we can compete in this league, and this one was one of the craziest seasons I’ve ever seen. So we just have to have that expectation that we have to do even more next year to be successful.”
