2020 Orlando Pride season

In October 2019, Alex Morgan announced she was pregnant and expecting to give birth in April 2020.^[1][2] Morgan had stated she aimed to return to playing in time for the Olympics with the United States in July 2020 but the games were eventually postponed by COVID-19.^[3] Morgan gave birth on May 7, 2020.^[4]

Five Pride players signed with Australian W-League teams to play with during the 2019–20 NWSL offseason: Emily van Egmond and Claire Emslie joined Melbourne City, Alanna Kennedy joined Sydney FC, Carson Pickett joined Brisbane Roar and Camila joined Canberra United.^{[5][6][7][8][9]} Van Egmond and Emslie won both the Premiership and Championship titles with Melbourne City as van Egmond also led the team in goals with six.^[10][11]

On November 5, 2019, Orlando used its top priority to acquire the NWSL rights to Australian midfielder Chloe Logarzo off the NWSL Re-Entry Wire.^[12] On November 13, the pick was voided after the league realized Logarzo should not have been made available for selection and allowed to go through the re-entry process. The Pride was not offered compensation.^[13] Logarzo subsequently signed in England with Bristol City.^[14]

In January 2020, the Pride announced that NWSL President Amanda Duffy was to step down in order to become the team's Executive Vice President. General Manager Erik Ustruck returned to Orlando City's front office staff after only a year in the role.^[15]

In March, the start of the season was delayed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.^[16] On May 8, the NWSL allowed voluntary individual workouts on outdoor fields for the first time since the suspension.^[17]

On May 27, 2020, the NWSL announced the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup as a smaller format replacement to the league, a 25-game tournament hosted at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman, Utah, beginning June 27, 71 days after the originally planned start date of the regular season.^[18] On June 22, the team withdrew from the tournament following positive COVID-19 tests among both players and staff.^[19]

Orlando ultimately played for the first time in 2020 on September 19 as part of the Fall Series friendlies, 343 days since the team's last match on October 12, 2019.

As of September 19, 2020.^[20]

No.	Nationality	Name	Position(s)	Date of birth (age)	Previous club	Notes
Goalkeepers
24		Ashlyn Harris	GK	(1985-10-19)October 19, 1985 (aged 34)	Washington Spirit	FED
30		Brittany Wilson	GK	(1997-09-22)September 22, 1997 (aged 22)	Denver Pioneers	–
Defenders
3		Toni Pressley	DF	(1990-02-19)February 19, 1990 (aged 30)	Houston Dash	–
11		Ali Krieger	DF	(1984-07-28)July 28, 1984 (aged 36)	Washington Spirit	FED
17		Carrie Lawrence	DF	(1997-07-15)July 15, 1997 (aged 23)	UCF Knights	Short-term
21		Julie King	DF	(1989-10-21)October 21, 1989 (aged 30)	North Carolina Courage	SUP
25		Konya Plummer	DF	(1997-08-02)August 2, 1997 (aged 23)	UCF Knights	INT
27		Morgan Reid	DF	(1995-06-13)June 13, 1995 (aged 25)	North Carolina Courage	D45
28		Courtney Petersen	DF	(1997-10-28)October 28, 1997 (aged 22)	Virginia Cavaliers	–
32		Ally Haran	DF	(1996-05-21)May 21, 1996 (aged 24)	Houston Dash	Short-term
Midfielders
5		Savanah Uveges	MF	(1996-06-09)June 9, 1996 (aged 24)	Nebraska Cornhuskers	Short-term
8		Deneisha Blackwood	MF	(1997-03-07)March 7, 1997 (aged 23)	Slavia Prague	INT, Short-term
12		Kristen Edmonds	MF	(1987-05-22)May 22, 1987 (aged 33)	Western New York Flash	–
16		Zandy Soree	MF	(1998-08-01)August 1, 1998 (aged 22)	UCF Knights	Short-term
19		Jordyn Listro	MF	(1995-08-10)August 10, 1995 (aged 25)	UDG Tenerife	INT, Short-term
20		Abby Elinsky	MF	(1996-01-08)January 8, 1996 (aged 24)	ASPTT Albi	SUP
23		Marisa Viggiano	MF	(1997-02-05)February 5, 1997 (aged 23)	Northwestern Wildcats	SUP
31		Chelsee Washington	MF	(1997-11-17)November 17, 1997 (aged 22)	Bowling Green Falcons	–
Forwards
2		Sydney Leroux	FW	(1990-05-07)May 7, 1990 (aged 30)	FC Kansas City	–
10		Marta	FW	(1986-02-19)February 19, 1986 (aged 34)	FC Rosengård	INT
14		Kate Howarth	FW	(1991-07-03)July 3, 1991 (aged 29)	New England Mutiny	Short-term

As of February 14, 2020.^[21][22]

Executive
Majority owner and chairman	Flávio Augusto da Silva
Chief executive officer	Alex Leitão
Executive vice president	Amanda Duffy
Coaching staff
Head coach	Marc Skinner
Assistant coach	Carl Green
Goalkeeping coach	Lloyd Yaxley

Summarize Timeline Top Qs Fact Check

As per the league schedule, NWSL teams were permitted to begin preseason activities on March 9, 2020. Orlando Pride were due to play three friendlies in preseason, all against Florida college teams.^[23] However, on March 12 it was announced that the NWSL's preseason schedule had been canceled on the advice of public health authorities due to the coronavirus pandemic.^[24]

Results

The format of the tournament was supposed to feature all nine NWSL clubs each playing four games in the preliminary rounds to determine seeding. The top eight teams would advance to a knockout bracket.^[18] The draw for the preliminary round was held on June 1, randomly assigning teams to their opposition via seeding. Orlando were drawn against Chicago, Portland and North Carolina, the top three placed teams from the previous season as well as Sky Blue.^[25] However, on June 22, the team confirmed they would be withdrawing from the tournament following positive COVID-19 tests among both players and staff.^[19]

To compensate for the lack of competitive schedule and difficulty of travel, the NWSL grouped teams into regional pods to allow for a Fall Series in September and October.^[26] Orlando were grouped in the south region with reigning NWSL champions North Carolina and 2020 Challenge Cup winners Houston.^[27]

As of matches played October 17, 2020

No.	Pos.	Name	Fall
			Apps	Starts
2	FW	Sydney Leroux	3	3
3	DF	Toni Pressley	4	3
5	MF	Savanah Uveges	2	1
8	MF	Deneisha Blackwood	4	2
10	FW	Marta	4	4
11	DF	Ali Krieger	4	4
12	MF	Kristen Edmonds	3	3
14	FW	Kate Howarth	2	0
16	MF	Zandy Soree	0	0
17	DF	Carrie Lawrence	4	3
19	MF	Jordyn Listro	3	3
20	MF	Abby Elinsky	4	3
21	DF	Julie King	0	0
23	MF	Marisa Viggiano	4	4
24	GK	Ashlyn Harris	3	3
25	DF	Konya Plummer	2	1
27	DF	Morgan Reid	0	0
28	DF	Courtney Petersen	4	4
30	GK	Brittany Wilson	1	1
31	MF	Chelsee Washington	4	2
32	DF	Ally Haran	2	0

As of matches played October 17, 2020

Rank	No.	Pos.	Name	Fall
1	23	MF	Marisa Viggiano	2
2	2	FW	Sydney Leroux	1
	12	MF	Kristen Edmonds	1
	32	DF	Ally Haran	1
Total				5

As of matches played October 17, 2020

Rank	No.	Name	Fall
1	24	Ashlyn Harris	1
Total			1

As of matches played October 17, 2020

No.	Pos.	Name	Fall
2	FW	Sydney Leroux	1	0
8	MF	Deneisha Blackwood	1	0
11	DF	Ali Krieger	1	0
19	MF	Jordyn Listro	3	0
23	MF	Marisa Viggiano	1	0
31	MF	Chelsee Washington	1	0
Total			8	0