Barbra Banda Stays Hot as Orlando Pride Blitz Chicago Stars 3-0 for First Win of 2026

Three goals in 22 minutes. That was the entire argument the Orlando Pride brought to Evanston on Wednesday night, and Chicago Stars FC spent the rest of the evening looking for a rebuttal that never came.

Barbra Banda struck in the 13th minute, Jacqueline Ovalle doubled it in the 22nd, Hannah Anderson finished a corner in the 35th, and Orlando beat Chicago 3-0 at Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium for its first win of the 2026 season. The Pride also ended a nine-game regular-season unbeaten run at home for the Stars, according to the club. Orlando climbs to 1-1-1 with 4 points. Chicago, in front of 1,821 fans, falls to 1-0-2 with 3.

Twenty-Two Minutes of Damage

Chicago actually started brighter. The Stars won two corners in the first five minutes, and Ryan Gareis ran onto a Jameese Joseph through ball in the 10th minute before lifting her shot over the bar. That was about as good as the opening act got for the home side.

In the 13th minute, Chicago coughed up the ball, Ally Lemos scooped it up and fed Banda in the middle of the box. Banda spun with a defender draped on her and slotted a left-footed finish through the center of the goal. Cold. Clinical. Very Banda.

Chicago had its best chance of the half in the 21st minute, when Sam Staab got her head on a ball in the middle of the box and forced Anna Moorhouse into a save. Roughly a minute later, the Pride punished the miss. Rookie Solai Washington, in her first professional start, burst down the flank and fizzed a ball across the face of the area, and Ovalle steered it home with her left foot into the bottom right corner. 2-0.

The third goal came off a set piece. Ovalle swung in a corner in the 35th minute, Anderson found a pocket of space on the left side of the six-yard box, and her left-footed finish flew into the top left corner. Banda nearly added a fourth in the 41st minute with a shot from distance that Alyssa Naeher pushed away low to her left. By the time a first half carrying seven minutes of stoppage time ended, the contest was effectively over.

Chicago Pushes, Orlando Shrugs

Chicago made two changes at halftime, sending on Aaliyah Farmer and Ivonne Chacón, and the Stars came out with real purpose. Joseph whistled a shot just wide in the 46th minute, and Julia Grosso curled one narrowly past the top left corner three minutes later.

The momentum died quickly, though. Michelle Alozie had to come off injured in the 52nd minute, with Jenna Bike replacing her, and Orlando kept threatening on the break. Haley McCutcheon rattled the crossbar from outside the box in the 61st minute after a fast break, and Moorhouse handled Grosso's effort from the right side of the area in the 67th. Head coach Seb Hines then started managing minutes, bringing on Marta and Julie Doyle for Banda and Ovalle in the 82nd minute with a trip to Gotham FC four days away.

Banda Keeps Cooking

Banda finished with three shots, two on target and the opener, and she was fouled six times, more than anyone else on the field. The goal was her third in as many matches to start the season, per the Pride, and her fifth in her last three meetings with Chicago after braces in the 2024 playoffs and in Orlando's 2025 opener. At this point the Stars should probably start charging her rent.

Ovalle was the creative engine. She scored, assisted Anderson and was involved in the move that ended with McCutcheon hitting the bar. The club says that gives her three goal contributions across Orlando's last two matches.

Then there is the revenge subplot. Anderson was traded from Chicago to Orlando in the offseason, and her goal was the first of her NWSL career, scored in her first trip back. Washington and Lemos each picked up their first NWSL assists, and Moorhouse made two saves for her 28th clean sheet, which the Pride say ranks eighth all-time among NWSL goalkeepers.

The Turning Point

The 21st and 22nd minutes decided this one. Staab's header was Chicago's clearest look of the first half, and Moorhouse stood tall. Within a minute, Washington was flying down the flank and Ovalle was doubling the lead. Instead of 1-1, it was 2-0, and the Stars never recovered their footing. Anderson's goal 13 minutes later was simply the exclamation point.

Stats That Matter

• Possession: Chicago held 51.7 percent of the ball and still lost by three.
• Shots on goal: Orlando 4, Chicago 2, with the Pride leading total shots 11-7.
• Going direct: Orlando attempted 54 long balls and completed 27. Chicago tried 24 and completed 10.
• Winning it back: The Pride won 15 of 24 tackles and made 14 interceptions, double Chicago's 7.
• Front-loaded: It was only the third time in club history that the Pride scored three goals in a first half, per Orlando.

What It Means

Orlando's season opened with a home loss to Seattle Reign FC and a home draw with Denver Summit FC, so a road win this emphatic lands like a pressure valve. It was also the Pride's first three-goal game in the NWSL since a 3-2 win over the Washington Spirit on Oct. 18, 2025, according to the club. Orlando goes to Gotham FC on Sunday.

Chicago is in a tougher spot. Either side of a 2-1 home win over the Kansas City Current, the Stars lost 4-0 at Angel City FC and now 3-0 at home, and they have been outscored 8-2 through three matches. Next up is a two-match road trip at the San Diego Wave on March 28 and the Utah Royals on April 3.

Closing Take

Hines summed up the vibe perfectly. "We have been disappointed with the results and not the performances, so it was nice for it all to come together tonight," he said. Think of it as the band that kept getting great reviews finally scoring a hit single. If Banda keeps scoring like this, Orlando might be booking a world tour.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Postgame quote and match notes as reported by the Orlando Pride (OrlandoCitySC.com); additional details from ChicagoStars.com.