The 2024 season did not get off to a fast start for the Orlando Pride. Just 20 minutes into the season the Pride found themselves down two goals on the road. A while later, while still trailing, Orlando then found itself short one player when Kylie Strom was shown a second yellow card. Things looked bad.

But the Pride pulled themselves together, fought back valiantly, and earned a 2-2 road draw against Racing Louisville in their NWSL season opener. It was the first point for Orlando in four visits to Kentucky, and although the Pride still haven't won on opening day, they at least took a point from a losing (and hopeless-looking, at the time) position.

We break down the match, check in on our score predictions, and make our selections for Player of the Match.

After our Louisville rewind, we were joined by midfielder Morgan Gautrat. The USWNT veteran was kind enough to spare some time to talk about her experiences with the club so far, how she's settling in with her Orlando teammates, playing for Seb Hines, learning from a tough situation in Week 1, and more. Big thanks to Morgan for her time ahead of the Pride's home opener on Friday against Angel City.

Our mailbagbox asked us questions about some of the Pride players who didn't appear on opening day, the most meme-able moments from Saturday's draw at Louisville, and more. 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'd also appreciate any ratings reviews you can leave wherever you get your podcasts, and if you do that on Apple Podcasts, we'll find them easily and read them on the show.

Finally, we presented our key matchups and score predictions for the Pride's home opener this Friday. Angel City's lineup presents a lot of familiar faces, including Messiah Bright, who will no doubt want to show Orlando what it's missing without her. It should be an interesting match and it will be interesting to see what Seb Hines does with his back line with Strom unavailable and other key players injured or just returning from injury.

Here’s how Episode 35 went down:

0:15 – The Pride dove into the deep end of the adversity end of the pool in Louisville but were able to overcome all of it and bring home a point.

22:30 – Morgan Gautrat joins us the Pride's new veteran midfielder expertly puts up with our questions.

42:37 – The mailbagbox has questions and we've got answers, as well as our key matchups and predictions for Orlando vs. Angel City.