Orlando Pride Close Their Season on Decision Day in Seattle, Where the Reign's Playoff Spot Is on the Line
The Pride are already eliminated, but they hold Seattle's postseason fate in their hands today at Lumen Field: a Reign win clinches the eighth and final NWSL playoff spot, and Orlando arrives with the road form to spoil it.
The Orlando Pride's season ends this afternoon in Seattle, and the stakes belong to the other team. Orlando (11-15-3, 36 points, 11th place) is already eliminated from playoff contention, while Seattle Reign FC (13-11-5, 44 points, 8th place) clinches the eighth and final spot in the 2026 NWSL Playoffs with a win at Lumen Field. Kickoff is 2 p.m. Pacific (4 p.m. Central), with every Decision Day match kicking off simultaneously, streaming on ESPN+ in the United States and NWSL+ internationally.
The spoiler case is real. Seattle's official match forecast notes that Orlando has taken 10 points from its last four away matches (three wins and a draw), including wins in its last two on the road, at Bay FC and Houston. The Pride closed their home schedule with a 2-1 loss to Gotham FC, in which Solai Washington scored their only goal, and they travel without Barbra Banda, who is listed out on an excused absence on the Reign's published availability report. Seattle's path if it does not win runs through the Denver Summit–North Carolina Courage match: a Reign draw plus a Denver win, or a draw between Denver and North Carolina, also puts Seattle through.
The afternoon also closes a career. The match is the final regular-season game for Reign midfielder Jess Fishlock, a 14-year veteran of the club who is set to retire following the 2026 season — and who scored, alongside Brittany Ratcliffe, when Seattle won the season opener 2-1 at Orlando in March, with Banda scoring the Pride's goal. All time, Seattle leads the series 8-6-8, with 33 goals to Orlando's 25. For the Pride, a strong finish on the road is the last available statement of a season that ends today.
