Copper Queens captain Barbra Banda scored twice for Orlando Pride on Monday morning (Zambian time) in their 2-3 win over Seattle Reign FC, tying a NWSL record with their seventh consecutive victory.
Before today’s match, Seattle held the NWSL record for the most consecutive wins, having accomplished the feat in the 2014 season.
Barbra’s brace and Emily Sams’ first career goal helped the Pride defeat Seattle away for the first time, extending the team’s unbeaten streak to 10 games this season.
The Pride’s head coach, Seb Hines, is pleased with how Barbra, their record signing, has quickly integrated into the team.
“We knew what we were getting here and that was an area that we needed to invest in. And so it’s lovely to see that she is fit in right at home this early in the season in her career,” he told reporters after the match. “I think the challenge for Barbra moving forward is that she’s probably got a target on her backplan so teams are fully aware of what she’s capable of doing, and so I think with her personality and her character, she will embrace that every game.”
Barbra giving defenders headaches
Hines also revealed that NWSL defenders are struggling to stop Barbra, and he believes she will score a lot of goals before the season ends.
“I think every centre-back in this league will be looking to show what they’re capable of doing against one of the best forwards in the league. So that’s the challenge that Barbra has in front of us this year.
“We have to continue to find those moments [creating scoring opportunities in every game] and if we do that, Barbra could be looking at a lot of goals this year.”
Barbra has six goals in her first six games for Orlando, trailing Portland Thorns’ Sophia Smith, who has eight goals in ten games.
Orlando now leads the NWSL standings with 24 points after ten games.
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