We want to give a big shout-out to WJ Dog Treats (wjdogtreats.com) for sponsoring the mailbagbox segment of SkoPurp Soccer: An Orlando Pride PawedCast. WJ Dog Treats is a small, family-run company of Orlando soccer fans who are committed to producing healthy, high-quality dog treats with just five ingredients, including their own home-made peanut butter. Give them a try. If you use the code SkoPurp at checkout, you’ll get a dollar off a bag of treats for your pooch!

The Pride faced international competition for the first time ever, and things didn't start out so good but in the end, Orlando got yet another result. We start this week's show with a discussion of the Pride's 2-2 home draw against CF Monterrey, including a rude visit from an old friend, and the shootout that followed. Remember, the Summer Cup matches go directly to shootouts after draws so that one team can earn an extra point. In this case, it was Orlando.

Again, we didn't dare make any score predictions, but we did made our selections for the Pride's Player of the Match.

Our mailbagbox clarified a question from a recent episode and asked what might have been a facetious question about Saturday's referee (or maybe it was serious...either way, we treated it as if it was serious). 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 or 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.

After the mailbagbox, we discussed the latest results for the Pride players in the Olympics. Will an injury lead to Emily Sams getting her first senior cap? Can Orlando's Brazilians bounce back from a difficult loss? Will Barbra Banda stop scoring hat tricks if it means her team will win?

The Pride will have a weird, Thursday match against Racing Louisville as they wrap up group play in the Summer Cup. Orlando needs to get a win in this competition, and Thursday is as good a time as any, but it won't be easy, as games against Racing rarely are.

Here’s how Episode 54 went down:

0:15 – The Pride faced Liga MX Femenil competition for the first time ever and it took penalties to separate the sides.

14:56 – The mailbagbox clarifies itself and then asks another question.

25:09 – Pride players in the Olympics and a look ahead to Racing Louisville.

The Pride (minus several starters) went to North Carolina and — much like the first time they went there — they came home with a point. The 1-1 draw wasn't a terrible result, but it would have been a lot better if Orlando had managed to win the extra point that was just sitting there, waiting for them, in the ensuing penalty shootout. We discuss the team's Summer Cup opener with two home games remaining against Monterrey and Racing Louisville.

We may not have made score predictions, but we did give our thoughts (unanimously) on the Pride's Player of the Match.

Our mailbagbox asked about Bri Martinez, Olympic rosters, defenders making the monthly Best XI, 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 or 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.

After the mailbagbox, we discussed the Pride players in the Olympics and what their schedule looks like this week. There will be a lot of reasons to watch this Olympic tournament for Pride fans.

The Pride return home for a Saturday night meeting with Monterrey — the team's first competitive match against an international opponent. This is great for the game, and we are excited to learn all about Monterrey this weekend.

Here’s how Episode 53 went down:

0:15 – The Pride went to the Courage and were outplayed but still managed a late goal to tie it before throwing away a penalty shootout lead.

12:47 – The mailbagbox asks us to reveal what we know.

27:55 – The Olympic schedule for the Pride's internationals this week and a brief discussion of how little we know about Monterrey.

We open this week's show with a discussion of the Orlando Pride signing two young players to new contracts through the 2025 season with option years for 2026. Rookie Cori Dyke and second-year pro Summer Yates have earned new deals and the Pride didn't want to waste time getting them to stick around for a bit longer. We discuss both players' accomplishments in 2024, and of course we recorded the night before Orlando signed Viviana Villacorta to a similar new deal. Haley Carter is doing all of the business!

Our mailbagbox asked about the NWSL Best XI for the month of June, Marta's highlights, National Team Replacement Players, 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 or 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.

The Pride now head to North Carolina to face a difficult Courage side in the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup, and we have no idea what to expect. Will Seb Hines play his best available lineup with more than half of his starters unavailable? Will he give opportunities to young players to see how they respond to getting competitive minutes? Will it be a combination? There are a lot of variables and we're not even tempted to try to figure out how to identify the key matchups or predict the score.

Here’s how Episode 52 went down:

0:15 – The Pride signed Cori Dyke and Summer Yates to new deals and we love seeing the club invest in its young players.

15:52 – The mailbagbox is interested in June's NWSL Best XI and other topics.

38:35 – It's hard to predict Orlando's Summer Cup opener at North Carolina due to a number of missing Orlando starters on international duty.