ORLANDO, Fla. — Barbra Banda scored two goals, and the Orlando Pride edged the Portland Thorns 2-1 on Friday night at Inter&Co Stadium to extend their winning streak to eight games.

"It’s a great feeling," Pride coach Seb Hines said. "I'll be honest, it'll probably be short-lived because we have bigger goals we’ve set this season and objectives that we want to reach this season."

Banda now has eight goals in six National Women’s Soccer League starts, and the first-place Pride (8-0-3) became the first team in league history to win eight matches in a row.

Banda headed in a rebound off a corner kick in the 30th minute. It marked her fourth header this season, more than any single NWSL team has as a collective.  

She scored her second goal in transition in the 40th minute, dribbling by her defender and goalkeeper Shelby Hogan before shooting into an open net.

That goal put her into a tie for the Golden Boot race as the league's top scorers alongside Thorns forward Sophia Smith. Banda’s brace is also her third of the season, which tied the club record for most braces in a single season. 

The Pride reworked their roster in the offseason, and Banda was a key addition. She joined the team in mid-April, after being acquired in March for a team-record transfer fee of $740,000 from Chinese Women’s Super League club Shanghai Shengli FC. 

“With Barbra [Banda] in particular, we knew what we were getting; we were getting a goal scorer," Hines said. "We got a player who has an eye for a goal and puts herself in really good positions for goals. Building that chemistry is probably happening quicker than we’ve thought. But she finds a way, and it’s brilliant to see. Even the second goal today, you would feel like the chance is gone, but she finds a way to find the back of the net. I think she puts fear in defenders as well, which is a compliment to her and the presence she shows on the field. But like you said, the acquisitions we brought in this year have added that little bit more quality to the group, and you can see that everything is coming together nicely."

Izzy D’Aquila, scoring her first NWSL goal, got one back for Portland in the 71st minute, collecting a cutback pass from Olivia Moultrie and finishing from close range.

Moultrie became the youngest player in league history to record 10 assists in all competitions.

Portland (6-4-1) pushed for an equalizer and had a header go off the bar, but the Pride held on.

The loss ended a six-game winning streak for the Thorns.

The match was the first in NWSL history between teams on winning streaks of four or more games.

The Pride now enter an international break and then travel to San Diego to take on the Wave at 10 p.m. ET June 7 at Snapdragon Stadium.