North Carolina defender Abby Erceg (6) and defender Jaelene Hinkle (15) have a light moment during the North Carolina Courage v Houston Dash match at Sahlen’s Stadium in WakeMed Soccer Park (photo by Victoria Klum).
Cary, NC – North Carolina Courage head coach Paul Riley described the conversation he had with his players as they left the locker room. “The last question that I asked them…‘Sammy, do you know?’ and she goes, ‘Yeah, I know, Paul’; and Sammy said, ‘do you want me to say it?’ and I go, ‘no, I just want you to know it.’”
And so it was with Abby Dahlkemper, Crystal Dunn, and Merritt Mathias. They didn’t talk about it but they knew.
The Courage had buttoned up many achievements during the National Women’s Soccer League regular season but there were a few more they had their eyes on. By the end of the evening, the team had broken NWSL records for:
- Most wins (17)
- Most points (57)
- Most goals (53)
- Fewest goals allowed (17)
- Lowest goals against average (.71)
- Largest goal differential (+36)
They also beat the Houston Dash 5-0.
The Courage came at Houston right after the kickoff and nearly scored the game’s first goal less than a minute in when Mewis gathered the ball at midfield and slid an easy pass to Lynn Williams, who was loosely marked by the Dash defense. Williams pushed forward but with Amber Brooks and Lindsay Agnew for Houston closing in on her, she took a shot that deflected to a wide-open Jessica McDonald, but she wasn’t able to get her foot on the ball.
Houston was able to put some pressure on North Carolina in the first half, but the Courage defense, lead by captain Abby Erceg, smothered any chances the Dash offense was able to create.
Erceg added to her highlight reel in the ninth minute. Houston’s Veronica Latsko passed the ball to Kealia Ohai who found Sofia Huerta charging into the 18’ box unmarked. Erceg read the play and perfectly angled her slide tackle to thwart Huerta’s scoring chance.
Riley praised his center-back’s season-long performance after the game, “If Abby Erceg is not the defender of the year…she was outstanding again.”
The North Carolina Courage defend their end of the field against the Houston Dash (photo by Victoria Klum).
It was McDonald who put the Courage in front in the 13th minute. Erceg brought the ball to midfield and passed it right into the path of McDonald. McDonald pushed the ball toward the end line, around the Dash defense, and chipped the ball neatly over goalkeeper Jane Campbell’s shin for what proved to be the game-winning goal.
Dunn doubled the Courage lead in the 26th minute after Williams’ shot rebounded off of the inside edge of the post. Houston’s defense was unable to clear the ball and it bounced off of Dunn’s leg, hitting the other goal post before Dunn corralled that second rebound and put it past Campbell.
With the Dash hanging on in the game, it looked like the Courage would take the 2-0 lead into halftime. But in the 42nd minute, Dahlkemper brought the ball through space in midfield and tapped the ball to McDonald, who played a beautiful pass to Williams. Williams forced Lindsay Agnew to slide to the ground before going around her for the goal and nabbing the NWSL scoring record for her team.
North Carolina held a commanding 3-0 lead at the half.
As the second half was barely underway, Williams just missed bagging her brace in the 49th minute when Mathias floated a ball to her in space, but her point-blank header went just wide of the post.
However, Williams would net her second goal thanks to another great team effort. Mathias passed the ball to Debinha, whose slick backheel pass rolled into McDonald’s path. McDonald turned Houston’s Janine Van Wyk around chipped a pass to Williams who poked the ball past Campbell to make the score 4-0 for the Courage.
Describing the goal, McDonald said, “I saw her (Williams) curl out and I started to dribble up the field a little bit and I cut inside. As soon as I looked up and saw her and she made eye contact with me and I just played her through really quickly and kind of caught the defensive side a little bit off guard. It was just a great goal by Lynn.”
Riley noted that he doesn’t work McDonald and Williams together in training. “Hat’s off to them, they’ve formed a good partnership. You know, we don’t work with them together, ever: they work with their 10’s, they work with their 6’s, they work with their fullbacks on their side…so when they do combine in the game, it’s nice to see.”
The North Carolina Courage celebrate a goal by forward Lynn Williams (9) against Houston (photo by Victoria Klum).
The assist was McDonald’s league-leading eighth of the season. “I just found out probably about two minutes ago. I didn’t know I was in the running, to be honest,” said McDonald after the game.
In the 67th minute, Denise O’Sullivan came out of the game for Kristen Hamilton. O’Sullivan and Mewis were tasked with filling the role of the team’s top traffic cop, McCall Zerboni. Zerboni is out for the rest of the season after suffering a broken elbow earlier in the week during her appearance for the U.S. Women’s National Team in the friendly game against Chile.
Riley was especially pleased with the performance that Mewis and O’Sullivan, both back from national team duty for the U.S. and Ireland, turned in at midfield. “I said about McCall it’s going to require everybody [to give]another 5% to make up for her. I think Sammy and Sully were determined to make up for it.”
Shortly after substituting for O’Sullivan, Hamilton fought Amber Brooks for the ball off of a Mathias throw-in. After swinging past Brooks, she sprinted past Van Wyk and challenged Campbell, who came over to cover the near post. Hamilton roofed her shot over Campbell to complete North Carolina’s rout.
With the NWSL regular season complete, Paul Riley and the Courage were ready to enjoy their regular season accomplishments but made it clear the focus would immediately turn to their semifinal playoff game next Sunday, September 16th, against the Chicago Red Stars.
Final Notes
- The Courage/Dash match was the second of an evening doubleheader. The evening’s first match, a USL matchup between North Carolina FC and Nashville SC, ended in a 3-3 draw.
- Although the Dash held a slight lead in possession in the first half (53% – 47%), the Courage dominated the half, outshooting them 17-5.
- Courage midfielder Denise O’Sullivan put in a strong performance, despite feeling under the weather after appearing for Ireland last week.
- Zerboni has surgery scheduled for next week to repair the damage to her elbow and will not be with the team when they play the Chicago Red Stars in the NWSL semifinal.
- Jessica McDonald described her chemistry with Lynn Williams: “One cool thing is that we’ve been playing for a few years together…at the end of the day I kind of know where she’s going to be at to get the ball, and sort of vice-versa.”
- North Carolina staff is fond of the phrase “success leaves clues”: Lynn Williams illustrated this point in the game’s 17th minute. Merritt Mathias crossed the ball but missed everyone and the ball appeared to be heading out of bounds. However, Williams sprinted from the center of the field to the touchline and kept the ball in play.
- Houston’s Veronica Latsko tripped North Carolina goalkeeper Katelyn Rowland as Rowland attempted to play the the ball just outside the penalty area. Though it didn’t appear to be a particularly vicious challenge from Latsko, it drew the ire of the nearby Courage supporters section. Rowland was down for a few moments but suffered only a broken shoelace. She continued the game after changing one of her boots.
- With the shutout, Rowland moves into fourth place on the all-time shutout list, behind Nicole Barnhart, Alyssa Naeher and Adrianna Franch.
For match photo gallery click here.
Lineups
North Carolina Courage: K. Rowland; J. Hinkle, A. Erceg ©, A. Dahlkemper, M. Mathias; Debinha, D. O’Sullivan (K. Hamilton, 67’), S. Mewis, C. Dunn (M. Speck, 78‘); L. Williams (H. O’Reilly, 67’), J. McDonald
Houston Dash: J. Campbell; T. Comeau, A. Brooks, J. Van Wyk (K. Simon, 87’), L. Agnew (K. Keever, 66’); L. Motihalo, S. Huerta, H. Hanson; K. Ohai ©, R. Daly, V. Latsko (N. Prince, 66’)
Scoring
North Carolina Courage: J. McDonald , 13’ (A.Erceg), C. Dunn 26’ (unassisted), L. Williams 44’ (J. McDonald), L. Williams 57’ (J. McDonald), K. Hamilton 70’ (unassisted)
Houston Dash: none
Discipline
North Carolina Courage: none
Houston Dash: none
Attendance: 9,505
NC Courage
