North Carolina Courage 1 – 2 Houston Dash
CARY, NC—By all accounts from the North Carolina Courage, last week’s visit to Washington wasn’t one for the scrapbook. After a week to rest and recalibrate, the Courage took on the Houston Dash at WakeMed Soccer Park Saturday night.
Although the team looked much improved over their previous outing, they would find themselves frustrated almost immediately. In the game’s opening minutes, Cari Roccaro served up a stunning cross to Jessica McDonald, who finished the play with a nod past Houston goalkeeper Lindsey Harris. Despite McDonald appearing to be onside, the alternate referee had the flag up, and the goal was disallowed.
North Carolina’s frustration would increase in the 9th minute. Against the run of play, Veronica Latsko stripped Courage midfielder Angharad James of the ball. Latsko then tipped a pass to Shea Groom squeezed a shot past North Carolina goalkeeper Casey Murphy.
But the Courage would answer just a few minutes later, in the 16th minute. Merritt Mathias flipped a ball into the 18-yard box that deflected off of the Houston defense in a missed clearing attempt, right to the waiting feet of Kristen Hamilton. The Courage forward made no mistake, beating Harris to level the score.
In the 29th minute, Groom charged in at full steam on Murphy, and the two wound up in a horrible collision that saw both players down on the pitch for several minutes. After getting to her feet, Groom ended up with a yellow card for making an unsafe play.
After play resumed, Hamilton got on the end of a gorgeous through ball from Havana Solaun and chipped it past Harris to apparently put the home team up a goal. But another controversial offside flag negated the Courage lead.
Houston had a couple of chances late in first-half stoppage time, including a free kick after Denise O’Sullivan was called for a foul in a dangerous spot 10 yards out from the top right corner of the 18-yard box. But the Dash could not convert on the free kick, and the teams went into the locker room deadlocked 1-1.
Houston started the second half putting pressure on the Courage in their defensive end of the field, causing North Carolina to concede a series of corner kicks early in the first half.
Courage coach Paul Riley was mostly pleased with his squad’s performance on the night, though he noted their slow start to the second half was costly. “That 15 minutes cost us. We were complacent in that time, looked lackadaisical. We looked like we were still in the locker room, to be honest. I think [Houston] had three or four corners leading to their goal. We just couldn’t get a hold of the ball during that first 15 minutes.
Perhaps the game’s most controversial call happened in the 60th minute when Courage midfielder Denise O’Sullivan was tracking back on defense with Groom in possession of the ball. NC defender Diane Caldwell slid across to tackle the ball away from the Houston forward, who then ran smack into O’Sullivan and crumpled to the pitch right on the edge of the penalty area.
The official immediately called a foul and showed O’Sullivan the yellow card. While the Courage players were vehemently protesting, Houston set up for the set piece. And, while the call was controversial, there can be no controversy about the brilliance of Gaby Seiler’s free kick. With Groom and Emily Ogle creating a visual barrier, Seiler ran up on the ball and blasted an absolute rocket past Murphy’s outstretched arms. It was a stunning set piece that worked to perfection.
But for the Courage, it was more frustration. Instead of being up 3-2, North Carolina now had to chase down a result, even though they outplayed the visitors everywhere else on the stat sheet.
“I think it’s just a matter of putting together the full 90; I think we kind of let them back in the game,” Kristen Hamilton said in her post-match remarks.
Late game substitutes Taylor Smith and Hailie Mace brought some much-needed energy to the Courage offense, helping to open up the field and stretch out the Dash defense. North Carolina nearly evened the score in stoppage time when Hamilton served the ball back to McDonald, but her shot clanked off the crossbar. When the final whistle came a few minutes later, the Dash had held on for the win, while the Courage suffered their first two consecutive game defeat since 2017.
“We didn’t play poorly tonight, and that’s what makes this loss hurt a little bit more,” Hamilton said after the game. “It’s tough. This is a tough pill to swallow because we didn’t deserve to lose the game.”
Riley, however, was more direct in his post-game remarks, setting his sight on the officiating. “The game should have been over at halftime, in all fairness. Both goals were onside. The refereeing tonight was disappointing. The linesman missed two goals. It was poor. I thought [the head official]was poor, too…inconsistent. Yellow cards for average fouls, no yellow cards for professional fouls, I mean, all over the map.”
“That said,” he continued, “I think we had 70-30 possession in the first half, enough chances to sink the ship and didn’t put them away. You pay the price in this league, and the big moments went against us. You turn another ball over in our half of the field again, and I think that’s the fifth time this year that we’ve given that same goal away. And that’s on us. Completely on us.”
Final Notes
- McDonald’s disallowed goal would have been her 50th NWSL goal.
- Shea Groom marked her 100th NWSL regular season appearance in her start for the Houston Dash. She had a very Shea Groom kind of evening getting a goal and a yellow card.
- Next up for North Carolina is a visit to Kansas City on July 23rd before returning to WakeMed Soccer Park to take on the Orlando Pride on July 31st.
Lineups
North Carolina Courage: C. Murphy; K. Kurtz, C. Pickett, D. Caldwell, M. Mathias; C. Roccaro (H. Mace 71’), D. O’Sullivan, H. Solaun (T. Smith 78’), A. James (M. Speck 71’), K. Hamilton; J. McDonald ©
Houston Dash: L. Harris; A. Prisock, K. Naughton ©, M. Oyster, H. Hanson; E. Ogle (C. Nairn 90+1), G. Seiler, S. Groom; J. Spencer (B. Visalli 87’), M. Gomera-Stevens (J. Fields 85’), V. Latsko
Score:
North Carolina Courage: 1
Houston Dash: 2
Goals:
North Carolina Courage: K. Hamilton (16’ unassisted)
Houston Dash: S. Groom (9’, V. Latsko); G. Seiler (62’ unassisted)
Discipline
North Carolina Courage: M. Mathias (YC 57’); D. O’Sullivan (YC 61’)
Houston Dash: S. Groom (YC 29’); G. Seiler (YC 69’); B. Visalli (YC 90+5’)
Attendance: 5,229
