North Carolina Courage 1 – 2 Orlando Pride
CARY, NC—After going down 0-2 and with the game clock ticking down, the North Carolina Courage mounted a furious comeback challenge in the final 20 minutes. But it wasn’t enough to secure any points against a confident Orlando Pride team who held on to get a huge road 2-1 road win.
Alex Morgan and Sydney Leroux gave the Courage back line all it could handle early in the first half. Morgan forced North Carolina goalkeeper Casey Murphy to make two big saves in the 5th and 14th minutes.
Debinha had her chance to put the Courage on top when she got the ball all alone on the doorstep of Orlando’s goal but her shot at a wide open net sailed over the crossbar keeping the game scoreless.
But it was Leroux who would get the visitors on the scoreboard first, taking advantage of a bad giveaway by the Courage in their back third of the field. Leroux jumped on a weak back pass and turned North Carolina defender Kaleigh Kurtz around before rocketing a shot past Murphy to break the deadlock in the 36th minute.
Facing an uphill battle to get back into the game, the Courage looked for ways to get in behind Orlando’s back line. In her post-match remarks, forward Jessica McDonald talked about some of the halftime discussion. “There were certain pockets of space that some of us weren’t getting into, and Paul gave us a little bit of his two cents, you know, where to go in order to be successful coming into the second half.”
Their effort nearly paid off in the 48th minute when Debinha played a pass into the 18-yard box to McDonald. Taking the pass in her stride, McDonald got off a hard left-footed shot but Erin McLeod—filling in for Ashlyn Harris—managed to deflect the shot with her fingertips.
In the 59th minute Debinha had another golden opportunity to get her club on the board after she collected a pass from Denise O’Sullivan just outside the penalty area. After taking a couple of touches to create a space for herself, she twisted herself around aiming a hard shot at the far post, but she rotated her body to far around and the shot rocketed wide.
The Courage were nearly able to capitalize on a scramble in front of the Orlando goal after Lynn Williams chipped the ball from the left edge of the penalty area that McLeod bobbled. McDonald tried to corral the loose ball for a shot at the empty goal, but the Pride defense loft the ball back to the top of the 18-yard box where Carson Pickett’s attempt was blocked.
Then, in the 79th minute, with the North Carolina defense stretched out, Courage captain Abby Erceg found herself in a one-on-one situation with Morgan, who flicked the ball around the defender and outran her to the corner of the six-yard box. Her shot beat Murphy to the bottom right corner, doubling Orlando’s lead.
“You’ve got to give credit where it’s due,” Erceg, in her second game back from a back injury, said after the game. “I’m not game fit: I was cramping by about the 60th minute. She ran at me; it was a good goal.”
You absolutely can’t fault North Carolina’s response to Morgan’s goal. The final 10 minute of the game saw them put Orlando under intense pressure. But, for all of the effort, the home team struggled to find the back of the net. Still, head coach Paul Riley was pleased that the Courage started to create solid scoring chances, especially after making a couple of attacking adjustments at halftime.
“I think tonight was the first time I felt that was like our old self,” Riley said in the post-game press conference. “We were producing chances, we had the team pinned in…we got behind them a lot in the second half, two or three crosses in and I mean, if it wasn’t for bad luck, we’d have had no luck today.”
North Carolina pulled a goal back in the 89th minute when Lynn Williams dinked a header right to McDonald’s feet. Holding off her defenders, McDonald settled the ball and turned in the box, getting just enough of her foot on the ball to push it past McLeod.
With McDonald and Williams urging their teammates on as the game went into stoppage time, the Courage tried to find the equalizer, but the Pride held them off and took home all three points.
Final Notes
- The 2020 U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year Sam Mewis is returning to North Carolina. She recently wrapped up her season with Manchester City and Paul Riley said she will join the team on Monday and he expects her to be available for next Friday’s game against Louisville.
- Riley also said that Angharad James will be with the team this week, and he teased another international signing the team expects to announce some time next week.
- Next up for North Carolina is a visit from league leaders Racing Louisville FC on Friday, May 28th.
Lineups
North Carolina Courage: C. Murphy; C. Pickett, K. Kurtz, A. Erceg ©, M. Mathias (T. Smith, 69’); C. Rocarro (H. Solaun, 74’), D. O’Sullivan, Debinha; J. McDonald, L. Williams, K. Hamilton (H. Mace, 69’)
Orlando Pride: E. McLeod, C. Petersen, P. McClernon, A. Krieger ©; G. Jonsdottir, A. Riley, M. Dougherty-Howard (C. Thomas, 90+6’), T. Kornieck, Marta (T. Pressley, 85’); S. Leroux (M. Viggiano, 76’), A. Morgan
Score:
North Carolina Courage: 1
Orlando Pride: 2
Goals:
North Carolina Courage: J. McDonald (L. Williams, 89’)
Orlando Pride: S. Leroux (36’); A. Morgan (T. Kornieck, 79’)
Discipline
North Carolina Courage: K. Hamilton, YC 39’; C. Pickett, YC 90+7’
Orlando Pride: M. Viggiano, YC 83’; C. Peterson, YC 89’
