North Carolina Courage 3 — 2 Washington Spirit

 

Cary, NC—After 17 months, the North Carolina Courage welcomed fans back to WakeMed Soccer Park as the Courage opened their 2021 Challenge Cup campaign against their I-95 rivals, the Washington Spirit.

 

Much has changed since Paul Riley’s club played in front of a friendly crowd. Gone are starters Crystal Dunn (to Portland), Sam Mewis (to Manchester City), Abby Dahlkemper (also to Manchester City), Stephanie Labbé (signed with FC Rosengärd in Sweden), and defender Jaelene Daniels, who retired last November. They also lost promising young players Lauren Milliet and Addisyn Merrick to Racing Louisville in last year’s expansion draft and Ally Watt in a trade with OL Reign.

 

While those are some big boots to fill, the Courage also made substantial off-season moves. They brought goalkeeper Casey Murphy and defender Taylor Smith over from OL Reign in separate deals. The Courage then acquired defender Carson Pickett from Orlando and signed Irish defender Diane Caldwell and Wales international Angharad James.

 

With many of his starters away on international duty—plus an injury to veteran defender Abby Erceg—Riley had to do some additional tinkering with his starting eleven. Schuyler DeBree made her debut for the home team, joining Pickett and Cari Roccaro on the backline.

 

Merritt Mathias returned to the lineup after “a year and seven months and a couple days, but who’s counting?” And she seemed to pick up where she left off before her ACL tear: helping shore up the backline while taking every available opportunity to bomb down the flank and create chaos for the opposing defense.

 

Kicking off in front of a sold-out crowd of 2,300 fans, the home club got off to a bit of a nervy start. Only four minutes into the game, Spirit midfielder Dorian Bailey muscled Courage midfielder Meredith Speck off the ball just outside the Courage 18-yard box. Bailey found Kumi Yokoyama and slid the short pass to her. Yokoyama turned and fired the ball past Courage goalkeeper Katelyn Rowland to get Washington on the board early.

 

North Carolina responded to the early deficit by putting pressure on Washington and disrupting their backline. The Courage attackers—Debinha, Hailie Mace, Jessica McDonald, and Kristen Hamilton—exploited gaps in the defense and started creating scoring chances.

 

The pressure paid off in the 10th minute when McDonald carried a chip pass from Debinha toward the end line before slipping it back to Hamilton, who had managed to sneak into an open spot. Hamilton slotted the ball past Aubrey Bledsoe to tie the game.

 

The Courage continued to frustrate Washington’s backline throughout the first half. Debinha had three close chances go just wide of the post while Bledsoe saved a Mace shot ticketed for the bottom left corner.

 

McDonald would give North Carolina the lead in the 28th minute. Pickett collected a pass just inside Washington’s half of the field and caught the Courage captain making a perfectly timed run behind the Spirit’s defense. McDonald shifted into high gear and created yards of space between herself and the defense. With only Bledsoe to beat, the veteran forward unleashed a hard shot. Despite Bledsoe getting a piece of the ball, it bounced into the back of the net.

 

As the first half wound down, the play got more physical, but both teams managed to maintain their discipline as the Courage took their 2-1 lead into halftime.

 

The break didn’t appear to kill North Carolina’s momentum. They came out and ran right at Washington’s defense from the second-half opening whistle. Less than a minute into the half, Meredith Speck broke up a back pass and fired a shot that got past Bledsoe but trickled tantalizingly across the goal.

 

Then, in the 51st minute, Mace floated a perfect pass through to Mathias, who was thundering down the flank. Mathias chipped the ball over Bledsoe to give her team a two-goal cushion. After the game, the veteran told the media that she was looking at the goal all the way, which her captain confirmed.

 

“I’m a witness: she wasn’t even looking at us!” McDonald laughed in the post-game press conference.

 

But Richie Burke’s team wasn’t going to leave Cary without a fight. In the 55th minute, he brought in rookie Trinity Rodman for Yokoyama. It took Rodman only five minutes to net her first NWSL goal, blowing through the Courage backline to get on the end of a chip pass from Natalie Jacobs.

 

Despite the boost of energy Rodman’s presence brought to her team, the Spirit couldn’t break through North Carolina’s backline again, and the Courage held on for an exciting 3-2 win.

 

Final Notes

• Of all of the acquisitions the North Carolina Courage made over the off-season, their most significant deal brought tennis champion Naomi Osaka on board as one of the team’s owners. Courage President and General Manager Curt Johnson said in a press conference last week that Osaka plans to be very involved with the club. He highlighted her fashion line with Nike, telling reporters that there is an opportunity to collaborate on team merchandise. Osaka also plans to attend training when her schedule allows.

• With regular captain Abby Erceg out with a lower back injury, Paul Riley gave veteran Jessica McDonald the armband.

• Merritt Mathias started and played her first game since her ACL injury against Houston late in the 2019 season.

• Other NC Courage players missing from today’s lineup on international duty included USWNT players Lynn Williams, Casey Murphy, Canadian Lindsay Agnew, Irish internationals Denise O’Sullivan and Diane Caldwell, and Wales international Angharad James.

• Ghana national midfielder Elizabeth Addo, who had signed with the Courage earlier this year, was granted her request to mutually terminate her contract to sign with Djurgarden in Sweden.

• The Courage will head north to take on NJ/NY Gotham FC on Tuesday, April 20th. This will be their second match in the group stage of the NWSL Challenge Cup. Their next home game is May 1st against Orlando.

 

Lineups

North Carolina Courage: K. Rowland; C. Pickett, S. DeBree, C. Roccaro; Debinha (K. Kurta 90’), M. Mathias, H. Solaun, M. Speck; J. McDonald © (R. Williams 79’), H. Mace (R. Baisden 73’), K. Hamilton

Washington Spirit: A. Bledsoe ©; T. McGrady, P. Nielsen, J. Roddar (C. Biegalski 68’), A. Heilferty, T. Huster; N. Jacobi, A. Sanchez, D. Bailey; K. Yokoyama (T. Rodman 55’), A. Hatch

  

 Score:

 North Carolina Courage: 3

 Washington Spirit: 2

 

 Goals:

 North Carolina Courage: K. Hamilton (10’ J. McDonald); J. McDonald (28’ unassisted); M. Mathias (51’ Mace)

 Washington Spirit: K. Yokoyama (4’ D. Bailey); T. Rodman (60’ N. Jacobs)

 

Discipline                                                                                                                                                                        

 North Carolina Courage: M. Mathias, YC 90+7’

 Washington Spirit: N. Jacobs, YC 63’

  

Attendance: 2,300