North Carolina Courage 0 – 3 NJ/NY Gotham FC
CARY, NC— Without question, Sunday’s matchup between the North Carolina Courage and NJ/NY Gotham FC held the biggest three points of the 2021 NWSL season for these two clubs.
Going into the tilt, the Courage were in sixth place, clinging to the final playoff spot. Gotham was in seventh, just three points behind North Carolina with two games in hand. Dropping points to their Jersey neighbors would put the Courage’s playoff hopes in serious jeopardy.
Both teams came out ready to collect some points on the day, which made for a very entertaining opening 45 minutes of play.
The Debinha-to-Lynn Williams connection gave the Courage several chances to get on the scoreboard in the first half. In the 12th minute, the Brazilian picked up Williams with nothing but grass and Kailen Sheridan in front of her. Williams tried to slot the ball in near-post but it squibbed just past the outside of the post.
The Courage and Gotham traded chances throughout the first half, but both Sheridan and Casey Murphy were there to handle anything that got through their defense.
With neither side finding the back of the net, there was everything to play for in the second half. And with a game sitting on such a sharp precipice, it would only take one momentary lapse to blow it wide open.
Unfortunately for North Carolina, that moment came in the 54th minute. McCall Zerboni worked the ball out to Caprice Dydasco on the flank. Dydasco served the ball back in looking for either Zerboni or Midge Purce in the box. A missed clearing attempt kept the ball loose in the box where Purce was waiting on the doorstep. She volleyed the ball past Murphy to draw first blood for Gotham FC.
That opened the floodgates for the visitors from New Jersey. Purce would net her brace off of a great team play. Lloyd led Ifeoma Onumonu with a ball that stretched out North Carolina’s back line while Purce steamed through the middle of the field. Onumonu worked deep into the Courage final third and pulled the ball back, opening up space for a shot. With a traffic jam in front of her, Murphy wasn’t able to get to the shot and Purce again was waiting to bang the ball home. It was 2-0 to Gotham in the 64th minute.
Playing her final regular season game at WakeMed Soccer Park, Carli Lloyd did what Carli Lloyd does. She called for the ball at the edge of the Courage 18-yard box, then, shruging off pressure from Denise O’Sullivan, she turned and fired a low line drive that beat Murphy near post.
In a span of 13 minutes, North Carolina found themselves down 0-3. They would need a big turnaround in the final 23 minutes to salvage any points from the game.
“I think [NJ/NY] had a ten-minute spell of momentum and put three goals in,” said midfielder Cari Rocarro after the game. “And it happened really fast. When you’re looking at the clock and it’s 3-0, you have nothing to lose at that point and you have to just try and do anything to get a rhythm back.”
Courage goalkeeper Casey Murphy echoed Rocarro’s thoughts. “We started the game off strong. We came out and we knew this was a result we needed to get, and we had a good game plan,” she said. “Second half, things took a turn for the worst, and they got momentum and from there it was hard to get any sort of rhythm back and get back to the game plan that we had in mind.”
Seconds after Lloyd’s tally, Debinha came within a whisker of getting the Courage back in the game. With the ball at her feet near the penalty spot, she turned and blasted a shot on goal, only to have it hit the goalpost and bounce safely to a Gotham defender.
At the final whistle, NJ/NY Gotham had climbed the table to 5th place while North Carolina dropped below the red line to 7th. For the Courage to make the playoffs, they’ll need to get all three points in Portland on October 30th, and a complete collapse for Gotham and Houston in their final games.
Despite the result, Courage interim head coach Sean Nahas found plenty of positives to work off of heading into their final game against Portland. “I think there are always positives. I look at the first half especially and we had…four really good chances. I felt we minimized errors and balanced out the game. I felt there were moments when the game got really stretched and the central spaces were wide open for both groups. But…I feel our possession through the midfield has been decent”
Acknowledging that goal scoring was still a struggle for his team, Nahas remains upbeat about his players’ effort. “The hardest thing to do is score goals…Scoring goals has been hard to come by at the moment. But that’s happened with any team at any moment; we’re just find that in the toughest part of our stretch right here. I told the players after the game that we just have to keep processing and everything and keep pushing and figuring out ways we can grow. But one thing I will say is that the group never stopped battling and they never stopped competing, and that’s enough for me to take and build and bring into Portland.”
Final Notes
- Prior to the game, Merritt Mathias was recognized for her 150th regular season start, and Denise O’Sullivan and Amy Rodriguez were recognized for making their 100th league appearance.
- Mandy Freeman made her first appearance for Gotham after coming back from an injury.
- Next up for the Courage is a two-week break for international play before the team heads to Portland, where they’ll close out the regular season against the Thorns.
Lineups
North Carolina Courage: C. Murphy; K. Kurtz, C. Pickett (R. Williams 88’), A. Erceg ©, M. Mathias; C. Roccaro, M. Speck (A. Rodriguez 62’), D. O’Sullivan (A. James 71’), Debinha (B. Ratcliffe 88’); L. Williams, J. McDonald (T. Smith 71’)
NJ/NY Gotham FC: K. Sheridan; I. Dorsey, E. Johnson (M. Freeman 89’), G. Lewandowski, C. Dydasco; N. Kawasumi (G. Thiney 82’), A. Long, M. Zerboni ©, C. Lloyd (E. Viens 89’), I. Onumonu (E. Eddy 82’); M. Purce (P. Monaghan 73’)
Score:
North Carolina Courage: 0
NJ/NY Gotham FC: 3
Goals:
North Carolina Courage: none
NJ/NY Gotham FC: M. Purce 54’ (unassisted); M. Purce 64’ (unassisted); C. Lloyd 67’ (E. Johnson)
Discipline:
North Carolina Courage: M. Mathias, YC 45+2
NJ/NY Gotham FC: G. Thiney, YC 83’
Attendance: 7,064
