Orlando Pride take down top seated NC Courage (May 14, 2017 – Photo Credit Mercedes Cabrera).
Cary, NC- Last night he NC Courage hosted the Orlando Pride for their final match of the 2017 season at WakeMed Park in front of 7,020 fans. Prior to the match, the Courage were awarded the NWSL Shield by NWSL Managing Director Amanda Duffy.
This match saw many opportunities to score and the first to test the keeper were the Courage early on. Within the first two minutes of the match forward Kristen Hamilton passed the ball to Lynn Williams, who then faced a one-on-one battle against Pride goalkeeper Ashlynn Harris. Williams took a shot with a Pride defender trailing up behind her. Harris used her body to deflect the ball towards the sideline of the field. Several minutes later, the Courage had another attempt on goal, but were unsuccessful.
May 14, 2017 – Photo Credit Mercedes Cabrera.
The Pride decided to turn the tables in the 22nd minute when forward Chioma Ubogagu saw midfielder Kristen Edmonds in the box and took a shot on Orlando goalkeeper Katelyn Rowland at the bottom right corner of the goal and advanced the Pride 1-0 in the early minutes of the first half. The match went on with many fouls on both ends that saw free kicks won and lost throughout the rest of the first half. Before the whistle was blown to conclude the first portion of the match, four minutes of stoppage time were added and a shot by Pride forward Alex Morgan was taken with her left foot, but had missed from the left side of the goal.
Both teams returned to the field and were prepared for the critical competition to take place in the second half. Orlando had stirred up their magic plays and in the 51st minute, Marta passed to Morgan who did a give-and-go and allowed Marta to run past the Courage defense and scored the second goal of the match while the Courage remained scoreless.
In order to make a comeback from being down two goals, the Courage worked their way forward to make positive changes. Courage defender Taylor Smith had gained possession of the ball and dribbled down to the box and passed to Williams, she then got through the Pride defense successfully and scored on Harris to come to a 2-1 score. Five minutes later, Harris was given a yellow card and Williams was given a penalty kick. Williams scored her ninth goal of the season on the penalty kick to mark the equalizer goal in the 67th minute.
“I was really pleased. We came back from being down 2-0,” said NC Courage Head Coach Paul Riley. “I don’t know if we deserved to be down 2-0, because we missed a lot of good chances early in the game to get ourselves ahead. Every game you get something different that hits you in the face. I don’t remember us being down 2-0 all season.”
May 14, 2017 – Photo Credit Mercedes Cabrera.
With the score being 2-2, both teams took advantage of every chance that came their way to see a victory result. Six minutes of stoppage time was added on and the Pride was given a free kick on the box. Defender Alanna Kennedy confidently took the shot and scored the third goal to lead Orlando to celebrate a 3-2 win.
This match concluded the regular season for the Courage and they came out with a 16-7-1 record of the season. Their semi-final playoff match will take place on Sunday, October 8th at 3:30 p.m. ET against the Chicago Red Stars.
SCORING SUMMARY:
ORL-Kristen Edmonds 22’
ORL-Marta Vieria Da Silva 51’
NC- Lynn Williams 62’
NC-Lynn Williams 67’
ORL-Alana Kennedy 91’
BOOKING SUMMARY:
ORL-Ashlyn Harris, yellow card, 67’
ORL-Marta Vieria Da Silva, yellow card, 72’
NC-Abby Dahlkemper, yellow card, 90’
NC COURAGE: #9-Lynn Williams (#14-Jessica McDonald 76’), #10-Debinha De Oliveria, #23-Kristen Hamilton, #7-McCall Zerboni (#5-Samantha Mewis 63’), #2-Nora Holstad Berge (#12-Ashley Hatch 63’), #8-Denise O’Sullivan, #15-Jalene Hinkle, #6-Abby Erceg, , #13-Abby Dahlkemper, #11-Taylor Smith, 0-Katelyn Rowland
Subs not used: #1-Sabrina D’Angelo, #3-Makenzy Doniak, #25-Meredith Speck, #26-Sam Witteman
ORLANDO PRIDE: #13-Alex Morgan, #6-Chioma Ubogagu, #14-Alanna Kennedy, #10-Marta Vieria Da Silva, #17-Dani Weatherholt, #9-Camila Martins Pereira, #7-Steph Catley, #11-Ali Krieger, #21-Monica Hickmann Alves, #12-Kristen Edmonds, #24-Ashlyn Harris
Subs not used: #15-Rachel Hill, #4-Jamia Fields, #23-Jasmyne Spencer, #8-Danica Evans, #20-Nickolette Driesse, #19-Aubrey Bledsoe
TOTAL SHOTS: NC 14-9 ORL
SHOTS ON GOAL: NC 6-4 ORL
FOULS: NC 9-11 ORL
OFFSIDES: NC 2-2 ORL
CORNER KICKS: NC 7-1 ORL
SAVES: NC 1-4 ORL
NC Courage
