North Carolina Courage 1–0 Angel City FC
Cary, NC— With four points separating the North Carolina Courage from Angel City FC, and both teams trying to reach a playoff berth, there was plenty riding on Wednesday night’s match. The Courage overcame a “sloppy” first half to bag their fifth win in six matches, topping Angel City 1-0.
Kerolin Nicoli continued her goal-scoring streak with tallies in three straight games and six goals on the season. Her goal in the 54th minute was all the Courage would need to come away with all three points. The victory pulled North Carolina to within a point of seventh-place Angel City, and both teams are chasing OL Reign for sixth place in the NWSL table.
“I’m delighted to get three points,” said midfielder Denise O’Sullivan after the game. “First of all, I think the first half was a bit sloppy, and I think we came out a bit flat.”
Angel City did a good job of pressing North Carolina through the first half, though the Courage were not without some quality scoring opportunities. O’Sullivan herself figured into a number of chances, including a left-footed rocket from the middle of the Angel City box that forced goalkeeper DiDi Haračić to make a big save. Moments later, the ball came back out to O’Sullivan at the top of the box. The Irish midfielder headed a pass to forward Diana Ordóñez, but her shot from near the penalty spot sailed high.
Although Head Coach Sean Nahas agreed with his players that the first half was sub-par, he wasn’t caught by surprise, nor did he doubt his team’s ability to improve their game in the second half.
“I thought we were below our standard that we’ve been the last couple of weeks. I think that was to be expected after such a short turnaround. I thought [Angel City] were on the front foot for most of the half, and something we had to sort of cope and deal with as the 45 minutes wore on.
“And second half, I thought we were quite good. I felt like we were just in better areas. I felt like we attacked the spots we wanted to attack,” Nahas said after the game.
I mean it's just a given at this point? ??@kerolinnicolii | #CourageUnitesUs
pic.twitter.com/cWvSmUqY7j— NC Courage (@TheNCCourage) September 15, 2022
Now that they have caught up with the rest of the league in games played, it’s good for the Courage that the team seems to have finally found its groove. When asked how the team has changed since their first game of the season at Angel City, O’Sullivan acknowledged that it’s been a challenge with new faces on the team and players rotating in and out on international duty, but with more training time together, the team has grown together nicely.
“I think our attack is amazing. I think our transition is absolutely frightning and that has grown a lot. And so, yeah, I think we’ve overall, we’re just better defensively as a unit,” said O’Sullivan. “And I think we can still get better as the time goes on with these four games left.”
Roster News: Danish forward Rikke Madsen and English forward Millie Farrow are in market, but having arrived in Cary recently, were not available for selection Wednesday night.
Final Notes
• It’s a busy week for both teams: The Courage were coming off of a 5-1 win over Racing Louisville Saturday night, while Angel City fought to a 1-1 draw in Houston on Sunday. And both teams will play again this weekend.
• Courage defender Ryan Williams had a strong game against her roommate of four years, Cari Roccaro. It was the Angel City midfielder’s first game back in Cary since she was taken in the expansion.
• Denise O’Sullivan’s family was in attendance at Wednesday night’s game. It was the first time she played in front of her family in her six years with the Courage. “My mum was buzzing at the end of the game…I was really proud to see them there at the end,” the Irish midfielder said.
• Next up for North Carolina is a home match on Saturday, September 17, against OL Reign before traveling to Orlando to take on the Pride on Wednesday, September 21.
Lineups
North Carolina Courage: C. Murphy; C. Pickett, A. Erceg©, K. Kurtz, R. Williams; B. Pinto, D. O’Sullivan, F. Nagano (M. Speck 87’), Debinha; Kerolin (J. Daniels 87’), D. Ordóñez (M. Mathias 76’)
Angel City FC: D. Haračić; T. Lussi (J. Spencer 46’), M. Reid, P. Nielsen, A. Riley© (M. Taylor 74’); S. McCaskill, C. Rocarro, D. Weatherholt (L. Nabet 84’); J. Endo, C. Emslie (S. Charley 46’), C. Le Bihan
Score:
North Carolina Courage: 1
Angel City FC: 0
Goals:
North Carolina Courage: Kerolin (Debinha) 54’
Angel City FC: none
Discipline:
North Carolina Courage: B. Pinto (YC) 58’
Angel City FC: T. Lussi (YC) 5’
