North Carolina Courage 6 – 1 Orlando Pride

Cary, NC—It was a night to celebrate the legendary career of Heather O’Reilly, who earlier this year announced she would retire at the end of 2019 season, as the North Carolina Courage faced off against the Orlando Pride for the third time this season at Sahlen’s Stadium.

Sitting atop the NWSL standings after thrashing the Thorns 6-0 in Portland three days prior, the Courage took the field looking to pick up where they left off.

Right from kickoff, North Carolina dominated a beleaguered Pride squad that is missing several key players. It didn’t take the Courage long to get on the scoreboard. In the sixth minute, Crystal Dunn tried to slip a pass into Debinha’s stride, but it was blocked back to her. She regrouped and pushed the ball wide to Kristen Hamilton whose cross into the six-yard box found the left foot of Lynn Williams who scored her fourth goal in two games. The home team was up 1-0 before the ice had a chance to melt in the drinks of the record crowd of 9,563.

The Courage kept the pressure on the Pride defense with close calls from Debinha and Hamilton, but the back line held and goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris was there to pick off any ball that got behind her defense.

In the 11^th  minute, McCall Zerboni took the ball in midfield and threaded a perfect pass to Hamilton. She took it in her stride, and, with Orlando defender Erin Greening closing in, attempted to cut back to open herself up for a shot. As the two players tangled up in the penalty area, it appeared that Greening hit Hamilton in the eye, although the contact did not appear to be malicious. Hamilton was down for several minutes while being attended to and referee Natalie Simon pointed to the penalty spot and issued a yellow card to Greening.

Hamilton was able to walk off the field with some assistance and was replaced by Jessica McDonald. When play resumed, Courage defender Abby Dahlkemper took the penalty shot but Harris got to Dahlkemper’s low shot and blocked it out and Shelina Zadorsky cleared the ball for a corner. On the ensuing corner kick, Dahlkemper found Crystal Dunn at the edge of the 18-yard box, who volleyed a shot past Harris but the goal was disallowed because Zerboni was ruled offside.

 

Orlando’s defense had weathered the pressure from North Carolina fairly well, but disaster struck in the 36^th  minute when Jaelene Hinkle took the ball down the left flank and played the ball into the Orlando 18-yard box. Pride defender Kristen Edmonds attempted to pick the ball out of the air and send it out for a corner kick, only to watch in horror as the ball looped over her goalkeeper and into the back of the net.

The Pride were able to penetrate the midfield late in the first half for a couple of looks at goal. In the 39^th  minute, Marissa Viggiano played the ball through the 18-yard box to Danica Evans. Courage keeper Stephanie Labbé was forced to make a sliding save with her foot to keep the Pride scoreless.

Hinkle would figure into North Carolina’s next goal a few minutes later. She took on two Orlando defenders, drawing the ball almost to the end line. Her cross missed the head of Williams, who rushed near post but found McDonald’s right foot, giving the Courage a 3-0 lead going into halftime.

Given the opportunities that North Carolina didn’t capitalize on, Orlando may have felt like they were escaping with only a three-goal deficit at the break and just needed a break to get back into the game.  However, the Courage kept the pressure on throughout the second half and O’Reilly came oh-so-close to putting the game out of reach in the 72^nd  minute with a hard left-footed shot that curled toward the inside of the far post, but Harris made a spectacular diving save, swatting the ball out of the penalty area and denying HAO her celebration night goal. Temporarily.

It would be McKenzie Meehan who would put the Courage 4-0 up six minutes later. McDonald brought the ball down the right side and sailed the cross far post. Meehan ran onto the ball and volleyed it home to open her scoring account with North Carolina.

The Pride denied Labbé her clean sheet late in the game when the North Carolina defense failed to clear the ball out of their final third. Danica Evans slipped a ball through to Rachel Hill who took a shot with two Courage defenders closing her down. The shot sailed past Labbé into the top corner, putting the visitors on the board.

But don’t forget, this was Heather O’Reilly’s night and this time Harris could not get to HAO’s solid right-footer from the top of the 18-yard box. O’Reilly took a bow as her teammates celebrated her goal. HAO would set up the final goal of the game when she got on a loose ball and set Debinha up with a beautiful pass at the edge of the penalty area. The crafty Brazilian brought the ball to the edge of the six-yard box and shot a ground ball across the goal into the far corner of the net to make the final score 6-1.

Following the match, there was a ceremony honoring O’Reilly’s legendary career, that had its beginnings in Cary, where she scored her first international goal for the USWNT. Both teams remained on the field as a tribute video featuring Courage and USWNT teammates played, followed by a heartfelt speech from HAO.

In her post-game remarks, O’Reilly said she was glad the tribute game happened before the end of the regular season, so she and her teammates could experience the emotion but then get back to the business of collecting two more trophies this season. “I tried not to talk about it much before the game because, as you can see, I’m quite an emotional person,” O’Reilly said as her voice caught. I wanted to make sure that we had energy going into the match, going the right direction. So this day would have meant a whole lot less if we didn’t get three points.”

“This team is special, and this community is special and what a dream for me to be able to wrap up my career here.

Final Notes

• As the game went into stoppage time, the fourth official dialed the number 17 on the board. Heather O’Reilly came off of the pitch without a substitution because a legend cannot be replaced. It was an early beginning to an emotional tribute as the Courage played with 10 players until the final whistle.
• O’Reilly will be returning to the University of North Carolina, where she played her college soccer. She will join Anson Dorrance’s coaching staff, taking over the position currently occupied by Bill Paladino. Paladino, who is also an assistant coach with the Courage, will step away from his role with UNC.
• Prior to Ashlyn Harris’ save, Abby Dahlkemper had a perfect record from the PK spot. It has not been a great year for Courage penalty kicks as Dahlkemper, Debinha, and Lynn Williams have all had their attempts saved.
• North Carolina has a quick turnaround with a match on Tuesday in Cary against the Houston Dash. This game was rescheduled from mid-August due to a conflict with the women’s ICC tournament. After that, they close out a busy two weeks with a trip to Utah to face the Royals.

Lineups

North Carolina Courage: S. Labbé; J. Hinkle, A. Erceg ©, A. Dahlkemper, H. O’Reilly; C. Dunn (C. Rocarro, 72’), D. O’Sullivan, M. Zerboni, Debinha; L. Williams (M. Meehan, 65’), K. Hamilton (J. McDonald, 14’)

Orlando Pride: A. Harris ©; E. Greening, A. Krieger, S. Zadorsky, K. Edmonds; A. Kennedy, M. Viggiano (B. Callahan, 81’), D. Weatherholt; C. Emslie (Camila, 68’), D. Evans, A. Elinski (R. Hill, 68’)

Score:
North Carolina Courage: 6
Orlando Pride: 1

Goals:
North Carolina Courage: L. Williams (6’ K. Hamilton); Orlando OG (37’ K. Edmonds); J. McDonald (41’ J. Hinkle); M. Meehan (78’ J. McDonald); H. O’Reilly (85’ M. Zerboni); Debinha (90+1’ H. O’Reilly)
Orlando Pride: R. Hill (82’ D. Evans)

Discipline
North Carolina Courage: None
Orlando Pride: E. Greening, YC 11’; A. Elinski, YC 28’; A. Kennedy, YC 28’

Attendance: 9,563

 

Photo gallery: North Carolina Courage v Orlando Pride

All photos by Victoria Klum.