North Carolina Courage 0 – 1 San Diego Wave
Cary, NC— The San Diego Wave made their first-ever trip to WakeMed Soccer Park to take on the North Carolina Courage. They left with a 1-0 win in the Sunday afternoon game.
Both teams were coming off of mid-week losses, with the Wave falling to Louisville and the Courage losing at home 2-1 against Orlando.
Despite the loss on Wednesday, North Carolina built up some momentum late in the game that they hoped to carry through to their matinee matchup, especially with players like Abby Erceg and Merritt Mathias returning to the lineup.
The Courage put some early pressure on the Wave, getting some good chances that tested goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan. But the veteran was equal to the challenge, keeping North Carolina off the scoreboard.
Once San Diego shook off the road dust, they found their way into the game and started asking the North Carolina defense questions. Jodie Taylor was adept at finding seams and gave the Courage plenty to handle, taking pressure off of Alex Morgan and Taylor Kornieck.
The Courage did well to neutralize Morgan through much of the first half. That is, until the 41st minute when Morgan broke behind the defense and picked up the through ball from Kornieck. She beat Casey Murphy far post to put the Wave up 1-0.
Despite outshooting San Diego 7-3, North Carolina found themselves in a frustratingly familiar position of going into halftime down a goal and needing to regroup to rescue points.
“We’ve been starting a little slow lately, so that’s something we definitely need to work on. The last two games we’ve given up earlier goals and it’s always harder when you come from behind.” defender Kaleigh Kurtz said after the game. “Overall, if I’m to be perfectly honest, I’m frustrated.”
“I think it was just a matter of the first half,” Courage head coach Sean Nahas said in his post-game press conference. “I mean, we just give p really bad goals, basically, when it comes down to it.”
San Diego head coach Casey Stoney tweaked her team’s formation, going with three in the back and effectively clogging up the midfield, making it harder for North Carolina to be creative. Although that certainly didn’t stop Debinha from whipping up some magic throughout the game. She nearly scored the equalizer in the 76th minute off a direct free-kick, but her attempt whistled wide left.
Trying to chase down a result on a hot, sticky afternoon is a tall order for any team, especially when top players are coming back from COVID protocol. But North Carolina turned up the energy level, and Nahas had his team try to stretch out San Diego’s defense more by having Carson Pickett and Merritt Mathias initiate more attacking plays. The result was a dominant half for the Courage, but the final play just wasn’t there for them.
“I thought we competed more in the second half than we did in the first in certain areas of the field,” said Nahas. “I thought our backline was really good all game in dealing with the direct play and second ball phase and the height that they ha and they did everything that we asked them.”
San Diego held on to take home all three points at the final whistle. For the Wave, it was a successful end to an eastern swing. For the Courage, who have dropped their first three regular season games, they need to get players fully healthy, regroup, and prepare to hit the road for a month.
Last Words from Nahas: “I wanted to see the willingness [of the attackers]to get behind a little bit more. Instead of showing all the time, I wanted to see a little bit of bite. And there were moments when we were fine.”
“So, it’s just again, we’re young in those areas. And that’s okay, we’ll get better. You know, it’s all part of the journey. It’s all part of the process.”
Final Notes
- Attendance for Sundays game was 6,070. It was North Carolina’s highest attendance of the year.
- French national forward Valérie Gauvin is in Cary. It is unclear when she’ll suit up for the Courage as they wait for her visa to clear her to play.
- Next up for North Carolina is a trip to Houston on Sunday, May 29 and Louisville on Saturday June 4. They end the road swing with a trip to Segra Field on Saturday June 11 to take on the Washington Spirit.
Lineups
North Carolina Courage: C. Murphy; K. Kurtz, C. Pickett, A. Erceg©, M. Mathias; M. Berkely, D. O’Sullivan, Debinha, M. Speck; D. Ordoñez, J. Daniels
San Diego Wave: K. Sheridan; C. Westphal, N. Girma, K. Riehl, T. McGrady; K. McNabb, E. Van Egmond, T. Kornieck; B. Briede, J.Taylor, A.Morgan©
Score:
North Carolina Courage: 0
San Diego Wave: 1
Goals:
North Carolina Courage: none
San Diego Wave: Morgan (41’ Kornieck)
Discipline
North Carolina Courage: K. Kurtz (YC 90_2’)
San Diego Wave: E. Van Egmond (YC 49’); K. Riehl (YC 75’)
Attendance: 6,070
