North Carolina Courage 5 – 0 Orlando Pride
Cary, NC— After a back-and-forth first half—and a bit of a telling off from head coach Paul Riley at halftime—the North Carolina Courage thoroughly dominated the second half on their way to a 5-0 blowout of the Orlando Pride.
Both teams made penetrating runs through most of the first 45 minutes with both teams creating some chances out wide. Marta gave Orlando a couple of looks in front of Courage goalkeeper Stephanie Labbé, but their finish in the final third let them down throughout the game.
In the game’s 20thminute Alex Morgan got possession of the ball in the middle of North Carolina’s defensive half of the field. She turned and laid out a perfect pass right into Rachel Hill’s path, but Hill took too heavy a touch and Labbé went to ground to make the save.
Orlando Pride’s Marta and North Carolina’s Sam Mewis are in an aerial battle for the ball in their April 17, 2019 match.
As the game ticked into the 30thminute, the Courage had a couple of deep runs into Orlando’s end that nearly paid off when Samantha Mewis’ rocket had Orlando goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris beat but hit the crossbar and sailed into the stands.
For the most part, Orlando head coach Marc Skinner had to be pleased with his team’s play in the first half. The Courage won a majority of the one-on-one battles, but the Pride managed to get numbers back in their defensive end to snuff out the chances North Carolina created.
However, just before the halftime whistle, Morgan took a heavy touch at midfield and lost the ball to Crystal Dunn. Dunn dribbled the ball just long enough to draw the Orlando defense to her before laying the ball off to Lynn Williams, who ran into space to Dunn’s right. Williams tapped the ball in to put the home side up in the 45thminute.
It’s a blow to go down a goal just before halftime, especially after the Pride gave up a similar goal to the Portland Thorns in their opening game. But early in the second half, it looked like the two teams picked up where they left off in the first half with the end-to-end action.
Despite being up a goal at halftime, Williams said coach Riley got after them to get pressure on Orlando in the second half. “If we do that extra five yards of running then we won’t have to do another. 40-50-yard sprint. So, just doing the work in little spaces.”
Crystal Dunn’s laser goes through heavy traffic for her second goal of the game.
That change started to pay off for the Courage once the game passed the 50-minute mark as they effectively disrupted Orlando’s build-up out of the back. This led to another mistake, this time deep in the Pride’s end of the field. Ali Krieger sent a pass back to Alanna Kennedy who tried to pass the ball around Williams, who was pressing the defense. Williams intercepted Kennedy’s pass and tipped it to Jessica McDonald who buried the shot, putting North Carolina up 2-0 in the 55thminute.
Orlando responded well to the setback, and Marta nearly pulled a goal back for the Pride a minute later when her shot deflected off of the Courage defense, but the deflection bounced off of the top of the net for an Orlando corner.
“Orlando was a team that wanted to play. They there a possession-based team and I think they had their moments they had the momentum and we just rode the wave and eventually, we were able to get some goals,” Dunn said after the game.
Fitness is a key component to the success of the Courage, and Riley noted after the game that the coaching staff’s emphasis on it was key to wearing down the Pride in the second half and taking control of the game.
In the 70thminute the Pride conceded yet another set piece. The Courage took a short corner kick and Mewis sent the ball into the penalty area. It pinged off of a couple of players before coming out to Dunn who made no mistake on her shot. 3-0 North Carolina.
“I think that’s why she’s one of the best players in the world,” Williams said. “She was turning really great in the pocket. She was finding great spaces and she was just relentless.”
Eight minutes later, Dunn would get a brace on a play that was nearly identical to her first goal, and, at 4-0, they matched the same scoreline as their pre-season game a month ago.
“(The Courage are) champions and they’re a set piece team. They’re a direct set piece, in your face counter-attacking team and they’re very good at it” Orlando head coach Marc Skinner said in his post-game remarks to the media. “You can’t give the goals away that you’ve given away and expect to get anything again. But that score reflects, probably, a team that puts the ball into a box more often than not to try and get goals”
Julia Spetsmark scored a goal for the Courage in her NWSL debut.
Things were going about as wrong as they could for the Pride, but before they could get out of Sahlen’s Stadium, things took a turn for the bizarre. In the 88thminute, Kennedy tried to make a clearing pass but it ricocheted off of Courage forward Julia Spetsmark, who came on for Williams in the 74thminute. The ball bounced to Leah Pruitt (who replaced McDonald in the 79thminute) who sent a short pass back to Kristen Hamilton (on for Dunn in the 84thminute). Hamilton found Spetsmark at the edge of the penalty area. She drove toward the middle of the field and took her shot. Harris had a bead on it, unfortunately for her, the ball took a deflection off of her defenders. She recovered enough to tip the ball into the crossbar, but the ball bounced off of her body and into the net.
It was a strange exclamation point to a second half that the Courage emphatically controlled. The Courage outshot the Pride 30-9 (13-0 with shots on goal).
Final Notes
- The Courage tried out a creative set piece in the first half when they won a free kick about 20 yards out from Orlando’s goal. Abby Dahlkemper and Sam Mewis were over the ball for the free kick. Dahlkemper tapped a short kick to Crystal Dunn, who tapped it back to Mewis. Mewis sent a short pass toward Jessica McDonald but she wasn’t able to control.
- Orlando had a bit of a scare in the 65thminute when Dunn’s shot appeared to hit Alanna Kennedy in the upper chest/throat area. Kennedy was down for several minutes but continued the game.
- Julia Spetsmark scored her first goal 14 minutes into her NWSL debut. All three substitutes figured in the final goal of the game.
- Dunn is North Carolina’s leading goal scorer so far this season with three goals in two games.
- After visa issues delayed her return, Debinha arrived in Cary on Wednesday, much to the delight of her teammates.
- Next up for North Carolina is a road trip to Houston to take on the Dash on Sunday, April 28th.
Lineups
North Carolina Courage: S. Labbé; J. Hinkle, A. Erceg ©, A. Dahlkemper, M. Mathias; C. Dunn (K. Hamilton, 84’), M. Zerboni, S. Mewis, D. O’Sullivan; L. Williams (J. Spetsmark, 74’), J. McDonald (L. Pruitt, 79’)
Orlando Pride: A. Harris ©; A. Krieger, A. Kennedy, S. Zadorsky, C. Pickett; D. Weatherholt, E. Van Egmond, C. Ubogagu (Camila, 73’); R. Hill (K. Edmonds, 81’), A. Morgan, Marta
Score:
North Carolina Courage: 5
Orlando Pride: 0
Goals:
North Carolina Courage: L. Williams (45’ C. Dunn), J. McDonald (55’ L. Williams), C. Dunn (70’ Unassisted, 77’ Unassisted), J. Spetsmark (88’ K. Hamilton)
Orlando Pride: (none)
Discipline
North Carolina Courage: D. O’Sullivan, YC, 45+’; M. Zerboni, YC, 64’
[Opponent]: Marta, YC, 85’
Attendance: 4,292
North Carolina Courage v. Orlando Pride, 17 April, 2019
Photo Gallery (all photos by Victoria Klum)
