North Carolina Courage 3–4 Kansas City Current
Cary, NC— The Good: The North Carolina Courage have scored nine goals in their last three games.
The Bad: The Courage have conceded ten goals in their last three games.
The Ugly: Giving up the lead three times against Kansas City and losing the game 4-3.
North Carolina and Kansas City kicked off the second game of a doubleheader Saturday night at WakeMed Soccer Park. In the early game, North Carolina FC fell to Central Valley Fuego FC 1-0 in a USL League One match. The Courage hoped to end the night on a more positive note.
It was an end-to-end first half with each team poking at the other team’s defense. And with a lineup that included Diana Ordoñez, Kerolin Nicoli, and Debinha on one side and Cece Kizer and Kristen Hamilton on the other, both defenses would be seriously tested.
North Carolina rookie Ordoñez opened the scoring in the game. In the 17th minute, Debinha led Kerolin through the Current’s box with a well-weighted pass. Kerolin lofted a cross to the far post, faithful that a teammate would run onto the ball. Ordoñez’s header caromed off the goalpost, but Debinha was there to nudge the ball back to her, and this time the rookie made the easy tap-in to put the Courage in the lead early.
“They’re obviously world-class players,” Ordoñez said of her Brazilian teammates. “They have a good connection together, which helps, but I feel like, because me and Kerolin do play pretty differently, we have different styles of play that they actually complement each other. I think when you do play a two-front, it’s not always good to have the same [type]player up there. So, I think our styles of play complement each other. And Deb is always going to be a playmaker for us, so linking up wht them does feel pretty natural.”
Kansas City answered two minutes later. A corner kick led to a scramble in the North Carolina box, and Casey Murphy punched away the curving corner kick. Elizabeth Ball kept the play alive with a bicycle attempt that Murphy couldn’t control. The ball bounced to the foot of Lo’eau LaBonta, whose shot was redirected into the net by former Courage forward Kristen Hamilton.
North Carolina Courage v Kansas City Current (photo: NC Courage)
The Courage retook the lead in the 36th minute when Ordoñez won the ball at midfield and broke Kerolin loose through the center of the park. Kerolin drove through the defense into the six-yard box and tapped the ball to Debinha. A.D. Franch committed to covering Kerolin, leaving an open net for Debinha to give North Carolina the 2-1 lead.
LaBonta leveled the game just before the halftime whistle. It started with another frustrating giveaway by the Courage at midfield and some great combination play between Cece Kizer, Hailie Mace, and LaBonta. Mace ended up with the ball in the North Carolina box and took a touch to advance the ball. Seeing that she had run out of space, she backheeled the ball back to LaBonta, who rifled a shot past Murphy, sending the teams into their locker rooms with the score knotted at 2-2.
North Carolina went back in front 10 minutes into the second half when Brianna Pinto sent a jaunty chip pass into the penalty area. Kaleigh Kurtz ran onto the ball and perfectly directed a header into the top corner out of Franch’s reach.
And once again, Kansas City had a response within a few minutes. LaBonta drove into the Courage defensive end and fired the ball low across the box. Claire Lavogez drew the defender to her, leaving Kizer open in the middle of the box to pounce on the loose ball. In typical #NWSLAfterDark fashion, we had six goals in under 60 minutes of play.
Giveaways in midfield would cost the Courage dearly on the night, but let’s not take anything away from the absolute wonder strike from Lavogez that proved to be the game-winner.
After collecting the ball in the center circle, Lavogez dribbled into space before opening her body up and launching a rocket off her right boot that Murphy had no chance on. It was the first NWSL goal for the French national player.
A visibly frustrated Kurtz shared her thoughts with the media after the game. “It’s not good enough defensively. You know, I think we’ve scored 11 goals in four games, and that should be well enough to win at least one of them. So, we’re not getting the job done in the back line. There’s also careless giveaways that are causing teams to put us in transition, and they’re punishing us.”
“I’m beyond frustrated; I’m beyond heartbroken about it,” she said.
Courage head coach Sean Nahas would not fault the players on the field for the frustrating results. “We have to be better when we have the lead, but that, again, everything starts and stops with me, really. It’s not the players’ fault. They competed, they found ways. We’re scoring goals, but we’re also conceding goals, and that’s the problem. So, you know, something that we have to figure out, obviously.”
Ultimately, it was a doubleheader that provided plenty of action and scoring, but ultimately a disappointing evening for the Courage and NCFC.
Final Notes
• Courage rookie Diana Ordoñez scored her eighth goal of the season, setting a new goal-scoring record for NWSL rookies.
• Japanese midfielder Fuka Nagano made her first appearance for the Courage, coming into the game in the 65th minute.
• Next up for North Carolina is a visit from the Chicago Red Stars on Saturday, August 20 followed by the Portland Thorns on Wednesday, August 24.
Lineups
North Carolina Courage: C. Murphy; C. Pickett (J. Daniels 83’), A. Erceg©, K. Kurtz, R. Williams (M. Mathias 75’); D. O’Sullivan, B. Pinto (B. Ratcliffe 83’), Debinha, M. Speck (F. Nagano 65’); Kerolin, D. Ordoñez
Kansas City Current: A. Franch; A. Loera, E. Ball, K. Edmonds, H. Mace (T. Leach 90+4’), K. Del Fava (A. Merrick 73’); D. Scott©, L. LaBonta (C. Curran 73’), V. Pickett (C. Lavogez 46’); K. Hamilton, C. Kizer
(E. Bennett 80’)
Score:
North Carolina Courage: 3
Kansas City Current: 4
Goals:
North Carolina Courage: D. Ordoñez (Debinha) 17’; Debinha (Kerolin) 36’; K. Kurtz (B. Pinto) 56’
Kansas City Current: K. Hamilton (L. LaBonta) 20’; LaBonta (unassisted) 45’; C. Kizer (C. Lavogez) 60’; C. Lavogez (E. Ball) 79’
Discipline
North Carolina Courage: J. Daniels (YC 90+1’)
Kansas City Current: none
Attendance: 5,092
