by Fran Stuchbury
May 9, 2022 – National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) – North Carolina Courage
North Carolina Courage celebrate their NWSL Challenge Cup victory
(North Carolina Courage, Credit: Fran Stuchbury)
The North Carolina Courage won the NWSL Challenge Cup Championship with a 2-1 victory against the Washington Spirit at WakeMed Soccer Park on Saturday. The game was televised nationally on CBS.
“The game was a battle; it was about competing,” said North Carolina Courage Sean Nahas. “One thing we talked about was finding ways not not lose but to win and I told the team that it was a cumulation of learning from our previous games. I couldn’t be more proud of our team.”
On how winning the NWSL Challenge Cup Nahas said, “We can enjoy it today and tomorrow; we get back to work on Tuesday. I could not be any happier for this team. We hopefully will get better from it but at the end of the day we still need to grow.”
The Courage opened the scoring in the 10th minute with a goal from Kerolin Nicoli, her first score with the Couarge. North Carolina signed her to a three-year contract on January 10, 2022. The Courage utilized allocation funds to buy out the remainder of her contract with Madrid Club de Fútbol Femenin. She has played with the Brazil National team since 2018.
Nicoli was also named 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup Championship MVP.
Washington tied the game in the 35th minute on a goal by Ashley Hatch. Hatch was the second overall pick in the 2017 NWSL College Draft by the North Carolina Courage. In January of 2018 she was traded to Washington with teammate Taylor Smith for Crystal Dunn’s rights. Hatch is the Spirit’s all-time leading goal-scorer.
The North Carolina Courage netted the game-winning goal in the 70th minute set up by a corner from defender Carson Pickett who lofted the ball to the far post. Diana Ordoñez challenged the initial ball, sending a shot which deflected off Spirit defender Taylor Aylmer and into the back of the net, counted as an own goal…