by Fran Stuchbury
May 15, 2023 – National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) – North Carolina Courage
North Carolina Courage vs. OL Reign
(North Carolina Courage, Credit: Fran Stuchbury)
The North Carolina Courage defeated OL Reign 1-0 in front of 4,059 fans at WakeMed Soccer Park Sunday afternoon on Mother’s Day.
The Courage improved to 3-3-1 with 10 points, placing them sixth place in the NWSL standings.
After last week’s tie against the Portland Thorns, North Carolina has earned four points against two of the best teams in the league.
The Courage have scored in six of seven games this season. Only Portland has scored in more games. They also attempted 540 passes, the highest total by any team in a single match this season.
“I thought it was a really good gritty performance,” said North Carolina head coach Sean Nahas. “The first half I thought we were extraordinary. The second half we were average; we let them back in. I was really proud of the group. The one thing I told them a halftime, ‘We have to learn how to win,’ and I think we did that today. It’s another notch in our journey to improve moving forward. We will enjoy it tonight and get back to work on Tuesday.”
The only goal of the game came in the 34th minute by forward Tyler Lussi, her second goal of the season, assisted by Rikke Madsen who earned her first NWSL point.
“It was on the left side,” said Lussi. “Rikike had a great turn, drove forward. She saw the open space and slipped a perfect ball through to me and then just ran on to it. I told myself be calm, cool and collected and just pass it in the net, and it went in and was really exciting and we all celebrated after that.”
Lussi was a third round pick in the 2017 NWSL College Draft by the Portland Thorns. On December 8, 2021 she was traded to Angel City FC before she was traded to the North Carolina Courage in exchange for defender Merritt Mathias on January 20th.
“Tyler is a really disciplined person and let alone disciplined player; the way we want to play you have to be really disciplined,” said Nahas. “The spaces, the occupation of areas, the isolations, and she listens to a ‘T.’ She is staring to get in her groove. In the beginning of the season she had a few knocks. but now she is completely healthy. She’s been a great addition to our group for sure.”
With Lussi’s mother in attendance, scoring a goal became even more special on Mother’s Day.
“Honestly it was amazing,” she said. “I gave my mom the heart symbol with my hands, dedicated that…