March 29, 2024 – National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL)
North Carolina Courage News Release
CARY, N.C. – The North Carolina Courage return home for the third week of the NWSL regular season to host Gotham FC this Saturday, March 30, at 7 p.m. ET at WakeMed Soccer Park. The match will stream live domestically on NWSL+ with Josh Eastern and Kacey White on the call.
Prior to kickoff, the Courage will honor 2023 NWSL MVP Kerolin Nicoli with the MVP trophy presentation to celebrate the first member of the Courage to ever win the league’s highest individual award. The presentation will take place on the field immediately following team walk-outs.
The Courage (1-1-0, 3 pts) suffered a tough-luck defeat in Utah last week, 2-1, to the Royals despite a dominant stat line in every other category. The Courage out-shot Utah 17-2 and held 67% of possession while two penalty chances went by the boards in the loss.
Despite their first loss of the season, the Courage saw plenty of positives. The team remains third in the NWSL table thanks to a +3-goal differential through two weeks and the Courage have rattled off a league-high 37 shots, led by Haley Hopkins’ nine to match the most of any player.
Blockbuster off-season acquisition Ashley Sanchez scored her first goal in a Courage kit on Friday, capitalizing on a failed clear for an athletic finish midway through the first half. She took four shots on the night and created three chances. Her six chances created through two weeks ranks fourth in the league.
Ryan Williams, coming off her breakout 2023, continues to shine at right back in 2024. She completed an incredible 87 passes Friday night, passing at 87% despite the volume. She leads the NWSL with 149 successful passes early in 2024.
Newcomer Feli Rauch has fit in as her counterpart on the left side, making eight recoveries, winning nine duels and eight possessions, all while passing at 90% accuracy and winning two-thirds of her tackles.
Add in the always-steady center backs Kaleigh Kurtz and Malia Berkely, combined with a deep midfield led by captain Denise O’Sullivan, and it’s no surprise the Courage are second in the league in tackle success (70%) and have conceded the second-fewest shots (9) and shots on target (5).
Gotham (1-0-0, 3 pts) took a heartbreaking loss in the 2024 UKG Challenge Cup in week one of the season, falling 0-1 to San Diego on a late Alex Morgan winner. That match did not count towards the regular season, so Gotham opened their campaign in week two with…