April 20, 2024 – National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL)
North Carolina Courage News Release
LOS ANGELES – The North Carolina Courage make their second road trip of the 2024 NWSL regular season as they visit Angel City FC this Sunday, April 21, with a 7:30 p.m. ET (4:30 PT) kickoff at BMO Stadium. The match will air on CBS Sports Network with Aly Trost Martin and Lori Lindsey on the call.
The Courage are 3W-1L-0D through the first month of the season, good for the team’s best start since a 4-0-0 beginning to the 2018 campaign. They’ve put together back-to-back clean sheet home wins against both the defending NWSL Champions and Shield runners-up while leading the entire NWSL in both goal differential (+6) and expected goals (8.05).
Staying true to the identity of 2023, the Courage again lead the NWSL in passing accuracy (82.65%), successful passes (1,705), and possession (58.21%). They’ve now built upon that to add the danger in the final third by creating 10 chances through four matches, which ranks third in the league. For perspective, the 2023 Courage created 36 chances in 22 league matches and that was with league MVP Kerolin Nicoli, who is working her way back from a torn ACL.
Ashley Sanchez has been as good as advertised, if not better. She ranks third in the league in chances created with 11 while contributing to a goal in three straight matches, the longest stretch by a Courage player since Tess Boade in September of 2022. Her 29 passes played into the box rank sixth in the league and she’s fifth in successful passes ending in the final third with 50. She also ranks third in completed dribbles: sequences in which a player dribbles around at least one defender and scores or passes successfully. Sanchez has been the engine of the offense, driving the attack for herself and the rotation of pieces around her.
One of those attacking options, Tyler Lussi, had a goal and assist in the 2-0 win over Portland. It was the third time in her career with multiple goal contributions in a single match and first since 2019. Haley Hopkins found the second goal, her second of her sophomore season. The coaching staff has praised the former Virginia Cavalier for her growth and development from year one to year two, and the results are showing early.
The Courage back line has been tasked with marking two of the best true strikers in the league in back-to-back weeks in Esther González and Sophia Smith. The two combined for one shot on target. The work of Kaleigh Kurtz and…