July 30, 2024 – National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL)
North Carolina Courage News Release
CARY, N.C. – The North Carolina Courage play their third and final group stage match of the 2024 NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup against Rayadas de Monterrey on Wednesday, July 31, at 7 p.m. ET at WakeMed Soccer Park. The match will stream live on Paramount+ and tickets are on sale here.
Group E will come down to the final round of fixtures as North Carolina and Racing Louisville each have four points while Orlando has three and Rayadas has one. The top four group winners will advance to next Tuesday’s (August 6) semifinals and a regulation win for the Courage on Wednesday would put them in position for a spot should they win the group. Louisville and Orlando play on Thursday (August 1), so the Courage will not know their fate immediately following the match with Rayadas.
Teenager Riley Jackson’s first professional goal came right on time last Friday with a stoppage-time equalizer to force a shootout in Louisville. Jackson played the full 90 minutes, starting in place of captain Denise O’Sullivan who was out with an illness. O’Sullivan is back in a major way. Earlier this week, the club announced a two-year extension with the world-class midfielder to keep her in North Carolina through the 2026 season.
Jackson would convert the first kick from the spot against Louisville and Marisa Bova came up big with a save in the fifth round before Tyler Lussi calmly slotted home the winner to get the extra point. Bova has three saves in 10 rounds of shootouts through the tournament.
North Carolina and Rayadas faced off last March in a friendly at Estadio BBVA as part of a Courage preseason camp in Mexico. Rayadas was amid the Liga MX Femenil season and won, 2-1, with then-rookie Olivia Wingate scoring her first professional goal for the Courage in the match.
Rayadas are three-time Liga MX Femenil champions, including the 2024 Clausura Tournament, and are among the most successful clubs in league history. They struck first in the opening fixture of group play against Louisville but fell, 3-1, before a 2-2 draw with Orlando over the weekend that saw the Pride win the shootout, 5-4. While eliminated from contention for the group, Rayadas was highly competitive in the first two fixtures and will look to close their Summer Cup run with a result.
The Courage are now unbeaten in six straight overall competitions, including the last four regular-season matchups. With the regular season on…