September 16, 2022 – National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) – North Carolina Courage News Release
North Carolina Courage defender Kaliegh Kurtz
(North Carolina Courage, Credit: Lewis Gettier/NC Courage)
CARY, NC – Four matches remain in the NWSL regular season and seven points separate the top eight teams as a pivotal matchup for playoff positioning wraps up the North Carolina Courage homestand on Saturday, Sept. 17, at 7:30 p.m. ET against OL Reign.
The Courage (7-7-4, 25 points) enter Saturday’s matchup in eighth place while OL Reign (7-4-7, 28 points) sit in the sixth and final playoff position. Both teams are hitting their stride at the right time. The Courage are winners of five of their last six matches, including three straight and four consecutive on their home field. OL Reign, meanwhile, has gotten a result in nine of their last 11 matches and have secured seven points across their last three road matches.
Last Time Out: The Courage overcame a slow start to put together a dominant second half in a 1-0 win over Angel City Wednesday (Sept. 14) night at WakeMed Soccer Park. Kerolin Nicoli scored the lone goal off an assist from Debinha in the 54th minute. The Courage outshot Angel City 22-8 with a 6-3 edge in shots on goal. Casey Murphy made three saves to lead the Courage to their second clean sheet in three matches.
Notables:
Kerolin Nicoli has scored in three straight matches with five goals in that span. She now sits eighth in the NWSL with six goals for the season.
The Courage have allowed one goal in their last three matches with a pair of clean sheets, matching their clean sheet total from the 15 matches prior to this stretch.
NCC is tied for the NWSL lead in total goals (39) and goals-per-game (2.23), while holding the outright lead in total assists (29). The Courage have scored in ten consecutive matches, the longest active streak in the NWSL.
NCC is 9-2-2 all-time against OL Reign. Courage dropped the first meeting of the season, 2-0, to snap a five-match unbeaten streak against OL Reign that dated back to 2019. The Courage are 6-0 against OL Reign at WakeMed Soccer Park.
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North Carolina Courage – #3 Kaleigh Kurtz
NC Courage center back Kaleigh Kurtz has been instrumental in the recent defensive lockdown. She has blocked 25 shots this season and intercepted 14 passes while winning 59% of duels to keep attackers out of scoring position. She’s also been extremely efficient in starting the build out of…