Courage Battle Surging Bay FC to 1-1 Draw

Sports stats



North Carolina Courage

Courage Battle Surging Bay FC to 1-1 Draw

by Fran Stuchbury
September 16, 2024 - National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
North Carolina Courage


North Carolina Courage vs. Bay FC
North Carolina Courage vs. Bay FC
(North Carolina Courage, Credit: Fran Stuchbury)

The North Carolina Courage played to a 1-1 draw in their first matchup against National Women's Soccer League expansion team Bay Area FC in front of 6,837 fans for Star Wars Night at WakeMed Soccer Park Friday evening. The Courage extended their home unbeaten streak to 19 consecutive matches (12 wins, seven draws), the club record. They are now 8-0-2 at home this season sit in fifth place in the NWSL standings.

"I thought we were okay today," said Courage Head Coach Sean Nahas. "To get out of here with one point we would take that with our first half performance. I thought we were really all over the place. We did a better job in the second half. In the first half, we were a little bit on edge: too many cheap giveaways, too many free possessions. We weren't really ourselves; a lot of technical breakdowns. (We) found the resolve to get back into it. I'm happy to get a point, but I felt like, for average, as we played we could have easily lost, and then could have easily won. A couple of chances, but you can't be great every day. You can have games like this, and they showed a fight and character about them, but there's definitely areas we have to be better at."

"People keep talking about the unbeaten streak at home," Nahas added. "I don't care about that stuff. I don't wake up every morning and say, '19 games unbeaten at home,' at the end of the day. We need to do a better job of not giving away, allowing teams to be involved in the game as much as they were. They were really dynamic and fluid, and you we were a little bit more rigid. I think we have to be a little bit stronger."

Bay FC is unbeaten in three games with two wins and a draw, holding eighth place in the NWSL standings. This season the top eight teams make the playoffs.

Bay FC opened the scoring in the ninth minute on a goal by forward Asisat Oshoala, her fifth of the season. Oshoala has played on the Nigeria National team since 2013. Former Courage forward Tess Boade assisted.

Boade was the third overall pick in the 2024 NWSL Expansion Draft by Bay FC.

"Huge point for us," said Boade. "I think coming away to a team like this, that is probably deserving of being higher in the table, they are a super good team. Happy to get a point, huge progress for our team. Those moments we couldn't hold on to a tie earlier in the season, we pushed through and found a way to do that."

The Courage tied the game at 1-1 in the 28th minute thanks to forward Ashley Sanchez's fifth goal of the season.

"I think it was a good point," said Sanchez, "I definitely think it could have gone either way. I think we had a couple chances that maybe could have put us ahead, but I also think they had a couple chances. So I think the way we performed was a good result."

Sanchez also became the first player to score against all 14 active NWSL clubs. That would include the Courage as well when she was a member of the Washington Spirit.

"I just had no idea at all that happened," said Sanchez. "That's awesome, I really didn't even know I was close so that was a shock."

Courage defender Kaleigh Kurtz, goalkeeper Casey Murphy, and forward Tyler Lussi all played their 100th NWSL regular season match. All 100 of Kaleigh Kurtz's appearances have come with North Carolina, with the defender becoming the fourth Courage player to play 100 regular season games for the club.

"I feel that any player that can reach 50 or 100 games at this level, in this league, as consistently as they play, as consistently as they have, is credit to them and the work and how they take care of themselves and how much the craft means to them," said Nahas. "hey represent the club with utmost respect."

"I just had my 30th birthday, and if you would have asked me, you know, when I was first joining this league, if I was going to still be playing at 30, I would have thought you were nuts," said Kurtz. "Especially when I rode the bench for the first four years. I talked about my soccer journey from going through club, high school, college, pro, is kind of this ladder where I always started, and I was never the best on any team that I ever started with. I climbed my way to get to where I am. So it's just like a stepping ladder is how I've always described my career, and that's kind of what I had to do here.

"I chose the North Carolina Courage when I was first coming to the NWSL because I wanted to play behind Abby Dahlkemper and Abby Erceg. I thought that they were fantastic when I watched them. I thought I could really learn from them. I did indeed; there was a lot of things from both of their games that I've taken and tried to put my own spin on, because obviously you can't steal someone's exact game, but you you can learn from what they do, the tendencies that players have. Then with your own athleticism and your own body, figure it out and see what works. for you."

The next Courage game is on the road Saturday against Racing Louisville FC. Their next home match at WakeMed Soccer Park is scheduled on Saturday, October 5th against San Diego Wave FC at 7 pm est.

Check out the North Carolina Courage Statistics




Images from this story

North Carolina Courage goalkeeper Casey Murphy with her gold medal
North Carolina Courage goalkeeper Casey Murphy with her gold medal
(Fran Stuchbury)		 North Carolina Courage vs. Bay FC
North Carolina Courage vs. Bay FC
(Fran Stuchbury)		  

• Discuss this story on the National Women's Soccer League message board...

National Women's Soccer League Stories from September 16, 2024


The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central