Courage Draw Portland in Four-Goal Battle
by Fran Stuchbury
Published on April 5, 2026 under National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
North Carolina Courage
North Carolina Courage vs. the Portland Thorns
(North Carolina Courage, Credit: Fran Stuchbury)
With the teams splitting four first-half goals, the North Carolina Courage played the Portland Thorns to a 2-2 draw in front of a 7,018 fans at First Horizon Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C., Saturday evening.
North Carolina's record moved to 1-1-2 for five points while Portland is now 3-1-1 for 10 points. The Thorns are 1-0-3 against the Courage the past four matches with draws the last three times they've played.
"Again, we start the game by conceding a goal," said North Carolina Courage Head Coach Mak Lind. "It's always mentally hard to concede a goal early in the game. I'm glad that we find the way back. We scored, 1-1, a nice goal, and they scored another goal. Conceded another goal, challenging mentally, and we handled that as well by scoring (to make it) 2-2. I felt we had big control of the game. Many things were good, especially in possession. So second half was more... back and forth, they press high and we try to press high, but I felt we should have scored at least one more goal in the second half and take all of the three points, but today was a good game. Hopefully we we can continue to build on this score with even more goals. Again if you concede two goals then you have to score at least three. I felt that we had the opportunity to score at least three, maybe even four goals. We continue to work hard and one point is one point in the end."
The Thorns jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 12th minute with a goal from forward Reilyn Turner, her third of the NWSL season and second straight game in which she's scored.
Turner had to leave the game due to an injury in the 25th minute and was replaced by forward Mimi Alidou.
The Courage tied the game at 1-1 in the 28th minute on a goal from Manaka Matsukubo, her second goal since returning from international duty. She has scored in four straight appearances. The assist came from midfielder Carly Wickenheiser, her first as a member of the team.
"She's an incredible player," explained Lind of Matsukubo. "She was MVP last year and she has not been with the team so long time. She was injured in the preseason and she was with the national team a couple of weeks. She just came back and directly is giving us two goals. She has a great impact on this team with her qualities. Today, she was very active, especially first half."
The Thorns regained the lead at 2-1 in the 33rd minute off the foot of midfielder Olivia Moultrie, her third of the season and second straight game with a goal.
Four minutes later the Courage equalized at 2-2 on a score from midfielder Ashley Sanchez, her third of the season. She has already surpassed the number of goals she scored in the 2025 season (two).
"I think we are disappointed to give up the first goal and also give up the second goal, but at the end of the day, it shows a lot about what happens in soccer," said Wickenheiser. "You never know what you're going to face, and you're going to give up goals. I think most the important thing is that we bounce back not only once, but twice. In the end, I think we really could have gone three points. It didn't happen today, but I think it shows a lot of character and growth for the team."
"Overall, I really loved our fight to get back in the game," added defender Maycee Bell. "Obviously, we conceded, then we came back, conceded, and came back. So I think that just shows growth, especially from last weekend. I think obviously we can defend the box a lot better. I think that's something we can really work on, but overall, like really proud of the team."
Lind succeeded Portland Thorns Head Coach Robert Vilahamn at BK Hacken when Vilahamn left for Tottenham in 2023.
"It's special to play against a coach, especially when you know him and he's also Swedish," said Lind "We talked before the game yesterday. We talked today before the game. We talked during the game. We talked after the game. So it was nice. I think he's a good coach, great person and a great human. He has a good team and they play good; so far they have 10 points. I like this guy, but today I was disappointed we could not beat them and take all of the three points."
"I think when you look at games in this league, it's never 90 minutes where you look one way at the game and it looks the same," said Vilahamn. "I think we started the game well. First 10, 15 minutes, we get that goal, then we get a little bit disturbed with the injury and moving a little bit players and then they take over this half. Even if we score 2-1, they are much better the last part of the first half, and we don't really get the triggers to press them. We fall deeper and they play through us or around us and we are not really there. So have a good talk in halftime where we kind of went through that and how we want to make sure we press a little bit better. I think second half we were much more front-footed and making them do mistakes. We got some transition moments, but I think they also had some good chances. So overall it's a fair draw. It's a fair point. We were not excellent, but we're not, you know, too bad either. It was a decent game."
Following an international break the Courage face a two-game road trip first on Saturday, April 25th against the Houston Dash and then on Wednesday, April 29th against the Boston Legacy.
North Carolina's next match at home is Saturday, May 2nd against the Kansas City Current at 6:30 pm est.
Images from this story
 North Carolina Courage vs. the Portland Thorns (Fran Stuchbury) |
National Women's Soccer League Stories from April 5, 2026
- Spirit Collects First Win of Season, Jumps Above Playoff Line Ahead of International Break - Washington Spirit
- Courage Draw Portland in Four-Goal Battle - OSC Original by Fran Stuchbury
- Courage Draw Portland in Four-Goal Battle - OSC Original by Fran Stuchbury
- Courage Draw Portland in Four-Goal Battle - OSC Original by Fran Stuchbury
- Bay FC fall 2-0 in Sunday Matinee vs. Washington Spirit - Bay FC
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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.
