NWSL North Carolina Courage

Courage Draw with Washington Spirit, 2-2

Published on March 30, 2022 under National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
North Carolina Courage News Release


WASHINGTON, DC - The North Carolina Courage drew with the Washington Spirit on Wednesday night in the group stage of the NWSL Challenge Cup, the match concluding in a 2-2 deadlock. Debinha and Taylor Smith added a goal apiece for the Courage, with Trinity Rodman and Ashley Hatch tallying the goals for the Spirit. With the result, the Courage maintain first place in the standings in Group A with seven points.

"I think we're taking the attitude that regardless of whether we win, lose, or tie, there's a lot to learn from every game," said Meredith Speck following the match. "We're always going to make mistakes, so it's about taking those points and asking how we can get better. It's nice having games like the Challenge Cup and in preseason, but you know, we're still gearing up for the season. Everything's just kind of a learning curve at this point."

Debinha opened the scoring in Wednesday's contest, the scoring play beginning with a cross played in by Malia Berkely. Merritt Mathias was the first to make contact with Berkely's ball, redirecting a shot on frame that was deflected by Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury. The save fell into the path of Debinha, who buried a shot into the lower 90 on her first touch to give the Courage a 1-0 advantage in the fifth minute.

Later, in the 26th minute, the Courage doubled their lead, as Carson Pickett fed a through ball upfield to Smith. Turning on the ball and taking a touch forward, the forward capitalized on the chance, slipping a ball past Kingsbury to score her first Courage goal. Likewise piecing together a solid performance in the first half, goalkeeper Katelyn Rowland made several saves throughout the first to maintain the 2-0 scoreline.

"You have to give Taylor a lot of credit for how far she's come over the last two years and the work she's put in both on and off the field to get there," said Head Coach Sean Nahas. "It's always good to get rewarded for that, it's a matter of being consistent."

Trinity Rodman added a goal for Washington in the 58th minute, cutting the Courage lead in half. Nine minutes later, Ashley Hatch added the Spirit's second goal of the night to knot the score at two goals apiece. Despite creating several chances in the final minutes, the North Carolina side were unable to add a go-ahead goal as time expired, and the points were shared between the two sides.

Full recording of the post-game press conference with Jorian Baucom, Meredith Speck and Sean Nahas can be found HERE.

Match Notes:

Taylor Smith scored her first Courage goal in tonight's match.

Jorian Baucom made her Courage debut, starting the match up top.

Five yellow cards were administered amongst the two sides.

Box Score:

NC (4-4-2): Katelyn Rowland, Kaleigh Kurtz, Abby Erceg, Merritt Mathias, Malia Berkely (Meredith Speck - 75'), Denise O'Sullivan, Carson Pickett, Debinha, Kiki Pickett (Brianna Pinto - 53'), Taylor Smith, Jorian Baucom (Jaelene Daniels - 53')

Subs Not Used: Rylee Baisden, Marisa Bova, Katie Bowen, Emily Gray, Diana Ordoñez, Ryan Wiliams

WAS (4-5-1): Aubrey Kingsbury, Kelley O'Hara, Karina Rodriguez, Sam Staab, Anna Heilferty, Andi Sullivan, Gaby Vincent (Taylor Aylmer - 46'), Trinity Rodman, Ashley Sanchez, Julia Roddar (Camryn Biegalski - 83'), Ashley Hatch

Subs Not Used: Jordan Baggett, Morgan Goff, Tinaya Alexander, Devon Kerr, Nicole Barnhart

Score:

NC: 2

WAS: 2

Goals:

NC: Debinha - 5', Taylor Smith (Carson Pickett) - 26'

WAS: Trinity Rodman (Andi Sullivan) - 58', Ashley Hatch (Julia Roddar) - 67'

Cautions:

NC: Kiki Pickett - 45+2', Malia Berkely - 59', Kaleigh Kurtz - 76'

WAS: Sam Staab - 14', Andi Sullivan - 64'

Ejections:

NC: --

WAS: --

Check out the North Carolina Courage Statistics

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