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NWSL North Carolina Courage

Courage Top Pride on the Road, 4-2

April 16, 2022 - National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
North Carolina Courage News Release


CARY, NC - The North Carolina Courage continued their undefeated streak in Challenge Cup play, defeating the Orlando Pride on Saturday night, 4-2. The Courage further solidified their position in first place in the East Division, with eleven points and a record of 3-0-2. In the event that the Washington Spirit and NJ/NY Gotham FC draw in their match on Sunday, the Courage will clinch the first place spot in the division.

Filled with early action, the match featured three Courage goals in the first ten minutes, the first coming in the form of an own goal by Orlando. The play began with Courage defender, Merritt Mathias driving towards the endline and sending a cross in towards the run of Jaelene Daniels near the face of the goal. In an effort to block Daniel's shot, Pride defender Megan Montefusco deflected the ball into the net for an Orlando own goal, giving the Courage the early lead in the third minute.

Three minutes later, Taylor Smith sent a cross in from the right flank, into a nearly identical run by Daniels, who tapped in a shot while under the pressure of two defenders, doubling the Courage lead. The Courage added a third just three minutes later, with a driven shot by Smith in the box to put the Courage up by three before the 10th minute of the match.

With that third goal, the Courage became the sole NWSL record holders for the fastest team to score three goals from kickoff in all competitions, a record previously set just this past Thursday by the OL Reign.

Setting up Smith's goal was Courage newcomer Kiki Pickett, who has been slotted in a new position from where she's typically played.

"I've played fullback most of my career, so playing the number 10 has been a big switch for me," Kiki Pickett said. "But wherever I am put on the field, I am going to give my 110% effort. I may not always know exactly what I am doing, but I am going to give you everything I have. I've learned in my job as the number 10, I'm supposed to find the inside pockets and small spaces to exploit. So tonight, every time I got the ball, I distributed it as fast as I could, which I think led to our opportunities and our advantages to score early."

Orlando kicked off the second half with a new found energy, with Darian Jenkins finding a goal just over 10 minutes into the second half.

Kerolin Nicoli made her second appearance for the Courage, entering the game in the 60th minute and making an immediate impact with multiple dangerous chances, notching five total shots.

With both Kerolin Nicoli and Debinha pounding at the door, it was the latter who eventually netted a goal in the final minutes of regular time to solidify the Courage victory. The Brazilian collected a pass from Diana Ordoñez, at the top of the box, settling and turning to rip a shot between the pressure of two defenders into the low left corner of the net.

"Once we went up by three, I think we got complacent a bit," Head Coach Sean Nahas said. "I thought we went away from what was working for us. While it's really good to get three points, we have to learn how to win, and by that I mean not allowing teams to get back in it. If you look at all the goals we are giving up, they look quite similar. However, I am still really proud of the group for getting the three points tonight and getting that fourth goal when the game could've gone either way. However, we have high standards for ourselves and we want to make sure we maintain those, so we will continue to evolve and grow from each match."

Match Notes:

Emily Gray, the Courage's top pick in the 2022 NWSL Draft, made her Courage debut in the 89th minute

Jaelene Daniels logged her first goal with the Courage since returning from retirement

Debinha netted her third goal of the year, tying for second in the league for goals scored in Challenge cup play, behind Chicago Red Stars forward Mallory Pugh (4)

Up Next: The Courage will return home to host the Washington Spirit next Saturday, April 23 at 1 p.m. ET for their final match of Challenge Cup group stage play. The match will air live on CBS Sports Network, and tickets can be purchased here.

Box Score:

NC (4-4-2): Katelyn Rowland, Carson Pickett, Abby Erceg ©, Kaleigh Kurtz, Merritt Mathias, Meredith Speck, Denise O'Sullivan, Debinha (Emily Gray, - 90'), Kiki Pickett (Brianna Pinto - 56'), Jaelene Daniels (Kerolin Nicoli - 56'), Taylor Smith (Diana Ordoñez - 76')

Subs Not Used: Katie Bowen, Jorian Baucom, Ryan Williams, Rylee Baisden, Marisa Bova

ORL (4-4-2): Anna Moorhouse, Kylie Strom (Amy Turner - 46'), Megan Montefusco, Toni Pressley©, Courtney Petersen, Celia Jiménez Delgado (Carrie Lawrence - 57'), Meggie Dougherty Howard (Julie Doyle - 70'), Mikayla Cluff (Gunny Jónsdóttir - 46'), Arika Tymrak, Leah Pruitt (Kerry Abello - 46'), Darian Jenkins

Subs Not Used: Kaylie Collins, Abi Kim, Chelsee Washington

Score:

NC: 4

ORL: 2

Goals:

NC: M. Montefusco (Own Goal) - 3', Jaelene Daniels (Taylor Smith) - 6', Taylor Smith (Kiki Pickett) - 9', Debinha (Diana Ordoñez - 89')

ORL: D. Jenkins - 15', D. Jenkins (K. Abello) - 56'

Cautions:

NC: Brianna Pinto - 85'

ORL: Carrie Lawrence - 73', Megan Montefusco - 76', Darian Jenkins - 79'

Ejections:

NC: --

ORL: --

Check out the North Carolina Courage Statistics



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