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NWSL North Carolina Courage

Courage Withstand Utah to Remain Perfect at Home

by Fran Stuchbury
May 19, 2024 - National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
North Carolina Courage


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

The North Carolina Courage defeated Utah Royals FC 1-0 in front of 4,528 fans at WakeMed Soccer Park on Friday evening. The last times these teams played, the Courage lost on the road, 2-1, on March 22nd.

North Carolina improved to 5-5-0 this season, a perfect 5-0 at home. They held a 20-3 advantage in shots for the night, including 6-0 in shots on target.

"I am really proud of the group," said Courage Head Coach Sean Nahas. "It's a really good performance, I felt. We challenged the group after Kansas City in the stretch we had, and wanting them to sort of have a little bit of a gut check. The teams are going to go through those ups and downs. I'm hard on the players because I believe in them and sometimes they don't realize that until things like this happen. We made a few tweaks we haven't really trained, and they took it on brilliantly and I thought it was a real, true team performance, and I think it's a lot for us. It shows the great character of the group and what we're capable of. We just got to start stringing these types of performances on the road, but man we were really good tonight."

The only goal of the game came in the 76th minute from North Carolina Courage defender Kaleigh Kurtz.

"I think I like scored four goals in my entire career from college to pro," said Kurtz. "I really wanted one."

Kurtz filled in as team captain in place of the injured Denise O'Sullivan. It was Kurtz's 90th regular season start for the Courage, tying Debinha for third-most in club history. She has been a member of the team since the 2018 season.

Midfielder Meredith Speck came into the game at the 90th minute making her first appearance after suffering a torn ACL against Racing Louisville FC on June 24th last season.

"I think it's been a few games since I've been on the bench, and I'm really appreciative of like the time and patience that the team has given me," Meredith Speck said, "Being back on the bench for a few games, I think I could settle into my emotions. So by the time Sean was like, go get warm, it just, I felt like very ready and very prepared and just excited."

"I love the kid, and I know it's been a tough journey," Nahas added. "I wanted to wait for the right moment to put her in. I wanted her first moments back on the field to be at home. Obviously, we know it's not going to be a lot of minutes right off the bat, but we know she's going to come in and do the work. This is just another step in her return and her journey."

Utah Royals FC, an expansion team this season, fell to 1-8-1 on the year.

Utah Head Coach Amy Rodriguez played for the North Carolina Courage in 2021.

"Beautiful stadium, great crowd, tonight was a great environment... the rain held off for us which was so nice," Rodriguez stated. "Slippery surface, the field moved fast tonight. Ball went skipping in places and (that's) suited to the style play that Carolina likes to play. Unfortunately, got in behind us, got that cross off and scored a goal against us, which was a bit of a dagger to the heart because we had just sustained so many attacks throughout the game and really held them off there until the end of the game. when they finally broke through, it definitely broke us down and (it was) hard to come back from at that point.

"It is very easy for morale to dip right now just based on results. But I've told my team, 'I'm not after the product on the scoreboard, I'm not looking at the leaderboard right now to dictate my morale and kind of the happiness of this group.' We have to focus on the processes, we have to focus on style play, the principles that we're trying to infuse within the group, because if we focus on them there are bits and pieces of the game that are showing through that are really nice from this group. I remind them them weekly, 'You know this is a process and we will charge through and hopefully at the end of the day we'll see the benefit.'"

"I think it was a tough one for us to walk away with a loss. I think we fought really hard," Royals defender Kate Del Fava added. "Obviously had a lot of pressure for most of the game and thought we defended really well, and it just came down to one moment for us. But some positives to take from it, and we'll go again next week.

North Carolina's next game is at the Houston Dash on Friday, May 24th. Their next home game at WakeMed Soccer Park will be Saturday, June 15th vs the Orlando Pride at 7 pm est.

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North Carolina Courage vs. Utah Royals FC
North Carolina Courage vs. Utah Royals FC
(Fran Stuchbury)		   

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