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NWSL North Carolina Courage

Home Cooking, Defense Earn Courage a Point against League-Leading Orlando

by Fran Stuchbury
June 17, 2024 - National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
North Carolina Courage


North Carolina Courage vs. the Orlando Pride
North Carolina Courage vs. the Orlando Pride
(North Carolina Courage, Credit: Fran Stuchbury)

The North Carolina Courage played to a scoreless draw against the Orlando Pride in front of 4,776 fans at WakeMed Soccer Park Saturday. The match kickoff was delayed to 7:54 p.m. ET due to field maintenance.

The last time the teams met the Courage lost on the road 4-1 on May 1st.

North Carolina remained undefeated at home with a 5-0-1 record, extending their streak to 15 straight unbeaten at WakeMed Soccer Park. They are in seventh place in the National Women's Soccer League standings at 5-7-1 with 16 points, while the the Orlando Pride remain unbeaten to start the NWSL regular season at 8-0-5.

"It's good to get a point, said Courage Head Coach Sean Nahas. "Obviously, that's the other stretch we've been on, but I felt we had a few chances we need to put away. But it's the story of our season, the inability to score. It's not for a lack of a couple of chances, but I thought we defended really well, team defending. I thought the group showed a much better belief in who they are against a good side. I think there's a lot more positives to take away from the game than negatives, especially coming off the drubbing that we took in Orlando. I'm proud of the group; a point against a top of the table team. If you asked me, would you take it with seven players injured? I'd say, 'Yeah.' So we have players playing out of position. There's a gut check for us, I'm proud of the group."

The Pride finished with eleven shots on goal compared to the Courage's six. Both North Carolina goalie Casey Murphy and Orlando's Anna Moorhouse recorded five saves. The Pride are the first team in NWSL history to go 11-straight games without trailing at any point.

"I think we came out a lot harder than we did the first time around," said Courage defender Malia Berkley. "I think the first time around it was obvious that we were kind of on the back foot, and so being at home especially, we wanted to have a better mindset of just coming out, playing as a team, playing for each other, working hard, and I think that showed."

"I think it's very important," Berkley added on getting a clean sheet. "Obviously, we're still undefeated at home, which is great. We would have loved to have our three points, but I think making sure that we're locking down as a team defensively, it starts in the front line. I think our press was really good. That caused them to kind of struggle to get forward. A lot of it was transitional, and we were able to kind of control that transition and get a lot of numbers in front of the ball to block shots inside the 18 which I think we've been working on a lot. It's just the energy and the effort in making sure we're all competing for each other."

The next Courage game is at home on Sunday against the Chicago Red Stars at 6 pm est.

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North Carolina Courage vs. the Orlando Pride
North Carolina Courage vs. the Orlando Pride
(Fran Stuchbury)		   

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