Spirit Visits North Carolina Courage with Chance to Lock up Home-Field Advantage in Playoffs
NWSL Washington Spirit

Spirit Visits North Carolina Courage with Chance to Lock up Home-Field Advantage in Playoffs

Published on October 10, 2025 under National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Washington Spirit News Release


Washington Spirit in action
Washington Spirit in action
(Washington Spirit)

Cary, N.C. - The Washington Spirit will travel south for a bout with the North Carolina Courage this weekend and have a chance to clinch home-field advantage in the 2025 playoffs with a win or with a draw/loss and favorable results around the league. Kicking off at 7:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday, October 11, the match will be broadcast nationally on ION.

The Spirit

Washington is coming off a thrilling 2-1 home win over San Diego in which forward Rosemonde Kouassi netted her first career NWSL brace with a game-winner late in stoppage time. The win pushed the Spirit to the brink of clinching a home quarterfinal match as well as the #2 overall seed and home-field advantage in the 2025 NWSL Playoffs, presented by Google Pixel.

For her performance last weekend, Kouassi was named the NWSL Player of the Week, becoming the fifth consecutive Spirit player to take the weekly honor. Kouassi also earned Goal of the Week while midfielder Deborah Abiodun earned Assist of the Week.

The Spirit extended its unbeaten streak across league play to 11 matches. Since the team's last loss in mid-June, Washington has earned points in every match, tallying five wins and six draws. The team has outscored opponents 18-9 throughout its unbeaten streak, collecting five clean sheets in the process.

Entering Saturday's match, the Spirit can clinch a top four seed and home quarterfinal match with a win/draw against the Courage. Washington can also clinch the #2 seed and guarantee itself home playoff matches for both the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds with a win. The Spirit also clinched the #2 seed with an away win against North Carolina last season.

The Spirit maintains a strong record away from home this season with a 6-1-4 mark and five shutouts on the road in 2025. A win on Saturday would match the Spirit's away points total record of 25 set last season. Washington is also on a four-match unbeaten streak in regular season matches played at First Horizon Stadium, winning three and drawing one.

On the attacking end, the Spirit leads the Courage in goals, assists, shots, shots on target and total big chances. That being said, North Carolina isn't far behind Washington in possession rate and shots on target so look out for a balanced battle on both ends of the pitch this weekend.

Following Saturday night's match, the Spirit will return to Audi Field for two home matches next week. Washington will host a midweek Concacaf W Champions Cup match on Wednesday, October 15 before hosting its final home match before the playoffs on Saturday, October 18. Tickets to both matches are available here.

The Opponent

North Carolina enters this weekend's matchup fighting to keep its playoff streak alive. The Courage has made the postseason in each of the past two seasons as well as six times in its seven-season history. With 28 points on the table, the Courage sits three points back of San Diego for the final playoff spot with three matches left to play.

The Courage is led in the attack by its young star Manaka Matsukubo who has tallied seven goals and four assists in 2025. The 21-year-old also became the second youngest non-American player in NWSL history to reach ten goals last weekend with her score against Louisville.

When the Spirit and Courage last faced off earlier this season at Audi Field, Matsukubo netted an impressive first-half goal to cut the Washington lead in half. Look for the Spirit defending third to focus on limiting Matsukubo in the attack this weekend.

While North Carolina is seventh in the league in goals for this season, it also has the second largest deficit between expected goals and goals scored. This means the team has had no trouble in creating attacking chances but has finished at a lower rate compared to other teams. The Courage has also seen the highest rate of opponents scoring above expected goals this season, with opposition tallying seven more goals than expected in 2025. Watch for the Courage to create strong scoring opportunities on Saturday as the Spirit looks to maintain its recent defensive form.

Following Saturday's match, the Courage will travel to San Jose to face Bay FC on Friday, October 17.

All-Time Series History

The Spirit holds a 6-11-2 all-time regular season record against the North Carolina Courage with a -6 goal differential (22-28). Washington has won six of the last 11 regular season meetings with North Carolina and is unbeaten across its last four regular season trips to Cary with three wins and a draw.

Check out the Washington Spirit Statistics

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Washington Spirit in action
Washington Spirit in action
   



National Women's Soccer League Stories from October 10, 2025


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