WakeMed Soccer Park | Cary, North Carolina – Wednesday, May 3 at 7:00 PM ET
Players to watch:
In the Courage’s first Challenge Cup game this season, midfielder Denise O’Sullivan scored nine minutes into second-half stoppage time to salvage a 1-1 draw for her side against Orlando. O’Sullivan’s goal was the latest non-extra time goal in team history in all competitions. Though she only scored one goal in last season’s competition, forward Kerolin is likely to lead the line but has yet to get off the mark in this year’s competition.
Gotham forward Lynn Williams scored Gotham’s lone goal in their first Challenge Cup game this season. The goal was scored from inside the box, making it each of the talented attacker’s last 42 goals in all NWSL competitions that have been scored from inside the box with none of them being penalties. Williams is also Gotham’s leading scorer in the regular season with three goals, a tally which has her tied for fourth place in the league rankings to date.
Match facts: The North Carolina Courage play their first Challenge Cup home match of the year on Wednesday night as they welcome in Gotham FC, with the two sides having just faced each other on Saturday, April 23 in the regular season. That match finished 1-0 in Gotham’s favor at Red Bull Arena, with the Courage now looking to reverse their fortunes when they instead play hosts.
North Carolina are unbeaten in their last 11 Challenge Cup matches (W6 D5), dating back to a loss against Gotham in April 2021. It is the longest unbeaten streak in the competition’s history, just one game longer than OL Reign’s active 10-game streak. The Courage will be aware, though, that that streak was only extended because of a club record-breaking stoppage time goal by midfielder Denise O’Sullivan in their opening Challenge Cup exploit. Therefore, it will require an even better performance against a Gotham side that has already beaten them once in 2023.
The task for Gotham is no less difficult though, this time traveling to North Carolina where the Courage have been extremely successful in the Challenge Cup. The club did defeat the Courage, 1-0, at the end of April, and it has scored exactly one goal in each of its last six in this competition too. That’s the longest streak of scoring exactly one goal by any team in Challenge Cup history.
In further historical terms, Gotham’s win over the Courage ended the club’s four game winless streak in the fixture in all competitions (D1 L3). Meanwhile, the Courage have kept clean sheets in nine of the 19 all-time meetings in the fixture.
