Match Preview: North Carolina Courage vs. Chicago Red Stars
WakeMed Soccer Park | Cary, North Carolina – Saturday, August 20 at 7:00 PM ET
Players to watch:
North Carolina Courage forward Diana Ordoñez is on a tear as of late and scored the first goal in her side’s loss to the Current last weekend, her fourth straight game with a goal. Ordoñez is the second NWSL player ever to score in four consecutive matches as a rookie, joining Portland’s Meleana Shim, who did so in the league’s inaugural season of 2013. The Courage boast a healthy number of goalscorers, though, with all of Debinha, Kaleigh Kurtz, and Brittany Ratcliffe scoring more than once on the year as 10 total different goalscorers have seen their names on the scoresheet in this regular season.
The Red Stars were without their team leader with nine goal contributions (6G 3A), Mallory Pugh, in its loss to Angel City last weekend. Chicago has collected 1.78 points per game (4W 4D 1L). In fact, the only player to have scored for Chicago in their last four games are forward Ava Cook, midfielder Samantha Fisher and defender Tatumn Milazzo. The Red Stars have scored just three goals in their last four contests, also getting shut out twice.
Match facts: The North Carolina Courage host the Chicago Red Stars on Saturday night at WakeMed Soccer Park looking to break a tough run of results as the club currently sits bottom of the league standings. On the flip side, the visiting Red Stars sit right on the edge of the playoff line with three more games played than the Current but would like a result heading into the home stretch of the regular season.
The Courage are on a six-game winless streak (D3 L3), their longest single-season streak without a win in club history. In its most recent game against Kansas City, North Carolina scored first, yet lost the game, 4-3. The Courage are averaging 1.3 points per game when scoring first this season (W2 D2 L2) after entering the season with an all-time average of 2.6 points in such games (W53 D3 L6).
However, Chicago lost its most recent match as well, falling 1-0 in a visit to Angel City on Sunday. Since last year, Chicago has the third worst away record in NWSL regular season play (5W 5D 9L, .395), ahead of only last year’s expansion teams Kansas City and Racing Louisville.
The teams played to a 2-2 draw earlier this season after the Courage held a 2-0 lead entering second-half stoppage time, the only time in the Courage’s NWSL history to not win a game after leading by two goals at any point. A team has come back to earn a result from a two-goal deficit at the 90th minute or later three times in NWSL history (including playoffs) with the Red Stars having done it twice (2013 vs. FCKC).
