WakeMed Soccer Park | Cary, North Carolina – Saturday, April 15 at 7:00 PM ET
Players to watch:
North Carolina forwards Mille Gejl and Kerolin have provided the only two goals scored for their side in the season so far, and though Kerolin’s was a consolation in the club’s 3-1 loss to San Diego in Week 2, Gejl’s was good enough to be a winner from the debutant against Kansas City in the opening week of the regular season. Narumi Miura, who was also making her debut in that game, registered the assist. Courage goalkeeper Casey Murphy earned her 18th Courage shutout that game, becoming the club’s all-time leader in that category.
After last season fell by the wayside, it’s been an encouraging start to the year with Washington scoring three goals in two games as forwards Ashley Hatch (2) and Trinity Rodman (1) have gotten up and running. In Week 1, Rodman pulled up from 20+ yards out and ripped a low drive that became the match-winning goal against OL Reign in a 1-0 victory. Then, in a 2-2 draw against Louisville the next week, Hatch’s double helped stave off a push from the hosts to help earn a point. Hatch is also the club’s all-time leading goalscorer with 32 goals.
Match facts: The North Carolina Courage host the Washington Spirit at WakeMed Soccer Park in a rematch of the 2022 Challenge Cup Final, though North Carolina especially has a different look to them in 2023. North Carolina has seen many of the regular names in last year’s starting XI depart, but in exchange, have welcomed players like Emily Fox, Tyler Lussi, Gejl, Narumi, and more to the fold. Meanwhile, the Spirit are propelled in attack by familiar faces Hatch and Rodman, who are the only two players on their roster to have more than 10 all-time regular season goals.
A much changed North Carolina has plenty of potential, though, and head coach Sean Nahas will be looking to have his side bounce back from their 3-1 defeat to San Diego last weekend. A gritty win in Week 1 over the Current showed what this side is capable of, but as puzzle pieces begin to fall into place the Courage will want to take advantage of as many early point opportunities as possible.
Washington also has a midweek Challenge Cup match ahead of them, but early results against OL Reign and Racing Louisville have helped the side settle into the year nicely. With the good that Rodman’s and Hatch’s goals have provided, there is one blemish the Spirit will need to adjust to heading into the week—the red card shown to Paige Metayer in last week’s draw against Louisville. Metayer was shown two yellow cards for challenges just a few minutes apart and will miss the trip to Cary.
In 2022, this fixture brought goals and more goals as only one game saw the two teams fail to score four or more goals in five meetings. Both Challenge Cup group games were 2-2 draws with North Carolina lifting the Challenge Cup trophy after a hard-fought 2-1 win over Washington in early May. Then in the regular season, North Carolina defeated the Spirit 3-2 in Washington in mid-June before a six-goal thriller saw the clubs produce a 3-3 draw at WakeMed Soccer Park toward the end of July.
