WakeMed Soccer Park | Cary, North Carolina – Sunday, October 22 at 7:00 PM ET
Players to watch:
North Carolina forward Kerolin, who left North Carolina’s regular season finale with an injury, led the Courage with 10 goals in league play this season, with teammate Tyler Lussi (6) the only other Courage player to have scored more than two. North Carolina was the only NWSL team in 2023 without at least three players with at least three league goals.
Gotham forward Lynn Williams has 11 goal contributions (9 goals, 2 assists) in 2023 in all competitions, which leads the way for her side. It is Williams’ fifth different season with 10+ goal contributions in all competitions, tying her with forwards Alex Morgan and Sam Kerr for most such seasons in league history.
Match facts: The North Carolina Courage host NJ/NY Gotham FC on Sunday night in the second game of the opening round of the playoffs, with the winner of this match facing a trip to Portland to play the Thorns in the first weekend of November. North Carolina finished the season in 3rd place with 33 points from 22 games played, while Gotham FC finished in 6th place and in the final playoff spot with 31 points from 22 games, beating out Orlando on goal differential.
North Carolina kept 14 clean sheets in all competitions in 2023, the second-most in a single season in NWSL history (14). The only team with more in a single year was Portland in 2021 with 15 (excluding a 3-0 forfeit win that season). The Courage are unbeaten in their last three, with their 1-0 win against Washington on the final day sealing their fate.
Gotham faced 205 shots in the regular season, 39 fewer than the team with the next fewest (North Carolina – 244). Gotham did allow a goal conversion rate of 11.2 percent on those shots, though, the second-highest rate in NWSL this season (Chicago – 14.1 percent). Gotham’s 2-2 draw against Kansas City on decision day stopped a two-game slide, but Sunday’s visitors will need to find a way to win after having won just once in their last seven matches.
Gotham is unbeaten in four matches this year against North Carolina with a win and a draw in both the regular season and the Challenge Cup. Both those draws came on the road as Gotham has won twice in 10 all-time road games (D3 L5) against the Courage.
It is advantage North Carolina when it comes to postseason play though, with the Courage having five wins in seven all-time NWSL postseason matches, the second-most of any team (Portland – 7 wins in 12 games). Gotham, meanwhile, is the only NWSL team to play in multiple playoff games and not have a win (losses in 2013 to Western New York and 2021 to Chicago).
