WakeMed Soccer Park | Cary, North Carolina – Saturday, July 1 at 7:30 PM ET
Players to watch:
North Carolina forward Tyler Lussi came off the bench to score the lone goal in the Courage’s win over Louisville last Saturday. Five of Lussi’s eight career regular season goals have come as a sub with only San Diego’s Makenzy Doniak (6) having more goals as a reserve in NWSL play since Lussi debuted in July 2017. Leading the line could be forward Kerolin, though, who has 8 regular season goals to her name.
Houston attacker María Sánchez has been the most consistent producer within the Dash attack, scoring three goals and assisting on an additional two to bring her goal contribution total to five through 13 games played. Sánchez is the lone member of the Dash attack to have multiple assists, and only teammate Diana Ordóñezhas scored multiple goals on the year (2).
Match facts: The North Carolina Courage host the Houston Dash on Saturday night in the reverse fixture of a weather-shortened match in Houston in April, which the Courage won, 1-0. Now, North Carolina are looking to build on three straight wins, while the Dash are unbeaten in five (W2 D3) after three consecutive draws.
Currently, the Courage are in 2nd place in the standings with 23 points from 13 games and are level with both the Reign and Washington on points but remain ahead on goal differential. Houston are in 7th place with 18 points from the same amount of games played.
North Carolina are on a four-game winning streak in all competitions, outscoring opponents, 11-1, during the streak. The Courage are looking to be the first NWSL team to win five straight games since the Spirit won seven straight games to close the 2021 season.
Each of Houston’s last two matches have finished in 0—0 draws, the team’s first time ever having consecutive scoreless league matches. No NWSL team has ever played in three straight nil-nil draws in league play.
The Courage won a weather-shortened 52-minute match, 1—0, when they took on the Dash in Houston in April. North Carolina has lost its last two home games in the fixture, the only time the club has ever lost consecutive regular season home games against a single opponent.
