Match Preview: NJ/NY Gotham FC vs. North Carolina Courage
Red Bull Arena | Harrison, New Jersey – Sunday, September 4 at 5:00 PM ET
Players to watch:
Gotham FC midfielder Paige Monaghan scored the lone goal for Gotham against Angel City, her third of the season and 10th goal for Gotham in all competitions (including Challenge Cup and Fall Series). Monaghan had never scored more than two goals in a single regular season prior to 2022 and of her 10 total goals, this is her first unassisted tally.
On the other side, North Carolina forward Kerolin scored a brace against Kansas City on Sunday, the first of her NWSL career, after having scored one goal in her first eight regular season matches. She is just the second player from Brazil to score multiple goals in a single game in NWSL play, with Orlando Pride’s Marta having four such games. Alongside her is the talented Diana Ordoñez, who has already smashed the goals record for most tallied in a rookie campaign (previous record: 7) with her 11 goals on the season. That number is good enough to put her T-2 in the Golden Boot race.
Match facts: Originally scheduled for early May, Sunday’s matinee between Gotham FC and the North Carolina Courage comes just ahead of Labor Day weekend and stands as the lone match across the league.
It’s been a tough slide for Gotham FC in recent matches as the club attempts to turn things around against the Courage. After falling to Angel City on Sunday, Gotham has lost seven games in a row, the longest losing streak in club history, and has conceded 22 goals in that time. That marks the first time in NWSL history that a team has lost seven consecutive games while conceding more than 15 goals during the run.
Though the Courage have slightly more momentum on their side, they too lost their last outing but have scored multiple goals in three consecutive away matches. The team joins Portland as the only NWSL teams with such a streak this season, with North Carolina having just one longer such run in its history, doing so in six consecutive road games spanning the 2017 and 2018 seasons.
In the hosts favor, though, is the fact that Gotham has won the past two league matches against North Carolina and has scored three goals in each game. However, prior to that, Gotham won just once (D2 L7), scoring a total of six goals over 10 matches.
