Key Transactions
The Courage made arguably their most impactful transaction of 2021 this past week, with U.S. WNT midfielder Sam Mewis announcing her return to North Carolina following a season in the FA WSL with Manchester City. While the 2019 FIFA World Cup Champion will be unavailable for Saturday’s match, she will prove to be an important piece for the Courage continuing through the 2021 campaign.
Recent Form
North Carolina opened its regular season with a scoreless draw in Tacoma on Saturday night, with both sides putting forth a strong defensive effort to maintain their respective clean sheets. North Carolina goalkeeper Casey Murphy, formerly of the Reign, registered three saves in the match while her counterpart in Reign goalkeeper Karen Bardsley recorded five stops on the night to keep the match scoreless in the end.
Who’s Hot
Courage midfielder Debinha finished the 2021 Challenge Cup atop the league with three finishes through four contests, with teammates Kristen Hamilton and Jessica McDonald trailing just behind with two apiece. McDonald led the NWSL in assists at the end of the competition with three, followed by teammate Hailie Mace with two in total.
Head-to-Head
In the Pride’s last three matches against North Carolina, the two sides have played to a deadlock, most recently in a scoreless draw on May 1 to conclude NWSL Challenge Cup play for both sides. At the 2020 Fall Series, the Pride opened the competition with another scoreless outing at WakeMed Soccer Park before concluding that slate of games with a thrilling come-from-behind 3-3 draw at Exploria Stadium.
Rasmussen College Fun Fact
Prior to the Courage’s Saturday fixture against OL Reign, the Pride had been the only Club in the NWSL to keep North Carolina scoreless in a match since July 17, 2020, when the Portland Thorns shutout the Courage in the Quarterfinals of the NWSL Challenge Cup. Since that time, the Pride have shut out the Courage on two separate occasions, with a pair of scoreless draws on Sept. 19, 2020 and May 1 of this year, respectively.
