Next up: Orlando Pride at home
First of all, let’s hit the most exciting news this week: 2025 Ring of Honor inductee, 3x NWSL Shield winner, 3x championship winner, and all-around Courage legend Jess McDonald joins Katie and I on the podcast.
You can search for us wherever you get your podcasts, or have a listen on our website after the episode drops tomorrow.
Second: In a battle between lionesses, only one can rule the table. After a solid 2-0 performance against the Utah Royals, it seems the Courage have settled that issue.
Or … DID THEY?
The Courage host even more lionesses next week, when they take on NWSL 2024 Shield Winners and league champions Orlando Pride.
The Pride are looking more vulnerable lately, dropping two of their last three matches, and nearly losing the third, if not for a wild recovery from a 2-0 deficit against Angel City.
Let’s look at all the league lions!
Recap: Courage v. Utah Royals
The Courage host even more lionesses next week, when they take on NWSL 2024 Shield Winners and league champions Orlando Pride.
The Pride are looking more vulnerable lately, dropping two of their last three matches, and nearly losing the third, if not for a wild recovery from a 2-0 deficit against Angel City.
Let’s look at all the league lions!
Recap: Courage v. Utah Royals
The Courage once again showed their unusual 3-4-3-ish formation, with Ryan Williams and Feli Rauch playing much further up the pitch and leaving the bulk of defending work to Kaleigh Kurtz, Natalia Staude and Maycee Bell. A surprise appearance from Shinomi Koyama at the top center-left over Jaedyn Shaw was the only major change to the starting XI this week. I hope that all made sense, but if not, here’s a screenshot once again showing how cleanly the Courage line up in this formation, even at 63’:
Utah showed their more-or-less expected formation, other than giving Brecken Mozingo an opportunity to start as forward.
The Courage had a 🔥 start, with an immediate look on goal from Shinomi about 15 seconds in. Utah had a few good looks that followed. They developed a nice build to star forward Ally Sentnor, who couldn’t put it away. Then Utah attempted a few up-and-over plays to Mozingo. Nothing was sticking, and the Courage largely set the tempo the rest of the match.
First goal
The Courage scored at just 12’. The squad held to their usual habit of working the ball around the back, and Utah pressed a bit, which freed Ashley Sanchez. She laid out a great pass to Williams, who crossed it in to Manaka Matsukubo.
Utah defender Kate Del Fava battled for it, and managed a soft clear, with the ball bouncing slowly out of the 18-yard box. Thankfully, Sanchez had been sticking with the play and absolutely belted one into the net.
The Courage kept the intensity up, and Sanchez got another incredible look around the 35’ mark.
Second goal
In short order, the Courage scored another goal (I flatly refuse to discredit either the Courage OR Kate Del Fava in calling this an own goal. You can see the video and judge for yourself).
Kurtz uncharacteristically puts one over the top. Utah defenders start gaining some control over the ball, but end up leaving it open. Shinomi doesn’t waste any time, offering a rapid-fire pass to Williams who steers the ball toward the net.
Manaka is working to ensure it gets home, Del Fava is valiantly defending, but this goal is inevitable.
At the tail end of the half, Riley Jackson has some fancy footwork and nearly scores a third goal.
Second half
The second half of the game was a little quieter, but the Courage didn’t settle into defensive posturing as much as I might have expected. There was a brief period where they got a bit conservative, and nearly got punished for it. Midfielder Mina Tanaka subbed in for Cece Kizer, and was starting to build some rapport with Sentnor for a few good looks.
Shinomi got a yellow card, and the Courage were quick to sub her off for Shaw.
The Courage finally saw some forwards enter the pitch at the 74’ mark, with Tyler Lussi and Hannah Betfort subbing in. Brianna Pinto and Dani Weatherholt came on at the 88’ minute mark.
The characteristic burst of energy from the late subs was present, with a particularly good sequence in the final 10 minutes, but the game ended 2-0.
Standout stats
Stats from Fotmob, FBRef, and NC Courage
Look ahead: Courage v. Orlando Pride
Anything goes in the NWSL, so don’t count the Courage out of any match (hi Kansas City!). But the 5-2 Pride will pose a significant challenge.
Three weeks ago, the Pride dropped a match to the Washington Spirit. Two weeks ago, they looked vulnerable against Angel City. And last week they lost to Portland. Those matches have restored the sense of competitiveness across the NWSL, and begs the question of how Orlando responds coming into Courage Country.
The Pride boast two legendary forwards, Marta and Barbra Banda, and tend to let them roam freely at the front of the pitch. Banda is tied for third-most goals this season (4) and is second in the league in on-target attempts; Marta is tied for fourth most goals (3).
Beyond that duo, Orlando stacks a compact 4-4 midfield / defense setup that makes it tough for other teams to work through. The midfield has standout players Ally Lemos and Ally Watt, while Emily Sams anchors the defense at center back, along with keeper Anna Moorehouse, though she left the pitch injured last week.
Last May, the Pride pummeled the Courage 4-1 in Orlando; the Courage fared better at home, playing to a 0-0 draw.
Part of the challenge in the 4-1 match was that it was one of Banda’s earliest NWSL games and the Courage were having difficulty adjusting. That’s unusual, and one thing working in favor of the Courage is that Marta and Banda tend to take over-the-top passes and go straight for goal. The Courage have defended this type of attack well in the past couple of years. Compare that to the back-and-forth passes between Haley Hopkins and Temwa Chawinga in the Kansas City match two weeks ago, which resulted in a goal for the Current.
Even so, the secret sauce to Orlando’s victories last year was a creative midfield that they can lean on when Banda and Marta are contained. If Orlando pulls ahead, they can clamp down with that 4-4 formation, and force the Courage to play suffer ball to the bitter end.
So get ready.
Courage news and updates
- Major news this week as the Courage announced the new Chief Soccer Officer and Sporting Director, Dr. Ceri Bowley.
- Jeff Kassouf did an interview for ESPN with Dr. Bowley.
- A press conference is slated for Friday, so we’ll be sure to bring more coverage.
- Ryan Williams was named to the NWSL best XI for the second month in a row.
- Former keeper Katelyn Rowland will head the Courage’s squad in The Soccer Tournament.
Around the league and beyond
- Jeff Kassouf has a new piece at ESPN exploring the long game for Washington Spirit owner Michele Kang, who says she’s looking to create “the number one team in each country.”
- A coalition of NWSL supporters groups launched #TransPeopleBelong campaign in support of the trans and queer community. Each group posted a similar social media thread providing history, current context and a call to action about ongoing harassment and harmful policy decisions. Plus, a cool t-shirt as a way of showing support! Below is the Uproar’s post; click through for the full thread.
That’s it for this week! As always, you can get in touch with tips, suggestions, corrections and more: contact@lionspitch.com.
Next match: Saturday, May 10, 7:30 pm ET
North Carolina Courage v. Orlando Pride
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