Plus: Ashley Sanchez wins Golden Boot; Sheridan, Williams honored with Iron Woman achievement
Hello Courage Country! Welcome to our final regular newsletter of the 2026 season.
The NC Courage ended on a high note with a home win, record-breaking attendance across the season, and forward Ashley Sanchez claiming the 2026 NWSL Golden Boot.
Even so, the club missed the playoffs for the second year in a row. Seattle’s home win over Orlando shut the Courage out of the final spot. The team finished 9th in the league of 14 teams.
The club made it clear all season the playoffs were a goal. It would be a stretch for a team that had a new head coach and plenty of offseason turnover. After a strong midseason performance, however, the playoffs seemed within reach. The team peaked at #3 on the table (once early, and again midway through).
In the final third of the season, the team lost 6 of 10 matches, and were ultimately unable to recover from this slide. This raises questions about whether the team can find its rhythm at the end of a long season, and whether coaching staff can make needed adjustments when competing squads challenge their core strategy.
2027 will be an exciting year for women’s soccer, with the Women’s World Cup kicking off in June and two expansion sides gearing up for a 2028 launch. The Courage can capitalize on this excitement with a strong showing that earns them a clear spot in the playoff race.
While this is our final planned newsletter for the year, we’ll hit your inboxes if there’s any major breaking news, and return to our regular weekly coverage in February 2027.
Take note! Tomorrow, we’ll release our usual weekly recap podcast. After that, we’ll have one more episode evaluating the season as a whole and discussing changes needed for 2027.
What we learned: Courage v. Denver Summit
A late season strategy change
The Courage posted a surprising starting lineup, with forward Ally Schlegel starting over Evelyn Ijeh, who has posted 11 goals this season, tying for 8th in the league. Schlegel had scored in the previous matchup against Denver, and also has the capability to make progressive runs behind defensive lines, which may have factored into the decision.
Also noteworthy was Bia Gomes starting on the right wing for the second straight week, where Gianna Paul had previously gotten the nod.
This added up to a more direct attack for the Courage, a highly unusual approach for their side. It disrupted Denver, forcing several challenging runs for center back (and former Courage defender) Kaleigh Kurtz, who ultimately knocked a ball in for an own goal, giving the Courage the 1-0 victory in stoppage time.
Evenly Matched Teams … That Felt Mid-Table
As Katie says on this week’s podcast, if you were a neutral observer of this match, it was an exciting one to watch. Momentum swung back and forth as the teams made in-game tactical adjustments.
The problem was that neither team looked as sharp as the top teams in the NWSL. Missed scoring opportunities, holes in both midfields, and periodic lapses on the back lines made both sides look solidly mid-table. Thirty matches into the season and teams are roughly where they should be in the rankings. Sure, the Courage can (and have) challenge a team like Seattle, but facing down Gotham, San Diego or Washington feels out of reach.
In particular, the Courage were struggling to prevent an attack on their left side. Denver used the speed of midfielder Ayo Oke and forward Yazmeen Ryan, along with the physicality and precision of midfielder Lindsey Heaps, to repeatedly beat Courage defenders and work the ball toward goal. Roughly half of Denver’s attacks came this way, and it’s something for the Courage to evaluate in the offseason.
Standout stats
Two things are noteworthy here.
First, the Courage earned 6 corners, but were unable to capitalize on any of them, a persistent challenge throughout the season.
Second, Denver had 9 shots inside the box to the Courage’s 5. However, Denver only had 4 total shots on target, and the Courage had 5.
I’ll take pinpoint accuracy over shot volume any day, but it’s worth noting in terms of the eyeball test that Kailen Sheridan had to make several excellent saves to keep the clean sheet.
Coverage until February 2027
On this week’s podcast, out tomorrow, we play clips from head coach Mak Lind and co-captains Sheridan and Natalie Jacobs on initial steps the Courage will be taking in the offseason.
As for The Lion’s Pitch, we have the upcoming season recap podcast, and will resume our weekly coverage when NWSL kicks off again in February 2027.
Courage news and updates
- Sanchez is your official 2026 Golden Boot winner for scoring the most goals in the regular season.
- Sheridan and Ryan Williams received 2026 Iron Woman honors for playing every minute of the regular season.
- From the Courage: “Sheridan recorded her 700th NWSL regular season save during the first half. She is just the third goalkeeper in NWSL history to hit the milestone. The clean sheet was also her 51st, the second-most of any goalkeeper in NWSL history.”
- Preliminary rosters for CONCACAF W Championships were released. These are the USWNT World Cup qualifiers happening later this month. Please note this will get pared down, but Ashley Sanchez and Riley Jackson are both on the initial list.
Around the league and beyond
- Here’s Taylor Vincent over at Spotrac detailing NWSL’s new rules for Atlanta and Columbus to build their rosters as they work over the next year to join the league in 2028. As Jeff Kassouf at ESPN joked, “Allocation money is dead. Long live allocation money.”
- Also notable: the teams are allowed to acquire players, then loan them out again for 2027. This includes loans back to their original clubs. Look for savvy teams like Gotham to take advantage of this.
- Speaking of Kassouf, he led the annual ESPN survey of NWSL GMs. It’s always eye-opening, in part because responses are anonymous so GMs can speak freely.
That’s it for this week season!
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