Hello Courage Country!
The Courage showed a lot of grit and patience in a nil-nil draw against defending champions Gotham FC last weekend.
Coming up, they have a favorable matchup against a 1-1 Bay FC, who are traveling to the Triangle area on Saturday. We expect the Courage to show a little more offense-minded setup against Bay, so hopefully we’ll see some points on the scoreboard … and possibly the table.
Let’s take a look.
Recap: Courage v. Gotham FC
The match started with Gotham seemingly getting the upper hand. The Courage were scrambling to prevent a few quick attacks. They were saved by their unusual, defense-minded 5-2-3 formation. Natalia Staude joined the back line, helping to create a lot of congestion and forcing Gotham to make some creative shots, most of which were off target.
As for the Courage, they didn’t even take a shot for the first 30 minutes of play. Even with the formation they showed, it’s hard to imagine that was by design. The team will need to find some answers for managing an aggressive press, which has caused issues in both of the first two matches. In particular, it seemed Ryan Williams and Feli Rauch were asked to serve as wingbacks, but weren’t finding much room to move forward. Aside from a lone shot from Ashley Sanchez at 32’, all three remaining first half attempts came just before the half ended.
Defensively, there were plenty of bright spots. Maycee Bell was doing a fantastic job facing down emerging Gotham star Jordynn Dudley. Riley Jackson was all over the pitch causing problems, and while it doesn’t show up in the stats, Ashley Sanchez was also forcing Gotham players out of their lanes to avoid her.
The Courage showed better form in the second half of the match, making more heads-up progressive passes. Substitutes, including the debuts of Sydney Schmidt and Evelyn Ijeh, were disrupting Gotham’s attempts to regain a rhythm. After an injury to Natalie Jacobs, defender Uno Shiragaki also had her debut, looking formidable and bringing a lot of disruptive energy to the pitch.
While the Courage still didn’t show much of a scoring threat, pulling out a draw against a team as tough as Gotham still offers some positive signs for the club. The Courage have yet to see their full contingent of forwards available, with Ally Schlegel and Olivia Wingate out, and Manaka Matsukubo competing in the AFC Women’s Asian cup. Ijeh only returned from international play the week before, getting very few reps with her new club. Hopefully, the Courage will have some more pieces available Saturday, and can find some more threatening scoring opportunities.
We have some great thoughts from head coach Mak Lind and co-captain Carly Wickenheiser on this week’s podcast, which is released tomorrow.
Standout stats
- Gotham had 59% possession (41% for the Courage). The Courage struggled at times to retain possession, though a lot of the dueling and interception stats are fairly even.
- Perhaps speaking to the lack of Courage scoring threat, and certainly to their defensive mindset, Gotham had twice as many passes in the opposition half.
- Maycee Bell had 11 defensive actions, more than double anyone else with the Courage, according to FotMob.
Look ahead: Courage v. Bay FC
Bay is an unusual club. They finished next-to-last on the table in 2025, but made very few adjustments in the offseason. Katie argues this point on the pod, noting the Claire Hutton deal alone is a major win. They also have a new head coach in Emma Coates. And recently they announced the loan of Juventus star Cristiana Girelli to bolster their forward line.
Still, they retained many of their starters, and while the Courage certainly set a new benchmark in terms of turnover, there won’t be a lot of changes in what we see from Bay this year. So far they’ve beaten expansion side Denver Summit, but lost 3-1 to Angel City, sitting squarely mid-table.
So far, Bay has been consistently showing a 4-2-3-1, with Jordan Silkowitz in goal. Former Courage players Brooklyn Courtnall (on loan to Bay much of last year) and Sydney Collins serve on defense.
The midfield is locked down by Claire Hutton and former Duke star Hannah Bebar, as good a midfield pairing as the Courage’s own Wickenheiser and Jackson.
Forward Taylor Huff got a red card last week, so will sit this match out. Bay has otherwise run through variations with Racheal Kundananji, Karlie Lema and now Girelli up top. It’s a formidable forward line, but maybe not as cohesive as Gotham’s, so expect the Courage to show a bit more of an aggressive formation than last week to try to earn a few goals.
Courage news and updates
- Manaka was part of the AFC Asian Women’s Cup championship team, as Japan defeated Australia 1-0 in the final. Both teams have qualified for the 2027 Women’s World Cup.
- One more tease for tomorrow’s podcast: we’ve been hearing some interesting cultural changes from Mak Lind, who has been encouraging more positive celebrations from the team. It’s a slight shift from before, and worth dissecting a bit. You can find us wherever you get your podcasts.
Around the league and beyond
- The biggest story this week has been the high use of red cards in the first two weeks of the season, with referees issuing 6 cards already, after 11 total in all of 2025. The always-excellent Tamerra Griffin at The Athletic covers the issue, including a quote from former Courage defender Kaleigh Kurtz (subscription required).
- This marks the first week of the new mid-week Wednesday matchups; neither the Courage nor Bay are affected this week.
- You simply HAVE to read this profile in The Athletic, in which USWNT player Phallon Tullis-Joyce feeds a komodo dragon. Apparently, I’m not the only crossover sports / biology nerd.
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, March 28, 7:00 pm ET
North Carolina Courage v. Bay FC
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