With a new club anthem, new kits, strong attendance, trio of veteran captains and 3 points on the table, the North Carolina Courage opened the 2026 season with a bang.
It will take time for many of the season’s outstanding questions to be answered, but the team demonstrated they could pull together and put up a solid victory. The match stands as an initial testament to the team’s offseason moves, including bringing in new head coach Mak Lind.
The players are clearly enjoying the new direction, with veterans Ryan Williams, Riley Jackson and Ashley Sanchez at varying pre- and post-game interviews offering genuine, positive evaluations of their time with the coaching staff so far, as well as the team culture.
In a post-match interview, Sanchez said to us she’s appreciated how clear organized Mak Lind has been. In response to a question from journalist Eboni Christmas, Sanchez added, “Honestly, I think I’ve just been really excited for a … fresh start for our team. It’s just honestly been a super positive vibe this whole preseason. Like we’ve just really lifted each other up and given each other confidence. And I think that showed tonight.”
Small touches brought the season to life in a positive way as well. Both the players and the crowd appeared energized by the new anthem, Kygo and Whitney Houston’s “Higher Love,” with the players belting out the song even as the starters were taking a team photo. At the end of the match, the team also danced along to the song near the supporters’ section. The club said the song was selected through a voting process with fans, coaches and players.
With so many new faces on and off the pitch, the club might have been forgiven for a draw, or even a stumble in their first match of the season. But a win secures a fresh narrative, a welcome change from the offseason skepticism leading up to this week.
Sustaining this momentum while traveling next week to a championship-caliber Gotham team will be tough. But at least Courage fans have some hope to pin on this year’s squad.
Finally, we have a special guest this week on our podcast, Bill Nottingham. He has a terrific blog with occasional analysis of the NC Courage. You can find his blog here, and the Lion’s Pitch podcast episode will drop on Thursday.
Recap: Courage v. Racing Louisville
We said last week Louisville is a great bellwether team for the league, being a perpetual mid-table squad. They showed up in strong form.
Louisville is a tough, frustrating team to play. They own chaos as an identity, and sewed plenty of it during the match. At times, the Courage had significant challenges moving the ball out of their own third of the pitch, thanks to an aggressive high press from Louisville (Gotham is surely taking note). They also battle at every second for the ball, sometimes creating surprising opportunities.
When the Courage made some builds, they looked solid, often electing outside lanes over going anywhere near Louisville midfielder Taylor Flint. Lind has also stated a desire for the team to fight more for the ball in all areas of the pitch, and not automatically recycle. Some of that was evident during the match. And the Courage retained from previous years the ability to shut down the opponent’s star scoring threat. Emma Sears even changed sides early in the match, but still found little space to work.
The first Courage goal came early, at the 29’ mark. Throughout the match, Williams was given freedom to own the right sideline, pushing Linnehan slightly more central. This strategic positioning allowed Williams and Natalie Jacobs to work the ball to Linnehan, who offered a short cross into Sanchez. Sanchez had been stalking the play, ready to strike, and did a flying leap into the ball, blowing past keeper Jordyn Bloomer. Here’s a look:
Louisville equalized just before the half. To illustrate the issue with their high press, they disrupted a pass from Sheridan just enough deflect it to … Emma Sears. Sears wasted no time dribbling forward and hitting a perfect short cross in to Sarah Weber, who hit a goal eerily similar to Sanchez’ earlier in the match.
Finally, at the 86’ mark, again Williams and Jacobs had some terrific interplay, working the ball to Lauryn Thompson. Her kick bounced off a defender, toward Shinomi Koyama, who contained the ball with a high kick. She passed wide to Sanchez, who scored on a high floating shot, even with a bit of deflection from Racing.
Opening matches have so many noteworthy moments, including the NWSL debut of Carly Wickenheiser and the club debut for Kailen Sheridan (who had several astonishing saves). Toward the end, we saw the professional debut of Wake Forest native Thompson and the return of Feli Rauch from injury. Not to mention the first professional brace for Sanchez.
Final thought: the post-game interview gave us this gem with Sheridan soaking Sanchez (you can click through for a video):
Standout stats
The stats from this match are a little out of sync with the perceived performance … and even within themselves.
For instance, shots on goal were tied at 5, but xG for Racing Louisville was 2.53, while it was only 1.04 for the Courage (we note on the podcast a lot of Louisville’s xG was weighted to one series of attempts, and controlling for those, the xG smooths out).
You might think from the xG that Racing had more shots, or more possession, but the Courage did their thing and dominated possession 61% to 39%.
I think the perception that Racing was more threatening came from several opportunistic shots, including one up-and-over boot to Sears, who couldn’t get it past Sheridan.
Look ahead: Courage v. Gotham FC
At times, Gotham’s championship run last season felt a little like a fluke. They entered the playoffs at the cutoff line. They relied heavily on goals from a single player, Esther González, to carry them to that point. But in the playoffs, Gotham looked like a contender, reminding NWSL fans that they pack talent and depth onto their roster.
They spent some time and money shoring up their weaknesses, first late last season by nabbing Jaedyn Shaw from the Courage, and then in the offseason with Savannah McCaskill moving over from San Diego Wave.
On defense, the team is struggling with players returning from injury. Tierna Davidson was listed as a sub last week, but didn’t play. Lily Reale was questionable following an injury with the US Women’s National Team, but did play. In any case, it forced Midge Purce to the back line for the Boston match.
In the midfield, they of course have Rose Lavelle and Jaelin Howell alongside McCaskill.
And despite losing forwards Ella Stevens to Boston, Gabi Portilho to San Diego, and Geyse returning to Club América after her loan ended, Gotham boasts plenty of forward power. Esther scored last week, and Gotham made one of the great offseason college recruiting moves bringing in Jordynn Dudley.
As if that weren’t enough, they announced this week they’ve signed Norwegian forward Guro Reitan.
Along with Kansas City and the Washington Spirit, Gotham represents one of the top three toughest matchups in the league.
Courage news and updates
- Sanchez was named NWSL player of the week, the only player to get a brace (which makes her the current scoring leader in the NWSL, fun!). The second goal was also named Goal of the Week.
- Manaka got her first senior team goal in Japan’s 7-0 victory over the Philippines in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup, which qualifies Japan for the Women’s World Cup next year. Australia will compete in the final against the winner of the Japan and South Korea match. (If you happen to see this newsletter when it hits your inbox, you can turn on the game right now and see how Japan is doing.)
Around the league and beyond
- The biggest trade news this week is a monster deal San Diego Wave signed with USWNT forward Catarina Macario, $8m through 2030.
- Both expansion sides, Denver Summit and Boston Legacy, received red cards last week. Boston’s came from stacking yellow cards shown to former Courage player Bianca St-Georges, who was uniquely positioned as a center back and working to contain Gotham’s Jordynn Dudley.
- The Spirit and Orlando Pride faced surprising defeats at home in their opening matches, falling to Portland and Seattle respectively.
- Only Angel City had a lopsided win, putting up 4-0 against the Chicago Stars.
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 21, 6:30 pm ET
North Carolina Courage v. NY/NJ Gotham FC
Away
Streaming on: Ion