Good evening!
After a 2-1 loss on the road in Seattle, the Courage need a couple of decisive victories in the final four matches to make the playoffs. If at all possible, they also want to avoid the 8th and final spot, a matchup against shield champions Kansas City Current.
There are some signs of hope: a team that seems to be reading one another a little better lately, and some matchups that are winnable, especially at home. Let’s hope it’s Spooky Season for the opponents moving forward. 👻
Recap: Courage v. Seattle Reign
The Courage were largely in control for the first half of the match, holding the Reign to only two shots, neither on target, including an attempted chip from near midfield from Jess Fishlock.
The Reign nearly went up a point at the start of the second half, with forward Maddie Dahlienbesting defender Ryan Williams for a great shot at the goal. Dahlien was ruled offsides after a VAR review.
The Courage played Hannah Betfort at forward this week over Cortnee Vine, a solid move that paid dividends with a goal at 57’. Maycee Bell got a pass to an open Williams. And in this instance, Williams got the better of Dahlien, fielding a perfect cross in to Betfort, who headed the ball into the goal.
About 15 minutes later, the Reign had a quick throw in and pass series, with Emeri Adames attempting a cross to Dahlien. Williams was in position to defend, but reacted too quickly when the ball landed and the play resulted in an own goal. At the same time, midfielder Manaka Matsukubo had sustained an injury, potentially distracting the Courage side. Acting head coach Nathan Thackeray was forced to sub out Manaka, bringing in Natalia Staude. In the same window, Aline Gomes came in for Betfort.
Momentum shifted to the Reign at that point. While the Courage had a few good looks, including an opportunity for Riley Jackson, the team couldn’t pull ahead.
At 80’, Dahlien pulled the same fancy footwork she had in the previous goal that was reversed, beating out Williams and hitting the far post. This time, the goal counted, and Reign ended the match 2-1. Williams was subbed out at 87’, ending her potential Iron Woman run for the season.
Perhaps most frustrating on the Courage front was that throughout the match, there were plenty of crosses that didn’t find a receiver. Whether that’s a matter of timing and patience on the passer, or lack of support in the box, the imprecision meant a lot of giveaways and wasted builds. The Courage had tightened this up in recent matches, so this felt like a backslide.
It was also clear that Manaka is key to our offensive structure; without her, or at least without her OR Ashley Sanchez in that attacking midfield role, the Courage struggle. Hopefully one or both of them are healthy again next week.
On the bright side, as Katie notes in this week’s podcast, Jackson, Williams and Payton Linnehan are looking really comfortable with one another, forming excellent triangles to advance the ball. On the other side of the pitch, Tyler Lussi and Dani Weatherholt have been playing well defensively; add in the creativity of Shinomi Koyama, and you have a solid formation that can move the ball as well.
Standout stats
- Reign xG: 0.2; Courage xG: 0.9 Seattle was extremely efficient with only 3 shots (1 on target, and however you’d like to classify the own goal)
- 20 crosses from the Courage; as I said, if they can get more precise, the team’s attack will be more threatening.
- The Courage also continue to be stingy on giving up corners in the late season matches, with only 2 for Seattle.
- These stats for Lussi:
Look ahead: Courage v. Racing Louisville
This should be a pretty even matchup, viewed from a number of angles. These two teams tied 1-1 in a trash-weather game in March. Both teams recently have been playing with a similar 4-3-3 formation with a strong attacking midfielder. And Louisville sits just one spot above the Courage on the table, in 8th, the playoff cutoff line.
A Courage victory would essentially mean the teams swap places, regardless of what else happens on the table, so a lot rides on this game.
Racing Louisville continues to make micro strides year over year under head coach Bev Yanez. Even so, despite having a strong starting XI, Louisville has been struggling in form lately. They won last week against Angel City, but that was preceded by 3 losses and a draw.
Here’s a fun stat: Louisville is tied with Portland to lead the league in number of shots taken. In other words, they aren’t afraid to shoot, but aren’t particularly efficient at it. If the Courage settle in with their normally stout midfield and defense, Louisville should struggle in this match.
Racing is great at taking penalty shots (3rd in the league) but tied for 2nd in penalty goals conceded, so any infractions in the box could matter a lot in this match.
Taylor Flint and Kayla Fisher tend to draw a lot of yellow cards (Flint has the most in the league, while Fisher is in the top 10), so it might also be a foul-heavy matchup. Especially given the stakes.
Taken as a whole, the Courage need to repeat the effort they made against Angel City: a sharp, thoughtful, convincing home win. That might be a prelude to a strong finishing stretch. While a loss wouldn’t rule them out of the playoffs entirely, it would put a lot of pressure on the team to win out after that.
Courage news and updates
- Manaka is finally getting recognition. She was named a top 3 finalist for the Asia Football Confederation Women’s Youth Player of the Year award. She is also 4th in the league for shots on target. And according to FBRef, leads the league in goal-creating actions with 11 total.
- Journalist Taylor Vincent shared a fun stat for Shinomi from last week’s match:
Around the league and beyond
- The NWSL made a great move by announcing a series of events during championship week, making it a celebration of the season. This includes player awards, live podcasts, an event focused on the future of the business side of women’s sports and more. It’s a lot to look forward to!
- Playoff run update:
- Washington Spirit clinched their playoff berth
- Chicago Stars became the first team eliminated from the playoffs
- We were enjoying the graphic below from Alison Gale. There’s nothing quite like NWSL chaos!
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, October 4, 7:30 pm ET
North Carolina Courage v. Racing Louisville
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