Interview with Courage CBO Ralph Vuono out tomorrow!
Hello Courage Country!
We tackled the biggest news of the month-long break in our special edition on Monday: the transfer of midfielder Manaka Matsukubo to Chelsea, as well as the acquisition of England National Team midfielder Erica Meg Parkinson. As a reminder, Parkinson is first available to be rostered for next week’s match against Bay FC. It will be interesting to see what kind of minutes we’ll see from her early on, as the Courage are well-known for their ability to work young players up to starting roles (see: Riley Jackson, Ryan Williams and, well, Manaka).
Additionally, we grade the changes made to the player and coaching personnel based on the team’s 2026 performance so far. The NC Courage, like all NWSL teams, continue to be a work in progress, so our assessment will likely fluctuate over the course of the season. You can find that post here: Evaluating the 2026 Courage to Date.
Finally, the Courage Chief Business Officer, Ralph Vuono, sat down with us last week to discuss how the club is approaching marketing, earning so many sell-out crowds, tackling summer weather conditions, and more. It’s a great, wide-ranging discussion, and will drop tomorrow on our podcast.
Let’s take a look at the Seattle matchup, as well as our preview of the Spirit match this weekend.
What we learned: Courage v. Seattle Reign
There is life after Manaka
The top two questions on everyone’s mind coming into this match were how the team solidified during the World Cup break, and how the team would look without Manaka, now that she’s transferred to Chelsea.
The excessive heat was a major factor, with players starting in conditions just below the league’s cutoff (if you don’t know what a wet bulb thermometer reading is, consider yourself lucky it doesn’t affect whether you’re required to play soccer).
Ashley Sanchez earned a brace, and is now second in the league’s golden boot race with 9 goals, just behind Barbra Banda’s 11 goals. Jackson scored on a penalty kick after Ally Schlegel was tripped on a threatening run.
The Courage currently sit sixth on the table with two games in hand on league leaders San Diego and Portland.
The Courage remain a second-half team
The Courage looked shaky in the first half, although to be fair, so did Seattle, given the heat. Seattle scored first, but Sanchez quickly equalized stripping the ball off an opponent, passing it to Evelyn Ijeh, who passed it forward to Sanchez for a goal.
The usually stalwart defense looked a little muddled in the first half, and defensive midfielder Shinomi Koyama acknowledged to us after the match that communication wasn’t great at first, but they figured it out as the match went on. We also talked to head coach Mak Lind about it, and the team’s solidified performance in the second half, which we’ll play in this week’s podcast.
Depth is paying off
Uno Shiragaki, filling in for the injured Natalie Jacobs, made an astonishing tackle in the match. When Carly Wickenheiser started flagging, left back Feli Rauch was subbed in as a winger and solidified the midfield. Lauryn Thompson and Ivy Younce continue to look strong when they have minutes. It’s great to see depth up-and-down the pitch paying off for the Courage.
Underrated play
Early in the match, around 9’, the Courage pinned Seattle deep with the ball. The Courage opted to press very high, with Shinomi running near the Reign’s back line. Seattle saw the opportunity, and kicked a sailing ball down field for a dangerous run.Here’s a long ball deep into Courage territory
Mia Fishel got a cross off, beating Maycee Bell and Uno.
Williams recognized the inbound runner (you can see the chase in the photo above) and disrupted the play, saving what would likely have been an on-target shot from Sally Menti.
Jackson recognizes Maddie Dahlien is making a second run, and positions herself perfectly to deflect it.
Look ahead: Courage v. Washington Spirit
Third in the league, the Spirit are an undoubtedly tough opponent. For some perspective, with a 7-3-2 record, they aren’t infallible. That’s only one more win than the 6-3-3 Courage.
The Spirit boast so much talent, I could easily list the entire roster, but a few highlights are center backs Tara Rudd and Esme Morgan, Hal Hershfelt at midfield, and perhaps the most enviable front line in the NWSL with Trinity Rodman, Leicy Santos, Claudia Martínez and Sofia Cantore.
The Courage will have their work cut out for them. Katie is looking forward to how our defense matches up with the Spirit offense. I’ll be keeping an eye on attacks down the Courage left side, to see if things get shored up there.
Courage news and updates
- Chief Soccer Officer, Dr. Ceri Bowley, did an interview with Full Time this week. His interview starts around 28:30 mark at the link. It reiterates many of the same points we reported, and confirmed the team did offer the High Impact Player option to Manaka. It’s a great interview for perspective on the club’s efforts at recruitment and retention, and they also touch a bit on Sanchez’s outstanding performance this year.
- The Courage have extended Shinomi Koyama’s contract through the 2029 season.
Around the league and beyond
There were plenty of transfers during the last month off. Here are a few highlights:
- Jeff Kassouf at ESPN reports Emma Sears has requested a trade from Racing Louisville, and, in an understatement, says “several NWSL teams have expressed serious interest in acquiring her services.”
- You’ve probably seen by now that Australian star Sam Kerr is headed to Gotham; she did a delightful interview with Sam Mewis this week.
- Speaking of Gotham, they’re moving to New York City proper in 2028, killing many of the jokes I make on the podcast, so I’ll have to find some new material. They’ll play at NYCFC’s new stadium, Etihad Park. The club is starting with a 5-year lease, with the option to extend to 15 years.
- Underreported: In the lease agreement with the city for the land use, NYCFC committed to finding a women’s team to share the space, in an effort to increase the utility of the stadium deal. This fulfills that commitment.
- Ally Sentnor transferred from Kansas City to Angel City, per ESPN.
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, July 11, 6:30 pm ET
North Carolina Courage v. Washington Spirit
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