Plus: a look ahead to Orlando
Hmmmmmmm. 🤔
That Utah match was one of the strangest we’ve seen in professional soccer, so it’s hard to make much of the lopsided 1-4 loss. All of the goals for Utah came from set pieces, and we’ll break down how unusual that is below.
On the bright side, we saw a great goal from Evelyn Ijeh and the first NWSL start for Erica Meg Parkinson.
On Friday, the Courage play Orlando at home. Orlando is just two points ahead of the Courage on the table, so it’s a golden opportunity to reclaim a spot above the playoff line and turn around their three-loss streak.
What we learned: Courage v. Utah Royals
Not much, because corner goals are unusual
A number consistently borne out in soccer data analysis is that corners result in goals only 3.3% of the time, meaning once for about every 30 corners taken. That increases slightly for short corners. (Just for fun, here’s great FIFA analysis of the 2023 Women’s World Cup showing corners were more successful than usual for that tournament; they were excited because the rate was … 4.7% instead of 3.4%, so maybe the winds are changing).
To see three successful corners in a single match is almost unheard of. To Utah’s credit, all three of their successful corners consisted of a different attack, keeping the Courage defenders scrambling. They also learned to work the Courage’s right side to keep earning more corners throughout the match.
Interestingly, Utah lead the league in allowing corner kicks to be taken, so if we were going to see such a lopsided issue, you’d think it would have been the other way around.
We saw a different, effective press from the Courage
Outside of set piece goals, the Courage finally seemed to have corrected their first half issues, battling early on. This match was a midfield slugfest, and while there are still issues with pass interceptions, one bright spot was the Courage press.
Coming out of the half, Utah could not get the ball moving out of the back, frequently dumping the ball away as Shinomi Koyama, Riley Jackson, Ijeh and Ashley Sanchez kept pressure high up the pitch.
Ijeh got in keeper Mandy McGlynn’s head, and McGlynn would anxiously flick “undercooked or overcooked passes,” as Katie said in this week’s podcast. On the lone Courage goal, Ijeh was heading toward McGlynn, who gave a weak kick up the middle of the field, which was picked up by Shinomi, who immediately got tangled up with McGlynn. The ball popped out, and Ijeh hit a tight shot through the legs of center back Kate Del Fava and past a second defender for the goal.
It looked opportunistic, but it only worked because of all the great pressure from Ijeh before that point.
Parkinson is looking like a solid addition
Last week, Parkinson debuted, subbing into the match against Bay. This week, she earned her first start. As with any young player, there are flashes of the opponent performing a welcome-to-the-NWSL workaround to Parkinson, but on the whole, she was a dynamic player, with freedom to range quite a bit around the pitch.
Parkinson posted:
- 5 tackles
- 1 block
- 1 nice long ball
- 1 shot on target
- 8/10 duels won
- 88% pass accuracy (29/33)
- and never lost the ball once
I suspect we’ll continue to see her in the starting lineup moving forward.
Standout stats
Well, there were those corner kicks.
Otherwise, the Courage kept pressure up with 22 shots to Utah’s 13, but Utah had 8 on target to the Courage’s 6, leading us to still be concerned about precision in shooting.
Utah’s overall defensive effort was outstanding, blocking 8 shots and intercepting 16 passes. On the Courage, side, they won the majority of ground duels, which kept the match interesting in the midfield.
Look ahead: Courage v. Orlando
Y’all know Orlando. They’ve had one of the more consistent lineups in the NWSL the past few seasons, and have superstars Marta and Barbra Banda. They beat the Courage 0-1 in May.
There are a few differences this time around, starting with Banda being out for WAFCON duties. Additionally, Carson Pickett went to the Denver Summit after the May match.
Orlando like to take a lot of shots, though many of them are wild in terms of accuracy. They’re also a very physical team, which is often a challenge for the Courage. Orlando earned four yellow cards in the last matchup alone. Also noteworthy, given the Courage’s last couple of matches, is that Orlando is second best in the league at interceptions, just behind Bay FC.
For the Courage, two things will be key. First, despite all their shots, Orlando only scored one goal in their last five matches. If the Courage can put up a goal early, they have a good shot at taking all three points on the table. Second, possession will matter. The team can’t give the ball away with multiple interceptions and expect to beat the Pride.
That’s it for this week! As always, you can get in touch with tips, suggestions, corrections and more: contact@lionspitch.com.
Next match: Friday, July 31, 8:00 pm ET
North Carolina Courage v. Orlando Pride
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