Herriman, Utah (July 5, 2020) – The North Carolina Courage relied on a late goal from captain Abby Erceg to gain the edge over the Chicago Red Stars in the preliminary round of the NWSL Challenge Cup. The 1-0 victory marks the Courage’s third win in tournament play. With nine points, the Courage remain atop Challenge Cup standings.

The Courage outshot the Red Stars 15-5 in the match, finally gaining an advantage when Jaelene Daniels lofted a ball into the box from just beyond the eighteen and found the head of Abby Erceg, who scored her first goal of the Challenge Cup tournament to put the Courage up by a score of 1-0. “Our first half performance wasn’t as good as we wanted it to be,” Erceg said in a postgame interview. “When we came out [for the second half], we wanted to be a little bit sharper, a little bit quicker. We took advantage of that in a set piece, and obviously, I was really happy about that.” Prior to Erceg’s game-winning goal, the Courage created numerous scoring opportunities in the first half, maintaining possession in the attacking third and challenging Chicago goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher with a relentless press spearheaded by Crystal Dunn, Debinha and Sam Mewis. In the 19th minute, Sam Mewis drove a shot towards the left corner of the net, with Naeher narrowly making a diving save. Later, in the 43rd minute, Mewis struck a low shot for the second time, only for Naeher to make yet another last-minute stop. Ultimately, it was Erceg who would break past the wall that was Alyssa Naeher to secure another victory for the Courage. Erceg’s performance against the Red Stars earned her the honors of Budweiser Woman of the Match and Charles and Colvard Brilliant Player of the Match. Katelyn Rowland recorded both her first start and her first clean sheet of the 2020 season in today’s match. In the 20th minute, Rowland made a notable save on a breakaway by Kealia Watt to render the Red Stars scoreless.

Up Next: The North Carolina Courage will face Sky Blue FC on Monday, July 13 at 10 p.m. EST to finish the preliminary round of the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup.

Notes:

• Katelyn Rowland and Ryan Williams recorded their first starts of the 2020 season. 

• The Courage took twelve corner kicks compared to Chicago’s five. 

• Abby Erceg scored her first goal of the Challenge Cup tournament. 

• Katelyn Rowland recorded her first shutout of the 2020 season.

Box:

NCC (4-4-2 Box): Katelyn Rowland; Ryan Williams, Abby Dahlkemper, Abby Erceg ©, Jaelene Daniels; Denise O’Sullivan, Samantha Mewis, Crystal Dunn (Lauren Milliet, 70’), Debinha (Meredith Speck, 85’); Kristen Hamilton (Hailie Mace, 70’), Lynn Williams

Subs Not Used: Stephanie Labbe, Kaleigh Kurtz, McKenzie Meehan, Jessica McDonald, Lindsay Agnew, Cari Roccaro, Hailey Harbison, Sinclaire Miramontez, Addisyn Merrick, Sam Murphy

CHI (4-3-3): Alyssa Naeher; Bianca St. Georges (Zoey Goralski, 87’), Julie Ertz ©, Sarah Gorden, Casey Short; Danielle Colaprico (Savannah McCaskill, 64’), Morgan Gautrat, Vanessa Dibernardo; Kealia Watt (Katie Johnson, 80’), Yuki Nagasato (Makenzy Doniak, 80’), Rachel Hill (Michele Vasconcelos, 80’)

Subs Not Used: Zoe Morse, Ella Stevens, Sarah Luebbert, Emily Boyd, Zoe Redei, Julie Bingham, Cassie Rohan, Tierna Davidson, Kayla Sharples, Hannah Davison, Cassie Miller

Score:

NCC: 1 CHI: 0

Goals:

NCC: Abby Erceg (Jaelene Daniels, 81’) CHI:

Cautions:

NCC: — CHI: —

Ejections:

NCC: — CHI: —