HOUSTON, TX (October 10, 2021) – The North Carolina Courage fell to the Houston Dash in a high-scoring contest on Sunday night. Jessica McDonald tallied the lone goal for the Courage, piecing together a stellar offensive performance despite the unfavorable result. Bri Visalli and Shea Groom each added individual goals for the Dash and Rachel Daly scored the brace as the Dash came away with three points. With the result, the Courage move into fourth place in the table, with an opportunity to advance in the cards as the North Carolina side returns home to face the Washington Spirit on Wednesday evening.

“It’s a tough one, because I feel that everything we expected happened, in terms of how [the Dash] were going to play and how they were going to press, and we played into it a little bit,” said Head Coach Sean Nahas following the match. “I don’t know if that was a lack of focus or what have you, but the one thing that I’ll say is that the players competed. I’m not going to sugarcoat anything, it has been a long ten days. It wasn’t our best performance. I just think we got hit with a wave that we very rarely get hit with.” Courage captain Abby Erceg also shared her thoughts on the road match, saying, “In times like this, when it’s quite stressful, being able to find something that you love and being able to find that outlet for stress, I think we’re quite lucky in that and it’s been a bit of a godsend for us actually. I can’t say enough good things [about Sean], he’s done a really good job, he’s made sure that we have everything that we need and he’s made sure that the players are supported. Most of all, he’s getting our focus back on soccer. I think most importantly, he’s bringing the group back to that because at the end of the day, that’s what we do and that’s what we want to do.” Within the first five minutes of the match, Jessica McDonald collected her fourth goal of the season, giving the Courage an early lead. The goal-scoring play began at the hands of Kaleigh Kurtz, who played a long ball upfield to find McDonald in stride. Leaving two defenders in her wake, McDonald took several touches in quick succession before burying a shot past Jane Campbell and into the lower ninety. The lead would be short-lived, however, as Dash forward Bri Visalli put away an equalizer in the 6th minute to knot the score at 1-1. In the 24th minute, Dash captain Rachel Daly added Houston’s second goal of the night on a cross from Nichelle Prince, one-timing the ball to score her eighth goal of the season and double Houston’s lead. Minutes later, a service from Kristie Mewis found the head of Shea Groom in the box as the midfielder put away a third for the Houston side to render the score 3-1 as the half expired. Daly recorded the brace thirteen minutes into the second half, capitalizing on a cross from Bri Visalli to give the Dash a 4-1 advantage. With the brace, Daly is now tied with Ashley Hatch of the Washington Spirit and Bethany Balcer of the OL Reign for the most goals scored this season. Despite the Courage’s best efforts to cut into Houston’s lead, the North Carolina side was unable to find the net as the match drew to a close.

Match Notes:

• Jessica McDonald scored her fourth goal of the season.

• The Courage maintained 81% passing accuracy in tonight’s contest.

• Kaleigh Kurtz recorded her first assist of the season.

Up Next: The North Carolina Courage will return to Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park to face the Washington Spirit on Wednesday, October 13 at 7:30 p.m. ET. Tickets are available here, and the match will air live on Paramount+.

Box Score:

NCC (3-5-1): Casey Murphy, Kaleigh Kurtz, Carson Pickett, Abby Erceg©, Merritt Mathias (Ryan Williams — 68’), Denise O’Sullivan (Havana Solaun — 68’), Debinha (Cari Roccaro — 75’), Angharad James, Lynn Williams (Taylor Smith — 75’), Amy Rodriguez (Meredith Speck — 55’), Jessica McDonald Subs Not Used: Diane Caldwell, Rylee Baisden, Lindsay Agnew, Brittany Ratcliffe, Samantha Murphy HOU (4-3-2): Jane Campbell, Allysha Chapman, Megan Oyster, Katie Naughton, Haley Hanson (Jasmyne Spencer — 78’), Sophie Schmidt, Shea Groom (Gabby Seiler — 72’), Kristie Mewis (Makamae Gomera-Stevens — 85’), Bri Visalli (Veronica Latsko — 78’), Rachel Daly, Nichelle Prince (Michaela Abam — 85’) Subs Not Used: Lindsey Harris, Andrea Hauksdottir, Michelle Alozie, Annika Schmidt

Score:
NC: 1
HOU: 4

Goals:
NC: Jessica McDonald — 4’
HOU: Bri Visalli — 6’, Rachel Daly — 24’, 57’, Shea Groom — 26’

Cautions:
NC: Abby Erceg — 66’
HOU: Megan Oyster — 19’

Ejections:
NC: —
HOU: —