NWSL Regular Season Week 19 – NJ/NY Gotham FC
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MATCH RECAP: Courage blank Gotham FC, 3-0, Saturday in home finale

MATCH RECAP: Courage blank Gotham FC, 3-0, Saturday in home finale

NWSL Regular Season Week 19 – NJ/NY Gotham FC

CARY, N.C. (Sept. 24, 2022) — The North Carolina Courage ended their home regular season with a bang, and that didn’t even include the post-match fireworks, with a 3-0 win over NJ/NY Gotham FC Saturday night in front of 6,376 fans at WakeMed Soccer Park. By capturing three more points with a seventh win in nine contests, the Courage remain in the thick of the playoff chase entering next week’s regular-season finale.

Debinha continued her run of outstanding play with a hat-trick to lead the Courage attack, the first hat-trick by a Courage player since the 2019 season. The Courage rattled off 22 shots, including 14 on target, held 60% of possession and connected 542 passes for an 86.3% accuracy, the second straight match with a passing accuracy of 85% or higher. After several early chances, the Courage broke through before the half-hour mark when Carson Pickett rolled a through ball down the left side for Debinha to run onto and she side-stepped the Gotham keeper before ripping a low-angle shot into the far side netting to open the scoring. Just seven minutes later, Ryan Williams served a cross from the right side and Debinha smashed it on the volley to double the advantage, a 2-0 scoreline the Courage would take into the halftime locker room. The Courage removed all doubt in the 81st minute when Tess Boade drew the defense to the middle of the field and laid a pass wide for Debinha, who waltzed into the box and chipped the keeper to get the celebration started early. The Courage will now watch several key NWSL matches on Sunday, Sept. 25, to learn the playoff scenarios headed into the final week of the regular season.

Match Notes:

  • Debinha now has 12 goals on the season, tied with Sofia Smith (Portland) for second in the Golden Boot race behind Alex Morgan (15).
  • NCC pitched their fourth multi-goal shutout win of the season and pushed their goal-scoring streak to 13 consecutive matches, which remains the longest active streak in the NWSL
  • The Courage regained the outright lead for goals scored in the NWSL season (46) and extended their league-lead in assists with 33.
  • The Courage earned their second clean sheet against NJY this season, aggregate 4-0 in two wins.

Next Match: The Courage finish the NWSL regular season on the road against the San Diego Wave at the brand-new SnapDragon Stadium on Friday, Sept. 30, with a 10 p.m. ET kickoff on the west coast. Visit www.nccourage.com and follow @TheNCCourage on social media throughout the week for post-season scenarios and updates.

Box Score:

NC (4-4-2): Casey Murphy, Carson Pickett (Merritt Mathias), Abby Erceg ©, Kaliegh Kurtz, Ryan Williams, Denise O’Sullivan (Malia Berkely), Brianna Pinto (Meredith Speck), Fuka, Debinha (Rylee Baisden), Diana Ordóñez (Rikke Madsen), Tess Boade

Subs Not Used: Katie Bowen, Kiki Pickett, Brittany Ratcliffe, Katelyn Rowland

NJY (5-3-2): Michelle Betos, Taylor Smith (Ifeoma Onumonu), Mandy Freeman, Estelle Johnson, Imani Dorsey, Jenna Bike (Ellie Jean), McCall Zerboni © (Ali Krieger), Taryn Torres, Kristie Mewis, Victoria Pickett (Naho Kawasumi), Midge Purce (Paige Monaghan)

Subs Not Used: Hensley Hancuff, Bruna Santos Nhaia, Delanie Sheehan, Kumi Yokoyama

Score:

NC: 3

NJY: 0

Goals:

NC: Debinha – 27’ (C. Pickett), 32’ (Williams), 81’ (Boade)

NJY: –

Cautions:

NC: Denise O’Sullivan – 8’

NJY: Taryn Torres – 32’

Ejections:

NC: –

NJY: –

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