CARY, N.C. (June 21, 2025) — The North Carolina Courage came from behind to down the Houston Dash, 2-1, Saturday night at First Horizon Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park. Jaedyn Shaw and Hannah Betfort powered the team to the win with their first goals as Courage players.

With the win, the Courage end the first half of the NWSL regular season on a two-match win streak and a 5W-5L-3D record.

UNC alumni Avery Patterson gave the Dash the lead in the 1', winning the ball in the Courage box and getting the benefit of a deflection to beat Casey Murphy.

The Dash went down to 10 players in the 69' when Sarah Puntigam was shown her second yellow card of the match.

Shaw capitalized on the opportunity just two minutes later, slamming home a lay off from Malia Berkely for her first goal in a Courage jersey.

Betfort completed the comeback in the 81', slipping the ball into the far post after an excellent delivery from Manaka Matsukubo. Manaka's assist marked her fifth consecutive game with a goal contribution.

Match Notes:

• Ryan Williams and Ashley Sanchez both made their 100th NWSL regular season appearance in the match.
• Kaleigh Kurtz hit 9,000 consecutive NWSL regular season minutes in the 38'.
• Former Courage assistant coach Fabrice Gautrat made his first return to First Horizon Stadium as head coach of the Houston Dash.

Up Next:

The match against Houston was the Courage’s last before the NWSL’s midseason break. During the break, the Courage will play a pair of exhibition matches against Tigres Femenil on July 9 and Chivas De Guadalajara Femenil on July 25. Tickets for those matches are available here.

Box Score

NCC (4-3-3): Casey Murphy; Malia Berkely (Brianna Pinto – 76'), Kaleigh Kurtz, Maycee Bell; Tyler Lussi (Feli Rauch – 76'), Riley Jackson (Ashley Sanchez – 66'), Denise O’Sullivan ©, Ryan Williams; Shinomi Koyama (Jaedyn Shaw – 66'), Manaka Matsukubo, Cortnee Vine (Hannah Betfort – 66')

Subs Not Used: Marisa Jordan, Talia Staude, Brooklyn Courtnall, Meredith Speck

HOU (4-4-2): Jane Campbell ©; Natalie Jacobs, Paige Nielsen, Christen Westphal (Kiki Van Zanten – 83'), Ryan Gareis (Messiah Bright – 61'); Delanie Sheehan (Maggie Graham – 73'), Avery Patterson (Michelle Alozie – 46'), Sarah Puntigam, Danielle Colaprico (Sophie Schmidt – 73'); Barbara Olivieri, Yazmeen Ryan

Subs Not Used: Evelina Duljan, Katie Lund, Rebeca Costa da Silva, Abby Smith

Score:

NCC: 2
HOU: 1

Goals:

NCC: J. Shaw – 71' (M. Berkely), H. Betfort – 81' (M. Matsukubo)
HOU: A. Patterson – 1'

Cautions:

NCC: N. Thackeray – 58', H. Betfort – 90' +10'
HOU: S. Puntigam – 45', B. Olivieri – 67', S. Puntigam – 69'

Ejections:

NCC: –
HOU: S. Puntigam – 69'

Venue (Location): First Horizon Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park (Cary, N.C.)

Attendance: 6,642