Herriman, Utah (July 1, 2020) – Behind a stellar performance from Lynn Williams, the North Carolina Courage defeated the Washington Spirit by a score of 2-0 to secure their second win of the NWSL Challenge Cup preliminary round. With six points, the Courage move into first place in tournament standings following tonight’s win.

Early into the second half, Williams intercepted the ball from Spirit defender Sam Staab, dribbled into space, cut towards the goal, and fired a shot into the lower corner of the net. The goal gave the Courage a 1-0 lead in the 50th minute. “I think we just kind of wore them down a bit,” said Williams in a postgame interview, “Originally, I was going to cross it, and then nobody stopped me.” Minutes later, Williams recorded her second goal of the night, redirecting the ball into the net off of a cross from Debinha. Following tonight’s performance, Williams boasts the highest number of goals scored by a single player in the Challenge Cup tournament thus far with three goals. The Courage continued their relentless press the entire match, creating chances even into stoppage time. The back-to-back defending champions showed their depth in the match, bringing on Crystal Dunn, Sam Mewis, and Denise O’Sullivan as substitutes as the second half began. Stephanie Labbe had one save during the match, bringing her Challenge Cup save total to three. The Canadian recorded her first shutout of the NWSL season on Canada Day.

Up Next: The North Carolina Courage will face the Chicago Red Stars on Sunday, July 5 at 12:30 p.m. EST to continue the preliminary round of the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup.

Notes:

• Meredith Speck, Kaleigh Kurtz, Cari Roccaro, and McKenzie Meehan recorded their first start of the 2020 season.

• Lauren Milliet logged the first start of her NWSL career. 

• Lynn Williams has scored the most goals (3) of any single player in the Challenge Cup tournament thus far. 

• Stephanie Labbe recorded her first shutout of the 2020 season.

WAS (4-4-2): Aubrey Bledsoe; Tori Huster (Katie McClure, 83’), Sam Staab, Paige Nielsen, Tegan McGrady; Rose Lavelle (Ashley Sanchez, 70’), Meggie Dougherty Howard (Jordan Dibiasi, 59’), Andi Sullivan © (Jaye Boissiere, 71’), Dorain Bailey; Ashley Hatch (Natalie Jacobs, 83’), Bayley Feist

Subs Not Used: Devon Kerr, Averie Collins, Meghan McCool, Kumi Yokoyama

NCC (4-4-2 Box): Stephanie Labbe; Addisyn Merrick, Kaleigh Kurtz, Abby Erceg ©, Jaelene Daniels; Cari Roccaro (Sam Mewis, 45’), Meredith Speck (Denise O’Sullivan, 45’), Lauren Milliet (Kristen Hamilton, 68’), Debinha; McKenzie Meehan (Crystal Dunn, 45’), Lynn Williams (Hailie Mace, 82’)

Subs Not Used: Katelyn Rowland, Abby Dahlkemper, Ryan Williams, Lindsay Agnew, Hailey Harbison, Sinclaire Miramontez, Sam Murphy

Score:

WAS: 0 NCC: 2

Goals:

WAS: — NCC: Lynn Williams (Unassisted, 50’) (Debinha, 61’)

Cautions:

WAS: — NCC: —

Ejections:

WAS: — NCC: —