Herriman, Utah (July 13, 2020) – The North Carolina Courage remained perfect in the preliminary round of the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup with a 2-0 victory over Sky Blue FC on Monday night. With four wins, the Courage boast twelve points in Challenge Cup standings. Sam Mewis and Crystal Dunn each scored their first goal of 2020 during the match.

Early into the first half, the Courage were rewarded a corner kick that was headed down by Lynn Williams and into the path of captain Abby Erceg. Erceg tapped a pass to Sam Mewis, who turned on the ball to drive a shot into the lower-left corner of the net. The goal gave the Courage a 1-0 advantage and Mewis logged her first goal of the Challenge Cup tournament. “Continuing to be dangerous on those set pieces is going to be key for us,” Mewis said in a postgame interview, “[The set piece] just wasn’t working out and then we switched it up and it went in.” The Courage continued pressing Sky Blue’s defense as the first half wore on. In the 27th minute, Crystal Dunn tore down the field to create a scoring chance for the Courage, her shot narrowly knocked out of bounds by Sky Blue goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan. As the half drew to a close, Debinha fired a shot off of a breakaway, only to witness another one of Sheridan’s five saves in the first half. In a true display of the Courage’s lethality on offense, Lynn Williams beat Sky Blue defender Imani Dorsey up the right side in the 56th minute and fed a pass to Crystal Dunn who was sprinting towards the box. Dunn cut the ball inside and to her left foot, scoring to extend the Courage lead by another goal and notching her first goal of the Challenge Cup. Katelyn Rowland recorded her second clean sheet of the Challenge Cup tournament, making one save to bring her Challenge Cup save total to three. Monday night’s game marked the celebration of Pride Night at Zions Bank Stadium, with players on both the North Carolina Courage and Sky Blue FC sporting “Be True” shirts with rainbow lettering.

Up Next: The North Carolina Courage will take on Portland Thorns FC in the quarterfinals on Friday, July 17 at 12:30 p.m. EST.

Notes:

Lindsay Agnew made her NC Courage debut in the match.

Katelyn Rowland recorded her second clean sheet of the NWSL Challenge Cup.

Sam Mewis and Crystal Dunn scored their first goal of the 2020 season.

Sam Mewis’ goal (7’) is the earliest goal scored in the Challenge Cup thus far.

Jessica McDonald made her 2020 season debut in the match.

Box:

NJ (4-3-3): Kailen Sheridan; Sabrina Flores, Estelle Johnson (Erika Skroski, 79’), Gina Lewandowski, Imani Dorsey; Sarah Woldmoe ©, Jennifer Cudjoe (Domi Richardson, 64’), McCall Zerboni; Paige Monaghan (Evelyne Viens, 45’), Ifeoma Onumonu, Nahomi Kawasumi Subs Not Used: Dijana Haracic, Amanda McGlynn, Megan Hinz, Kaleigh Riehl, Erica Skroski, Cassidy Benintente, Mandy Freeman, Chantelle Swaby, Nicole Baxter NCC (4-4-2 Box): Katelyn Rowland; Addisyn Merrick, Abby Dahlkemper, Abby Erceg ©, Jaelene Daniels (Lindsay Agnew, 81’); Denise O’Sullivan, Sam Mewis (Lauren Milliet, 64’), Crystal Dunn (Hailie Mace, 64’), Debinha (Meredith Speck, 64’); Kristen Hamilton, Lynn Williams (Jessica McDonald, 64’) Subs Not Used: Stephanie Labbe, Kaleigh Kurtz, McKenzie Meehan, Ryan Williams, Cari Roccaro, Hailey Harbison, Sinclaire Miramontez, Samantha Murphy Score: NJ: 0 NCC: 2 Goals: NJ: NCC: Sam Mewis (Unassisted), Crystal Dunn (Lynn Williams, 56’) Cautions: NJ: — NCC: — Ejections: NJ: — NCC: —