CARY, N.C. (Oct. 6, 2023) – The North Carolina Courage have an opportunity to make history in the stands and clinch post-season on the field as they host the San Diego Wave this Saturday, October 7, with a 7:00 p.m. ET kickoff at WakeMed Soccer Park. The match will air regionally on Bally Sports South and the Bally App, stream live across the United States on Paramount+ and internationally on www.nwslsoccer.com.

With over 10,000 tickets distributed ahead of Saturday’s home finale, the first regular season sell-out in club history is well within reach and the all-time attendance record of 10,227 is within reach. The boost from a large crowd will be a major advantage as the fourth-place Courage welcome the top-ranked Wave in a critical showdown for playoff positioning. The Courage can clinch a berth in the 2023 playoffs with a win combined with either a win by the Washington Spirit OR loss by Orlando and draw or loss by Houston. In a congested playoff race, the Courage have not clinched a playoff spot nor been eliminated from NWSL Shield contention with just two matches to go. Regardless of the outcome, this has been a successful season of growth for a young Courage squad that boasts the lowest average age in the league. Back in February and March, many across the league did not see the Courage being a factor in the playoff push come October. But here they are, with everything to play for with not much season left. The Courage have led the league in possession, passing accuracy, and total passes all year long. That style and identity has allowed them to stay competitive in every contest and also provide an entertaining and engaging brand of football. This weekend presents an opportunity to showcase that style against the league’s top team and a large home crowd. After falling 3-1 to San Diego way back in April in the first road trip of the season, this is also an opportunity to see how far this young team has come over the year. San Diego has won four of their last five matches, including an impressive 2-0 result at Portland last week, to catapult into the top spot in the standings. As a team, the Wave rank second in the league with 29 goals. They pass at 75% accuracy and hold 50% of possession. Reigning Golden Boot winner Alex Morgan has led the way with six goals and four assists, despite missing a full month of regular season play for the FIFA World Cup. Kailen Sheridan has made 57 saves and posts a 1.06 goals-against average. With one weekend remaining until decision day, the drama of the NWSL post-season push is in full swing. The Courage have continued to grow and push to be a better version of themselves every day and now will get the opportunity to display how far they’ve come in front of a potentially record home crowd.

UP NEXT: The Courage wrap up the 2023 regular season as they visit the Washington Spirit next Sunday, October 15, for a 5:00 p.m. ET kickoff at Audi Field. The entire NWSL will play simultaneously with all matches streaming on Paramount+ as the post-season takes full shape on the last day of the season.