Match Preview:
HOUSTON (May 23, 2024) – The North Carolina Courage are back on the road for match day 11 of the NWSL regular season as they visit the Houston Dash at Shell Energy Stadium this Friday, May 24, at 8 p.m. ET. The match will stream live on NWSL+ with Maura Sheridan and Jeff Attinella on the call in the United States.
North Carolina is coming off a dominant performance last Friday, holding Utah Royals FC without a shot on target in a 1-0 home win to improve to 5W-5L-0D. The Courage enters this weekend sixth in the league table with 15 points.
Kaleigh Kurtz had a huge night, wearing the captain’s armband with Denise O’Sullivan out with injury, scoring the match-winner, and moving into a tie for third-most starts for the Courage in regular season play. She’s poised for another milestone this weekend, entering Friday night 41 minutes shy of Amber Brooks’ NWSL record for consecutive minutes played in the regular season. Kurtz would break the record of 6,483 in the 43’ which was fittingly set by Brooks when she played for the Dash from 2016-19.
The consecutive minutes record is one of several milestones that are on alert this weekend. Casey Murphy enters the weekend with 299 career saves and her win last Friday was her 29th with the Courage, moving her into a tie with Katelyn Rowland for the club record. Bianca St-Georges’ next appearance will be the 50th of her career in NWSL regular season play.
The Courage looks to build off last week’s win to earn their first road points of 2024. Regardless of venue, the Courage continue to play the game their way. North Carolina has held more than 50% of possession in 40 straight NWSL regular season games, holding at least 60% of the ball 17 times in that span. Ashley Sanchez continues to be the bridge from the build to the attack, creating a team-best 21 chances – which ranks fifth in the league – and 10 shots on target.
North Carolina ran away with a 5-1 win over the Dash in the first meeting of 2024, marking a third straight win against Houston after sweeping the 2023 matchups. St-Georges recorded a brace in just 16 minutes off the bench while Malia Berkely, Haley Hopkins, and Dani Weatherholt also found the back of the net. North Carolina is 11W-4L-2D lifetime against Houston, including a 10-3-2 regular season record.
The Dash are in 12th place in the league table, entering the weekend with a 2-3-5 record for nine points. They are the only team in the NWSL yet to win a home fixture this season, but four of their last five overall fixtures have been decided by one goal or fewer.
Diana Ordóñez is the only Dash player with multiple goals this season, scoring three times on a team-best nine shots on target. Swiss superstar Ramona Bachmann has made an instant impact with a team-best nine chances created since joining Houston from PSG in April. Sophie Schmidt is the team leader in tackles won with 20 and duels won with 54.
The Dash are hopeful to see the debut of the young Brazilian star Tarciane. Houston acquired the center back from Corinthians for a record fee one month ago.
Jane Campbell has continued her strong play that earned her 2023 NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year honors. She leads the league with 54 saves, 25 more than AD Franch and Shelby Hogan tied for second. She’s second in save percentage at 75% and clean sheets with three.
The Courage were able to solve Campbell five times in the season opener but will need to be ruthless and efficient in the final third Friday to get a similar result on the road.
North Carolina has shown some solid performances on the road early in 2024 but has been unfortunate not to have any points out of them. As the calendar turns to the middle third of the season, the team looks to break that trend Friday and continue to climb back up the standings.
