North Carolina Courage 4–0 Chicago Red Stars
Cary, NC— What better way to head into the most congested part of the regular season than with an emphatic shut-out win? How about getting that clean sheet against a team that boasts one of the league’s top goalkeepers and forwards?
On the strength of a brace from Diana Ordoñez and the first NWSL goals from Fuka Nagano and Rylee Baisden, the North Carolina Courage collected all of the points against the Chicago Red Stars Saturday night.
The score line was particularly encouraging for the Courage after a string of disappointing defensive results.
“I talked to [the players]in the pregame about finding a way to get that clean sheet because we’ve always expected to not have it,” said head coach Sean Nahas after the game.
While neutralizing the scoring threat Mal Pugh poses is a priority, Nahas wanted the Courage to focus on how they possess the ball and take up spaces on the field.
“Mal’s had probably one of the best seasons that she’s had,” Nahas noted. “She can take over a game, but I think…for us it was just really the space that we took up so that if we lost it, we weren’t so stretched, and the team did it to absolute perfection.”
The opening minutes of the game provided a few nervy moments for the Courage, though. The Red Stars nearly got on the board five minutes in when Casey Murphy appeared a bit too casual handling the ball in front of her goal. Ava Cook crashed the net and wrestled with Murphy in front of the goal before the Courage netminder was able to clear the ball away.
Five minutes later, it was the rookie Ordoñez putting the home team in front. She directed a corner kick from Carson Pickett past Alyssa Naeher in the 10th minute.
“We do a lot of work on our set pieces and things,” Ordoñez said after the game. “And, you know, we have really good servers of the ball when we do have those corners. I mean, half of the goal is the service. We can’t do anything unless the service is there.”
Chicago absorbed pressure from the Courage throughout the first half and was still in the game at halftime with only a 1-0 deficit.
And the Red Stars came close to drawing even early in the second half when Vanessa DiBernardo unleashed a right-footer that clanked off the goalpost, and Yuki Nagasato’s follow-up was blocked out for a corner kick.
While Chicago struggled to find the finishing play, the Courage were pressing for more goals. Debinha and Brianna Pinto both were denied on their scoring chances. Chicago conceded another corner kick in the 64th minute, and when Carson Pickett takes a corner for the Courage, good things tend to happen.
This time it was Fuka redirecting the ball into the net, getting her first NWSL goal in her first start for North Carolina. The goal gave the Courage some breathing room but seeing out a result has been a problem since they won the Challenge Cup. And a lot can happen in 25 minutes.
“It’s a special talent,” Nahas said of Fuka in his post-game comments. “You know, she’s comfortable on the ball, she finds great spaces, she’s simple, she’s disciplined. The players love being around her, and she has a great energy about who she is.
North Carolina Courage Shut Out Chicago Red Stars 4-0 (photo: NC Courage)
“I think anyone that comes out of the [Japan Football Association] is a well-rounded player and technical sound, and there’s not anything that rattles her.”
The Japanese international would figure in North Carolina’s third tally on the night. She got hold of the ball in the Red Stars’ 18-yard box and tapped a short pass to Ordoñez near the edge of the box. Ordoñez pushed toward the end line before cutting the ball back and rifling a shot from just outside the top of the six-yard box. It sailed out of Naeher’s reach to complete the Mexican national’s brace (her third of the year).
Nahas brought Baisden into the game in the 83rd minute, and she wasted little time making her case for more minutes. She took the ball down the right flank and cut toward the box before dishing the ball off to Kerolin. The Brazilian drove deep into the attacking end before pulling the ball back with some nifty footwork and giving it back to Baisden at the top of the six-yard box. Her shot deflected in off of a Chicago defender to make it 4-0.
Baisden was delighted to make an impact in the game while pointing out that it’s what she trains for. “Honestly, I think when I come in late in the game, it’s just you have a job to close the game out,” she said. “We ended up having space in the box, and ‘Kero’ heard her name and luckily looked up and I was there with some space. So, I mean, we practice that all the time—crossing and finishing. So it was just connecting with the teammate again in the run of play.”
Now, all that was left was keeping a clean sheet.
“Until that final whistle blew, that’s all I cared about,” said Nahas. “Once we went up 1-0, was okay, scored some great goals, great build-ups, great moments in our attack allowed for overloads. But all I cared about once we were up two, three was making sure we got that clean sheet, and, yeah, I’m ecstatic because it’s something that we were long overdue with for sure.”
The win leapfrogged the Courage from the bottom of the table into 10th place. While still a long way from a playoff spot, they still have some games in hand heading into the last six weeks of the regular season.
Roster News: Early Sunday, North Carolina announced the signing of English forward Millie Farrow through 2023. Farrow joins the Courage from the London City Lionesses and has also appeared in matches for Crystal Palace and Leicester City.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to play in the NWSL, and I’m thrilled to be playing in North Carolina,” Farrow said. “I can’t wait to get started on our journey together.”
Final Notes
• With her brace, Diana Ordoñez became the youngest player in NWSL history to score 10 goals in a season.
• Next up for North Carolina is a visit from the Portland Thorns on Wednesday, August 24.
Lineups
North Carolina Courage: C. Murphy; C. Pickett (J. Daniels 83’), A. Erceg©, K. Kurtz, M. Mathias (M. Berkely 76’); D. O’Sullivan, B. Pinto (R. Williams 76’), F. Nagano (M. Speck 80’), Debinha (R. Baisden 83’); Kerolin, D. Ordoñez
Chicago Red Stars: A. Naeher; T. Milazzo (S. Luebbert 61’), Z. Morse, A. Kowalski, B. St. Georges; D. Colaprico, V. DiBernardo©; M. Pugh (C. Dawber 76’), Y. Nagasato (E. Stevens 76’), R. Hill, A. Cook (S. Griffith 46’)
Score:
North Carolina Courage: 4
Chicago Red Stars: 0
Goals:
North Carolina Courage: D. Ordoñez (C. Pickett) 10’; F. Nagano (unassisted) 64’; D. Ordoñez (F. Nagano) 74’; R. Baisden (Kerolin) 89’
Chicago Red Stars: none
Discipline
North Carolina Courage: M. Mathias (YC 72’)
Chicago Red Stars: E. Stevens (YC 81’)
