Courage Play to Scoreless Draw in San Diego Friday

October 1, 2022 – National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) – North Carolina Courage News Release

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The North Carolina Courage played to a 0-0 draw against the San Diego Wave Friday night at SnapDragon Stadium and will now need help to advance to a fifth straight NWSL post-season. The Courage will qualify for the playoff with a loss or draw by the Chicago Red Stars against Angel City FC, who was officially eliminated from playoff contention with the draw, on Sunday.

The Courage more than doubled the Wave in shot attempts (15-7), earned seven corners to the Wave’s three and held nearly 60% possession, but just could not find the combination to get on the board. The Courage have earned a result in eight of their final ten matches to keep their playoff hopes alive, but will need one more break to extend their season.

Casey Murphy made two massive saves to keep the Wave off the scoresheet, including a diving paw to the lower 90 in the 55th minute to keep things level. The Courage’s best chance came in the 70th minute when Kerolin Nicoli lofted a cross from the outside corner of the box to the six line, but Carson Pickett’s header sailed just high over the bar.

Match Notes:

The Courage failed to score for the first time in 14 matches, snapping the longest active streak in the NWSL

Kerolin Nicoli had a team-high five shots and two shots on goal in her return to the lineup

San Diego had a goal waved off due to a late offside flag early in the second half

Angel City FC beat Chicago, 1-0, in the first meeting between the two this season

Next Match: The Courage will await the remaining results of the final weekend of the regular season to determine NWSL Post-Season seeding and opponents. Follow @TheNCCourage on social media and visit nccourage.com for schedule updates as they become available.

Box Score:

NC (4-4-2): Casey Murphy, Carson Pickett, Abby Erceg ©, Kaliegh Kurtz, Ryan Williams, Denise O’Sullivan, Brianna Pinto (Merritt Mathias – 81′), Debinha, Fuka (Rikke Madsen – 77′), Tess Boade (Diana Ordóñez – 57′), Kerolin Nicoli

Subs Not Used: Katelyn Rowland, Katie Bowen, Jaelene Daniels, Kiki Pickett, Meredith Speck, Rylee Baisden

SD (4-3-3): Kailen Sheridan, Kristen McNabb, Naomi Girma ©, Kaleigh Riehl, Christen Westphal, Kelsey Turnbow (Marleen Schimmer – 73′), Emily van Egmond (Jodie Taylor – 46′), Makenzy Doniak, Isabella Briede, Madison Pogarch (Jackie Altschuld – 90+2′), Sofia Jakobsson (Jaedyn Shaw – 73′)

Subs Not Used: Carly Telford, Amirah Ali, Sydney Pulver, Mia Gyau, Taylor Hansen

• Discuss this story on the National Women’s Soccer League message board…

The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.