SAN JOSE, Calif. (Oct. 19, 2024) — The North Carolina Courage fell on the road to Bay FC, 1-0, Saturday night at PayPal Park. Already confirmed in fifth in the league table, the loss does not impact the Courage as they drop to 12-3-10 on the season.

The teams traded chances in the early stages, including a Riley Jackson rifle that was deflected over the bar at the last moment and a Kaleigh Kurtz header that hit flush off the crossbar on the ensuing corner.

Bay had a good run of chances over the ten minutes that followed, forcing a big save from Casey Murphy and some timely defense in the box. Murphy made yet another brilliant save in the final moments of the first half, springing to her right to deflect a shot wide that otherwise had eyes for side-netting, keeping things scoreless at the break.

Bay FC held an 8-4 edge in shots for the first 45 minutes while the Courage held 55% of possession, passed at nearly 85% accuracy, and won six fouls. It was the 16th time this season the Courage have held their opponent scoreless in the first half, the third-highest count of any team in the NWSL.

Neither team had a shot in the second half until the 70’ when a Courage build led to a Denise O’Sullivan one-timer that rocketed just wide. Bay responded with a few half-chances before a tough foul call just outside the penalty area set Bay up for a dangerous free kick, which was deflected home by Abby Dahlkemper to give the home side the lead with 10 minutes to play.

A beautiful build in stoppage time saw Feli Rauch set up Narumi for a clear shot from the middle of the box, but Katelyn Rowland lept to make the save and the final whistle came a few moments later, snapping the Courage run of seven straight matches with a goal scored.

Up Next: The Courage are off next weekend for the international break, but will return to WakeMed Soccer Park for the regular season finale against the Washington Spirit on November 2 at 7:30 p.m. ET. The match will be broadcast on ION.

Source: wralsportsfan.com