CARY, N.C. (April 27, 2024) — The North Carolina Courage held off Seattle Reign FC, 1-0, Saturday night at WakeMed Soccer Park in front of a historic crowd of 8,135 fans, the fifth-largest NWSL regular season crowd in club history.

The Courage earned their fourth win in six matches (4-2-0) and sit in second place in the NWSL table with 12 points and a +6 goal differential. The Courage extended their regular season home unbeaten streak to 13 in a row with their eighth win on home turf in that span.

Casey Murphy was massive for the Courage with seven saves, including a point blank stop in added time to keep the lead. She also made a full-stretch save to the bottom corner just shy of the hour-mark to deny an equalizer. The seven saves matched the most in a single match for Murphy since May of 2023 and finished two shy of her career high.

The Courage broke through with a highlight-reel finish in the 37’ as Ashley Sanchez launched a cross to the middle of the box where Tyler Lussi came screaming in to volley it home on a rocket off the outside of her foot. It was Lussi’s third goal in as many matches and Sanchez’s third assist of the season.

Sanchez had another pair of beautiful setups down the stretch of the half that narrowly went by the board as Brianna Pinto had a great look saved at point blank range then just missed a header over the bar before the halftime whistle.

The Courage were out-shot 17-10 by Seattle, marking the third time this season the Courage have had fewer shots than their opponent. The Courage are 3-0-0 in those matches and have already surpassed their win total from 2023 when being out-shot (2W-6L-3D). The Courage also earned a third straight clean sheet at home and have outscored opponents 9-1 on their home field this season.

Match Notes:

The crowd of 8,135 is the fifth-largest announced attendance for a regular season match in Courage history.

In the 27’ Courage captain Denise O’Sullivan became the first-ever Courage player to play 10,000 regular season minutes for the club.

Casey Murphy saw her first yellow card since 2019, when she played for Seattle.

Up Next:

The Courage hit the road for a two-match East Coast road swing, starting with a midweek showdown against the Orlando Pride on Wednesday, May 1, at 7 p.m. ET at INTER&Co Stadium before heading up to New Jersey to finish up the season series against NJ/NY Gotham FC on Saturday, May 4, at 7:30 p.m. ET at Red Bull Arena.

The match against Orlando will be streamed live on NWSL+, while the match against Gotham will air on ION.

Source: wralsportsfan.com