3-1 win over Chicago, USWNT Olympics roster announced, and MAJOR coaching shakeups

Hello Courage Country! You’re receiving the newsletter a little late today because the USWNT Paris Olympics roster is finally here and I wanted to include it. I’m sure you can understand why I wanted to wait!

But I shouldn’t bury the real news, which is that the Courage offered a dazzling win at home, defeating Chicago 3-1. Coming up, we’ll get our first look this season at the Washington Spirit, and brand new head coach Jonatan Giráldez.

Let’s dig in!

Recap: Courage v. Chicago Red Stars

We continued to look sharp at home in a great matchup against Chicago. Scoring started quickly, with national team superstar Mallory Swanson firing off a goal at the 12’ mark. I had mixed feelings about our defense here; Swanson raced past three defenders to slot the ball off her left foot to the back post – you know, the sort of thing Swanson does best. Still, as Katie points out in our podcast this week, a more aggressive challenge from a defender might have disrupted the goal.

Thankfully, that goal didn’t matter much, because Tyler Lussi buried one of her own four minutes later, off an assist by Brianna Pinto.

It’s worth mentioning here that Riley Jackson got her first NWSL start in this match, and worked the ball to Pinto. So an exciting performance all around.

Jackson had started in place of captain Denise O’Sullivan, who needed a rest after playing a tough two matches with a knee injury. Sully subbed in around the 62’ minute mark. We also had Ryan Williams back after she was forced to sit out last week’s match for a red card, so our defense was in its usual formation.

Right after the half, Ashley Sanchez hit a long ball outside the box that was so unexpected it caught Alyssa Naeher just standing. The ball had a weirdly pleasing arc around the back of the net that made it perfect for social media replays. Seriously, it’s a beautiful thing:

A 2-1 lead felt great, especially starting a goal down. Still, it wasn’t exactly comfortable against a team with the scoring capabilities of Chicago. So it was absolutely glorious when Bianca St-Georges connected with Meredith Speck, who scored two minutes after subbing into the match. Seeing Speck score after recently coming off her torn ACL injury lent an extra air of joy.

This was another all around effort, with goals coming from three different players, and exceptional stats from both the midfield and defense. The last two matches have felt like this team living up to its potential, and it’s exciting to see what they do against Washington and Louisville before the international break.

Standout stats

Stats via FotMob and the NWSL+ broadcast.

Look ahead: Courage v. Washington Spirit

This match has so many incredible storylines that evoke ~all the vibes~ of the NWSL right now. The Spirit are effectively our rivals. Owner Michelle Kang is investing serious cash and revitalizing the club. Jonatan Giráldez right now will be entering his first match as the new head coach of the Spirit, a team that is already third in the table.

But easily the biggest story of the offseason was their surprise trade of Ashley Sanchez to the Courage for the fifth draft pick and $250k in allocation money. And the Spirit didn’t throw away their shot: they selected Croix Bethune, who has exploded in her rookie season. It was as close to a “win-win” deal as sports might offer.

Bethune was added to a stacked roster with forward Trinity Rodman, defenders Casey Krueger and Emily Sonnet, and keeper Aubrey Kingsbury, all USWNT regulars. Plus defender Tierna McKeown, midfielder Andi Sullivan, and former Courage forward Brittany Ratcliffe, who has put up 3 points this season.

Earlier this year, I called Portland a sneaky good team. Just as surprising, here’s the Spirit, sitting in third after winning 4 out of their last 5 matches.

That said, the Courage have been incredible at containing exceptional forwards this year, including Sophia Smith, Mallory Swanson, Temwa Chawinga and even Barbra Banda in our most recent matchup with Orlando. Bethune and Rodman present a dual threat, but the Courage rarely look outmatched and have plenty of firepower across a broader range of players.

And we certainly didn’t bat an eye at Naeher, so perhaps we can sneak a few past Kingsbury as well. Besides, we have our own goalkeeping star power with Casey Murphy.

We’re more than halfway through the season. To stay in playoff contention, we need to start grabbing points from a few teams ahead of us on the table, and the Spirit present a perfect opportunity.

Courage news and updates

• No official word at time of publication on whether we are exercising the option to buy out the remainder of Manaka Matsukubo’s contract when her loan ends June 30.

• Jackie Gutierrez at The Equalizer wrote a guide on what to know ahead of the NWSL / Liga MX Feminil Summer Cup; it’s pretty thin, the Courage aren’t even mentioned and a subscription is required. IDK, fellow fans. It’s all I’ve got on the Courage front this week.

Around the league and beyond

My initial draft of the newsletter called this a slow news week, BUT THEN ALL OF THIS HAPPENED!

• The USWNT finally published their Olympic roster.

  • As a reminder, the International Olympic Committee sets severe limits: 18 roster players plus four alternates who can only play in the event of a competition-ending injury to a roster player.

  • That number was expanded temporarily to 22 ahead of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, allowing more flexibility for alternates in the event of a COVID-19 outbreak, but now we’re back to 18 again.

  • Plenty of people have pointed out good reasons to expand it, including resting players, but this is the hand we’re dealt. New head coach Emma Hayes had some tough calls to make. And yes, Casey Murphy will be part of Team USA.

• San Diego Wave announced the firing of head coach Casey Stoney on Monday. It was a surprise for pretty much everyone; Stoney took the franchise to the playoffs as an expansion team in 2022. Last year, they won the league shield. Stoney was offered a contract extension through 2027 in the offseason. And now she’s out. The announcement came days after the club announced Camille Ashton was coming in as new head manager for the club. But ESPN’s Jeff Kassouf reports that club president Jill Ellis said Ashton wasn’t involved in the decision, and said the Wave’s winless 7-game streak was the major factor. Paul Buckle was announced as interim head coach.

• In another surprise move, Bay FC’s general manager, Lucy Rushton, resigned the same day, midway through the team’s inaugural season. Technical director Matt Potter will hold down some of her responsibilities while a search is underway.

That’s it for this week! As always, you can get in touch with tips, suggestions, corrections and more: [email protected].

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