Courage lose odd road match to KC; get Utah at home this week

Hello Courage Country!

This newsletter will be short and sweet as I’m getting back into the swing of things following vacation. A short edition is probably all anyone wants considering we just got beat by the best team in the league and now face the team at the bottom of the table.

Recap: Courage v. Kansas City Current

Well, you might look at the results and go, “Hmmm, a 2-0 loss to the runaway leaders of the table. Makes sense.” In truth, I wouldn’t argue we should have won that match. But it was way weirder than the scoreline alone suggestions. For one thing, with Denise O’Sullivan out at midfield, the Courage gave the start to Dani Weatherholt over Shinomi Koyama, perhaps leaning on a league veteran to face a tough opponent.

The Courage came out with some speed and some fire, clearly trying to put a goal up on Kansas City. Ashley Sanchez got a great look around the 9’ mark. For a moment, it seemed the two teams might be evenly matched, similar to the game earlier this season.

But Kansas City had a corner around the 31’ minute mark that the Courage cleared … right to Izzy Rodriguez, who kicked a long ball into the box and caught the entire defense off guard. Casey Murphy made a late play on it, following some disarray on the defensive line, and the ball skipped over her hands into the net.

As frustrating as that goal was, nothing could have prepared fans for an infuriatingly bad call toward the end of the first half, when Temwa Chawinga and Debinha were passing the ball back and forth downfield. As Chawinga received it near the box, Kaleigh Kurtz did a heroic run trying to block a kick. She ended up flattening herself to avoid tackling Chawinga, who went down anyway. From the replay shown to television audiences, it became clear there was no contact between the players. But the ref awarded a penalty kick to Kansas City, without much thought for reviewing the play on the monitor. That led to the second Kansas City goal.

The Courage lost momentum after that, managing to prevent any further goals, but not creating much offensive threat either. One bright spot was seeing the debut of new forward Payton Linnehan, recently acquired from the Portland Thorns. She subbed in during the second half of the match, and as Katie pointed out in this week’s podcast, another week of practice in the Courage system will only work to our advantage.

Look ahead: Courage v. Utah Royals

The Courage had a 2-0 road win against Utah earlier this year, and that was when Utah had Ally Sentnor on their squad. In this matchup, the Courage should have the upper hand. In fact, without the deep threat from Sentnor, the 3-back formation currently favored by the Courage might work well and allow the team to overwhelm Utah during an attack.

Still, never count out a team in the NWSL. And Utah moved quick to sign a replacement forward, bringing in Slovenian National Team player Lara Prašnikar. If she’s available for this week’s match, she’ll bring a different look than Sentnor, as Prašnikar tends to look for open pockets and focus on ball distribution.

Will we see yet another changeup at the top? Will Linnehan get a starting call or continue to work in as a sub while she learns the Courage system? Will Sully or Feli Rauch be available to return to the squad? There are a lot of questions that could change the flavor of this matchup dramatically.

Courage news and updates

• As mentioned, Linnehan joined the squad from Portland. The Courage also extended her contract through 2027, with an option through 2028.

• Rauch also renewed her contract with the Courage, signing through 2027.

• Defender Brooklyn Courtnall was loaned to Bay FC for the remainder of this season.

• Kurtz tied the league leader in consecutive game starts, Sam Staab, with her 106th start this week. Between that and her multiple iron woman awards, Kurtz continues to show tremendous fortitude.

Around the league and beyond

• Not content to slide down the table, Orlando Pride signed Elyse Bennett and Lizbeth Ovalle.

• Asisat Oshoala departed Bay FC for Saudi club Al-Hilal.

• Alyssa Thompson is in talks with Chelsea to depart Angel City, and didn’t play in their match this week.

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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