A pure 🔥 0-0 draw, NEW signings 🦘🦘 and look ahead to Chicago

Hello Courage Country! Happy Wednesday, and I hope everyone can celebrate Juneteenth!

This week, the Courage played a dynamite match against Orlando, plus announced a great pair of new signings coming from the land down under.

Let’s take a look.

Recap: Courage v. Orlando Pride

What a match! While the Courage have been mostly solid all season, they played with dialed up intensity, even ferocity, in our 0-0 draw against Orlando.

Games like this are difficult to write about: you likely won’t sell a non-soccer fan on the excitement of a 0-0 score.

But this was two evenly matched teams playing a fun, physical battle with all the nuances of the beautiful game on full display: incredible ball control (nutmegs all over the place!), sharp passing, plenty of shots (an even 5-5 on target), dramatic saves, plus the thrill of confronting – and successfully containing – one of the best forwards in the world. It really felt like this game had it all.

MARTA EVEN KICKED THE BALL INTO A CYMBAL! ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED???

This week’s starting XI was a smart choice, with Tyler Lussi filling in for right back Ryan Williams, who was required to sit out this match after two yellow cards last week (equalling a red). As we’ve written here before, Lussi and Williams have been deftly swapping positions this season, so it gave Lussi the chance to serve as a winger. It also meant we got to see both Lussi and Bianca St-Georges start together, a rare treat.

While the Courage won the possession battle in that half, and had one more shot, Orlando looked more in control, at least in the first 30 minutes. There were plenty of solid threats from Barbra Banda, Marta and Julie Doyle.

Still, the Courage were finding some great form by the end of the half, and headed into the locker room having contained a nearly uncontainable Orlando side. You could tell they were feeling good about their performance.

Reversing the earlier trend, the Courage had less possession and fewer shots in the second half, but still felt more dominant. They put up numerous shots in a couple of sequences that just didn’t quite find their way in. One volley was particularly frustrating when Pride keeper Anna Moorehouse went down, which seemed to leave the net wide open. And yet … no goal.

In the end, the Courage handed Orlando their first shutout since Sep. 3, 2023. Keeper Casey Murphy logged five saves. The rest of our defense played extremely sharp, which was an urgent need given we were down one of our most productive players in Williams.

In one of the biggest shocks of the match, the Courage lost the battle for possession. It was by a razor-thin margin: 49%. But it’s the first time the Courage didn’t win possession since August 24, 2022. That match was another 49%-51% near-even split against the Portland Thorns.

All in all, this was a true team collaboration. It’s hard to pick a standout performance, with great efforts all around. The crowd responded, energized throughout the match from start to dramatic corner-kick ending.

So. There you have it; a 0-0 draw can be extremely entertaining.

Underrated play

What impressed me most this week was the defense’s ability to match Barbra Banda’s speed, and their patience in blocking her. Courage defenders didn’t look panicked when Banda might have had a step on them. She also constantly tried to bait them into lunging at the ball so she could move around them, and our side rarely bit.

This sequence with Malia Berkely shows her keeping a cool head, and prevailing.

Following a questionable foul called on Haley Hopkins, Orlando rapidly go the ball to Banda, their signature move. Berkely at this point has her back to Banda, but is working to make space instead of trying for the ball:

Here’s the separation she’s created:

With Berkely still half turned away, Banda figures she can make a cross into the box. Berkely manages to block it, nearly backward, but still focused and in control:

Berkely sticks with the play. Even with two defenders on her now, Banda somehow still manages to wrestle the ball away through Banda Magic^TM :

But … Banda hesitates, either trying to bait Berkely or because by now many defenders are in the way. Berkely sees an opportunity and kicks the ball cleanly away. SHE BEAT BARBRA BANDA!

Her patience and perseverance pay off for the clear. It’s worth noting Kaleigh Kurtz had plenty of similar moves throughout the match.

Standout stats

Stats via fotmob.

Look ahead: Courage v. Chicago Red Stars

Phew. Chicago had a rough 2023. They finished last, went through ownership and coaching turmoil, and lost their entire midfield in the offseason. Several other other great players left when their contracts ended: Casey Krueger went to the Spirit, Ella Stevens and Tierna Davidson went to Gotham, and of course the Courage acquired Bianca St-Georges.

Chicago is much more collected this year under new head coach Lorne Donaldson. The Red Stars are currently sitting just ahead of the Courage at number 6 on the table. They retained superstar forward Mallory Swanson, now recovered from her knee injury and showing top form. They also landed Sam Staab from the Spirit.

Last week, they matched league leader Kansas City in a 2-2 draw, so like the Courage, we know they can step up against top opponents.

As Katie points out in the podcast this week, the match will also feature battle of the goalkeepers, with usual USWNT top choice Alyssa Naeher on Chicago’s side, and usual second choice Casey Murphy for the Courage.

Here’s to hoping home field advantage and our dialed up intensity can pull out a win this Sunday.

Courage news and updates

• Major signing alert! 🚨 The Courage announced two Aussies will be joining the team in August.

  • First, forward Cortnee Vine was announced with a 3-year contract; Vine has 28 caps for the Australian National Team; here’s an overview the Courage put together.

  • Second, Vine’s teammate, defender Charlotte McClean, was also signed. Here’s the overview of her. McClean typically plays center back and adds needed depth.

  • Both players will be eligible Aug. 1. If Australia makes a deep run in the Olympics, it may set back Vine’s start date.

• Taylor Vincent noted that if Sydney Collins and Kerolin both return from injury, we’ll have to find a roster spot.

• Manaka Matsukubo’s loan ends on June 30, and the Courage will need to decide whether to purchase her contract.

Around the league and beyond

• Nearly everyone got a draw this week! We were not alone, so there wasn’t a lot of movement on the table.

• The Washington Spirit negotiated the transfer of defender Esme Morgan from Manchester City.

• Jaedyn Shaw broke the record for number of goals scored in the league by a teenager, previously held by Trinity Rodman.

• If you’re still feeling the Orlando vibes, Defector media did a profile on instant legend Barbra Banda.

• Jeff Kassouf did a nice write up of the U.S. deaf women’s national team for ESPN.

• While we’re on Kassouf, he broke that the San Diego Wave hired Camille Ashton as GM after her recent departure from Kansas City.

• The USL Super League got a multi-year media deal: Peacock will stream every single regular season and playoff match.

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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