Victory over KC and another West Coast adventure

G’day Courage Country! 🦘 

I’m speaking to you in Australian in celebration of Cortnee Vine, and still hyped from that incredible, well-earned win over Kansas City.

We’re now ranked #5 and looking in pretty good form. Ready for the final few weeks of NWSL weirdness? Me too.

Let’s get into the recap, and a brief look ahead at the Wave.

Recap: Courage v. Kansas City

It was a tough, exciting match, but the Courage were in control for a lot of it, and beat one of the best teams in the league with a convincing 2-1 victory.

With 61% possession, it was a match largely played in Courage territory. Still, Kansas City is a team that can turn on you quick, as we will see.

Oddly, the weather felt like both a factor and a nonfactor, in that both teams were clearly making adjustments, and yet both also were playing their style of game very well. It started unbearably hot and humid, with scheduled hydration breaks. Then a heavy rain storm blew in fast, and the teams were playing in a downpour. Finally, a thunderstorm rolled in at the 80’ mark, causing an hour and a half delay.

When the first heavy rain started, around the 60’ mark, center back Malia Berkely was slow to a ball rolling toward her. Temwa Chawinga was pressing fast, and managed to strip the ball away. Keeper Casey Murphy was playing way too far forward, perhaps initially coming up to help distribute, and couldn’t get back. Chawinga simply walked into Mordor (which is what I call the field any time the other team scores).

Thankfully, that easy point lead didn’t last long. Shortly after, Vine, in her home field debut for the Courage, scored the equalizer. The Courage were crashing the box, and Haley Hopkins nailed a well-placed pass to Vine. Who then promptly sidestepped three defenders and blasted a ball into the far upper corner of the net.

I’m a midfielder fan ‘til I die, but wholly acknowledge it’s absolutely breathtaking to watch a forward drive a shot like that.

Shortly after, the teams had to take the weather break, tied 1-1. When they came back out, Feli Rauch came in for Dani Weatherholt, and Brianna Pinto came in for Ashley Sanchez.

Kansas City had a banger of a shot after a corner, and Berkely was there to block it. Who doesn’t love an in-game redemption arc?

Then, Pinto practically repeated the first goal. Kaleigh Kurtz threw a long toss in from the side, and Pinto controlled it while edging out two defenders. She managed to get a quick pivot in and scored.

Finally, it’s worth mentioning that Kurtz picked up a 4th yellow card for the season, one away from accumulating a suspension. And on a happier note, a shout out to Aline Gomes, who made her NWSL debut.

Here are the two goals, so you can see how close they look in execution:

Standout stats

• 6,003 fans in attendance, the second-highest this season and fifth-highest across the NWSL this weekend.

• 5 minutes: the time it took for Vine to equalize.

• 61%: total playing possession by the Courage.

Look ahead: Courage v. San Diego Wave

So many of the main storylines of the NWSL this year have been at the coaching positions, rather than the players. In the case of the Wave, the squad said an unceremonious goodbye to former head coach Casey Stoney. The Wave won the shield in 2023, but struggled early on with the ‘24 season, the only public reason given for Stoney’s removal.

Replacing her after the international break is former US men’s soccer superstar Landon Donovan, who has notched one loss and one draw so far.

There was also a lot of drama earlier this season when María Sánchez very publicly wanted out of her high profile deal with the Houston Dash, and got picked up by the Wave for $300,000 in intra-league transfer funds, $200,000 in allocation money and an international slot in ‘24 and ‘25.

She and Alex Morgan make up an intimidating front line, and Naomi Girma leads a talented defense.

For the Courage, we have no official word – still – on ‘23 League MVP Kerolin Nicoli, or Olivia Wingate who was out again last week with a minor injury.

That said, our roster is looking strong, even with Riley Jackson and Manaka Matsukubo representing the US and Japan, respectively, in the U-20 World Cup.

If there was a time to shake off the curse of away matches, this would be a good one.

Courage news and updates

Well, last week we said goodbye to them, and this week we welcome back Maya McCutcheon and Victoria Haugen, who joined the Courage again on replacement contracts with Jackson and Matsukubo out. Given our roster limitations, this is likely to continue to be a very temporary arrangement, but it’s nice to see the team sticking with them!

Around the league and beyond

Really, the standout information this week came from Chris Henderson, who noted the points picked up by each team in the last 5 matches. The Courage are second with 12 points, just behind Orlando’s utterly dominant side.

In other words, like last year, our form seems to be getting tuned up just in time for the final segment of the season.

It’s feeling good to be a fan right now, y’all.

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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