Wave recap, Roary's birthday and Houston on Friday

Hello Courage Country! It’s good to be back in your inbox after a break, and ready for the second half of the season.

This was a huge week for the Courage and the NWSL as a whole, as teams returned to regular season play following a mandated break and some international friendlies. It’s also an open trade window, and while the Courage haven’t seen much movement, there’s been some interesting signings elsewhere.

But the biggest news this week is that it’s Roary’s birthday! There’s new merch!

Yes, it’s new Roary. And yes, I tucked a stuffie strategically into my toddler’s sheets to give her nightmares for life (I mean, I didn’t actually, but OH THE TEMPTATION).

Recap: Courage v. San Diego Wave

The opening lineup included one fun tactical move, and one confusing-but-promising one.

On the fun side, the Courage reversed positions for Maycee Bell and Malia Berkely, largely to contain Delphine Cascarino, who was giving the team problems in the May match. This was a wildly successful shift, and both defenders adjusted well. This particular match was a statement from Bell, who contained multiple offensive attacks without giving up much ground.

On perhaps the more confusing side, Shinomi Koyama started up front, favored over more natural forwards like Cortnee Vine.

And Tyler Lussi filled in the left winger position over Feli Rauch, who went into the game with questionable availability.

The intent was clear: let Shinomi drift a little infield, giving the Courage some interior passing opportunities, and allow Lussi to run into an attack formation up the left side. When the formation worked, it worked well. But there were also times when players were overlapping a little. I asked coach Sean Nahas about this in the post-game press conference, and he gave a detailed response, which you can hear on this week’s podcast. Here’s a look at the formation working (and sorry for the blurry quality; that’s NWSL+ replay for you):

In general, the first half of the match was pure tactical soccer joy to watch. Both teams played well, with San Diego getting a couple of early looks. But after the 15’ mark, the Courage did an outstanding job of containing San Diego very deep on the pitch. A significant part of the half was spent in the attacking third, though the Courage weren’t able to capitalize. In a nutshell, San Diego broke up a lot of passing, something they do very well. But they had to do so in their own half of the field, under a relentless press from the Courage.

In the second half of the match, San Diego switched up their defense, overloading the midfield. This gave their side a bit more room in finding attacking passing opportunities, and prevented the Courage from moving the ball much. As the game wound down, San Diego was looking more and more threatening, while the Courage struggled to find their forwards, despite having multiple attacking subs come in.

In all, this match was a fantastic defensive performance. We owe a quick shout out to defender Kaleigh Kurtz, keeper Casey Murphy, and midfielders Denise O’Sullivan and Riley Jackson for excellent work. But the Courage struggled yet again to find a threatening offensive attack, with few shots on goal.

It’s hard to argue with a well-played, 0-0 draw, especially after the 5-2 thumping San Diego gave the squad in May. But we’re in the back half of the season now, and every point on the table is starting to matter.

Underrated play

This game was such a showcase for Maycee Bell. Here she is doing exactly what she was asked, disrupting a great run from Cascarino.

This could have ended in the type of quick transition goal San Diego has been excelling at this season, even as they aim to balance more possession time with their squad.

Bell had the speed, and made some smart choices, disrupting the effort entirely.

Standout stats

Look ahead: Courage v. Houston Dash

Speaking of teams we’ve seen recently, the Courage square off against the Dash in Houston this week. We won 2-1 in June, with Houston earning a red card; you can click here if you need a refresher. Last year we split blowout wins, with the Courage providing a 5-1 thrashing in March, only to lose 0-3 just two months later.

The Courage have 2 wins, 2 losses and 3 draws on the road this season. We know they can play well in humid conditions, given the 4-0 victory over Chivas de Guadalajara in the Liga MX friendly last month.

For their part, Houston made a solid signing in the current trade window, bringing Canadian Women’s National Team forward Clarissa Larisey over from Crystal Palace.

Otherwise, it’s been pretty quiet on Houston’s front. We’ll see if they can muster more willpower than they showed in the last bout, and whether the Courage can improve on their road win stats to pick up some needed points on the table.

Courage news and updates

• LigaMX recap:

  • The Courage had a match against Tigres UANL Feminil that got rained out in the 77’ minute for a nil-nil draw.

  • They went on to crush Chivas de Guadalajara Feminil 4-0. Lussi scored just 4’ into the match, quickly followed by Sanchez and Brooklyn Courtnall. Aline Gomes sailed a gorgeous ball over the Chivas keeper at 76’ for the fourth and final goal. Check it out:

• Also in the Chivas match, Sydney Collins subbed in to mark her first appearance for the Courage in a year, due to injuries.

• The Courage moved forward Olivia Wingate from the D45 injury list to the Season Ending Injury list, with a lower body injury.

• The Courage also announced they’ve loaned defender Charlotte McLean to Tampa Bay Sun FC in the USL Super League.

• As Katie noted on last week’s podcast, the Courage have a ton of free agents that remain available. The Courage tend to be both deliberate and quiet about signings. Retaining these players is possible, and perhaps the most likely outcome in most cases. Others may entertain an offer to see what’s out there, as it might help benchmark a market rate for them, without much intent to jump ship. Still, the Courage have a new Chief Soccer Officer in Ceri Bowley, plus there are two new expansion teams in appealing markets, so it’s really difficult to forecast at this stage.

  Here’s the current list:

  • Katie Cappelletti (keeper)

  • Sydney Collins (defender)

  • Kaleigh Kurtz (defender)

  • Tyler Lussi (forward)

  • Charlotte McLean (defender; on loan to Tampa Bay Sun FC)

  • Casey Murphy (keeper, former USWNT)

  • Victoria Pickett (midfielder; on loan to AFC Toronto)

  • Brianna Pinto (midfielder)

  • Feli Rauch (defender)

  • Meredith Speck (midfielder)

  • Dani Weatherholt (midfielder)

  • Olivia Wingate (forward)

Around the league and beyond

• Denver Summit FC is the new expansion side’s official name, which came complete with colors, logo and crest. They also announced their first player, enticing Ally Watt from Orlando.

• Guess what! That’s not the only Ally to make a big move. Kansas City paid a massive transfer fee for Ally Sentnor, star forward for Utah and frequent USWNT player.

• Tobin Heath officially retired, married Christen Press, and talked pretty openly about the injury that kept her from returning to club play.

• Trinity Rodman returned to club play with the Washington Spirit, after lengthy periods away dealing with a back injury. She … subbed in and made the game-winning goal.

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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