The North Carolina Courage drew 0-0 with the Orlando Pride in what is likely the team’s final game of the Challenge Cup on Saturday, May 1.
Both teams looked incredibly disjointed in the first half. The Courage could not play out of the back with any consistency and their attack lacked any cohesion, with the chemistry seemingly off between players once they got in the final third. While Orlando looked dangerous early, the Courage was able to keep the Pride’s star-studded attack quiet after the break.
“One thing Orlando always do is keep a high line and tonight they dropped that line real quick,” said Courage head coach Paul Riley. “As soon as we got that ball in the midfield, the line dropped to the edge of the box and they reduced the space, similar to what we do, absorbing the space behind, make sure that Lynn Williams and [Jess McDonald] weren’t going into space so every ball that Lynn receives she has to beat the player.”
Despite the apparent disjointedness, Riley and his players were pleased with the performance after being disappointed with how the team played in its first three games of the Challenge Cup.
“I was just happy overall, I thought we worked hard,” Riley said. “Debinha was fabulous tonight, my God, she was fabulous… We got to get [Lynn Williams] the scoresheet somehow. Some of that’s just the distribution coming into her and the quality of pass coming into her, which we have to improve. They worked hard… Happy with the performance and the result, we’ve said all along really, doesn’t count at this at this stage of the season. I wouldn’t mind two weeks off to get ready for Seattle, to be perfectly honest with you.”
Like the first game of the season, Riley’s lineup sheet raised some eyebrows with just three defenders listed and one of them being Hailie Mace, who has exclusively played as a 10 this season. While the formation did end up being Riley’s tried-and-trusted box midfield, Mace was not in her usual spot, lining up as a six beside Denise O’Sullivan.
“She’s been struggling a little bit with the press and how we press,” Riley said. “We figured we’d drop a little bit deeper and get the game in front of her. It will help from the perspective of obviously being on the ball and the other one of not having to get out to press so much… That’s [Denise O’Sullivan’s] best performance, so sometimes you look at the partner she’s playing with, and how they play and I thought she helped Sully a lot… She’s clever. She can come from deep. She’s got a bit more of a Sam Mewis in her, in terms of running with the ball too, which I think you’ll see as her fitness levels get higher, but I was pleased with her.”
Going into the 70th minute, the Pride got on the front foot after the Courage, despite still looking very disjointed, put together a good string of attacking opportunities. The Pride even came within inches of scoring when Carson Pickett was on the post and able to clear it.
“The goal line save, in such a tight game, I just feel like you need to get anything you can on the ball to get it out,” Pickett said. “That’s just honestly what I was thinking. Alex [Morgan] is such a good finisher, obviously, being around her for a couple years. It was just honestly, just a last ditch effort.”
While the Courage were generating chances, they couldn’t put the ball on net, notching just three shots on target despite firing 19 total shots. For a stretch late in the game, the Courage pumped ball after ball into the box, but no one was able to get on the end of them.
“This was our best game so far in the Challenge Cup,” said Lynn Williams. “We, defensively, were much more intact. Obviously, we can see that by the lack of goals. We still created a lot, we just didn’t put away our chances. Overall, I would say it’s a good performance to build off of… We still had our opportunities and our chances. In the other games, we’ve put them away. This one we haven’t. We definitely needed to test their keeper a bit more.”
Throughout the 90, goalkeeper Casey Murphy kept the Courage in the game. Although she was only credited with two saves, she did a good job of controlling the 18 and punching and claiming crosses.
“Casey Murphy today showed why she’s a top goalkeeper and why she’s with the national team,” Riley said. “She was steady Eddie, great on crosses, made a couple of nice saves. I think she is just going to grow and grow from that performance.”
If results go the Courage’s way, the team can still make it to the May 8th Challenge Cup final but it is unlikely. If things don’t go the Courage’s way, the next time the team takes the field will be the season opener on May 15th on the road at OL Reign.
