The North Carolina Courage took down NJ/NY Gotham FC 1-0 in a battle of two of the NWSL’s best defensive teams on Saturday, August 7. Meredith Speck scored the game’s only goal in the 38th minute, capitalizing on a rebound from Gotham keeper DiDi Haracic. The goal is the first of her Courage career.
Entering the game, the Courage had failed to pick up all three points in their last four games, drawing two and losing two.
“It was a good away performance, professional performance, I guess that’s the best description,” said Courage head coach Paul Riley. “Wasn’t pretty at times. We carved a couple chances up and we defended really well. Casey Murphy was excellent again. The back four defended really, really well and I thought [Denise O’Sullivan and Havana Solaun] particularly in the midfield stood out, got on the ball. We had a little bit more possession than we’ve had the last couple of weeks too, which I think helped us get up the field when we had possession and get the full backs up a little bit higher.”
The win was the first chance Jess McDonald and Amy Rodriguez have had to play as a duo, with McDonald missing the two games since the trade due to a breakthrough positive test and subsequent COVID-19 protocols. While the duo’s linkup was not perfect, it was a solid performance and shows Rodriguez’s continued growth within the system
“We’re still working on a partnership upfront between Jess and A-Rod,” Riley said. “They’re still not in sync yet, obviously based on what we just watched, but I think it’s early days for them. They’ve only been together a few days. Hopefully down the road we get more successful upfront and maybe create better chances than we did today.
The opening 45 minutes was a tightly contested battle with the two midfields executing their respective plans very well. Both clearly came into the game with a plan to neutralize the other’s midfield and both were successful for much of the first half.
“Most teams this year have done the same thing to us,” Riley said. “They want to stop the box from playing and most teams, you know, their whole understanding is: stop the ball, get into the box. If the ball gets into the box, you’re in trouble. And I think most teams are trying to stop that. And again, tonight was one of those teams and we tried to push them wide too. We wanted everything to go down the flank area with all that was better for us. And I thought they tried to do the same to us.”
Speck broke the game open in the 38th minute, pouncing on a rebound and blasting the ball in from close range. In the leadup to the goal, Carson Pickett played in a stellar cross to McDonald, who headed the ball down, forcing Haracic into a good save. Haracic wasn’t able to hold onto the header and it fell perfectly to Speck.
“I genuinely would love to see the tape back, because I think my face was literally like when the ball dropped to my feet because I was like, ‘This is amazing. Kick it as hard as you can,’” Speck said. “It was a fantastic ball by Carson and Jess is such a dominant aerial presence. I was just kind of alert in case anything happened. I thought it was going in and so I was ready to celebrate Jess’s goal, but I had to finish it off myself.”
Riley gave Speck her second start of the season against Gotham after she impressed as a substitute in last weekend’s 1-1 draw against the Orlando Pride. In addition to her goal, Speck was able to find space in dangerous areas, getting into gaps between Gotham’s midfield and defense.
“I’m gonna give a lot of credit to Paul because he’s been pretty insistent that the 10s really needed to get more involved in the attack,” Speck said. “I think particularly with me and [Cari Roccaro] getting some time there. We’re usually a little bit more defensive players. So he’s really stressed, to kind of getting out of your comfort zone and push the box. I also have to give a shout out to my father because he has been adamant about changing my attacking mentality. So he’s very proud at the moment. He was actually at the game, so I give him a lot of credit.”
Gotham nearly responded to Speck’s goal immediately, but Casey Murphy came up with a stunning save to protect the Courage’s lead.
Murphy, who the Courage acquired in the trade that sent Crystal Dunn to Portland, has kept the Courage in multiple games this season with some incredible saves. The 25-year-old keeper leads the league in clean sheets with six and ranks second in the league for saves with 48.
“That’s why we bought her in, because we knew that there were going to be times when she needed to come up big for us and today was one of those games…” said Abby Erceg. “Especially the second part of this first half of the season, she’s grown in confidence. She’s starting to really dominate the 18-yard box and come out and be an aerial force for us. Having her behind us is great. As soon as you hear her calling out, ‘Casey,’ it’s just like, everybody move out of the way and make sure that she has a clear path to the ball.”
The second 45 minutes saw a continuation of the first half’s midfield battle. The Courage’s midfield did well to control the overall flow of the game and Riley made some key subs, bringing fresh legs on in important areas to help see out the game.
“Certainly in the first half we created some good [chances],” Riley said. “Second half, we just kind of knotted ourselves down and defended well and made it difficult for them. [Kaleigh Kurtz] was excellent tonight and [Erceg] was excellent, too. And they have to be, to be perfectly honest with you. [Gotham] had some major threats out there and they’re a good team.”
The Courage will be back in action on Sunday, August 15, returning to WakeMed Soccer Park to take on the Chicago Red Stars. While Sam Mewis and Lynn Williams are unlikely to feature in the game, Debinha should be available and ready to play.
