SANDY, Utah (March 22, 2024) — The North Carolina Courage fell to the Utah Royals, 2-1, Friday night at America First Field. Despite a statistically dominant performance, the Courage suffered their first loss of the season.
The Courage held 67.3% of the possession and outshot Utah 17-2, but could not find an equalizer in the second half after a 15-minute flurry of goals before the break.
The Royals struck first as Kate Del Fava headed home a Paige Monaghan corner at the far post in the 15’.
The lead was short lived, however, with Ashley Sanchez pouncing on a poor clearance to open her scoring account in a Courage jersey in the 26’. Haley Hopkins played a hard-hit cross along the ground on the edge of the six-yard box that proved too hot to handle for the Utah defender, with the attempted clearance popping up in the air perfectly for Sanchez to hit on the volley and loop over Mandy Haught.
2024 first overall draft pick Ally Sentnor restored the Royals’ lead in the 30’, finding the top corner of the net with a cross-body shot from just inside the box.
Utah seemed to double its lead in the 54′ off a scrappy corner, but the referee’s whistle for a handball denied the Royals a third goal.
The Courage were poised retie the game just before the hour mark after Denise O’Sullivan was brought down in the box and the referee signaled for a penalty.
Malia Berkely, who scored from the spot in the Courage season opener, stepped up to take the penalty but hit the post. Ashley Sanchez charged to the rebound and was brought down by Addisyn Merrick, leading to the referee pointing to the spot for the second time in as many minutes.
Berkely stepped up once again, but the center back’s shot was saved by Haught.
The Courage built several chances throughout the second half, but Utah’s compact shape was just enough to prevent an equalizer.
Next Up
The Courage will return home to take on reigning NWSL champions NJ/NY Gotham FC on Saturday, March 30, at 7 p.m. ET. The game will be the team’s MVP Night, celebrating 2023 NWSL MVP Kerolin Nicoli.
Tickets are available for purchase here.
Match Notes
- Ashley Sanchez scored her first goal in a Courage jersey in the 26’, looping a volley over the Utah goalkeeper.
- Malia Berkely attempted two penalties in the span of two minutes, with the first hitting the post and the second being saved by Mandy Haught.
- The Courage made just one lineup change from the team’s 5-1 season-opening victory over the Houston Dash, with Manaka Matsukubo starting up front in place of Brianna Pinto.
Transcribed Quotes from Courage:
Sean Nahas on his team fighting to the end
“It doesn’t surprise me. It’s just the character of the group. To miss the two (penalties), it happens. We move on, right? We pick ourselves up and move on. But I talked to the group at halftime about the character and what are we made of and I think they showed that and they never really showed a panic. I think they really felt that they were going to find the equalizer. I think we all did. But like I said, they defended really well in the box.”
Sean Nahas on Ashley Sanchez scoring her first NC Courage goal
“That’s great. Anything that can give that kid confidence. I thought she played well overall and found good pockets, found good spaces. To give up the second so quickly after we equalized was a little bit disappointing. I thought the momentum was starting to shift a little bit and the build up to get to that goal, I thought was quite good in breaking the lines and finding the pockets, which I don’t think we did a good enough job in in the first 20 minutes or so.”
Box Score
NCC (4-2-3-1): Casey Murphy; Feli Rauch (Riley Jackson – 80’), Malia Berkely, Kaleigh Kurtz, Ryan Williams; Denise O’Sullivan ©, Narumi Miura (Dani Weatherholt – 80’), Ashley Sanchez, Haley Hopkins (Victoria Pickett – 73’), Tyler Lussi (Bianca St-Georges – 64’); Manaka Matsukubo (Brianna Pinto – 73’).
Subs Not Used: Marisa Bova, Landy Mertz, Jenna Winebrenner, Maya McCutcheon.
UTA (4-3-3): Mandy Haught; Madison Pogarch, Kaleigh Riehl, Kate Del Fava, Imani Dorsey (Addisyn Merrick – 45’+); Dana Foederer (Mikayla Cluff – 81’), Agnes Nyberg, Frankie Tagliaferri (Brecken Mozingo 66’); Ally Sentnor, Paige Monaghan, Hannah Betfort (Ify Onumonu 66’).
Subs Not Used: Carly Nelson, Lauren Flynn, Michele Vasconcelos, Cam Tucker, Emily Gray.
Score:
NCC: 1
UTA: 2
Goals:
NCC: Ashley Sanchez – 26’
UTA: K. Del Fava – 15’ (P. Monaghan), A. Sentnor – 30’ (K. Riehl)
Cautions:
NCC:
UTA: D. Foederer – 17’, H. Betfort – 49’, M. Cluff – 90+2′, M. Haught – 90+7′
Ejections:
NCC: —
UTA: —
