CARY, N.C. (May 17, 2024) — The North Carolina Courage earned a clean sheet win over Utah Royals FC, 1-0, Friday night at WakeMed Soccer Park. Kaleigh Kurtz scored the night’s lone goal to help the Courage improve to 5-5-0 on the season for 15 points.

North Carolina dominated from the opening whistle, putting two glorious chances up in the first four minutes. The Courage held a 20-3 advantage in shots for the night, including 6-0 in shots on target. The Courage held 63% of possession and passed with 85% accuracy. The 20 shots equaled the team’s high for a single match this season. Despite the onslaught of chances, North Carolina couldn’t seem to break through for much of the night until an unlikely hero came to the rescue with 15 minutes to play. Kurtz would finish off a brilliant combination she started, playing an initial ball wide to Ashley Sanchez to send a cross into the box for Brianna Pinto, who sent a one-time redirect to the front post. Kurtz split two defenders and beat the keeper to the ball, slotting it home.

Match Notes:

• Kaleigh Kurtz wore the captain’s band with Denise O’Sullivan out with an injury. It was Kurtz’s 90th regular season start for the Courage, tying Debinha for third-most in club history.

• North Carolina’s fourth clean sheet of the season matches the most for any team in the NWSL in 2024.

• Friday was the second time this season the Courage have held their opponent without a shot on goal (March 30 vs. NJ/NY Gotham FC). There are just three other instances combined throughout the league in 2024.

Up Next:

The Courage get back on the road as they visit the Houston Dash next Friday, May 24, at 8 p.m. ET at Shell Energy Stadium. The match will stream live on NWSL+.

Box Score

NCC (4-3-3): Casey Murphy; Kaleigh Kurtz ©, Malia Berkely, Feli Rauch, Ryan Williams; Narumi Miura, Brianna Pinto (Victoria Pickett – 80’), Ashley Sanchez; Haley Hopkins, Tyler Lussi (Bianca St-Georges – 81’), Manaka Matsukubo (Riley Jackson – 73’)

Subs Not Used: Marisa Bova, Jenna Winebrenner, Meredith Speck, Landy Mertz, Maya McCutcheon

UTA (4-3-3): Amanda Haught; Kate Del Fava, Lauren Flynn, Zoe Burns, Madison Pogarch (Frankie Tagliaferri – 68’); Agnes Nyberg (Brecken Mozingo – 69’), Amandine Henry, Dana Foederer (Emily Gray – 89’); Paige Monaghan ©, Ally Sentnor, Cam Tucker (Hannah Betfort – 77’)

Subs Not Used: Cristina Roque, Addisyn Merrick, Michele Vasconcelos

Score:

NCC: 1

UTA: 0

Goals:

NCC: K. Kurtz – 76′ (Pinto)

UTA: –

Cautions:

NCC: –

UTA: A. Nyberg – 17’; A. Henry – 87’

Ejections:

NCC: —

UTA: —

Attendance: 4,528