CARY, N.C. (March 16, 2024) — The North Carolina Courage opened the 2024 NWSL regular season with a win, taking down the Houston Dash, 5-1, on Saturday in front of a crowd of 5,878 to set a club record for a home opener.
The Courage put five on the board before putting the legendary number five Sam Mewis into the newly formed Courage Ring of Honor with a post-match ceremony. North Carolina out-shot Houston 20-8, including an 8-3 edge in shots on frame, for the night and held nearly 59% of possession and passed at 81% accuracy for the night.
Malia Berkely opened the scoring for the Courage in the 19’ from the penalty spot, sending Jane Campbell the wrong way before coolly slotting the ball into the bottom right corner. Brianna Pinto drew the spot kick as her cross was blocked by a sliding defender’s arm.
The goal was the first for Berkely’s career in regular season play.
Houston nearly responded just moments later, but Courage keeper Casey Murphy denied the Dash a rebuttal in the 21’ with a stellar diving save to her left. Murphy came up big again in the 52’, fully extending to tip another shot wide of the post to keep the Courage in front.
Haley Hopkins gave the Courage some insurance in the 55’, capitalizing on a midfield takeaway from Denise O’Sullivan with a strong one-on-one finish from the left wing. Hopkins had five shots on the night, two on target, and a team-best six touches in the Dash penalty area.
Houston pulled back within one goal in the 65’ after a free kick deflected off Kaleigh Kurtz during a scramble in the box for an own goal.
Bianca St-Georges would restore the two-goal lead in the 76’ with a debut goal, scoring just two minutes after subbing into the game following a nice give-and-go with Manaka Matsukubo. St-Georges would find a brace ten minutes later when an initial shot by Hopkins was blocked but deflected perfectly to St-Georges at the top of the box to pick out corner netting.
St-Georges became the first NWSL player to record a brace in a team debut since the 2014 season. Dani Weatherholt, another free agent signing making her Courage debut, would cap off the night with a goal late in stoppage time for the magic number five.
Match Notes
- Berkely’s opening goal was the defender’s first career NWSL regular season goal.
- Bianca St-Georges’ first goal came just two minutes into her Courage debut.
- Riley Jackson made her professional debut, subbing on in the 90’.
Postgame press conference video
Head Coach Sean Nahas on Sam Mewis’ induction
“She never got a proper send off here for many reasons. And the fact that we can bring her home and honor her the way we did, she’s such an important part of our club. These two stars that we have on our crest are because of Sam and many others.”
On Bianca St-Georges
“We needed some more veteran leadership, added a little bit more depth in the middle. Bianca adds something a little bit different to what we maybe don’t have and with Kero out we needed to add some of that pace and allow these players to be in an environment where they can flourish and try something new and be themselves.”
Transcribed Quotes from NC Courage:
Bianca St-Georges on her first goal
“Well first of all Manaka is an incredible player and it’s so funny because you would think internationals sometimes are pretty shy on the field but she is extremely vocal.
“She says what needs to be done and she let me know she was there, so it was easy to play her when someone communicates so clearly. Then, at that point, you just don’t think you just do. And I had one thing in mind, to get to the front post as fast as possible. And it’s funny, because in training we were training that exact play but reversed.”
Malia Berkely on halftime adjustments
“Coming into the second half, we were able to really settle in and play our style. We’re known to be a very possession style team, but I think in the first half we struggled with being in the right spots. We can’t be the team that we are if players aren’t doing their jobs. At halftime we all took accountability for it and said we need to get (it) together. And we did that. And I think the result showed.
Up Next
The NC Courage will hit the road for the team’s first road match of 2024 as they visit league newcomer Utah Royals FC on Friday, March 22. The match will kick off at 9:30 p.m. ET and stream live on NWSL+.
Box Score:
NCC (4-2-3-1): Casey Murphy; Feli Rauch, Malia Berkely, Kaleigh Kurtz, Ryan Williams; Denise O’Sullivan ©, Narumi Miura (Dani Weatherholt – 74’), Ashley Sanchez (Riley Jackson – 90’), Haley Hopkins (Victoria Pickett – 90’), Tyler Lussi (Bianca St-Georges – 74’); Brianna Pinto (Manaka Matsukubo 62’).
Subs Not Used: Marisa Bova, Landy Mertz, Jenna Winebrenner, Maya McCutcheon
HOU (4-4-2): Jane Campbell ©; Avery Patterson, Sarah Puntigam (Croix Soto – 63’), Jyllissa Harris, Courtney Petersen; Belle Briede (Barbara Olivieri – 63’), Sophie Schmidt, Andressa Alves (Kiki Van Zanten – 63’), Maria Sanchez; Diana Ordoñez, Cece Kizer (Michelle Alozie – 74’)
Subs Not Used: Emily Alvarado, Havana Solaun, Yuki Nagasato, Sophie Hirst
Score:
NCC: 5
HOU: 1
Goals:
NCC: M. Berkely – 19’ (P); H. Hopkins – 55’; B. St-Georges 76’ (Matsukubo), 86’; D. Weatherholt – 90+9’ (V. Pickett)
HOU: K. Kurtz – 65’ (OG)
Cautions:
NCC: D. O’Sullivan – 45’
HOU: S. Schmidt – 37’
Ejections:
NCC: –
HOU: –
Attendance: 5,878
