CARY, NC (July 29, 2023) — The North Carolina Courage continued their offensive onslaught with a 5-0 win over the Orlando Pride Saturday night in UKG NWSL Challenge Cup action at WakeMed Soccer Park. The Courage extend their record Challenge Cup unbeaten streak to 15 consecutive matches. Due to the result, the Courage can clinch the East Division with a draw or win against Gotham FC next weekend.
Playing into a steady wind for the first 45, the Courage weathered some early possession by the Pride before building some chances of their own a quarter-hour in. Brittany Ratcliffe struck the top of the bar on an attempt in the 15’ then just two minutes later avenged the narrow miss, collecting a middle through ball from Kiki Pickett and rolling a shot to right-corner netting to open the scoring. A few minutes later, Ratcliffe centered a ball in front of Frankie Tagliaferri, who’s one-timer was on frame but couldn’t beat the Pride keeper. Tagliaferri returned the favor in the 37’ and Ratcliffe drew a foul in the box for a penalty opportunity, which Malia Berkely calmly deposited to double the lead. It was Berkely’s first goal of the season and second of her Courage career. The Courage kept the momentum out of the break with a quick strike to add to the lead. Working off a quick corner, a loose ball deflected to Tagliaferri, who one-timed the shot home from the middle of the box to beat the keeper. The exclamation point came with ten minutes left in regulation when Haley Hopkins scored her first professional goal, tapping home a one-timer at the six-yard line off a feed from fellow rookie Olivia Wingate. Hopkins then doubled the punctuation when she headed home a great cross from Sarah Clark, who picked up the assist to her fellow former Virginia Cavalier in her NWSL debut.
Match Notes
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Saturday was the third time in all 2023 competitions the Courage scored multiple first-half goals
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The Courage have scored 13 unanswered goals in Challenge Cup play, last conceding the first goal of the Spirit match on June 14 at Audi Field
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The match marked the second consecutive in which a Courage player scored their first-career goal
Next Match: The North Carolina Courage visit NJ/NY Gotham FC for their final match of UKG Challenge Cup pool play with a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff at Red Bull Arena. The match will stream live on Paramount+ in the United States and on www.nwslsoccer.com internationally.
Box Score:
NCC (4-3-3): Katelyn Rowland, Kiki Pickett (Sydney Collins – 80’), Malia Berkely, Kaleigh Kurtz ©, Ryan Williams, Brianna Pinto (Sarah Clark – 79’), Narumi, Frankie Tagliaferri (Victoria Pickett – 72’), Tyler Lussi (Haley Hopkins – 72’), Tess Boade, Brittany Ratcliffe (Olivia Wingate – 67’)
Subs Not Used: Marisa Bova, Nikia Smith, Haleigh Stackpole, Estelle Johnson
ORL (4-3-3): Anna Moorhouse, Kylie Strom (Amanda Allen – 77’), Emily Madril, Megan Montefusco, Haley McCutcheon ©, Jordyn Listro, Kerry Abello, Viviana Villacorta (Summer Yates – 63’), Messiah Bright (Ally Watt – 57’), Julie Doyle (Mikayla Cluff – 56’), Erika Tymrak (Thais Reiss – 77’)
Subs Not Used: Carly Nelson, Caitlin Cosme, Tori Hansen, Cleia Jimenez Delgado
Score:
NCC: 5
ORL: 0
Goals:
NCC: B. Ratcliffe – 17’ (K. Pickett); M. Berkely – 38’ (P); F. Tagliaferri – 48’; H. Hopkins – 78′ (O. Wingate), 89′ (S. Clark)
ORL:
Cautions:
NCC: B. Pinto – 65’
ORL: S. Yates – 68’
Ejections:
NCC: –
ORL: –
