2019 North Carolina Courage season

The 2019 North Carolina Courage season was the team's third season as a professional women's soccer team. North Carolina Courage plays in the National Women's Soccer League, the top tier of women's soccer in the United States.

North Carolina Courage

2019 season
Owner	Stephen Malik
General Manager	Curt Johnson
Head Coach	Paul Riley
Stadium	Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park Cary, North Carolina (Capacity: 10,000)
NWSL Regular Season	1st
NWSL Playoffs	Champions
Top goalscorer	Lynn Williams (12)
Highest home attendance	9,563 (September 14th vs. Orlando)
Lowest home attendance	4,053 (April 13th vs. Chicago)
Average home league attendance	5,875
Biggest win	6–0 (September 11th vs. Portland)
Biggest defeat	1–3 (May 11th vs. Chicago)
Home colors Away colors
← 2018 2020 →

On September 21, the Courage clinched their third consecutive Shield with a 3–0 victory over the Utah Royals.^[1]

On October 27, the Courage defeated the Chicago Red Stars 4–0 to win their second consecutive NWSL Championship.^[2]

Team

Coaching Staff

As of May 31, 2018

Source: North Carolina Courage^[3]

Position	Staff
Head coach	Paul Riley
Assistant coach	Scott Vallow
Assistant coach	Bill Paladino
Assistant coach	Sean Nahas
Assistant coach	Nathan Thackeray

First-team roster

As of July 18, 2019^[4][5]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  CAN Stephanie Labbé 3 DF  USA Kaleigh Kurtz 4 FW  USA McKenzie Meehan 5 MF  USA Sam Mewis 6 DF  NZL Abby Erceg 7 MF  USA McCall Zerboni 8 MF  IRL Denise O'Sullivan 9 FW  USA Lynn Williams 10 MF  BRA Debinha 11 DF  USA Merritt Mathias 12 FW  USA Leah Pruitt 13 DF  USA Abby Dahlkemper 14 FW  USA Jessica McDonald

No. Pos. Nation Player 15 DF  USA Jaelene Hinkle 16 MF  SWE Julia Spetsmark 17 MF  USA Heather O'Reilly 19 FW  USA Crystal Dunn 20 MF  USA Ryan Williams 21 DF  USA Cari Roccaro 23 FW  USA Kristen Hamilton 25 DF  USA Meredith Speck 26 DF  USA Hailey Harbison 27 MF  USA Lauren Milliet 37 GK  USA Sam Leshnak 99 GK  USA Katelyn Rowland

Player transactions

2019 NWSL College Draft

Source: National Women's Soccer League^[6]

Round	Pick	Nat.	Player	Previous Team
Round 1	5		Leah Pruitt	USC
Round 1	9		Hailey Harbison	Pepperdine
Round 2	14		Lauren Milliet	Colorado College
Round 4	36		Kaycie Tillman	Florida State

Players in

Date	Player	Positions played	Previous club	Fee/notes	Ref.
January 7, 2019	Julia Spetsmark	DF	Djurgården	Signed.	[7]
February 12, 2019	Ally Haran	DF	UMF Selfoss	Signed.	[8]
February 22, 2019	Stephanie Labbé	GK	Linköpings FC	Signed.	[9]
June 11, 2019	McKenzie Meehan	FW	Sky Blue FC	Acquired in a Trade with Sky Blue FC in exchange for Elizabeth Eddy	[10]
July 18, 2019	Sam Leshnak	GK	North Carolina Tar Heels	Signed.	[11]

Players out

Date	Player	Positions played	Destination club	Fee/notes	Ref.
October 1, 2018	Yuri Kawamura	DF	unattached	Waived.	[12]
December 17, 2018	Darian Jenkins	FW	Reign FC	Traded to Reign FC in exchange for Reign FC's 9th overall pick in the 2019 NWSL College Draft.	[13]
January 4, 2019	Sabrina D'Angelo	GK	Vittsjö	Signed with Vittsjö.	[14]
April 4, 2019	Morgan Reid	DF	Orlando Pride	Traded to the Orlando Pride in exchange for Orlando's fourth round pick in the 2020 NWSL College Draft.	[15]
June 11, 2019	Elizabeth Eddy	MF	Sky Blue FC	Traded to Sky Blue FC in exchange for McKenzie Meehan.	[10]
July 18, 2019	Julie King	DF		Waived.	[11]
July 18, 2019	Ally Haran	DF		Waived.	[11]

Competitions

National Women's Soccer League

See also: 2019 National Women's Soccer League season

Preseason

Source: North Carolina Courage^[16]

North Carolina Courage v Orlando Pride

March 23 (23-03)	North Carolina Courage	4–0	Orlando Pride	Cary, North Carolina
1:00 p.m. ET	Speck 35' McDonald 61' (Williams) Williams 69' (Pruitt) Spetsmark 89' (Eddy)	Report	Morgan  45+1'	Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 4,220

Regular season

Source: North Carolina Courage^[17]

North Carolina Courage v Chicago Red Stars

April 13 (13-04) 1	North Carolina Courage	1–1	Chicago Red Stars	Cary, North Carolina
7:00 p.m. EDT	Dunn 66'	Report	Kerr 26'	Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 4,053

North Carolina Courage v Orlando Pride

April 17 (17-04) 2	North Carolina Courage	5–0	Orlando Pride	Cary, North Carolina
7:00 p.m. EDT	Williams 45' O'Sullivan  45+1' McDonald 55' Zerboni  64' Dunn 70', 77' Spetsmark 88'	Report	Marta  85'	Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 4,292 Referee: Danielle Chesky

Houston Dash v North Carolina Courage

April 28 (28-04) 3	Houston Dash	1–4	North Carolina Courage	Houston, Texas
5:00 p.m. CDT	Daly 86' Schmidt  44'	Report	Williams 45+1' Dunn 69' Debinha 69' Pruitt 76'	Stadium: BBVA Compass Stadium Attendance: 2,933

North Carolina Courage v Sky Blue FC

May 04 (04-05) 4	North Carolina Courage	0–0	Sky Blue FC	Cary, North Carolina
7:00 p.m. EDT	Zerboni  87'	Report	Monaghan  34'	Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 5,039

Chicago Red Stars v North Carolina Courage

May 11 (11-05) 5	Chicago Red Stars	3–1	North Carolina Courage	Bridgeview, Illinois
5:00 p.m. EDT	Kerr 13' 90+3' Vasconcelos 40' Stanton  72'	Report	Williams 33',  80'	Stadium: SeatGeek Stadium Attendance: 2,113

North Carolina Courage v Utah Royals FC

May 19 (19-05) 6	North Carolina Courage	1–1	Utah Royals FC	Cary, North Carolina
5:00 p.m. EDT	Eddy 78'	Box	Rodriguez 7',  40'	Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 4,821

Reign FC v North Carolina Courage

May 27 (27-05) 7	Reign FC	2–1	North Carolina Courage	Tacoma, Washington
4:00 p.m. PDT	Balcer 13' Nielsen  30' Groom 89'	Box	Erceg 89'	Stadium: Cheney Stadium Attendance: 3,032

Orlando Pride v North Carolina Courage

June 01 (01-06) 8	Orlando Pride	0–3	North Carolina Courage	Orlando, Florida
7:30 p.m. EDT	Ubogagu  56'	Box	Hamilton 59', 66', 85' Denise O'Sullivan  53'	Stadium: Orlando City Stadium Attendance: 4,427

North Carolina Courage v Portland Thorns FC

June 15 (15-06) 9	North Carolina Courage	1–1	Portland Thorns FC	Cary, North Carolina
7:45 p.m. EDT	Kurtz  19' Spetsmark 59'	Box	Purce 26' Lussi  63'	Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 6,172
Note: doubleheader with North Carolina FC.

Washington Spirit v North Carolina Courage

June 29 (29-06) 10	Washington Spirit	1–2	North Carolina Courage	Germantown, Maryland
7:00 p.m. EDT	Harrison  39' Thomas 82'		Debinha 45+4' Pritchett 53' Zerboni  90+3'	Stadium: Maryland SoccerPlex Attendance: 3,481

North Carolina Courage v Houston Dash

July 05 (05-07) 11	North Carolina Courage	5–2	Houston Dash	Cary, North Carolina
7:00 p.m. EDT	Hamilton 5' 18' 54' 71' Williams 31'	Box	Mewis 24' Simon 43' Schmidt  53' Hanson  69'	Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 5,066

North Carolina Courage v Reign FC

July 13 (13-07) 12	North Carolina Courage	2–0	Reign FC	Cary, North Carolina
7:00 p.m. EDT	Williams 22' Debinha 55' O'Sullivan  70'	Box Report	Balcer  87'	Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 6,216

Chicago Red Stars v North Carolina Courage

July 21 (21-07) 13	Chicago Red Stars	2–1	North Carolina Courage	Bridgeview, Illinois
5:00 p.m. CDT	Naughton  14' DiBernardo 37' Kerr 58'		Williams 30' McDonald  51'	Stadium: SeatGeek Stadium Attendance: 17,388
Note: Game was broadcast on ESPN 2

Utah Royals FC v North Carolina Courage

July 27 (27-07) 14	Utah Royals FC	1–2	North Carolina Courage	Sandy, Utah
8:00 p.m. MDT	Press 13'		Hamilton 34' McDonald 54'	Stadium: Rio Tinto Stadium Attendance: 10,545

North Carolina Courage v Washington Spirit

August 03 (03-08) 15	North Carolina Courage	1–0	Washington Spirit	Cary, North Carolina
4:00 p.m. EDT	Debinha 64' Spetsmark  90+4'		Nielsen  24'	Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 4,393
Note: Rescheduled from August 2 due to thunderstorms.

Portland Thorns FC v North Carolina Courage

August 11 (11-08) 16	Portland Thorns FC	2–1	North Carolina Courage	Portland, Oregon
12:00 p.m. PDT	Foord  19' Labbé 56' (o.g) Erceg 82' (o.g)		Dunn 4'	Stadium: Providence Park Attendance: 25,218
Note: Game was broadcast on ESPNews

North Carolina Courage v Reign FC

August 24 (24-08) 17	North Carolina Courage	1–0	Reign FC	Cary, North Carolina
7:00 p.m. EDT	L. Williams 82'			Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 6,743

Sky Blue FC v North Carolina Courage

September 07 (07-09) 18	Sky Blue FC	1–2	North Carolina Courage	Piscataway, New Jersey
3:00 p.m. EDT	Lloyd 13' (pen.) Rodriguez  79'		Skroski 1' (o.g.) Dunn 57'	Stadium: Yurcak Field Attendance: 2,895

Portland Thorns FC v North Carolina Courage

September 11 (11-09) 19	Portland Thorns FC	0–6	North Carolina Courage	Portland, Oregon
7:30 p.m. PDT	Klingenberg  57' Horan  58'		Debinha 15' L. Williams 21', 24', 68' Dunn 61' Hinkle  69' Hamilton 89'	Stadium: Providence Park Attendance: 17,517

North Carolina Courage v Orlando Pride

September 14 (14-09) 20	North Carolina Courage	6–1	Orlando Pride	Cary, North Carolina
6:00 p.m. EDT	Williams 6' Edmonds 37' (o.g) McDonald 41' Meehan 78' O'Reilly 85' Debinha 90+2'		Greening  11' Kennedy  28' Elinsky  28' Hill 82'	Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 9,563

North Carolina Courage v Houston Dash

September 17 (17-09) 21	North Carolina Courage	1–0	Houston Dash	Cary, North Carolina
7:30 p.m. EDT	Mewis 87' (pen.)	Report	Daly  73' Brooks  74' Mewis  86'	Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 4,943

Utah Royals FC v North Carolina Courage

September 21 (21-09) 22	Utah Royals FC	0–3	North Carolina Courage	Sandy, Utah
7:00 p.m. MDT			Mewis 30' (pen.) O'Sullivan  35' Hinkle 65' Debinha 70'	Stadium: Rio Tinto Stadium Attendance: 9,946

Washington Spirit v North Carolina Courage

September 28 (28-09) 23	Washington Spirit	2–1	North Carolina Courage	Germantown, Maryland
7:00 p.m. EDT	Huster  56' Matthews  59' Pugh 75' Lavelle 84'		Williams 45+2' Erceg  86'	Stadium: Maryland SoccerPlex

North Carolina Courage v Sky Blue FC

October 12 (12-10) 24	North Carolina Courage	3–2	Sky Blue FC	Cary, North Carolina
7:00 p.m. EDT	McDonald 16' Debinha 28' McDonald 81'	Report	Lloyd 26' Richardson 86'	Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 9,195

Postseason playoffs

North Carolina Courage v Reign FC

October 20 (20-10) Semifinal	North Carolina Courage	4–1	Reign FC	Cary, North Carolina
1:30 p.m. EDT	O'Reilly 88' Debinha 99' Barnes 106' (o.g.) Dunn 107'	Report	Long  50' Onumonu 90+3'	Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park
Note: Televised on ESPN2

North Carolina Courage v Chicago Red Stars

October 27 (27-10) Final	North Carolina Courage	4–0	Chicago Red Stars	Cary, North Carolina
3:30 p.m. EST	Debinha 4' McDonald 26' Dunn 45+5' Mewis 62' Zerboni  74'	Report	DiBernardo  47' Ertz  67'	Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 10,227
Note: Televised on ESPN

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	North Carolina Courage (C)	24	15	4	5	54	23	+31	49	NWSL Shield
2	Chicago Red Stars	24	14	2	8	41	28	+13	44	NWSL Playoffs
3	Portland Thorns FC	24	11	7	6	40	31	+9	40
4	Reign FC	24	10	8	6	27	27	0	38
5	Washington Spirit	24	9	7	8	30	25	+5	34
6	Utah Royals FC	24	10	4	10	25	25	0	34
7	Houston Dash	24	7	5	12	21	36	−15	26
8	Sky Blue FC	24	5	5	14	20	34	−14	20
9	Orlando Pride	24	4	4	16	24	53	−29	16

Source: NWSL
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(C) Champions

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
24	15	4	5	54	23	+31	49	8	4	0	27	8	+19	7	0	5	27	15	+12

Last updated: October 12, 2019.
Source: NWSLsoccer.com

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
Ground	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H
Result	D	W	W	D	L	D	L	W	D	W	W	W	L	W	W	L	W	W	W	W	W	W	L	W
Position	3	1	1	2	4	5	7	4	4	5	2	1	2	2	1	3	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1

Updated to match(es) played on October 12, 2019. Source: NWSLsoccer.com
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

International friendlies

Main article: 2019 Women's International Champions Cup

As defending 2018 NWSL champions and defending 2018 Women's ICC champions, the Courage were selected to participate in and host the 2019 Women's International Champions Cup. They are scheduled to play English side Manchester City in the semi-final round.

North Carolina Courage v Manchester City

August 15 (15-08) Semi-final	North Carolina Courage	2–1	Manchester City	Cary, North Carolina
7:30 p.m. ET	O'Sullivan  80' Meehan 84' McDonald 90+2'	Report	Stanway 41'	Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 5,436

North Carolina Courage v Lyon

August 18 (18-08) Final	North Carolina Courage	0–1	Lyon	Cary, North Carolina
7:30 p.m. ET				Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park
Note: Broadcast on ESPN2

Statistical leaders

As of October 12, 2019

Top scorers Rank Player Goals 1 Lynn Williams 12 2 Kristen Hamilton 9 3 Debinha 8 4 Crystal Dunn 7 5 Jessica McDonald 5 6 Julia Spetsmark 2 Leah Pruitt Sam Mewis 9 Elizabeth Eddy 1 Abby Erceg Heather O'Reilly Jaelene Hinkle

Top assists Rank Player Assists 1 Debinha 7 2 Jaelene Hinkle 6 3 Lynn Williams 5 Merritt Mathias Kristen Hamilton 6 Crystal Dunn 4 7 Jessica McDonald 3 8 McCall Zerboni 1 Leah Pruitt Denise O'Sullivan Sam Mewis Julia Spetsmark Heather O'Reilly Cari Roccaro Shutouts Rank Player Clean sheets 1 Stephanie Labbé 8 2 Samantha Leshnak 1

Awards

As of October 19, 2019.

NWSL annual awards

See also: NWSL awards

• Most Valuable Player: Debinha (finalist), Jaelene Hinkle (finalist), Kristen Hamilton (finalist)^[18]
• Coach of the Year: Paul Riley (finalist)^[18]

NWSL Monthly Awards

NWSL Player of the Month

Month	Result	Player	Ref.
April	Won	Crystal Dunn	[19]
July	Won	Kristen Hamilton	[20]

NWSL Team of the Month

Month	Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards	Ref
April		Abby Erceg	Crystal Dunn		[21]
May		Merritt Mathias			[22]
June			Kristen Hamilton		[23]
July		Abby Erceg Merritt Mathias	Debinha	Kristen Hamilton	[24]
August		Abby Erceg Jaelene Hinkle	Debinha		[25]
September		Jaelene Hinkle	Debinha	Lynn Williams	[26]

NWSL Weekly Awards

NWSL Player of the Week

Week	Result	Player	Ref.
8	Won	Kristen Hamilton	[27]
12	Won	Kristen Hamilton	[28]
15	Won	Kristen Hamilton	[29]
22	Won	Lynn Williams	[30]
25	Won	Jessica McDonald	[31]

NWSL Goal of the Week

Week	Result	Player	Ref.
1	Nominated	Crystal Dunn	[32]
3	Nominated	Crystal Dunn	[33]
6	Nominated	Elizabeth Eddy	[34]
8	Nominated	Kristen Hamilton	[35]
9	Nominated	Julia Spetsmark	[36]
11	Nominated	Leah Pruitt	[37]
12	Nominated	Kristen Hamilton	[38]
13	Nominated	Debinha	[39]
15	Nominated	Kristen Hamilton	[40]
16	Nominated	Debinha	[41]
17	Nominated	Crystal Dunn
19	Nominated	Lynn Williams
21	Nominated	Crystal Dunn
22	Won	Heather O'Reilly

NWSL Save of the Week

Week	Result	Player	Ref.
4	Nominated	Merritt Mathias	[42]
7	Nominated	Merritt Mathias	[43]
11	Nominated	Katelyn Rowland	[44]
16	Nominated	Stephanie Labbé	[45]
17	Nominated	Stephanie Labbé
23	Nominated	Stephanie Labbé