2023 North Carolina Courage season

The 2023 North Carolina Courage season was the team's seventh season as a professional women's soccer team. The Courage played in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top tier of women's soccer in the United States.

North Carolina Courage

2023 season
Managing Owner	Steve Malik
Club President	Francie Gottsegen
Head Coach	Sean Nahas
Stadium	Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park Cary, North Carolina (Capacity: 10,000)
NWSL Regular Season	3rd
NWSL Challenge Cup	Champions (2nd title)
Playoffs	Quarterfinals
Top goalscorer	Kerolin (9 goals)
Highest home attendance	7,070 (May 6 vs POR)
Lowest home attendance	4,014 (Jun 17 vs ORL)
Average home league attendance	4,800
Home colors Away colors
← 2022 2024 →
All statistics correct as of July 9, 2023.

Background

See also: 2022 North Carolina Courage season

Broadcasting

On June 5, 2023, the Courage announced that Bally Sports South would regionally broadcast eight of the team's games.^[1]

Team

Current squad

As of July 17, 2023.^[2][3][4][5]

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
0	GK	USA	Katelyn Rowland
1	GK	USA	Casey Murphy
2	DF	USA	Sarah Clark
3	DF	USA	Kaleigh Kurtz
4	MF	USA	Emily Gray
5	FW	USA	Haley Hopkins
6	MF	JPN	Narumi Miura
7	DF	USA	Malia Berkely
8	MF	USA	Brianna Pinto
9	FW	BRA	Kerolin
10	MF	IRL	Denise O'Sullivan
11	FW	USA	Brittany Ratcliffe
12	DF	USA	Emily Fox
13	DF	USA	Ryan Williams
14	FW	USA	Tyler Lussi
17	FW	DEN	Rikke Madsen
18	DF	CAN	Sydney Collins
19	MF	USA	Frankie Tagliaferri
20	FW	USA	Olivia Wingate
21	DF	USA	Nikia Smith
22	FW	DEN	Mille Gejl
23	DF	USA	Kiki Pickett
24	DF	CMR	Estelle Johnson
25	MF	USA	Meredith Speck
26	MF	USA	Clara Robbins
28	FW	USA	Tess Boade
29	FW	ENG	Millie Farrow
44	GK	USA	Marisa Bova
55	GK	USA	Hensley Hancuff
99	MF	CAN	Victoria Pickett
—	MF	JPN	Rikako Kobayashi

Staff

As of April 29, 2023.^[6][7][8]

Executive
Chairman	Steve Malik
President	Francie Gottsegen
Chief soccer officer	Curt Johnson
Assistant general manager	Bobby Hammond
Coaching
Head coach	Sean Nahas
Assistant coach	Nathan Thackeray
Assistant coach	Emma Thomson

Regular season

Matches

North Carolina Courage v Kansas City Current

March 25, 2023 (2023-03-25) 1	North Carolina Courage	1–0	Kansas City Current	Cary, North Carolina
2:00 pm EDT	Gejl 23'	Report		Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 4,948 Referee: Alex Billeter

San Diego Wave FC v North Carolina Courage

April 1, 2023 (2023-04-01) 2	San Diego Wave FC	3–1	North Carolina Courage	San Diego, California
8:00 pm EDT	Shaw 39' Morgan 48', 73' (pen.)	Report	Kerolin 77' (pen.)	Stadium: Snapdragon Stadium Attendance: 17,000 Referee: John Griggs

North Carolina Courage v Washington Spirit

April 15, 2023 (2023-04-15) 3	North Carolina Courage	1–2	Washington Spirit	Cary, North Carolina
7:00 pm EDT	Nicoli 43' (pen.)	Report	Rodman 9' Hatch 50' (pen.)	Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 5,160 Referee: Adorae Monroy

NJ/NY Gotham FC v North Carolina Courage

April 22, 2023 (2023-04-22) 4	NJ/NY Gotham FC	1–0	North Carolina Courage	Harrison, New Jersey
7:30 pm EDT	Long  5' Williams 80'	Report		Stadium: Red Bull Arena Attendance: 3,200 Referee: Matthew Thompson

Houston Dash v North Carolina Courage

April 28, 2023 (2023-04-28) 5	Houston Dash	0–1	North Carolina Courage	Houston, Texas
7:30 pm CDT		Report	Lussi 33' (Fox)	Stadium: Shell Energy Stadium Referee: Thomas Snyder
Note: Match abandoned at 56' due to weather, result awarded to the Courage[9]

North Carolina Courage v Portland Thorns FC

May 6, 2023 (2023-05-06) 6	North Carolina Courage	3–3	Portland Thorns FC	Cary, North Carolina
7:00 pm EDT	Menges 1' (o.g.) Kerolin 26' (Williams) V. Pickett 70' (Wingate)	Report	Dunn 22' (Smith), 52' (Klingenberg) Kuikka  54' Moultrie 83' (Kuikka) Smith  90'	Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 7,070 Referee: Alyssa Nichols

North Carolina Courage v OL Reign

May 14, 2023 (2023-05-14) 7	North Carolina Courage	1–0	OL Reign	Cary, North Carolina
3:00 pm EDT	Lussi 34' (Madsen) Williams  83'	Report	Huerta  42' Rapinoe  75'	Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 4,059 Referee: Alex Billeter

North Carolina Courage v Angel City FC

May 20, 2023 (2023-05-20) 8	North Carolina Courage	0–0	Angel City FC	Cary, North Carolina
7:00 pm EDT	O'Sullivan  68'	Report		Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 4,723 Referee: Sergii Demianchuk

Racing Louisville FC v North Carolina Courage

May 27, 2023 (2023-05-27) 9	Racing Louisville FC	1–2	North Carolina Courage	Louisville, Kentucky
8:00 pm EDT	DeMelo  44' Borges  73' Baggett 88'	Report	Madsen 53' Kerolin 60' Gejl  77' O'Sullivan  81'	Stadium: Lynn Family Stadium Attendance: 5,874 Referee: Danielle Chesky

Kansas City Current v North Carolina Courage

June 3, 2023 (2023-06-03) 10	Kansas City Current	1–0	North Carolina Courage	Kansas City, Kansas
6:30 pm CDT	Hamilton 8' (Debinha) Mace  90+1'	Report	Kerolin  68' Speck  75' Pinto  88'	Stadium: Children's Mercy Park Attendance: 10,294 Referee: JC Griggs

Chicago Red Stars v North Carolina Courage

June 10, 2023 (2023-06-10) 11	Chicago Red Stars	0–5	North Carolina Courage	Bridgeview, Illinois
6:00 pm CDT	Bike  76' Milazzo  90+7'	Report	Kerolin 11', 34', 60' Gejl 31' O'Sullivan 52'	Stadium: SeatGeek Stadium Attendance: 3,541 Referee: Karen Callado

North Carolina Courage v Orlando Pride

June 17, 2023 (2023-06-17) 12	North Carolina Courage	3–0	Orlando Pride	Cary, North Carolina
7:00 pm EDT	Kerolin 32' Speck 77' McCutcheon 83' (o.g.)	Report	Doyle  33'	Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 4,014 Referee: Calin Radosav

North Carolina Courage v Racing Louisville FC

June 24, 2023 (2023-06-24) 13	North Carolina Courage	1–0	Racing Louisville FC	Cary, North Carolina
7:00 pm EDT	Lussi 73' Kerolin  90+3'	Report	Kgatlana  46' Howell  56' Monaghan  81'	Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 4,041 Referee: Elton Garcia

North Carolina Courage v Houston Dash

July 1, 2023 (2023-07-01) 14	North Carolina Courage	1–0	Houston Dash	Cary, North Carolina
8:30 pm EDT	Lussi 59'	Report	Dydasco  45+3' Anderson  81' Olivieri  90+2'	Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 4,387 Referee: Rebecca Pagan
Note: Kickoff delayed from 7:30 pm by thunderstorms in the area.

Angel City FC v North Carolina Courage

July 9, 2023 (2023-07-09) 15	Angel City FC	2–1	North Carolina Courage	Los Angeles, California
5:00 pm PDT	McCaskill 18' Kurtz 77' (o.g.)	Report	Pinto 15' Williams  55'	Stadium: BMO Stadium Attendance: 17,876 Referee: Jeremy Scheer

Portland Thorns FC v North Carolina Courage

August 20, 2023 (2023-08-20) 16	Portland Thorns FC	2–1	North Carolina Courage	Portland, Oregon
7:30 pm PDT	Hubly  17' Betfort 41' Smith 69'	Report	Lussi 19'	Stadium: Providence Park Attendance: 22,107 Referee: Matthew Thompson

North Carolina Courage v Chicago Red Stars

August 27, 2023 (2023-08-27) 17	North Carolina Courage	1–1	Chicago Red Stars	Cary, North Carolina
2:00 pm EDT	Boade 14' Fox  21' O'Sullivan  27'	Report	Roccaro  4' Nagasato  44' Milazzo 63'	Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 4,000 Referee: Kevin Broadley

North Carolina Courage v NJ/NY Gotham FC

September 2, 2023 (2023-09-02) 18	North Carolina Courage	3–3	NJ/NY Gotham FC	Cary, North Carolina
7:00 pm EDT	Miura 19' Kerolin  40', 45' Hopkins 68' Lussi  85'	Report	Nighswonger 64' López 73' Purce  75', 82'	Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 6,389 Referee: Abdou Ndiaye

Orlando Pride v North Carolina Courage

September 17, 2023 (2023-09-17) 19	Orlando Pride	2-1	North Carolina Courage	Orlando, Florida
7:00 pm EDT	Watt 1' Adriana 32'	Report	Matsukbo 52' Berkely  78'	Stadium: Exploria Stadium Attendance: 5,907 Referee: Danielle Chesky

OL Reign v North Carolina Courage

October 1, 2023 (2023-10-01) 20	OL Reign	1-1	North Carolina Courage	Seattle, Washington
5:00 pm PDT	Balcer 21' Cook  45+7' Stanton  67' Huitema  90+2'	Report	Kerolin 43' Matsukubo  90'	Stadium: Lumen Field Attendance: 10,345 Referee: Elton Garcia

North Carolina Courage v San Diego Wave FC

October 7, 2023 (2023-10-07) 21	North Carolina Courage	0–0	San Diego Wave FC	Cary, North Carolina
7:00 pm EDT	Kurtz  67'	Report	Pogarch  61' Riehl  79' Kornieck  89'	Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 10,434 Referee: Anya Voigt

Washington Spirit v North Carolina Courage

October 15, 2023 (2023-10-15) 22	Washington Spirit	0-1	North Carolina Courage	Washington, D.C.
5:00 pm EDT	Rodman  23'	Report	Lussi 7'	Stadium: Audi Field Attendance: 15,479 Referee: Ricardo Fierro

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	San Diego Wave FC (S)	22	11	4	7	31	22	+9	37	NWSL Shield, Playoff semifinals, and CONCACAF W Champions Cup
2	Portland Thorns FC	22	10	5	7	42	32	+10	35	Playoff semifinals and W Champions Cup
3	North Carolina Courage	22	9	6	7	29	22	+7	33	Playoff quarterfinals
4	OL Reign	22	9	5	8	29	24	+5	32
5	Angel City FC	22	8	7	7	31	30	+1	31

Source: NWSL
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(S) NWSL Shield

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
22	9	6	7	29	22	+7	33	5	5	1	15	9	+6	4	1	6	14	13	+1

Last updated: October 15, 2023.
Source: NWSLsoccer.com

Results by matchday

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

Updated to match(es) played on October 15, 2023. Source: NWSL
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Playoffs

Further information: 2023 NWSL season § Playoffs

North Carolina Courage v NJ/NY Gotham FC

October 22, 2023 First round	North Carolina Courage	0–2	NJ/NY Gotham FC	Cary, North Carolina
7:00 pm EDT		Report	Sheehan 45' Ryan 90+1'	Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 4,612 Referee: Katja Koroleva

Challenge Cup

Main article: 2023 NWSL Challenge Cup

Group stage

Orlando Pride v North Carolina Courage

April 19, 2023 (2023-04-19) 1	Orlando Pride	1–1	North Carolina Courage	Orlando, Florida
7:00 pm EDT	Watt 56'	Report	O'Sullivan 90+9'	Stadium: Exploria Stadium Attendance: 3,139 Referee: Gabriele Giusti

North Carolina Courage v NJ/NY Gotham FC

May 3, 2023 (2023-05-03) 2	North Carolina Courage	1–1	NJ/NY Gotham FC	Cary, North Carolina
7:00 pm EDT	Gejl 3'	Report	Martin  72' Williams 74'	Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 2,761 Referee: Joshua Encarnación

Washington Spirit v North Carolina Courage

June 14, 2023 (2023-06-14) 3	Washington Spirit	1–2	North Carolina Courage	Washington, D.C.
7:30 pm EDT	McKeown 54' Biegalski  70'	Report	Ratcliffe 62' Wingate 90+2'	Stadium: Audi Field Attendance: 5,778 Referee: Matthew Corrigan

North Carolina Courage v Washington Spirit

July 22, 2023 (2023-07-22) 4	North Carolina Courage	6–0	Washington Spirit	Cary, North Carolina
7:00 pm EDT	Ratcliffe 61' Tagliaferri 65' Wingate 70' Boade 72' Pinto 80' Hopkins  82' Miura 83'	Report	Jaurena  26' Staab  63' Metayer  87'	Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 4,063 Referee: Thomas Snyder

North Carolina Courage v Orlando Pride

July 29, 2023 (2023-07-29) 5	North Carolina Courage	5–0	Orlando Pride	Cary, North Carolina
7:00 pm EDT	Ratcliffe 17' Berkely 38' Tagliaferri 48' Pinto  65' Hopkins 78', 89'	Report	Yates  68'	Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 3,543 Referee: Greg Dopka

NJ/NY Gotham FC v North Carolina Courage

August 5, 2023 (2023-08-05) 6	NJ/NY Gotham FC	2–0	North Carolina Courage	Harrison, New Jersey
7:30 pm EDT	Stengel 16' Zerboni 59',  80'	Report	Ratcliffe  36' Pickett  49'	Stadium: Red Bull Arena Attendance: 3,004 Referee: Elvis Osmanovic

Divisional standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	T	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		NC	NJY	WAS	ORL
1	North Carolina Courage	6	3	2	1	15	5	+10	11	Advance to knockout stage		—	1–1	6–0	0–0
2	NJ/NY Gotham FC	6	3	2	1	10	7	+3	11			2–0	—	1–0	1–1
3	Washington Spirit	6	3	0	3	10	13	−3	9			1–2	4–2	—	4–2
4	Orlando Pride	6	0	2	4	5	15	−10	2			1–1	1–3	0–1	—

Source: NWSL

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
6	3	2	1	15	5	+10	11	2	1	0	12	1	+11	1	1	1	3	4	−1

Last updated: October 26, 2023.
Source: NWSLsoccer.com

Results by matchday

Matchday	1	2	3	4	5	6
Stadium	A	H	A	H	H	A
Result	D	D	W	W	W	L
Position	2	3				1

Updated to match(es) played on June 14, 2023. Source: NWSL
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Knockout stage

Kansas City Current v North Carolina Courage

September 6, 2023 Semifinal	Kansas City Current	0–1	North Carolina Courage	Kansas City, Kansas
		Report	Kurtz  38' Miura  51' Boade  78' Pinto  84', 90+6'	Stadium: Children's Mercy Park Attendance: 4,590

Championship

North Carolina Courage v Racing Louisville FC

September 9, 2023 Championship	North Carolina Courage	2–0	Racing Louisville FC	Cary, North Carolina
12:30 pm EDT	Kerolin 28' Kurtz  45' Matsukubo 54'	Report	DeMelo  73'	Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Referee: Alex Billeter MVP: Manaka Matsukubo

Transactions

2023 NWSL Draft

Main article: 2023 NWSL Draft

Draft picks are not automatically signed to the team roster. The 2023 NWSL Draft was held on January 12, 2023.

R	P	Nat.	Player	Pos.	College	Status	Ref.
1	6		Olivia Wingate	FW	Notre Dame	Signed through 2025.	[10][11]
	8		Sydney Collins	MF	California
	9		Clara Robbins	MF	Florida State
	11		Haley Hopkins	FW	Virginia

Contract options

Date	Nat.	Player	Pos.	Notes	Ref.
November 15, 2022		Marisa Bova	GK	Option exercised.	[10][12]
		Kaleigh Kurtz	DF
		Tess Boade	MF
		Emily Gray	MF
		Fuka Nagano	MF
		Frankie Tagliaferri	MF
		Diana Ordóñez	FW
		Jaelene Daniels	DF	Option declined.

Re-signings

Date	Nat.	Player	Pos.	Notes	Ref.
November 28, 2022		Kaleigh Kurtz	DF	Re-signed through 2025 on a guaranteed contract.	[10]
December 6, 2022		Meredith Speck	MF	Free agent re-signed through 2024 on a guaranteed contract.	[13]
January 3, 2023		Casey Murphy	GK	Re-signed through 2025 on a guaranteed contract.	[10]
January 5, 2023		Brianna Pinto	MF	Re-signed through 2025 on a guaranteed contract.	[10]
January 19, 2023		Ryan Williams	DF	Re-signed through 2025.	[10]
January 23, 2023		Brittany Ratcliffe	FW	Free agent re-signed through 2023, with a mutual option to extend through 2024.	[10]
January 24, 2023		Katelyn Rowland	GK	Free agent re-signed through 2025.	[10]

Loans in

Date	Nat.	Player	Pos.	Previous club	Fee/notes	Ref.
July 27, 2023		Manaka Matsukubo	MF	MyNavi Sendai	Loaned until June 2024. Courage have option to transfer playing rights to the club on a permanent basis following the loan period.	[14]

Loans out

Date	Nat.	Player	Pos.	Destination club	Fee/notes	Ref.
November 15, 2022		Tess Boade	MF	Western Sydney Wanderers	Loaned until February 2023. Returned December 17, 2022, due to injury.	[12][15][16]
August 15, 2023		Hensley Hancuff	GK	Växjö DFF	Loan runs through the 2023-24 Damallsvenskan season.	[17]

Transfers in

Date	Nat.	Player	Pos.	Previous club	Fee/notes	Ref.
December 1, 2022		Estelle Johnson	DF	NJ/NY Gotham FC	Free-agent signed through 2024 on a guaranteed contract.	[18][19]
January 20, 2023		Tyler Lussi	FW	Angel City FC	Acquired in exchange for Merritt Mathias.	[10][20]
		Mille Gejl	FW	BK Häcken FF	Signed through 2024.	[10][21]
January 23, 2023		Emily Fox	DF	Racing Louisville FC	Acquired in exchange for Abby Erceg and Carson Pickett.	[10][22]
February 7, 2023		Narumi Miura	MF	Tokyo Verdy Beleza	Acquired for an undisclosed transfer fee. Under contract through 2024.	[10][23]
April 7, 2022		Victoria Pickett	MF	NJ/NY Gotham FC	Acquired in exchange for $200,000 in allocation money.	[24][25]
June 27, 2023		Hensley Hancuff	GK	Brisbane Roar FC	Short-term national team replacement player signing.	[4]
		Sarah Clark	DF	Virginia Cavaliers
		Nikia Smith	DF	F.C. Ramat HaSharon
July 17, 2023		Rikako Kobayashi	MF	Tokyo Verdy Beleza	Free transfer signed to a two-year contract with an option for an additional year.	[5][26]

Transfers out

Date	Nat.	Player	Pos.	Destination club	Fee/notes	Ref.
November 15, 2022		Rylee Baisden	FW	Perth Glory	Contract mutually terminated.	[10][12]
		Katie Bowen	DF	Melbourne City
December 18, 2022		Diana Ordóñez	FW	Houston Dash	Traded with the 30th-overall selection of the 2023 NWSL Draft in exchange for the eighth-overall selection in the 2023 NWSL Draft, Houston's natural first-round selection in the 2024 NWSL Draft, a 2023 international slot, and $100,000 in allocation money.	[10][12]
December 22, 2022		Debinha	MF	Kansas City Current	Free-agent signing.	[10][12]
January 14, 2023		Fuka Nagano	MF	Liverpool F.C.	Transfer terms not disclosed.	[27]
January 20, 2023		Merritt Mathias	DF	Angel City FC	Traded in exchange for Tyler Lussi.	[10][12]
January 23, 2023		Abby Erceg	DF	Racing Louisville FC	Traded in exchange for Emily Fox.	[10][22]
		Carson Pickett	DF

Injury listings

Date	Nat.	Player	Pos.	List	Injury	Ref.
March 20, 2023		Tess Boade	MF	45-day injured reserve	Shoulder injury suffered while on loan to Western Sydney Wanderers.	[16][28]
		Emily Gray	MF	Season-ending injury	Anterior cruciate ligament tear during preseason.	[28]

Preseason trialists

Trialists are non-rostered invitees during preseason and are not automatically signed. The Courage released their preseason roster on February 3, 2023.^[29]

Nat.	Player	Pos.	Previous club	Notes	Ref.
	Elianna Beard	MF	F.C. Kiryat Gat	Not signed.	[29]
	Sarah Clark	DF	Virginia Cavaliers	Signed as a national team replacement player.	[29][4]
	Jennifer Cudjoe	MF	NJ/NY Gotham FC	Not signed.	[29]
	Nikia Smith	DF	F.C. Ramat HaSharon	Signed as a national team replacement player.	[29][4]
	Croix Soto	DF	Oregon Ducks	Not signed.	[29]