The 2021 North Carolina Courage season was the team's fifth 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.
| 2021 season | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Managing owner | Steve Malik | ||
| Chairman | Steve Malik | ||
| Head Coach | Paul Riley (until September 30) Sean Nahas (interim; from September 30) | ||
| Stadium | Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park | ||
| NWSL | 6th of 10 | ||
| NWSL Challenge Cup | 2nd of 5, East Division | ||
| Top goalscorer | League: Lynn Williams (7) All: Lynn Williams (11) | ||
| Highest home attendance | 7,064 (October 17 vs NJ/NY) | ||
| Lowest home attendance | 2,300 (April 10 vs Washington) | ||
| Average home league attendance | 4,986 | ||
| Biggest win | 5–0 (May 28 vs Louisville) | ||
| Biggest defeat | 1–4 (October 10 vs Houston) | ||
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| |||
Background edit
North Carolina had finished the previous two regular seasons as champions of the National Women's Soccer League, along with winning the NWSL Shield by maintaining the league-best record in 2017, 2018, and 2019. The 2020 regular season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the team was eliminated in the quarter-final round of the 2020 Challenge Cup.[1]
During the off-season, tennis star Naomi Osaka joined the team's ownership and the team unveiled new home and away kits.[2][3]
Competitive matches edit
Challenge Cup edit
Group stage edit
| April 10 | North Carolina Courage | 3–2 | Washington Spirit | Cary, North Carolina |
| 15:30 EDT | Report | Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 2,300 |
| April 20 2 | NJ/NY Gotham FC | 4–3 | North Carolina Courage | Montclair, New Jersey |
| 18:00 EDT | Report | Stadium: MSU Soccer Park at Pittser Field |
| April 26 3 | Racing Louisville FC | 2–3 | North Carolina Courage | Louisville, Kentucky |
| 18:00 EDT | Report | Stadium: Lynn Family Stadium Attendance: 3,742 |
| May 1 4 | North Carolina Courage | 0–0 | Orlando Pride | Cary, North Carolina |
| 19:30 EDT |
|
Report | Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 2,426 |
Standings edit
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NJ/NY Gotham FC | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 8 | Qualification for the Championship |
| 2 | North Carolina Courage | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 8 | +1 | 7 | |
| 3 | Orlando Pride | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 5 | |
| 4 | Washington Spirit | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 4 | |
| 5 | Racing Louisville FC | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 2 |
Regular season edit
Matches edit
| May 15 1 | OL Reign | 0–0 | North Carolina Courage | Tacoma, Washington |
| 19:00 PDT |
|
Report | Stadium: Cheney Stadium Attendance: 2,104 |
| May 22 2 | North Carolina Courage | 1–2 | Orlando Pride | Cary, North Carolina |
| 19:00 EDT | Report | Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park |
| May 28 3 | North Carolina Courage | 5–0 | Racing Louisville FC | Cary, North Carolina |
| 19:00 EDT | Report | Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park |
| June 5 4 | Chicago Red Stars | 1–0 | North Carolina Courage | Bridgeview, Illinois |
| 13:00 CDT | Report | Stadium: SeatGeek Stadium |
| June 19 5 | North Carolina Courage | 2–1 | OL Reign | Cary, North Carolina |
| 16:00 EDT | Report | Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 5,026 |
| June 23 6 | Racing Louisville FC | 0–2 | North Carolina Courage | Louisville, Kentucky |
| 19:30 EDT |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Lynn Family Stadium Attendance: 6,334 |
| June 26 7 | North Carolina Courage | 2–0 | Portland Thorns FC | Cary, North Carolina |
| 19:00 EDT |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park |
| July 4 8 | Orlando Pride | 0–2 | North Carolina Courage | Orlando, Florida |
| 18:00 EDT | Report | Stadium: Exploria Stadium Attendance: 3,926 |
| July 10 9 | Washington Spirit | 2–0 | North Carolina Courage | Washington, D.C. |
| 19:00 EDT | Report |
|
Stadium: Audi Field Attendance: 4,929 |
| July 17 10 | North Carolina Courage | 1–2 | Houston Dash | Cary, North Carolina |
| 19:00 EDT |
|
Report | Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 5,229 |
| July 23 11 | Kansas City Current | 0–0 | North Carolina Courage | Kansas City, Kansas |
| 19:00 CDT | Report | Stadium: Legends Field |
| July 31 12 | North Carolina Courage | 1–1 | Orlando Pride | Cary, North Carolina |
| 19:00 EDT | Report | Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 5,523 |
| August 7 13 | NJ/NY Gotham FC | 0–1 | North Carolina Courage | Harrison, New Jersey |
| 19:00 EDT |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Red Bull Arena Attendance: 2,179 |
| August 15 14 | North Carolina Courage | 1–0 | Chicago Red Stars | Cary, North Carolina |
| 18:45 EDT | Report |
|
Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 5,002 |
| August 21 15 | North Carolina Courage | 4–0 | Kansas City Current | Cary, North Carolina |
| 19:00 EDT | Report | Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park |
| August 29 16 | Washington Spirit | 0–0 | North Carolina Courage | Washington, D.C. |
| 17:00 EDT |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Audi Field Attendance: 4,554 |
| September 5 17 | Kansas City Current | 0–0 | North Carolina Courage | Kansas City, Kansas |
| 18:00 CDT |
|
Report |
|
Stadium: Legends Field Attendance: 4,583 |
| September 12 18 | North Carolina Courage | 0–1 | Portland Thorns FC | Cary, North Carolina |
| 15:00 EDT | Report | Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 5,161 |
| September 25 19 | NJ/NY Gotham FC | 3–1 | North Carolina Courage | Harrison, New Jersey |
| 15:00 EDT | Report | Stadium: Red Bull Arena Attendance: 2,887 |
| October 6 20 | North Carolina Courage | 3–1 | Racing Louisville FC | Cary, North Carolina |
| 19:30 EDT | Report |
|
Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 3,523 |
| October 10 21 | Houston Dash | 4–1 | North Carolina Courage | Houston, Texas |
| 18:00 CDT |
|
Report | Stadium: PNC Stadium Attendance: 4,155 |
| October 13 22 | North Carolina Courage | 1–2 | Washington Spirit | Cary, North Carolina |
| 19:30 EDT | Report | Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 3,742 |
| October 17 23 | North Carolina Courage | 0–3 | NJ/NY Gotham FC | Cary, North Carolina |
| 14:00 EDT |
|
Report | Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 7,064 |
| October 30 24 | Portland Thorns FC | 0–0 | North Carolina Courage | Portland, Oregon |
| 19:00 PDT | Report | Stadium: Providence Park Attendance: 17,584 |
Color key: Green = North Carolina win; Yellow = draw; Red = opponents win.
Standings edit
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Portland Thorns FC | 24 | 13 | 5 | 6 | 33 | 17 | +16 | 44 | NWSL Shield |
| 2 | OL Reign | 24 | 13 | 3 | 8 | 37 | 24 | +13 | 42 | Playoffs – Semi-finals |
| 3 | Washington Spirit (C) | 24 | 11 | 6 | 7 | 29 | 26 | +3 | 39 | Playoffs – First round |
| 4 | Chicago Red Stars | 24 | 11 | 5 | 8 | 28 | 28 | 0 | 38 | |
| 5 | NJ/NY Gotham FC | 24 | 8 | 11 | 5 | 29 | 21 | +8 | 35 | |
| 6 | North Carolina Courage | 24 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 28 | 23 | +5 | 33 | |
| 7 | Houston Dash | 24 | 9 | 5 | 10 | 31 | 31 | 0 | 32 | |
| 8 | Orlando Pride | 24 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 27 | 32 | −5 | 28 | |
| 9 | Racing Louisville FC | 24 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 21 | 40 | −19 | 22 | |
| 10 | Kansas City | 24 | 3 | 7 | 14 | 15 | 36 | −21 | 16 |
Playoffs edit
| November 7 First round | Washington Spirit | 1–0 (a.e.t.) | North Carolina Courage | Washington, D.C. |
| 17:30 EST | Hatch  113' |
Report | Stadium: Audi Field Attendance: 5,379 Referee: Natalie Simon |
See also edit
References edit
- ^ Negley, Cassandra (April 8, 2021). "NWSL 2021 season preview: Who to watch, new kits, key questions and more". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
- ^ Linehan, Meg; Kamrani, Christopher (January 28, 2021). "Naomi Osaka buys stake in NWSL's North Carolina Courage". The Athletic. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
- ^ "Mountains to Sea: The NC Courage 2021 Kit Embraces the Home State". NC Courage. Retrieved May 2, 2022.