2021 North Carolina Courage season

North Carolina Courage
2021 season
Managing ownerSteve Malik
ChairmanSteve Malik
Head CoachPaul Riley (until September 30)
Sean Nahas (interim; from September 30)
StadiumSahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park
NWSL6th of 10
NWSL Challenge Cup2nd of 5, East Division
Top goalscorerLeague: Lynn Williams (7)
All: Lynn Williams (11)
Highest home attendance7,064
(October 17 vs NJ/NY)
Lowest home attendance2,300
(April 10 vs Washington)
Average home league attendance4,986
Biggest win5–0
(May 28 vs Louisville)
Biggest defeat1–4
(October 10 vs Houston)
← 2020
2022 →

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.

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

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
Source: NWSL
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Regular season

[edit]

Matches

[edit]
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
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 10 21 Houston Dash 4–1 North Carolina Courage Houston, Texas
18:00 CDT
Report
Stadium: PNC Stadium
Attendance: 4,155

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

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]
  1. ^ Negley, Cassandra (April 8, 2021). "NWSL 2021 season preview: Who to watch, new kits, key questions and more". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
  2. ^ Linehan, Meg; Kamrani, Christopher (January 28, 2021). "Naomi Osaka buys stake in NWSL's North Carolina Courage". The Athletic. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
  3. ^ "Mountains to Sea: The NC Courage 2021 Kit Embraces the Home State". NC Courage. Retrieved May 2, 2022.