NWSL Challenge Cup: North Carolina Courage clinch first place with 2-2 draw over Washington Spirit

North Carolina Courage are winners of the East Region after a 2-2 draw against Washington Spirit on Saturday. Debinha and Malia Berkley scored goals for North Carolina, and Ashley Hatch recorded a brace for Washington. The draw comes on the final match day of Challenge Cup group play as the Courage are into the semifinals, but must wait on results from Sunday’s matches to see who they will play. Fans can watch Challenge Cup matches live and on demand with Paramount+.

The two sides each established fairly open, end to end, play during the match’s opening minutes. The Spirit were able to pressure the Courage and limit their impact in the midfield early on, and the visiting side got on the scoreboard early, forcing an error out of the back line that led to a turnover for Hatch’s opening goal.

Brazilian international Kerolin Nicoli earned her first NWSL Challenge Cup start for the Courage and had a significant impact on the team through the attack. Kerolin won a foul in the box just ahead of halftime, and her international teammate, Debinha, converted the penalty to level things before halftime.

Second-half shift 

The Courage had the momentum early after halftime and Berkley scored the go-ahead goal for North Carolina just seven minutes into the second half. 

The Courage had an opportunity to extend the scoreline as Kerolin won another penalty kick, but Debinha’s second attempt to convert was saved by Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury. The missed opportunity led to a penalty scenario for the Spirit after Trinity Rodman was fouled in the box, and Hatch stepped up to convert the penalty kick to level the game for good.

The 2-2 draw was enough for the Courage to clinch first place in the East Region and a spot in the Challenge Cup semifinals. Courage coach Sean Nahas credited the team for pulling off the result despite the slow start.

“It wasn’t one of our better games statistically, obviously. You know, we didn’t show up in the first 10 minutes And against good teams, they’re going to punish you. We made a couple of silly decisions that we haven’t been making all year and they pounced on it,” Nahas said during post-game comments.

“Each week we’ve had to learn something new because the game has presented something different. And today we had to learn how to compete from being behind. [We] haven’t been behind this season. So, the ability for us to have to fight back, get the PK call on a pretty good sequence, and then obviously Malia’s absolute stunner of a strike. We made some changes at halftime and talked about a few things, but I’m really, really, proud of the players. They deserve this. They put the work in, and sometimes you have to grind it out, all credit goes to them.”

Look ahead

The NWSL regular season kicks off on April 29, and North Carolina Courage will be on the road to face Angel City FC in Los Angeles. Challenge Cup semifinals begin on May 4. Details on Challenge Cup semifinal locations will be announced at a later time.