Main Takeaways

The North Carolina Courage hosted the Washington Spirit for Pride Night on Friday and battled to a hard-fought 3-3 draw against their D.C. rivals. 

Game Recap

The fifth match-up between North Carolina and Washington this year was a back-and-forth affair, per usual. Amidst an evenly matched first half that saw a lengthy weather delay, the Washington Spirit struck first. 

Spirit defender Amber Brooks stripped Diana Ordóñez of the ball in the Courage defensive half to get the momentum going in Washington’s favor. The sequence ended with Rodman putting one past Casey Murphy in the 42nd minute off a no-look Ashley Sanchez assist.

The Courage responded immediately, when Brittany Ratcliffe put North Carolina on the board just three minutes later. It was her second goal in as many games. Kaleigh Kurtz found Courage midfielder Denise O’Sullivan centrally, and O’Sullivan played Ratcliffe in past the Spirit defenders for North Carolina’s first goal of the match.

In stoppage time of the first half, the Spirit broke the short-lived deadlock. Tara McKeown sent a headed shot past Casey Murphy’s outstretched arms to give Washington the edge heading into the locker room. 

Coming out of the halftime break, the Courage were quick to get one back. Diana Ordóñez snuck one past Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury after North Carolina took advantage of some questionable distribution from Washington’s backline. Meredith Speck earned the assist on the game-tying goal.

The tied score didn’t last long, though. Rodman scored her second goal of the match in the 56th minute after she beat Kurtz in the Courage 18-yard box. Six minutes later, Ordóñez evened the score for good after she earned–and converted–her first penalty kick of the season. 

Ordóñez’ two-goal performance was the first of her career. She now leads all NWSL rookies in goals for the season with five.

With the draw, the Courage remain in last place in the NWSL standings with nine points and a 2W-3D-5L record. They’re set to take on second-place Portland Thorns at Providence Park on Friday, August 5th at 10:30p.m. Eastern. 

Though the Courage still have a few games in hand, they’ll have to start adding to their win column if they want a shot at the NWSL post-season.