By Christine Espinoza
In a game that meant so much for both teams, it was no surprise that the game became, arguably, very physical with an astounding 30 fouls and 7 yellow cards. North Carolina started well, with great possession in an interesting 3-6-1 formation. They maintained possession quite easily and were finding the last third of the field more than they had in their last couple of games. At the 20th minute, Courage’s Angharad James made a stunning successful long shot that put them ahead of Gotham.
This lead unraveled quickly when Courage’s Diane Caldwell drew a foul after bringing down Margaret Purce in the box. Carli Lloyd equalized with the penalty kick at the 28th.
During the post-game interview both Head Coach Paul Riley and Kaleigh Kurtz agreed that this was a pivotal moment that changed the course of the game. Riley commented “We had some good moments, but the penalty changed the whole game.” Kurtz described the moment as “deflating”, “I felt like after the PK, we deflated as a team and just really started hiding.”
Although not necessarily hiding entirely, since they still maintained successful possession of the ball, at 55-45 in favor of the Courage, they were hiding from the last third of the field and not capitalizing on opportunities when decent crosses were made with a potential to score.
That was not the same story for Gotham as Purce found an opportunity with the assistance from Ifeoma Onumanu at the 36thminute.
Substitutes in the second half presented two different outcomes. Jess McDonald and Havana Solaun helped in creating some situations and approaching the box more. However, it would be Gotham’s substitute Paige Monaghan that would finalize this game, giving Gotham a 3-1 lead at the 82nd minute. “When they had possession, they got more dangerous. When we had possession, we just didn’t look as dangerous as we should look” Riley noted.
In his summation of the game Riley added “I think we played better than we did when we beat Gotham 1-0. You don’t want to be chasing games in the league, it’s the worst thing you can do to leave yourself vulnerable. We faltered in big moments and gave up some goals in big moments, and you’ll pay the price for that in this league.”
The Courage will play Washington Spirit on Friday, October 1st at home.