By Christine Espinoza
One day. One day after their nail-biting draw against Portland Thorns was what the Courage had to wait for to know their fate. While their draw after their game had kept them in contention, Houston Dash could have easily dashed their hopes. However, their resilience, patience, and some help from Washington Spirit now has the Courage in the play-offs.
Courage players have often called Portland their “rivals” and they definitely proved themselves to be in a game that had everyone at the edge of their seat. An early goal from Kaleigh Kurtz would, unfortunately, be called offside. Amy Rodriguez attempted a very close shot as well. Courage would just not be able to finalize.
In the second half, Debinha and Jessica McDonald put an intense amount of pressure on the Thorns, including a heart stopping and devastating cross bar by McDonald near the end of the game. On the defensive side, the Thorns had to contend with goalkeeper Casey Murphy, who is tied in the league’s record for most clean sheets in a single season with 11 clean sheets. Thorns players made many shots only to either find Murphy’s very capable gloves or miss the box. With this not only did the Thorns get this first-ever goalless draw, but the Courage now had to wait for the Washington Spirit vs Houston Dash game to know their fate.
After the game, interim coach Sean Nahas stated that the players “Have done everything that I have asked of them, and I’ve told them how proud I am of them. I have a feeling we’ll have another week together.”
Denise O’Sullivan echoed wanting more opportunities by joking “I will be Washington’s biggest fan” against Houston Dash.
Nahas, O’Sullivan, and the rest of the Courage got what they asked for in yesterday’s Washington vs Houston game, where Washington defeated the Dash and earned Courage a spot in the playoffs.
Coincidentally, Courage will now face off against Washington in the quarterfinals on Sunday, November 7th.