Stunning aerial shot of Seattle's skyline featuring the iconic Space Needle at sunset.

It’s always reign-y in Seattle, Meredith Speck is back, TWO matches this week!

Courage Country! Another week, another victory and our team is sitting at #2 on the table. It’s a great position this early in the season with a team that has this much depth and stamina. 

This is the final week of my vacation before returning to our normal format, thank you for your understanding! Katie had great guests joining the podcast last week and this week, so please give those episodes a listen!

I’ll be back next week to recap two matches happening, so get those scarves ready (to wave at your TV). 

Recap: Courage v. Seattle Reign FC

A 1-0 win over the team at the bottom of the table wouldn’t sound like much to the casual observer, but we know the NWSL, and this was a hard won three points.

It was a scrappy match, with possession nearly even through a significant part of the first half, and again in the second half. 

However, in the latter part of the first half, we started keeping the ball more, building several good attacks. The lone goal came at 37’, with an incredible connection from Ashley Sanchez to Tyler Lussi. 

Lussi at times puts a little extra heat on her finishes. But in this case, the cross from Sanchez needed a perfect touch, and Lussi delivered. It’s worth noting Sanchez herself had a deft touch to control the ball in the preceding pass. Just terrific handling all around.

In a sparring match like this, defenders play an outsize role. Kaleigh Kurtz and Malia Berkely were on point. But Ryan Williams earns a special hat tip for her tremendous effort, earning an 8.4 match rating on FotMob, the highest on the squad. Most notably, her pass accuracy and ground duel game were impressive.

And even with all of that, Casey Murphy was the clear player of the match, with seven saves. While a couple were slow-moving, easy catches for her. But Murphy also showcased some spectacular diving saves. It was such a clear demonstration of why she’s earned her spot on the USWNT.

Ultimately, the Courage had a grinding win on pure athleticism, with even coach Sean Nahas saying it wasn’t the group’s best performance. Still, we’ll all rejoice in three points. And from my perspective, the Courage looked more energetic than they did last week against Angel City.

That said, in both matches, they had some big chances and I still think some of these big goals will come with time. I’d rather have a team that is working on finesse in finishing than one that is struggling with connections as we see elsewhere in the NWSL.

Standout stats

While this issue doesn’t have a formal standout stats section, I wanted to note the Courage offered some great stats in their recap, including the fifth-largest attendance record and Sully hitting the 10,000 minutes mark – a first for the club.

Look ahead: Courage v. Orlando Pride

Orlando had a sneaky good off season, and by extension are having a sneaky good season, tied with us for 12 total points despite sitting fourth on the table. They haven’t lost a match yet. I’m really looking forward to this match, as I think both teams will have to play in top form for a victory.

I’ve struggled to figure out what to characterize as “the biggest news” with their squad, which has both good and really sad things happening.

I’ll start with legendary Brazilian forward Marta announcing her retirement at the end of this season. As we saw last year with Ali Krieger (NJ/NY) and Megan Rapinoe (Seattle), retirement announcements are one serious galvanizing motivator for a squad.

On a happy note, Zambian superstar forward Barbra Banda recently joined Orlando, adding a fun weapon up front. She’s been immediately impactful. 

Combine Marta and Banda with lead scorer Summer Yates, and you have a tough front. Yates was a fourth-round draft pick in 2023, so hadn’t seen much playing time. Recently, she started in the Orlando’s match against Utah. Which is when Orlando started winning. So she’s been in the starting XI since then.

And on a heartbreaking note, Brazilian midfielder Luana was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma and placed on the season ending injury list this week. The Courage front office and coach Sean Nahas sent public condolences this week.

In the offseason, Orlando picked up UCLA’s Ally Lemos (coincidentally a college teammate of Reilyn Turner, mentioned below) with the 9th pick in the draft. They also picked up midfielder Morgan Gautrat from Kansas City.

I was reminded that the last time we had a midweek match against Orlando, in a Challenge Cup group match, Sully scored an equalizer at 90’ + 8’ for a 1-1 draw. I screamed so loud I almost woke up our baby, which my wife was less than thrilled by. That was followed by a monster 5-0 victory later in group play.

In the regular season, we had a 3-0 win in June, and a 2-1 loss in September.

Look ahead: Courage v. NJ / NY Gotham

Oh, the Gothams. The team that won the 2023 championship, then got rid of their players in favor of a good number of USWNT members. Only to promptly drop to 11th place with only five points to show for the 2024 season.

Don’t get me wrong, they are a dangerous squad, as Racing Louisville learned last week when Rose Lavelle scored seven minutes into stoppage time. I still can’t get over it; in case you missed it, Racing’s Reilyn Turner scored at 90’+5’ and the match seemed over. Then, Lavelle scored in the final minute of the match (!!!) to hand Racing yet another draw. It was great seeing Lavelle in her Gotham debut, returning from injury. She will bring a different flavor than to a team we beat in March.

One effective strategy in that victory was containing Emily Sonnett. The Courage (and Gotham’s other opponents) also benefit from Esther González not being as effective as usual. I don’t mean to take anything away from her performance in our match, which was good from what I remember. But she has the team’s highest expected goal number by far and has struggled to rack up points.

Also: we finally, finally get a match on Ion, which has had some great NWSL coverage. I can’t wait for the Courage to get a shot with their audience.

Courage news and updates

  • Meredith Speck returns! The Courage announced they are removing the midfielder from the season ending injury list following an ACL tear against Racing Louisville in June 2023.

Around the league and beyond

That’s it for this week! As always, you can get in touch with tips, suggestions, corrections and more: contact@lionspitch.com.

Next matches: 

TONIGHT

Wednesday, May 1, 7:00 pm ET

North Carolina Courage v. Orlando Pride

Away

Streaming on: NWSL+  Sign up for free here.

THIS WEEKEND

Saturday, May 4, 7:30 pm ET

North Carolina Courage v. NJ / NY Gotham

Away

Streaming on: ION 

ION is available in a variety of places. It’s free on some smart TVs, carried by some cable providers, and is often included in streaming cable substitutes like YouTubeTV and Fubo. You can learn more here.

Find us on X / Twitter: @lionspitch

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