Jessica McDonald will join Sam Mewis as a Ring of Honor recipient
Hello Courage Country! The news slowed to a crawl again last week, so I spared cluttering your inboxes with a newsletter.
Now here we are! FINALLY! AT LONG LAST! THE 2025 SEASON IS HERE!
And there’s plenty of news this week, so let’s get to our first season preview, a quick look at a potential starting XI and some news from around the league.
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Ready?
Look ahead: Courage v. Racing Louisville
Allow me one sentence of self indulgence to simply say wow it feels good to be writing a look ahead again. And a second one to say I actually really love tracking offseason moves, but let’s be real, the pitch is where it’s at.
If you missed our preseason write ups, the podcast is always a good place to catch up. Katie and I did our best to keep a preseason rundown punchy and it’s worth a listen.
Our lineup will be a bit mysterious with Jaedyn Shaw joining the squad, as the thing we all want to see is her paired with Sanchez somehow. We have the firepower to get aggressive, and a lot of creativity as well. The Courage have always been a team with personality, but this is a squad with personality, you know?
Previously, under head coach Sean Nahas, the Courage have generally favored a 4-3-3 possession-style play, with one of the backs allowed to float up a bit and help support scoring runs as needed. In the preseason press conference, Nahas teased that he was figuring out some fun formations to handle both Sanchez and Shaw seeing playing time, and in a nutshell said he’s more focused on relative positioning than absolute, so we’ll see what’s in store.
Some quick (and mostly predictable) notes on our anticipated starting XI:
Defense: Casey Murphy is likely a lock at keeper. Kaleigh Kurtz at CB, and Ryan Williams and Feli Rauch as right and left backs. Katie notes on this week’s podcast that there’s an off chance Malia Berkeley shifts forward a bit from her CB pairing with Kurtz, otherwise she’ll be part of this back line (she’s listed as a defender at time of publication).
Midfielders: Denise O’Sullivan returns as team captain, and who may be paired with her, if anyone, becomes interesting to speculate about. There’s an off chance we count on Sanchez and Shaw to be aggressive attacking players and either bring Berkeley up, or give one of the other ridiculously talented stable of midfielders a spot here, leaving just two true forwards.
Forwards: Manaka Matsukubo feels like a lock here, playing well in the international breaks and having agreed to a contract extension with the Courage last season. Beyond that is anyone’s guess; Courtney Vine might be a strong option if available, and Aline Gomes and Olivia Wingate saw a lot of playing time at the end of last season. Tyler Lussi was a staple at the beginning of 2024 campaign, but her playing time dropped off by the end; and incoming player Hannah Betfort is a wild card, having just joined the team from Utah.
I anticipate we’ll tinker with the starting lineup for a few matches.
Let’s turn to Louisville. Some things in the NWSL are annual traditions, including Racing finishing 9th on the table every season since they joined the league in 2021. I don’t know if I can recall a team in any league being so statistically mid-same-y.
Still, the club has some standout stars, and the nature of their position in the table means they end up being spoilers for squads trying to climb to the upper echelons, so the Courage need to notch the W here.
Louisville didn’t make a ton of splashy moves in the offseason, but last August made a massive trade for forward Bethany Balcer, boosting Louisville and burying Seattle Reign all at once. Balcer notched 8 goals in 2024, tying for sixth overall in the league.
Let’s break them down by position:
Defense: This is likely the weak point for Louisville. Carson Pickett departed for Orlando, and Abby Erceg struggled in the last half of the season and was dropped in the offseason. Arin Wright was a big pickup last year, and likely will be the highlight of their defense squad. Wright started in 21 games for Racing, and was named captain.
Midfield: Racing’s midfield exceeded expectations last year, even with Savannah DeMelo turning in lackluster stats. Taylor Flint is the other major highlight here, but this line is talented and disruptive to our efforts to advance the ball.
Forwards: Last year’s second round college draft pick, Emma Sears, has also become a breakout star at the forward position. Sears (ahem: a former Buckeye!) has earned three call-ups under Emma Hayes to the USWNT squad and looks poised to have another great season. In the second match of the SheBelieves Cup, Hayes played a completely fresh starting XI, including Sears, who had a dominant game against Australia. And we’ve already talked about veteran Balcer anchoring the front squad.
Racing also picked up a ton of young talent from colleges around the country, acting as one of the more aggressive squads bringing in college players this offseason. Perhaps they’re building for depth, or perhaps we’ll see some fun surprises in the starting XI or as subs. It will be interesting to see who gets face time throughout this season.
In all, I think Racing is a great first matchup for the Courage. It should let both sides show off both their established talent and battle test potential trouble areas fairly equally.
Courage news and updates
- Y’all. The Courage teased a new Ring of Honor member. And now we know who it is. None other than Courage legend and fantastic ambassador for the club Jessica McDonald. We couldn’t be more thrilled to have her join Sam Mewis in this new and esteemed circle of former players. The induction ceremony will be held at the home opener on March 22.
- Speaking of the home opener, supporters group The Uproar is offering $22 tickets that include a beer! You can get tickets with new ticket partner Jump here. Memberships to join The Uproar also opened this week (full disclosure: the president, Mary Pruter, is also our podcast producer!)
- Katelyn Rowland retired as a player from Bay FC, and immediately joined the Courage staff as assistant goalkeeping coach. Check out the good vibes photo the club posted below.
- Sully got engaged, and Marisa Bova got married. Fun news to bring us a little joy this week!
- Estelle Johnson, who opted not to exercise her right to train with the team this spring following her maternity leave, officially retired.
Around the league and beyond
- Another week, another NWSL club leadership problem. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Bay FC is under investigation by the league, and tied it to former staff and player complaints about head coach Albertin Montoya. Subscription required.
- The Athletic has a rundown of key performers for every team, and I was ready to roll my eyes at the inevitable Shaw mention … but they picked Lussi and included an interesting chart demonstrating her ability to distribute and pull defenders. Good on them! Subscription required.
That’s it for this week! As always, you can get in touch with tips, suggestions, corrections and more: contact@lionspitch.com.
Next match: Saturday, March 15, 5:00 pm ET
North Carolina Courage v. Racing Louisville
AWAY
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