2021 North Carolina Courage season

Last updated

North Carolina Courage
2021 season
Managing owner Steve Malik
ChairmanSteve Malik
Head Coach Paul Riley (until September 30)
Sean Nahas (interim; from September 30)
Stadium Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park
NWSL 6th of 10
NWSL Challenge Cup 2nd of 5, East Division
Top goalscorerLeague: Lynn Williams (7)
All: Lynn Williams (11)
Highest home attendance7,064
(October 17 vs NJ/NY)
Lowest home attendance2,300
(April 10 vs Washington)
Average home league attendance4,986
Biggest win5–0
(May 28 vs Louisville)
Biggest defeat1–4
(October 10 vs Houston)
←  2020
2022  →

The 2021 North Carolina Courage season was the team's fifth season as a professional women's soccer team. North Carolina Courage plays in the National Women's Soccer League, the top tier of women's soccer in the United States.

Contents

Background

North Carolina had finished the previous two regular seasons as champions of the National Women's Soccer League, along with winning the NWSL Shield by maintaining the league-best record in 2017, 2018, and 2019. The 2020 regular season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the team was eliminated in the quarter-final round of the 2020 Challenge Cup. [1]

During the off-season, tennis star Naomi Osaka joined the team's ownership and the team unveiled new home and away kits. [2] [3]

Competitive matches

Challenge Cup

Group stage

April 10 North Carolina Courage 3–2 Washington Spirit Cary, North Carolina
15:30 EDT
Report
Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park
Attendance: 2,300

Standings

PosTeam
PldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1 NJ/NY Gotham FC 422053+28Qualification for the Championship
2 North Carolina Courage 421198+17
3 Orlando Pride 41213305
4 Washington Spirit 411234−14
5 Racing Louisville FC 402246−22
Source: NWSL
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

Regular season

Matches

July 109 Washington Spirit 2–0 North Carolina Courage Washington, D.C.
19:00 EDT
Report
Stadium: Audi Field
Attendance: 4,929
September 2519 NJ/NY Gotham FC 3–1 North Carolina Courage Harrison, New Jersey
15:00 EDT
Report
Stadium: Red Bull Arena
Attendance: 2,887
October 1021 Houston Dash 4–1 North Carolina Courage Houston, Texas
18:00 CDT
Report
Stadium: PNC Stadium
Attendance: 4,155

Color key: Green = North Carolina win; Yellow = draw; Red = opponents win.

Standings

PosTeam
PldWDLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1 Portland Thorns FC 2413563317+1644 NWSL Shield
2 OL Reign 2413383724+1342 Playoffs – Semi-finals
3 Washington Spirit (C)2411672926+339 Playoffs – First round
4 Chicago Red Stars 2411582828038
5 NJ/NY Gotham FC 2481152921+835
6 North Carolina Courage 249692823+533
7 Houston Dash 2495103131032
8 Orlando Pride 2477102732−528
9 Racing Louisville FC 2457122140−1922
10 Kansas City 2437141536−2116
Source: NWSL
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(C) Champions

Playoffs

November 7First round Washington Spirit 1–0 (a.e.t.) North Carolina Courage Washington, D.C.
17:30 EST Hatch Soccerball shade.svg113' Report Stadium: Audi Field
Attendance: 5,379
Referee: Natalie Simon

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Negley, Cassandra (April 8, 2021). "NWSL 2021 season preview: Who to watch, new kits, key questions and more". Yahoo! Sports . Retrieved May 2, 2022.
  2. ↑ Linehan, Meg; Kamrani, Christopher (January 28, 2021). "Naomi Osaka buys stake in NWSL's North Carolina Courage". The Athletic . Retrieved May 2, 2022.
  3. ↑ "Mountains to Sea: The NC Courage 2021 Kit Embraces the Home State". NC Courage. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
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