2022 North Carolina Courage season

North Carolina Courage
2022 season
Owner	Stephen Malik
Club President	Francie Gottsegen
Head Coach	Sean Nahas
Stadium	Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park; Cary, North Carolina; (Capacity: 10,000)
NWSL Regular Season	7th
NWSL Challenge Cup	Champions (1st title)
Top goalscorer	League: Debinha (12); All: Debinha (17)
Highest home attendance	6,376; (Sept. 24 vs. NJ/NY)
Lowest home attendance	3,084; (May 18 vs. ORL)
Average home league attendance	4,195
Biggest win	5–1 (Sept. 10 vs. LOU)
Biggest defeat	0–2 (July 1 vs. OL Reign)
Home colors	Away colors
	← 2021 2023 →

The 2022 North Carolina Courage season was the team's sixth 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.

Challenge Cup

The Challenge Cup is the NWSL's primary league cup tournament. It was first played in 2020 following the cancellation of the regular season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Angel City and San Diego, new expansion clubs, competed for the first time in the Challenge Cup. In the 2021 cup, North Carolina had failed to advance beyond the group stage. The twelve league teams were divided into three groups, with North Carolina initially competing twice against the other three teams in its group: Gotham, Orlando, and Washington.^[1]

Group stage

March 19, 2022	North Carolina Courage	2–0	NJ/NY Gotham FC	Cary, North Carolina
19:00	Pinto 22' Erceg 51'	Report	Cudjoe 46'	Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 2,537 Referee: Karen Callado

March 26, 2022	North Carolina Courage	1–0	Orlando Pride	Cary, North Carolina
19:00	Smith 23' Mathias 61' (pen.)	Report	Jónsdóttir 53' Petersen 69'	Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 3,328 Referee: Joshua Encarnación

March 30, 2022	Washington Spirit	2–2	North Carolina Courage	Washington, D.C.
19:30	Staab 14' Rodman 58' Sullivan 64' Hatch 67'	Report	Debinha 5' Smith 26' K. Pickett 45+2' Berkely 59' Kurtz 76'	Stadium: Audi Field Attendance: 2,155 Referee: Danielle Chesky

April 3, 2022	NJ/NY Gotham FC	1–1	North Carolina Courage	Harrison, New Jersey
15:00	Monaghan 24' Richardson 50' Cudjoe 80' Onumonu 84'	Report	Debinha 25' Berkely 76'	Stadium: Red Bull Arena Referee: Laura Rodriguez

April 16, 2022	Orlando Pride	2–4	North Carolina Courage	Orlando, Florida
19:00	Jenkins 15', 56' 79' Lawrence 73' Montefusco 76'	Report	Montefusco 3' (o.g.) Daniels 6' Smith 9' Pinto 85' Debinha 89'	Stadium: Exploria Stadium Referee: Alyssa Nichols

April 23, 2022	North Carolina Courage	2–2	Washington Spirit	Cary, North Carolina
13:00	Erceg 37' Debinha 45+4' (pen.) Berkely 52'	Report	Hatch 15', 75' (pen.) Karina Rodriguez 19'	Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Referee: Eric Tattersall

Divisional standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	T	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification	NC	WAS	NJY	ORL
1	North Carolina Courage	6	3	3	0	12	7	+5	12	Advance to knockout stage	—	2–2	2–0	1–0
2	Washington Spirit	6	2	4	0	12	7	+5	10	Advance to knockout stage based on ranking	2–2	—	1–1	4–1
3	NJ/NY Gotham FC	6	1	3	2	5	8	−3	6		1–1	1–3	—	1–1
4	Orlando Pride	6	0	2	4	4	11	−7	2		2–4	0–0	0–1	—

Source: NWSL
Rules for classification: 1) Total points; 2) Total goal differential; 3) Total number of goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points record; 5) Head-to-head goal differential; 6) Head-to-head number of goals scored; 7) Fewest disciplinary points; 8) Drawing of lots

Knockout stage

May 4, 2022 Semifinal	Kansas City Current	1–2	North Carolina Courage	Kansas City, Kansas
19:30 CDT	Winebrenner 18' Hamilton 68' 79'	Report	Debinha 19' (pen.) Emily Gray 55' Ordoñez 36' 59' Mathias 90+2'	Stadium: Children's Mercy Park Attendance: 4,093 Referee: Natalie Simon

Championship

May 7 Final	North Carolina Courage	2–1	Washington Spirit	Cary, North Carolina
13:00 EDT	Kerolin 10' Aylmer 70' (o.g.)	Report	Hatch 35'	Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 3,163 Referee: Katja Koroleva

Win

Regular season

The 2022 season of the National Women's Soccer League saw 12 teams play 22 matches: one against every other team, with one match at each club's stadium. Three points were awarded for each win, one point per draw, and none for defeats. At the end of the season, the top two teams qualify for first-round byes in the NWSL Playoffs, while four more teams play in an opening playoff round.^[2]

Matches

April 29 1	Angel City FC	2–1	North Carolina Courage	Los Angeles
19:30 PDT	Gilles 3' 39' Endo 13'	Report	Gray 33' Debinha 51' Baucom 85' Kerolin 88'	Stadium: Banc of California Stadium Attendance: 22,000 Referee: Samantha Martinez

May 18 2	North Carolina Courage	1–2	Orlando Pride	Cary, North Carolina
19:00 EDT	Pinto 86'	Report	Leroux 4' Cluff 44' Jenkins 73'	Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 3,084

May 22 3	North Carolina Courage	0–1	San Diego Wave FC	Cary, North Carolina
14:00 EDT	Kurtz 90+2'	Report	Morgan 41' van Egmond 49' Riehl 75'	Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 6,070

May 29 4	Houston Dash	1–1	North Carolina Courage	Houston, Texas
18:00 CDT	Daly 45+6'	Report	Ordoñez 24' Kurtz 80'	Stadium: PNC Stadium Attendance: 4,852

June 4 5	Racing Louisville FC	0–3	North Carolina Courage	Louisville, Kentucky
20:00 EDT	DeMelo 53'	Report	Kurtz 4' Ordoñez 45+1' Mathias 75' Debinha 90+1'	Stadium: Lynn Family Stadium Attendance: 5,738

June 11 6	Washington Spirit	2–3	North Carolina Courage	Leesburg, Virginia
19:00 EDT	Sanchez 74' Hatch 79' (pen.) Staab 90+1'	Report	Kerolin 6' 90+4' Erceg 50' O'Sullivan 89' Kurtz 90+2'	Stadium: Segra Field Attendance: 4,236

June 19 7	North Carolina Courage	3–4	Houston Dash	Cary, North Carolina
17:00 EDT	O'Sullivan 6' Ordoñez 57' Debinha 59'	Report	Sánchez 15' 76' Eddy 47', 50' Prince 51'	Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium Attendance: 4,117

July 1 8	OL Reign	2–0	North Carolina Courage	Seattle
19:00 PDT	Fishlock 52' Balcer 74'	Report	Speck 55' Kerolin 85'	Stadium: Lumen Field Attendance: 7,519

July 10 9	Chicago Red Stars	2–2	North Carolina Courage	Bridgeview, Illinois
17:00 CDT	Griffith 90+1' (DiBernardo) Kowalski 90+5' (Colaprico)	Report	Pickett 22' (Speck) Ratcliffe 49' (Mathias), 70' Daniels 65' Baucom 79'	Stadium: SeatGeek Stadium Attendance: 4,098 Referee: Alyssa Nichols

July 29 10	North Carolina Courage	3–3	Washington Spirit	Cary, North Carolina
19:30 EDT	Rodman 42' (Sanchez), 56' McKeown 45+1' (O'Hara)	Report	Bailey 29' Ratcliffe 45' (O'Sullivan) Ordóñez 53' (Speck), 62' (pen.)	Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 5,211 Referee: John Griggs
Note: Match was halted for lightning at the 24th minute and resumed after an hour's delay.^[3] Courage defender Jaelene Daniels refused to wear a pride-themed jersey for the match and was subsequently not rostered.^[4]^[5]

August 5 11	Portland Thorns FC	3–3	North Carolina Courage	Portland, Oregon
19:30 PDT	Smith 8', 77' (Moultrie) Weaver 24'	Report	Ordoñez 61' (Pickett), 72' (Williams) Daniels 85'	Stadium: Providence Park Attendance: 17,139

August 13 12	North Carolina Courage	3–4	Kansas City Current	Cary, North Carolina
20:00 EDT	Ordoñez 17' (Debinha) Debinha 36' (Kerolin) Kurtz 56' (Pinto) Daniels 90+1'	Report	Hamilton 20' (LaBonta) LaBonta 45' Kizer 60' (Lavogez) Lavogez 79' (Ball)	Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 5,092 Referee: Anya Voigt

August 20 13	North Carolina Courage	4–1	Chicago Red Stars	Cary, North Carolina
19:00 EDT	Ordoñez 10' (Pickett), 74' (Nagano) Nagano 64' Mathias 72' Baisden 88' (Kerolin)	Report	Stevens 81'	Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 3,571

August 24 14	North Carolina Courage	3–1	Portland Thorns FC	Cary, North Carolina
19:00 EDT	Ordoñez 24' (Pickett) Debinha 50' Speck 83' Mathias 90+3'	Report	Rodríguez 63' (Ryan)	Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 3,114 Referee: Karen Callado
Note: Rescheduled from May 7 to accommodate Challenge Cup final

August 28 15	Kansas City Current	3–2	North Carolina Courage	Kansas City, Kansas
18:00 CDT	LaBonta 5' (pen.) Kizer 56' (Loera) Hamilton 59' (Del Fava) Ball 87'	Report	Kerolin 28' (Mathias), 48' (Kurtz) Speck 65'	Stadium: Children's Mercy Park Attendance: 7,395 Referee: Malik Badawi^[6]

September 4 16	NJ/NY Gotham FC	0–1	North Carolina Courage	Harrison, New Jersey
17:00 EDT	Dorsey 71'	Report	Nagano 81' Baisden 84'	Stadium: Red Bull Arena Attendance: 3,124 Referee: Danielle Chesky
Note: Originally scheduled for May 14, 2022, but delayed due to COVID-19 player availability

September 10 17	North Carolina Courage	5–1	Racing Louisville FC	Cary, North Carolina
19:00 EDT	Kerolin 9' (O'Sullivan), 42' Debinha 56' (Kerolin), 84' (pen.) Boade 90' (Kerolin)	Report	Lester 41' Wyne 45+1' Nadim 72'	Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 3,297^[7] Referee: Samantha Martinez

September 14 18	North Carolina Courage	1–0	Angel City FC	Cary, North Carolina
19:00 EDT	Kerolin 54' (Debinha) Pinto 58'	Report	Lussi 5'	Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 3,661 Referee: Alex Billeter^[8]
Note: Rescheduled from July 15 due to league COVID-19 protocols.^[9]

September 17 19	North Carolina Courage	1–2	OL Reign	Cary, North Carolina
19:30 EDT	Cook 6' (o.g.) O'Sullivan 45+2'	Report	Lavelle 11' Rapinoe 26' Latsko 83' McClernon 90+1'	Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 6,398

September 21 20	Orlando Pride	0–3	North Carolina Courage	Orlando, Florida
19:00 EDT		Report	Debinha 2', 53' Boade 45+1' Madsen 57'	Stadium: Exploria Stadium Attendance: 3,258 Referee: Adorae Monroy

September 24 21	North Carolina Courage	3–0	NJ/NY Gotham FC	Cary, North Carolina
19:00 EDT	O'Sullivan 8' Debinha 27' (Pickett), 34' (Williams), 81' (Boade)	Report	Torres 32'	Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 6,376

September 30 22	San Diego Wave FC	0–0	North Carolina Courage	San Diego
19:00 PDT	McNabb 15'	Report	Bench 90+3'	Stadium: Snapdragon Stadium Attendance: 18,000 Referee: Elijio Arreguin

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	OL Reign	22	11	7	4	32	19	+13	40	NWSL Shield, Playoffs – semi-finals
2	Portland Thorns FC (C)	22	10	9	3	49	24	+25	39	Playoffs – semi-finals
3	San Diego Wave FC	22	10	6	6	32	21	+11	36	Playoffs – first round
4	Houston Dash	22	10	6	6	35	27	+8	36
5	Kansas City Current	22	10	6	6	29	29	0	36
6	Chicago Red Stars	22	9	6	7	34	28	+6	33
7	North Carolina Courage	22	9	5	8	46	33	+13	32
8	Angel City FC	22	8	5	9	23	27	−4	29
9	Racing Louisville FC	22	5	8	9	23	35	−12	23
10	Orlando Pride	22	5	7	10	22	45	−23	22
11	Washington Spirit	22	3	10	9	26	33	−7	19
12	NJ/NY Gotham FC	22	4	1	17	16	46	−30	13

Source: NWSL
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(C) Champions

Results summary


Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
22	9	5	8	46	33	+13	32	5	1	5	27	18	+9	4	4	3	19	15	+4

Last updated: September 30, 2022.
Source: NWSLsoccer.com

Results by matchday

Matchday	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22
Stadium	A	H	H	A	A	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	H	A	A	H	H	H	A	H	A
Result	L	L	L	D	W	W	L	L	D	D	D	L	W	W	L	W	W	W	L	W	W	D
Position	12	12	12	11	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	10	9	9	9	8	8	8	8	8	7

Updated to match(es) played on September 30, 2022. Source: NWSL
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Players

As of September 30, 2022.

North Carolina has used a total of 30 players during the 2022 season, and there have been 14 different goal scorers. There have also been three squad members — forward Valérie Gauvin, who was traded to the Houston Dash on August 23, 2022;^[10] midfielder Haleigh Stackpole; and goalkeeper Marisa Bova — who have not made a first-team appearance in the campaign.

The team has scored a total of 60 goals in all competitions. The highest scorers have been Debinha with 17 goals, and Diana Ordoñez with 12 goals.

Key

No. = Squad number

Pos = Playing position

Nat. = Nationality

Apps = Appearances

GK = Goalkeeper

DF = Defender

MF = Midfielder

FW = Forward

= Yellow cards

= Red cards

Numbers in parentheses denote appearances as substitute. Players with name struck through and marked † left the club during the playing season.

Player statistics
No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Challenge Cup				NWSL				Total
No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	Apps	Goals			Apps	Goals			Apps	Goals
0	GK		Katelyn Rowland	8	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	12	0	0	0
1	GK		Casey Murphy	0	0	0	0	18	0	0	0	18	0	0	0
2	DF		~~Taylor Smith~~ †	8 (3)	2	1	0	4 (2)	0	0	0	12 (5)	2	1	0
3	DF		Kaleigh Kurtz	8	0	1	0	22	3	2	0	30	3	3	0
4	DF		Carson Pickett	7 (1)	0	0	0	20 (1)	1	0	0	27 (2)	1	0	0
5	MF		Brianna Pinto	7 (3)	1	1	0	22 (5)	1	1	0	29 (8)	2	2	0
6	DF		Abby Erceg	8	1	1	0	19	1	0	0	27	2	1	0
7	MF		Malia Berkely	7 (2)	1	2	0	16 (5)	0	0	0	23 (7)	1	2	0
8	MF		Denise O'Sullivan	8	0	0	0	19 (1)	1	3	0	27 (1)	1	3	0
9	FW		Kerolin	5 (2)	1	0	0	13	6	3	0	18 (2)	7	3	0
10	MF		Debinha	7	5	0	0	18	12	0	0	25	17	0	0
11	DF		Merritt Mathias	8	1	2	0	19 (7)	0	3	0	27 (7)	1	5	0
12	FW		Diana Ordoñez	6 (4)	1	1	0	19 (2)	11	0	0	25 (6)	12	1	0
13	DF		Ryan Williams	3 (3)	0	0	0	18 (8)	0	0	0	21 (11)	0	0	0
14	DF		Katie Bowen	1 (1)	0	0	0	2 (1)	0	0	0	3 (2)	0	0	0
15	DF		Jaelene Daniels	8 (2)	1	0	0	19 (11)	1	2	0	27 (13)	2	2	0
16	MF		Emily Gray	4 (2)	0	1	0	3 (1)	0	1	0	7 (3)	0	2	0
19	MF		Havana Solaun	1	0	0	0	1 (1)	0	0	0	2 (1)	0	0	0
23	DF		Kiki Pickett	5 (2)	0	1	0	4 (4)	0	0	0	9 (6)	0	1	0
24	MF		Frankie Tagliaferri	0	0	0	0	5 (3)	0	0	0	5 (3)	0	0	0
25	MF		Meredith Speck	8 (5)	0	0	0	19 (10)	1	2	0	27 (15)	1	2	0
27	FW		Brittany Ratcliffe	0	0	0	0	10 (7)	2	1	0	10 (7)	2	1	0
28	MF		Tess Boade	1 (1)	0	0	0	5 (1)	2	0	0	6 (2)	2	0	0
29	FW		Rylee Baisden	1	0	0	0	9 (8)	1	1	0	10 (8)	1	1	0
33	FW		~~Jorian Baucom~~ †	1	0	2	0	6 (5)	0	2	0	7 (5)	0	4	0

Source: ^[11]^[12]

References

^ "National Women's Soccer League Official Site | NWSL" (PDF). www.nwslsoccer.com. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
^ Bonn, Kyle (May 7, 2022). "What is the NWSL Challenge Cup? Explaining the 2022 season-opening soccer competition". Sporting News. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
^ Carlisle, André (July 29, 2022). "Recap: A lightning delay, a lot of goals, questionable refereeing, and the Spirit's eighth draw". Black and Red United. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
^ Henderson, Cydney (July 29, 2022). "NC Courage's Jaelene Daniels sitting out team's Pride Night due to jersey". USA Today. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
^ "NC Courage defender Jaelene Daniels refuses to play in Pride jersey". ESPN. July 29, 2022. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
^ "Kansas City Current vs. North Carolina Courage - Football Match Summary". ESPN. August 28, 2022. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
^ "North Carolina Courage vs. Racing Louisville FC - Football Match Summary". ESPN. September 10, 2022. Retrieved September 25, 2022.
^ "North Carolina Courage vs. Angel City FC - Football Match Summary". ESPN. September 14, 2022. Retrieved September 15, 2022.
^ Rodriguez, Alicia (July 13, 2022). "Friday's Angel City game at North Carolina Courage postponed". Angels on Parade. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
^ "Dash acquire forward Valérie Gauvin from North Carolina Courage". Dynamo Theory. August 23, 2022. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
^ "Stats - Players". National Women's Soccer League. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
^ "Stats - Goalkeepers". National Women's Soccer League. Retrieved October 1, 2022.

[1] "National Women's Soccer League Official Site | NWSL" (PDF). www.nwslsoccer.com. Retrieved June 19, 2022.

[2] Bonn, Kyle (May 7, 2022). "What is the NWSL Challenge Cup? Explaining the 2022 season-opening soccer competition". Sporting News. Retrieved June 4, 2022.

[3] Carlisle, André (July 29, 2022). "Recap: A lightning delay, a lot of goals, questionable refereeing, and the Spirit's eighth draw". Black and Red United. Retrieved July 30, 2022.

[4] Henderson, Cydney (July 29, 2022). "NC Courage's Jaelene Daniels sitting out team's Pride Night due to jersey". USA Today. Retrieved July 30, 2022.

[5] "NC Courage defender Jaelene Daniels refuses to play in Pride jersey". ESPN. July 29, 2022. Retrieved July 30, 2022.

[6] "Kansas City Current vs. North Carolina Courage - Football Match Summary". ESPN. August 28, 2022. Retrieved September 7, 2022.

[7] "North Carolina Courage vs. Racing Louisville FC - Football Match Summary". ESPN. September 10, 2022. Retrieved September 25, 2022.

[8] "North Carolina Courage vs. Angel City FC - Football Match Summary". ESPN. September 14, 2022. Retrieved September 15, 2022.

[9] Rodriguez, Alicia (July 13, 2022). "Friday's Angel City game at North Carolina Courage postponed". Angels on Parade. Retrieved July 13, 2022.

[10] "Dash acquire forward Valérie Gauvin from North Carolina Courage". Dynamo Theory. August 23, 2022. Retrieved August 23, 2022.

[11] "Stats - Players". National Women's Soccer League. Retrieved October 1, 2022.

[12] "Stats - Goalkeepers". National Women's Soccer League. Retrieved October 1, 2022.

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v t e National Women's Soccer League
Records and statistics Players Association U.S. Soccer
Current teams	Angel City FC Bay FC Chicago Red Stars Houston Dash Kansas City Current NJ/NY Gotham FC North Carolina Courage Orlando Pride Portland Thorns FC Racing Louisville FC San Diego Wave FC Seattle Reign FC Utah Royals Washington Spirit
Future team	BOS Nation FC (2026)
Former teams	Western New York Flash (2013–16) Boston Breakers (2013–17) FC Kansas City (2013–17)
Seasons	2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Competition	NWSL Shield Playoffs Challenge Cup Summer Cup Stadiums Attendance Expansion Broadcasters
Personnel	Players Association Draftees Drafts Foreign players Owners Under-18 Entry Mechanism Federation players (2013–21) Jessica Berman
Awards	Most Valuable Player Golden Boot Midfielder of the Year Defender of the Year Goalkeeper of the Year Rookie of the Year Coach of the Year Best XI and Second XI Player of the Month Rookie of the Month Team of the Month Player of the Week Players' awards
Related articles	Sexual harassment Yates Report
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