2024 North Carolina Courage season

North Carolina Courage
2024 season
Managing Owner	Steve 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	5th
NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup	Semifinals
Playoffs	Quarterfinals
Top goalscorer	Ashley Sanchez (5)
Highest home attendance	10,026; (Nov 2 vs WAS)
Lowest home attendance	4,528; (May 17 vs UTA)
Average home league attendance	6,363
Home colors	Away colors
	← 2023 2025 →
	All statistics correct as of November 9, 2024.

The 2024 North Carolina Courage season was the team's eighth season as a professional women's soccer team. The Courage played in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top tier of women's soccer in the United States. They finished the regular season in fifth place and qualified for the playoffs, where they were eliminated in the quarterfinals by the fourth-seeded Kansas City Current.^[1]

Background

In the 2023 National Women's Soccer League season, the Courage were on top of the league standings in July but finished the season in 3rd place, then fell in the first round of the NWSL playoffs to eventual champions NJ/NY Gotham FC.^[2]^[3] Forward Kerolin scored 10 goals and was named the NWSL MVP.^[3] The Courage won the NWSL Challenge Cup for the second year in a row.^[4]

Broadcasting

Team

Current squad

As of August 21, 2024.^[5]

No.	Pos.	Player	Nation
1	GK	Casey Murphy	United States
2	FW	Ashley Sanchez	United States
3	DF	Kaleigh Kurtz	United States
5	FW	Haley Hopkins	United States
6	MF	Narumi Miura	Japan
7	DF	Malia Berkely	United States
8	MF	Brianna Pinto	United States
9	FW	Kerolin	Brazil
10	MF	Denise O'Sullivan (captain)	Republic of Ireland
11	DF	Felicitas Rauch	Germany
13	DF	Ryan Williams	United States
14	FW	Tyler Lussi	United States
16	MF	Riley Jackson	United States
17	MF	Dani Weatherholt	United States
18	DF	Sydney Collins	Canada
19	MF	Landy Mertz	United States
20	FW	Olivia Wingate	United States
22	FW	Cortnee Vine	Australia
23	FW	Bianca St-Georges	Canada
24	DF	Estelle Johnson	Cameroon
25	MF	Meredith Speck	United States
27	DF	Maycee Bell	United States
33	DF	Charlotte McLean	Australia
34	MF	Manaka Matsukubo	Japan
44	GK	Marisa Bova	United States
51	GK	Hensley Hancuff	United States
77	FW	Aline Gomes	Brazil
94	MF	Victoria Pickett	Canada

Staff

As of April 29, 2023.^[6]^[7]^[8]

Executive
Chairman	Steve Malik
President	Francie Gottsegen
Chief soccer officer	Curt Johnson
Assistant general manager	Bobby Hammond
Coaching
Head coach	Sean Nahas
Assistant coach	Nathan Thackeray
Assistant coach	Emma Thomson

Regular season

Matches

March 16, 2024 (2024-03-16) 1	North Carolina Courage	5–1	Houston Dash	Cary, North Carolina
7:00 p.m. EDT (UTC-5)		Report		Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 5,878

March 22, 2024 (2024-03-22) 2	Utah Royals	2–1	North Carolina Courage	Sandy, Utah
7:30 p.m. MDT (UTC-6)		Report		Stadium: America First Field Attendance: 8,161

March 30, 2024 (2024-03-30) 3	North Carolina Courage	1–0	NJ/NY Gotham FC	Cary, North Carolina
7:00 p.m. EDT (UTC-5)		Report		Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 5,281

April 13, 2024 (2024-04-13) 4	North Carolina Courage	2–0	Portland Thorns FC	Cary, North Carolina
7:00 p.m. EDT (UTC-5)		Report		Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 5,711

April 21, 2024 (2024-04-21) 5	Angel City FC	2–1	North Carolina Courage	Los Angeles, California
4:30 p.m. PDT (UTC-7)		Report		Stadium: BMO Stadium Attendance: 22,000

April 27, 2024 (2024-04-27) 6	North Carolina Courage	1–0	Seattle Reign FC	Cary, North Carolina
7:00 p.m. EDT (UTC-5)		Report		Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 8,135

May 1, 2024 (2024-05-01) 7	Orlando Pride	4–1	North Carolina Courage	Orlando, Florida
7:00 p.m. EDT (UTC-5)		Report		Stadium: Inter&Co Stadium Attendance: 4,702

May 4, 2024 (2024-05-04) 8	NJ/NY Gotham FC	1–0	North Carolina Courage	Harrison, New Jersey
7:30 p.m. EDT (UTC-5)		Report		Stadium: Red Bull Arena Attendance: 6,184

May 12, 2024 (2024-05-12) 9	Kansas City Current	1–0	North Carolina Courage	Kansas City, Missouri
5:00 p.m. CDT (UTC-5)		Report		Stadium: CPKC Stadium Attendance: 11,500

May 17, 2024 (2024-05-17) 10	North Carolina Courage	1–0	Utah Royals	Cary, North Carolina
8:00 p.m. EDT (UTC-5)		Report		Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 4,528

May 24, 2024 (2024-05-24) 11	Houston Dash	3–0	North Carolina Courage	Houston, Texas
7:00 p.m. CDT (UTC-5)		Report		Stadium: Shell Energy Stadium Attendance: 4,732

June 8, 2024 (2024-06-08) 12	Portland Thorns FC	1–0	North Carolina Courage	Portland, Oregon
7:00 p.m. PDT (UTC-7)		Report		Stadium: Providence Park Attendance: 21,025

June 15, 2024 (2024-06-15) 13	North Carolina Courage	0–0	Orlando Pride	Cary, North Carolina
7:30 p.m. EDT (UTC-5)		Report		Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 4,776

June 23, 2024 (2024-06-23) 14	North Carolina Courage	3–1	Chicago Red Stars	Cary, North Carolina
6:00 p.m. EDT (UTC-5)		Report		Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 5,256

June 29, 2024 (2024-06-29) 15	Washington Spirit	0–1	North Carolina Courage	Washington, D.C.
7:30 p.m. EDT (UTC-5)		Report		Stadium: Audi Field Attendance: 15,717

July 7, 2024 (2024-07-07) 16	North Carolina Courage	3–1	Racing Louisville FC	Cary, North Carolina
4:30 p.m. EDT (UTC-5)		Report		Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 4,738

August 25, 2024 (2024-08-25) 17	Seattle Reign FC	1–0	North Carolina Courage	Seattle, Washington
7:00 p.m. PDT (UTC-7)		Report		Stadium: Lumen Field Attendance: 16,598

September 1, 2024 (2024-09-01) 18	North Carolina Courage	2–1	Kansas City Current	Cary, North Carolina
2:00 p.m. EDT (UTC-5)		Report		Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 6,003 Referee: Elvis Osmanovic

September 8, 2024 (2024-09-08) 19	San Diego Wave FC	1–4	North Carolina Courage	San Diego, California
5:00 p.m. PDT (UTC-7)		Report		Stadium: Snapdragon Stadium Attendance: 26,516 Referee: Brad Jensen

September 13, 2024 (2024-09-13) 20	North Carolina Courage	1–1	Bay FC	Cary, North Carolina
7:00 p.m. EDT (UTC-5)		Report		Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 6,837 Referee: John Griggs

September 21, 2024 (2024-09-21) 21	Racing Louisville FC	2–1	North Carolina Courage	Louisville, Kentucky
7:30 p.m. EDT (UTC-5)		Report		Stadium: Lynn Family Stadium Attendance: 4,653 Referee: Adorae Monroy

September 29, 2024 (2024-09-29) 22	Chicago Red Stars	1–3	North Carolina Courage	Bridgeview, Illinois
5:00 p.m. CDT (UTC-5)		Report		Stadium: SeatGeek Stadium Attendance: 4,317 Referee: Ricardo Fierro

October 5, 2024 (2024-10-05) 23	North Carolina Courage	2–1	San Diego Wave FC	Cary, North Carolina
7:00 p.m. EDT (UTC-5)	Aline 32' Matsukubo 45+4'	Report	Lundkvist 45+9' 84'	Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 8,496 Referee: Melinda Sopka

October 12, 2024 (2024-10-12) 24	North Carolina Courage	1–1	Angel City FC	Cary, North Carolina
7:30 p.m. EDT (UTC-5)	Wingate 90+10'	Report	Curry 33' Leroux 90+2' Press 90+7'	Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 7,037 Referee: Eric Tattersall

October 19, 2024 (2024-10-19) 25	Bay FC	1–0	North Carolina Courage	San Jose, California
7:00 p.m. PDT (UTC-7)	Pickett 61' Dahlkemper 83'	Report	Hopkins 90+2'	Stadium: PayPal Park Attendance: 14,901 Referee: Elijio Arreguin

November 2, 2024 (2024-11-02) 26	North Carolina Courage	0–1	Washington Spirit	Cary, North Carolina
7:30 p.m. EDT (UTC-5)		Report	Hatch 37'	Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 10,026 Referee: Elvis Osmanovic

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
3	NJ/NY Gotham FC	26	17	5	4	41	20	+21	56	Playoffs
4	Kansas City Current	26	16	7	3	57	31	+26	55
5	North Carolina Courage	26	12	3	11	34	28	+6	39
6	Portland Thorns FC	26	10	4	12	37	35	+2	34
7	Bay FC	26	11	1	14	31	41	−10	34

Source: NWSL
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

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
26	12	3	11	34	28	+6	39	9	3	1	22	8	+14	3	0	10	12	20	−8

Last updated: November 2, 2024.
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	23	24	25	26
Stadium	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H
Result	W	L	W	W	L	W	L	L	L	W	L	L	D	W	W	W	L	W	W	D	L	W	W	D	L	L
Position	1	3	3	2	4	2	6	6	6	7	8	7	6	6	6	6	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5

Updated to match(es) played on November 2, 2024. Source: NWSL
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Playoffs

The Courage clinched the fifth position in the table and qualified for the championship playoffs, where they faced and lost to the fourth-seeded Kansas City Current.

November 9, 2024 (2024-11-09) Quarterfinals	Kansas City Current	1–0	North Carolina Courage	Kansas City, Missouri
11:00 p.m. CST (UTC-6)	Chawinga 8' LaBonta 28' Wheeler 90+8'	Report	O'Sullivan 36' St-Georges 90+8'	Stadium: CPKC Stadium Referee: Brad Jensen

NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup

The Courage finished first in Group E and were the 4th-highest ranked group winners, qualifying them to advance to the tournament semifinals, where they lost to the Kansas City Current.

Group stage matches

July 20, 2024 (2024-07-20)	North Carolina Courage	1–1 (5–4 p)	Orlando Pride	Cary, North Carolina, United States
7:30 p.m.	Matsukubo 45'	Report	Jiménez 82'	Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 2,800 Referee: Lorenzo Hernandez
	Penalties
	Jackson Kurtz Wingate Berkely Pinto Weatherholt Miura		Larroquette Lemos Watt Strom Jiménez McCutcheon Duljan

July 26, 2024 (2024-07-26)	Racing Louisville FC	1–1 (4–5 p)	North Carolina Courage	Louisville, United States
8:00 p.m.	Pickett 66'	Report	Jackson 90+1'	Stadium: Lynn Family Stadium Attendance: 4,083
	Penalties
	Borges DiGrande Pickett Turner Howell		Jackson Kurtz Berkely Miura Lussi

July 31, 2024 (2024-07-31)	North Carolina Courage	3–0	Monterrey	Cary, North Carolina, United States
7:00 p.m.	Sanchez 48' Hopkins 82' Mertz 90'	Report		Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 4,438 Referee: Danielle Chesky

Group stage standings

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	PW	PL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification	NC	LOU	ORL	MON
1	North Carolina Courage	3	1	2	0	0	5	2	+3	7	Advances to knockout stage	—	1–1	1–1	3–0
2	Racing Louisville FC	3	1	1	1	0	5	3	+2	6		1–1	—	1–1	3–1
3	Orlando Pride	3	0	1	2	0	4	4	0	4		1–1	1–1	—	2–2
4	Monterrey	3	0	0	1	2	3	8	−5	1		0–3	1–3	2–2	—

Source: NWSL
Rules for classification: tiebreakers

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
3	2	1	0	5	2	+3	7	2	0	0	4	1	+3	0	1	0	1	1	0

Last updated: August 6, 2024.
Source: NWSLsoccer.com

Knockout stage

August 6, 2024 (2024-08-06)	Kansas City Current	2–0	North Carolina Courage	Kansas City, Missouri
21:00 ET	Chawinga 2' Debinha 78'	Report		Stadium: CPKC Stadium Referee: Katja Koroleva

Transactions

References

^ "Kansas City Current advance to NWSL semifinals with 1-0 win against North Carolina Courage". The Washington Post. Associated Press. November 9, 2024. Retrieved November 9, 2024.
^ "Recap: Courage fall in Los Angeles Sunday". North Carolina Courage. July 9, 2023. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
^ ^a ^b "North Carolina Courage forward Kerolin named the 2023 NWSL MVP". Associated Press. November 10, 2023. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
^ Yang, Steph (November 9, 2023). "North Carolina Courage defeat Racing Louisville 2-0 in 2023 NWSL Challenge Cup final". The Athletic. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
^ "Roster Archive".
^ "Ownership". North Carolina Courage. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
^ "Technical Staff". North Carolina Courage. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
^ "Front Office". North Carolina Courage. Retrieved April 29, 2024.

[1] "Kansas City Current advance to NWSL semifinals with 1-0 win against North Carolina Courage". The Washington Post. Associated Press. November 9, 2024. Retrieved November 9, 2024.

[2] "Recap: Courage fall in Los Angeles Sunday". North Carolina Courage. July 9, 2023. Retrieved December 3, 2023.

[Kero2023-3] "North Carolina Courage forward Kerolin named the 2023 NWSL MVP". Associated Press. November 10, 2023. Retrieved December 3, 2023.

[4] Yang, Steph (November 9, 2023). "North Carolina Courage defeat Racing Louisville 2-0 in 2023 NWSL Challenge Cup final". The Athletic. Retrieved December 3, 2023.

[5] "Roster Archive".

[6] "Ownership". North Carolina Courage. Retrieved April 29, 2024.

[7] "Technical Staff". North Carolina Courage. Retrieved April 29, 2024.

[8] "Front Office". North Carolina Courage. Retrieved April 29, 2024.

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