| 2019 season | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner | Stephen Malik | ||
| General Manager | Curt Johnson | ||
| Head Coach | Paul Riley | ||
| Stadium | Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park Cary, North Carolina (Capacity: 10,000) | ||
| NWSL Regular Season | 1st | ||
| NWSL Playoffs | Champions | ||
| Top goalscorer | Lynn Williams (12) | ||
| Highest home attendance | 9,563 (September 14th vs. Orlando) | ||
| Lowest home attendance | 4,053 (April 13th vs. Chicago) | ||
| Average home league attendance | 5,875 | ||
| Biggest win | 6–0 (September 11th vs. Portland) | ||
| Biggest defeat | 1–3 (May 11th vs. Chicago) | ||
The 2019 North Carolina Courage season was the team's third 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.
On September 21, the Courage clinched their third consecutive Shield with a 3–0 victory over the Utah Royals. [1]
On October 27, the Courage defeated the Chicago Red Stars 4–0 to win their second consecutive NWSL Championship. [2]
| Position | Staff |
|---|---|
| Head coach | |
| Assistant coach | |
| Assistant coach | |
| Assistant coach | |
| Assistant coach | |
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
| Round | Pick | Nat. | Player | Previous Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round 1 | 5 | | Leah Pruitt | USC |
| Round 1 | 9 | | Hailey Harbison | Pepperdine |
| Round 2 | 14 | | Lauren Milliet | Colorado College |
| Round 4 | 36 | | Kaycie Tillman | Florida State |
| Date | Player | Positions played | Previous club | Fee/notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 7, 2019 | | DF | | Signed. | [7] |
| February 12, 2019 | | DF | | Signed. | [8] |
| February 22, 2019 | | GK | | Signed. | [9] |
| June 11, 2019 | | FW | Sky Blue FC | Acquired in a Trade with Sky Blue FC in exchange for Elizabeth Eddy | [10] |
| July 18, 2019 | | GK | North Carolina Tar Heels | Signed. | [11] |
| Date | Player | Positions played | Destination club | Fee/notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 1, 2018 | | DF | unattached | Waived. | [12] |
| December 17, 2018 | | FW | Reign FC | Traded to Reign FC in exchange for Reign FC's 9th overall pick in the 2019 NWSL College Draft. | [13] |
| January 4, 2019 | | GK | | Signed with Vittsjö. | [14] |
| April 4, 2019 | | DF | Orlando Pride | Traded to the Orlando Pride in exchange for Orlando's fourth round pick in the 2020 NWSL College Draft. | [15] |
| June 11, 2019 | | MF | Sky Blue FC | Traded to Sky Blue FC in exchange for McKenzie Meehan. | [10] |
| July 18, 2019 | | DF | Waived. | [11] | |
| July 18, 2019 | | DF | Waived. | [11] |
| March 23 | North Carolina Courage | 4–0 | Orlando Pride | Cary, North Carolina |
| 1:00 p.m. ET | Speck McDonald Williams Spetsmark | Report | Morgan | Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 4,220 |
| April 131 | North Carolina Courage | 1–1 | Chicago Red Stars | Cary, North Carolina |
| 7:00 p.m. EDT | Dunn | Report | Kerr | Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 4,053 |
| April 172 | North Carolina Courage | 5–0 | Orlando Pride | Cary, North Carolina |
| 7:00 p.m. EDT | Williams O'Sullivan McDonald Zerboni Dunn Spetsmark | Report | Marta | Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 4,292 Referee: Danielle Chesky |
| April 283 | Houston Dash | 1–4 | North Carolina Courage | Houston, Texas |
| 5:00 p.m. CDT | Daly Schmidt | Report | Williams Dunn Debinha Pruitt | Stadium: BBVA Compass Stadium Attendance: 2,933 |
| May 044 | North Carolina Courage | 0–0 | Sky Blue FC | Cary, North Carolina |
| 7:00 p.m. EDT | Zerboni | Report | Monaghan | Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 5,039 |
| May 115 | Chicago Red Stars | 3–1 | North Carolina Courage | Bridgeview, Illinois |
| 5:00 p.m. EDT | Kerr Vasconcelos Stanton | Report | Williams | Stadium: SeatGeek Stadium Attendance: 2,113 |
| May 196 | North Carolina Courage | 1–1 | Utah Royals FC | Cary, North Carolina |
| 5:00 p.m. EDT | Eddy | Box | Rodriguez | Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 4,821 |
| May 277 | Reign FC | 2–1 | North Carolina Courage | Tacoma, Washington |
| 4:00 p.m. PDT | Balcer Nielsen | Box | Erceg | Stadium: Cheney Stadium Attendance: 3,032 |
| June 018 | Orlando Pride | 0–3 | North Carolina Courage | Orlando, Florida |
| 7:30 p.m. EDT |
| Box |
| Stadium: Orlando City Stadium Attendance: 4,427 |
| June 159 | North Carolina Courage | 1–1 | Portland Thorns FC | Cary, North Carolina |
| 7:45 p.m. EDT | Box | Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 6,172 | ||
| Note: doubleheader with North Carolina FC. | ||||
| June 2910 | Washington Spirit | 1–2 | North Carolina Courage | Germantown, Maryland |
| 7:00 p.m. EDT | Harrison Thomas | Debinha Pritchett Zerboni | Stadium: Maryland SoccerPlex Attendance: 3,481 |
| July 0511 | North Carolina Courage | 5–2 | Houston Dash | Cary, North Carolina |
| 7:00 p.m. EDT | Box | Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 5,066 |
| July 1312 | North Carolina Courage | 2–0 | Reign FC | Cary, North Carolina |
| 7:00 p.m. EDT | Williams Debinha O'Sullivan | Box Report | Balcer | Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 6,216 |
| July 2113 | Chicago Red Stars | 2–1 | North Carolina Courage | Bridgeview, Illinois |
| 5:00 p.m. CDT | Naughton DiBernardo Kerr | Williams McDonald | Stadium: SeatGeek Stadium Attendance: 17,388 | |
| Note: Game was broadcast on ESPN 2 | ||||
| July 2714 | Utah Royals FC | 1–2 | North Carolina Courage | Sandy, Utah |
| 8:00 p.m. MDT | Press | Hamilton McDonald | Stadium: Rio Tinto Stadium Attendance: 10,545 |
| August 0315 | North Carolina Courage | 1–0 | Washington Spirit | Cary, North Carolina |
| 4:00 p.m. EDT | Debinha Spetsmark | Nielsen | Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 4,393 | |
| Note: Rescheduled from August 2 due to thunderstorms. | ||||
| August 1116 | Portland Thorns FC | 2–1 | North Carolina Courage | Portland, Oregon |
| 12:00 p.m. PDT | Foord Labbé Erceg | Dunn | Stadium: Providence Park Attendance: 25,218 | |
| Note: Game was broadcast on ESPNews | ||||
| August 2417 | North Carolina Courage | 1–0 | Reign FC | Cary, North Carolina |
| 7:00 p.m. EDT | L. Williams | Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 6,743 |
| September 0718 | Sky Blue FC | 1–2 | North Carolina Courage | Piscataway, New Jersey |
| 3:00 p.m. EDT | Lloyd Rodriguez | Skroski Dunn | Stadium: Yurcak Field Attendance: 2,895 |
| September 1119 | Portland Thorns FC | 0–6 | North Carolina Courage | Portland, Oregon |
| 7:30 p.m. PDT | Klingenberg Horan | Debinha L. Williams Dunn Hinkle Hamilton | Stadium: Providence Park Attendance: 17,517 |
| September 1420 | North Carolina Courage | 6–1 | Orlando Pride | Cary, North Carolina |
| 6:00 p.m. EDT | Williams Edmonds McDonald Meehan O'Reilly Debinha | Greening Kennedy Elinsky Hill | Stadium: WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 9,563 |
| September 1721 | North Carolina Courage | 1–0 | Houston Dash | Cary, North Carolina |
| 7:30 p.m. EDT | Mewis | Report | Daly Brooks Mewis | Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 4,943 |
| September 2122 | Utah Royals FC | 0–3 | North Carolina Courage | Sandy, Utah |
| 7:00 p.m. MDT | Mewis O'Sullivan Hinkle Debinha | Stadium: Rio Tinto Stadium Attendance: 9,946 |
| September 2823 | Washington Spirit | 2–1 | North Carolina Courage | Germantown, Maryland |
| 7:00 p.m. EDT | Huster Matthews Pugh Lavelle | Williams Erceg | Stadium: Maryland SoccerPlex |
| October 1224 | North Carolina Courage | 3–2 | Sky Blue FC | Cary, North Carolina |
| 7:00 p.m. EDT | McDonald Debinha McDonald | Report | Lloyd Richardson | Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 9,195 |
| October 20Semifinal | North Carolina Courage | 4–1 | Reign FC | Cary, North Carolina |
| 1:30 p.m. EDT | O'Reilly Debinha Barnes Dunn | Report | Long Onumonu | Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park |
| Note: Televised on ESPN2 | ||||
| October 27Final | North Carolina Courage | 4–0 | Chicago Red Stars | Cary, North Carolina |
| 3:30 p.m. EST | Debinha McDonald Dunn Mewis Zerboni | Report | DiBernardo Ertz | Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 10,227 |
| Note: Televised on ESPN | ||||
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Carolina Courage (C) | 24 | 15 | 4 | 5 | 54 | 23 | +31 | 49 | NWSL Shield |
| 2 | Chicago Red Stars | 24 | 14 | 2 | 8 | 41 | 28 | +13 | 44 | NWSL Playoffs |
| 3 | Portland Thorns FC | 24 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 40 | 31 | +9 | 40 | |
| 4 | Reign FC | 24 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 27 | 27 | 0 | 38 | |
| 5 | Washington Spirit | 24 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 30 | 25 | +5 | 34 | |
| 6 | Utah Royals FC | 24 | 10 | 4 | 10 | 25 | 25 | 0 | 34 | |
| 7 | Houston Dash | 24 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 21 | 36 | −15 | 26 | |
| 8 | Sky Blue FC | 24 | 5 | 5 | 14 | 20 | 34 | −14 | 20 | |
| 9 | Orlando Pride | 24 | 4 | 4 | 16 | 24 | 53 | −29 | 16 |
| Overall | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
| 24 | 15 | 4 | 5 | 54 | 23 | +31 | 49 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 27 | 8 | +19 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 27 | 15 | +12 |
Last updated: October 12, 2019.
Source: NWSLsoccer.com
As defending 2018 NWSL champions and defending 2018 Women's ICC champions, the Courage were selected to participate in and host the 2019 Women's International Champions Cup. They are scheduled to play English side Manchester City in the semi-final round.
| August 15Semi-final | North Carolina Courage | 2–1 | | Cary, North Carolina |
| 7:30 p.m. ET | O'Sullivan Meehan McDonald | Report | Stanway | Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park Attendance: 5,436 |
| August 18Final | North Carolina Courage | 0–1 | | Cary, North Carolina |
| 7:30 p.m. ET | Stadium: Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park | |||
| Note: Broadcast on ESPN2 | ||||
Top scorers
| Top assists
Shutouts
|
| Month | Result | Player | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| April | Won | | [19] |
| July | Won | | [20] |
| Month | Goalkeeper | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April | | | [21] | ||
| May | | [22] | |||
| June | | [23] | |||
| July | | | | [24] | |
| August | | | [25] | ||
| September | | | | [26] |
| Week | Result | Player | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Won | | [27] |
| 12 | Won | | [28] |
| 15 | Won | | [29] |
| 22 | Won | | [30] |
| 25 | Won | | [31] |
| Week | Result | Player | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nominated | | [32] |
| 3 | Nominated | | [33] |
| 6 | Nominated | | [34] |
| 8 | Nominated | | [35] |
| 9 | Nominated | | [36] |
| 11 | Nominated | | [37] |
| 12 | Nominated | | [38] |
| 13 | Nominated | | [39] |
| 15 | Nominated | | [40] |
| 16 | Nominated | | [41] |
| 17 | Nominated | | |
| 19 | Nominated | | |
| 21 | Nominated | | |
| 22 | Won | |
| Week | Result | Player | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Nominated | | [42] |
| 7 | Nominated | | [43] |
| 11 | Nominated | | [44] |
| 16 | Nominated | | [45] |
| 17 | Nominated | | |
| 23 | Nominated | |