CHICAGO – Goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher made four saves as the Red Stars fell to the North Carolina Courage 1-0 in their third match of the NWSL Challenge Cup. The Red Stars kept pace with the Courage, withstanding their counter-attack and mounting several attacking chances of their own throughout the game.

KEY MOMENTS

18’ – Samantha Mewis looked to open up the scoring with a long-range strike, but Alyssa Naeher got her hands to it for the save.

20’ – Kaelia Watt shrugged off the North Carolina defense and had a breakaway goal attempt, but the Courage’s defenders recovered in time to force a deflection into the hands of the keeper.

29’ – Bianca St. Georges came forward on the attack, cutting into the box looking for her first NWSL goal at the near post, but put the ball just over the bar.

81’ – Jailene Daniels lofts the ball into the center of the box, finding Abby Erceg who heads the ball off the top of the bar and into the net to take a late North Carolina lead.

GAME NOTES

• Alyssa Naeher recorded four saves and a punch in Sunday morning’s contest, holding steady during a game that saw North Carolina record 15 total shots.
• Julie Ertz provided stability in central defense recording a team-high in tackles and clearances with six each, while also adding in a block and two interceptions to help prevent the Courage from converting on many of their attacking chances.
• Chicago’s midfield was anchored by the box-to-box presence of Morgan Goutrat. On the defensive end, Goutrat recorded five tackles and four interceptions while also winning four fouls. Offensively, she dictated the control of the game with a 90.9% passing accuracy and winning 10 duels. Gautrat was also a key part of Chicago’s link-up play, contributing a 93.3% passing accuracy in the opposing half of the field and recording a created chance.
• Savannah McCaskill followed up her 90’ minute Woman of the Match performance last Wednesday with another solid performance off of the bench, continuing her run of form on the offensive end with a created chance and recording a shot attempt while also maintaining passing accuracies of 83.3% in the opposing half and 87.5% overall.

NEXT GAME

The Chicago Red Stars will conclude their preliminary round games as the designated home team against Utah Royals FC next Sunday, July 12th at 9 p.m. CT.

North Carolina Courage vs Chicago Red Stars
July 5, 2020
Zions Bank Stadium (Herriman, UT)

Goals by Half                        1 2 F

NC Courage                          0 1 1

Chicago Red Stars                0 0 0

Scoring Summary
NC: Abby Erceg 81’ (Daniels)

Lineups

CHI: GK Naeher, D Short, D Gorden, D Ertz, D St. Georges (Goralski 86’), M Colaprico (McCaskill 63’), M DiBernardo, M Goutrat, F Watt (Johnson 79’), F Nagasato (Doniak 79’), F Hill (Vasconcelos 79’)

NC: GK Rowland, D Daniels, D Erceg, D Dahlkemper, D Williams, M Debinha (Speck 84’), M O’Sullivan, M Mewis, M Hamilton (Mace 69’), F Williams, F Dunn (Milliet 69’)