West Wake News

The North Carolina Courage's season came to an end after a 1-0 defeat against the Kansas City Current in the NWSL Quarterfinals. The match took place at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, on Saturday afternoon. This loss marks the conclusion of the Courage's 2024 campaign, during which they qualified for the playoffs for the sixth time in seven seasons.

Kansas City secured victory with an early goal. The play began with a save by Casey Murphy that led to a sequence resulting in Temwa Chawinga scoring in the eighth minute. Despite trailing, North Carolina controlled 65% of possession and completed passes with an 85% accuracy rate but could not convert their chances into goals.

The Courage attempted a comeback starting with Kerolin's cross to Aline Gomes in the 25th minute, whose shot narrowly missed. Further opportunities arose when Kerolin set up Manaka Matsukubo, though her long-range effort failed to find the target.

In another close call past the half-hour mark, Aline Gomes set up Feli Rauch who found Kerolin. Her shot was slowed by the Current keeper before being negated by a foul as Manaka followed through.

A key defensive moment occurred early in the second half when Kaleigh Kurtz executed a well-timed slide tackle to stop Chawinga from extending Kansas City's lead. Ashley Sanchez had an opportunity following collaboration between O’Sullivan and Kerolin but her attempt was saved.

As time dwindled down, Narumi Miura's long-range strike was denied by Kansas City's goalkeeper. In spite of persistent efforts throughout stoppage time, North Carolina couldn't equalize.

North Carolina played with a formation of 4-3-3 featuring Casey Murphy as goalkeeper and field players including Felicitas Rauch and Malia Berkely among others. Their opponents also used a 4-3-3 setup with Almuth Schult guarding their net.

The match concluded without any ejections but saw cautions given to Denise O'Sullivan and Bianca St-Georges from North Carolina and Lo’eau LaBonta and Ellis Wheeler from Kansas City.