Orlando Pride vs. North Carolina Courage: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

Welcome to your match thread as the Orlando Pride (0-2-1, 1 point) face the North Carolina Courage (2-0-2, 4 points) at WakeMed Soccer Park in the 2023 NWSL Challenge Cup. This is the second and last time these two teams will face off in the Challenge Cup.

Here’s everything you need to know about tonight’s game.

History

The Pride and Courage have played 21 times since the Western New York Flash moved to North Carolina and became the Courage. The Pride are 4-12-5 in those games (4-10-1 in the NWSL regular season, 0-0-2 in the Fall Series, and 0-2-2 in the NWSL Challenge Cup).

The most recent meeting between the two teams came on June 17 in North Carolina and it was all Courage. Kerolin and Meredith Speck gave the hosts a 2-0 lead before a Haley McCutcheon own goal made it 3-0 to North Carolina.

The game prior to that was a Challenge Cup clash on April 19 at Exploria Stadium. The Pride took the lead after halftime when Summer Yates set up Ally Watt for the opening goal. But Denise O’Sullivan equalized in the ninth minute of second-half injury time, resulting in a 1-1 draw.

Prior to that game, they last played on Sept. 21, 2022 at Exploria Stadium. The Courage got off to a great start when Debinha scored in the second minute. The Brazilian then assisted Tess Boade in first-half injury time to double the lead, and later added another, dooming the Pride to a 3-0 defeat.

The previous 2022 meeting came on May 18 in North Carolina. The Pride got off to a great start in that game, with Sydney Leroux scoring early. Mikayla Cluff doubled the lead with her first professional goal. A late goal by Brianna Pinto got the Courage back within one, but it wasn’t enough as the Pride took the 2-1 win.

The Pride and Courage were placed in the same division for the 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup, so the teams played twice before the regular season started. The first game was on March 26 in North Carolina. Merritt Mathias converted a penalty after Gunny Jonsdottir was called for a handball in the box, lifting the hosts to a 1-0 win. The return match in the tournament took place on April 16 in Orlando. The Courage got off to a fast start in this one, scoring three goals in the first nine minutes. Darian Jenkins netted a brace to make it 3-2, but a late Debinha goal put the game away and North Carolina won 4-2.

The teams played three times during the 2021 NWSL season. On May 22 in North Carolina, goals by Leroux and Alex Morgan gave the Pride a 2-0 lead late into the game. Jessica McDonald scored late to pull one back but the Pride held on for a 2-1 win. On July 4 in Orlando, Debinha and Havana Solaun goals helped the Courage take home a 2-0 win. The final game came on July 31 in North Carolina. Leroux opened the scoring but Brittany Ratcliffe equalized moments later and the teams drew 1-1.

The two teams were also matched up in the 2021 NWSL Challenge Cup but they only played once in that tournament. Neither team was able to find the back of the net in that game in a scoreless draw.

Similar to the Challenge Cup, the teams were in the same group of the 2020 Fall Series, meeting twice. The first was on Sept. 19 in North Carolina and ended in a scoreless draw. The second was on Oct. 17 at Exploria Stadium. Led by a Debinha brace, the Courage went up 3-0. But the Pride came back with goals by Marisa Viggiano, Kristen Edmonds, and Ally Haran for an exciting 3-3 draw.

The Pride and Courage played three times during the 2019 season. The first game was on April 17 in North Carolina. The Courage took a 1-0 lead into halftime but scored four times in the second half to win 5-0. They played a second time on June 1 in Orlando. Again, it was a dominant performance by the Courage as the Pride fell 3-0. The final meeting that year was another thrashing by North Carolina. The Pride got a goal in that one but still fell 6-1.

The teams also met three times in 2018 but the results were much closer. On May 23 in Orlando, goals by Alanna Kennedy and Rachel Hill saw the Pride come back from a 3-1 deficit. But McDonald scored a winner in the 90th minute and the Courage won 4-3. The Pride went down by three goals in the final two games that season, but were unable to come back and fell 3-0 in both contests.

The 2017 season saw the teams meet for the first time. The Courage took the first game 3-1 on Apr. 29 in North Carolina. They played a second time two weeks later in Orlando when the Pride took the 3-1 win. The final meeting in 2017 came in the final game of the season on Sept. 30. The Pride took a 2-0 lead but the Courage came back to even it at 2-2. It looked headed for a draw until Kennedy netted a late winner, leading the Pride to a 3-2 win.

Overview

The NWSL is currently on hiatus during the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Most teams are playing two Challenge Cup games during the month-long break, but the Pride and Gotham are playing four times after their two previous Challenge Cup games were postponed due to Canadian wildfires and travel issues.

The Pride came into this period with just one point in the competition, claimed against this Courage team in the opening game. They had an opportunity to gain some ground last weekend when they hosted Gotham and took an early 1-0 lead from a set piece, but Gotham came storming back. A penalty before halftime and two goals in three minutes early in the second half saw the Pride fall, 3-1.

While the Pride could technically qualify for the Challenge Cup semifinals by winning their final three games, that’s highly unlikely, and they would need help. Meanwhile, tonight’s opponent is in a great position to get out of the group. North Carolina currently has eight points from four games, one point ahead of Gotham.

The Courage are missing six players to the World Cup, but it didn’t affect them in their last game, a 6-0 thumping of the Washington Spirit. The impressive performance last weekend included six goals from six different players. The team’s depth was on display in that game and will be again tonight.

The Pride have more of their regular starters than the Courage, with only two players who were with the team prior to the World Cup away on international duty. But that didn’t seem to help them Sunday night when they fell to a Gotham team with a longer availability list.

While the Pride were outplayed the last time these teams met, the main trouble came from Kerolin, who’s away with Brazil. As shown last weekend, the Courage are replacing her by committee, a plan that succeeded. Defensively, the Courage are missing starting goalkeeper Casey Murphy and right back Emily Fox, both of whom are with the U.S. Women’s National Team, but have the rest of their starting back line.

“In the last game (against North Carolina), I think we gave them too much respect,” Pride Head Coach Seb Hines said about tonight’s opponent. “We’re going to need to be fully committed to blocking shots. In their last game, they scored a lot of goals outside the box and that’s a scenario that we need to improve on in this game. They possess the ball well and they look to combine and use everyone and put defenders in difficult spots. We need to be fully committed to the press, but we need to stick to our identity and also be good in possession. It should be an exciting game. It’s two teams that want to play and want to possess the ball with an objective to score.”

After having multiple players out injured against Gotham, the Pride are healthy this week, only missing Carrie Lawrence (knee) due to injury. They’ll also play without Marta (Brazil), Adriana (Brazil), Rafaelle (Brazil), and Mariana Larroquette (Argentina), who are on international duty at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

The Courage are without four injured players tonight, including Emily Gray (knee), Estelle Johnson (lower leg), Clara Robbins (lower leg), and Meredith Speck (right knee). Emily Fox (USA), Mille Gejl (Denmark), Rikke Madsen (Denmark), Casey Murphy (USA), Kerolin (Brazil), and Denise O’Sullivan (Ireland) are participating in the World Cup.

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Official Lineups

Orlando Pride (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Anna Moorhouse.

Defenders: Kylie Strom, Emily Madril, Megan Montefusco, Haley McCutcheon.

Defensive Midfielders: Jordyn Listro, Viviana Villacorta.

Midfielders: Kerry Abello, Erika Tymrak, Julie Doyle.

Forwards: Messiah Bright.

Bench: Carly Nelson, Caitlin Cosme, Amanda Allen, Ally Watt, Thais Reiss, Tori Hansen, Mikayla Cluff, Summer Yates, Celia.

North Carolina Courage (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Katelyn Rowland. 

Defenders: Kiki Pickett, Malia Berkely, Kaleigh Kurtz, Ryan Williams.

Defensive Midfielders: Brianna Pinto, Narumi Miura.

Midfielders: Brittany Ratcliffe, Frankie Tagliaferri, Tyler Lussi.

Forwards: Tess Boade.

Bench: Marisa Bova, Sydney Collins, Sarah Clark, Nikia Smith, Haleigh Stackpole, Victoria Pickett, Olivia Wingate, Haley Hopkins, Estelle Johnson.

Referees

REF: Greg Dopka.
AR1: Jeffrey Skinker.
AR2: Zeno Cho.
4TH: John Rush.
VAR: Laura Rodriguez.
AVAR: Joel McKell.

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How to Watch

Match Time: 7 p.m.

Venue: WakeMed Soccer Park — Cary, NC.

TV: None.

Streaming: Paramount+(U.S.), NWSLsoccer.com (International).

Twitter: For rapid reaction and live updates, follow @SkoPurpSoccer and the Orlando Pride’s official Twitter feed (@ORLPride).

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Enjoy the match. Go Pride!