CARY, N.C.

– The North Carolina Courage continued their run of dominant displays with an emphatic 5-0 win over the Orlando Pride, with two first half goals added to by three second half goals, including a brace for Haley Hopkins. The win keeps the Courage in 1 ^st place with 11 points from five games, while Orlando remains bottom of the division with 1 point from four games played.

CARY, N.C.

– The North Carolina Courage continued their run of dominant displays with an emphatic 5-0 win over the Orlando Pride, with two first half goals added to by three second half goals, including a brace for Haley Hopkins. The win keeps the Courage in 1 ^st place with 11 points from five games, while Orlando remains bottom of the division with 1 point from four games played. The Pride forced the Courage defense into action early, but it was the hosts North Carolina who had the best looks at goal early on. In the 16 ^th minute, forward Brittany Ratcliffe had been played in behind the box in the left side of the penalty area when she put her head down and fired toward goal. Aiming toward the top left corner of Pride goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse’s frame, Ratcliffe’s shot was strong but clipped the bar on its way over as she could not keep it down. However, less than a minute later, Courage defender Kiki Pickett spotted a good run from Ratcliffe toward the Orlando goal and decided to play her in. Sprinting ahead, Ratcliffe would not make the same mistake twice as she opted to go low with her shot. The ball then curled around Moorhouse to her left with the shotstopper unable to get a hand on the effort as the hosts North Carolina took the lead in the 17 ^th minute through the in-form forward. Then, in the 22 ^nd minute, the Courage were back at it in their attack with Ratcliffe on the ball again. This time, she was in possession on the left side of the field and attempted to slide in a low cross toward the middle of the box for teammate Frankie Tagliaferri. Her ball in was an inviting one, but Moorhouse did well to leap off her line and stop the shot with her chest to avoid going two goals down early on. The hosts showed no signs of stopping through the remainder of the first half, and immediately on the other side of the hydration break forward Brianna Pinto had an opportunity in front of goal that was temporarily cleared out for a corner kick. Though North Carolina did not capitalize there, the half continued to get worse for the Pride when forward Brittany Ratcliffe was judged to have been brought down illegally with the center official awarding her side a penalty kick. Stepping up to the spot on duty was defender Malia Berkely, and she produced an extremely calm penalty as she sent Moorhouse the wrong way with a cool finish to the right side of goal. Rounding out the half, Orlando had a brief look at North Carolina’s goal through midfielder Julie Doyle in the 41 ^st minute, but a rising effort from her boot was always going high of goal with the visitors staring down a two-goal deficit going into the break. Meanwhile, for North Carolina, it meant an 8-0 aggregate score against their opponents over the previous 135 minutes of play. The start to the second half was a near perfect one for the hosts as Brianna Pinto was denied in front of goal with a headed effort out of play for a corner. However, in the 48 ^th minute, the Courage kept knocking and would eventually find their breakthrough again as midfielder Frankie Tagliaferri slotted home from just inside the penalty area. Tagliaferri had attempted to head the ball forward for a teammate, but as an Orlando defender sent it back her way, it set up the midfielder for a shot on goal. Tagliaferri then guided her shot through a sea of bodies and into the bottom far corner as Moorhouse could not get a hand to it in time. Not done yet, after a few chances for both sides as the second half wore on, the Courage then added a fourth goal on the night as substitute Haley Hopkins scored her first career goal in the 78 ^th minute. Hopkins was in the center of the penalty area in a good position to receive a cross, which fellow substitute Olivia Wingate delivered from the left flank. Almost completely unmarked in the middle, Hopkins then had little trouble slotting her effort past Moorhouse to add to the hosts’ output on the evening. Finally, in the 89 ^th minute, the Courage put a bow on the night as Hopkins found her brace on the night as she headed home a cross from the left flank a second time just seconds before the end of regulation. Hopkins found herself roaming through the penalty area again when another ball from out wide was lifted in for her to leap toward. Getting just in front of a Pride defender, Hopkins then powered her effort past Moorhouse as the Courage added a fifth goal. After seven minutes of stoppage time, the final whistle brought a bit of reprieve as North Carolina continued their dominant hold on the East Division. The scoreline makes it the second straight game the hosts have scored five, with their last two matches totaling an 11-0 advantage over 180 minutes plus stoppage. To boot, it’s now a remarkable 15 games unbeaten in the Challenge Cup for the Courage.