**CARY, N.C.** – The North Carolina Courage and Gotham FC battled to a 3-3 draw on Saturday night, a six-goal thriller that saw the hosts take a two-goal lead that eventually led by a Gotham equalizer with just eight minutes of regulation to play to seal a point. The result leaves North Carolina in 2 ^nd place with 28 points from 18 games, just one shy of Portland in 1 ^st who has 29 points from the same amount played. Meanwhile, Gotham remains in 4 ^th place with 27 points as the race for the NWSL playoff positions continues.
Kicking off the action early, North Carolina had a chance as early as the 6 ^th minute when forward Kerolin took a shot on goal from close in following a cutback pass across the front of goal. Fellow forward Tess Boade was dribbling forward through the box toward the endline as she then cut toward goal in space. Opting to slide a pass back to Kerolin, who was just to the right of the six-yard box, the Brazilian then took one touch to settle and fired on goal with Gotham goalkeeper Mandy Haught making an easy save.
However, the club broke through not too much later as Kerolin again proved the catalyst, laying off a pass to midfielder Narumi Miura who put North Carolina in front with a fine finish at the top of the box in the 18 ^th minute. Kerolin was streaking down the right side as she took on all defenders in front of her. As she encroached on the penalty area, she then slid a pass back to the top of the box where Narumi was making her run. Narumi received the ball and then curled a beautiful effort toward the bottom far corner and in to go ahead.
Then, just before the halftime interval, Kerolin converted on the opportunity she had been waiting for, putting the Courage two-up as a one-two with teammate Haley Hopkins set her through on goal where she went on to show her quality in a finessed finish to the far post. Kerolin flicked a pass to Hopkins a couple of yards away, and Hopkins’s return pass was high quality as it sent the Brazilian through on goal. Entering the box, Kerolin produced an effort that gave Haught no shot as she effortlessly slotted home to the far post in the first minute of first half stoppage time.
Into the second half, Gotham found its first goal through forward Jenna Nighswonger in the 64 ^th minute, who converted a penalty kick for the visitors to pull one back. The penalty had been awarded after Gotham substitute Kristen Edmonds drove into the left side of the box and was judged to have been brought down illegally by North Carolina defender Ryan Williams. As a result, up stepped Nighswonger, who beat Courage goalkeeper Casey Murphy despite her correct guess in direction.
North Carolina wasted little time in beginning to mount a comeback though, scoring just four minutes later as Haley Hopkins added a goal to her assist and Kerolin notched her second assist of the evening on North Carolina’s goal in the 68 ^th minute. Kerolin had received a pass near the top of the box in a central position when she looked to her left and spotted the run of Hopkins into the area. Kerolin then laid a pass off to Hopkins and she rocketed a swirling shot to the far post and in to give the hosts hope of keeping all three points at home.
Gotham, however, had different plans as it scored two goals in eight minutes as Maitane López scored in the 74 ^th minute and Midge Purce levelled the match in the 82 ^nd minute to complete a major comeback.
López’s goal came as a ball knocked around the box during a Gotham attack was eventually settled by forward Katie Stengel near the top of the box. Stengel then directed an effort toward goal with her right foot that was then redirected into López’s path, and the defender then pushed a shot past Murphy to make it 3-2 with just over a quarter of an hour to play.
Then, in the 82 ^nd minute, a fast-tracked move down the left side by Gotham saw Kristen Edmonds slide a ball into the box where both forwards Lynn Williams and Midge Purce was converging. Onto the pass first, Williams then pushed it slightly to her right where Purce was sliding in, and Purce beat Murphy at the far post to level the scoring at three each and ultimately help earn a point for the visiting side.

Match Highlights

Match Highlights