**Cary, North Carolina** – The North Carolina Courage won its second consecutive game in this year’s Challenge Cup, defeating the Orlando Pride 1-0 on Saturday night at WakeMed Soccer Park despite the absence of the likes of Debinha in midfield.
Both sides took their time in creating a quality chance as the first half wore on with the Pride earning a couple of early corners and seeing a flash chance for forward Sydney Leroux go begging at the back post. The Courage were in the same boat early on, with their best opportunity coming in the 18 ^th minute as defender Abby Erceg, who scored in last week’s Challenge Cup opener for her side, got a toe poke toward goal following a corner only to see the ball cleared away for a second corner that produced nothing.
Continuing, the next best opportunities for either side resulted in the flag going up for offside, though one major incident affected the Pride just after the half-hour mark. After going down trying to touch an aerial ball to a teammate in the 19 ^th minute, playmaker Marta needed to be substituted off in the 31 ^st minute with midfielder Mikayla Cluff taking her place.
The only other quality opportunity in the first half came for the Pride in the 38 ^th minute. A seemingly excellent chance for the Courage, forward Taylor Smith nearly produced a goal of the year contender as she took the ball inside from the right wing, nutmegged a defender and fired an effort toward goal from the top of the box that nearly grazed the crossbar on its way over.
At the halftime interval, the pair held firm with neither side able to find a goal.
Into the second half, the Courage earned a free kick in the 54 ^th minute approximately 26 yards from goal with defender Carson Pickett stepping up to take, but she could not get the ball to dip back under the crossbar after clearing the wall.
However, right on the hour mark, Courage forward Jaelen Daniels drove into the box and played a ball in that struck the hand of Gunnhildur Jónsdóttir of the Pride resulting in a penalty. Stepping up from 12 yards out, the Courage’s Merritt Mathias converted the spot kick with confidence to give the hosts the lead.
Looking to add to their lead, the forward Smith intercepted a throw in the Pride’s own half and surged forward into the penalty area and went down under the challenge of Pride defender Toni Pressley only for the referee to wave off the appeal.
Doing their best work in transition, the Pride nearly created a golden opportunity just prior to the 75 ^th minute when Sydney Leroux ended up in possession with an out of place Courage goalkeeper Katelyn Rowland scrambling, but the forward’s shot was blocked and the chance went missing
Still attempting to find an equalizer, a great chance for the Pride again in transition saw the ball played forward for Leroux, but the flag went up as her shot was saved by Rowland to end the move.
Through a hard-fought match, the Courage were able to hold on to their narrow 1-0 lead and defeat the Pride in each club’s second match in the 2022 Challenge Cup. The result saw the Courage maintain their place at the top of the East Division with two wins from two, while Orlando sits third just ahead of NJ/NY Gotham FC on goal differential.

Match Highlights

Match Highlights