**Cary, North Carolina** – The North Carolina Courage and Washington Spirit shared the spoils in a 2-2 draw on Saturday afternoon in front of a nationally televised audience on CBS. The Spirit’s opener was canceled out just before the break by the Courage from the penalty spot, and North Carolina’s temporary advantage just into the second half was then evened out by a penalty for Washington.
It took the Courage just two minutes to threaten the Washington goal. Earning an early corner, North Carolina’s Kerolin Nicoli got on the end of a clearance near the top left side of the box and opened her body to produce a looping curler that smacked off the underside of the bar and back into play.
After a few minutes of back-and-forth action, it was the Spirit who got on the board first through forward Ashley Hatch. Courage defender Denise O’Sullivan had received a short ball rolled forward by goalkeeper Katelyn Rowland, but in getting the ball caught underneath her feet, she lost out to Hatch. Taking a pair of steps forward, Hatch then unleashed a dipping shot toward the bottom left side of goal and in to give Washington an all-important edge.
North Carolina did have a couple of quality looks on goal throughout the rest of the first half, including one for defender Abby Erceg again off a set piece. Earning another corner, the towering defender get on the end of the delivery and powered her header at goal, though Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury was in the right place to collect quickly and prevent the equalizer.
Continuing to press ahead, though, the hosts were allowed back in the game just ahead of first half stoppage time through a penalty kick. Kerolin was again at the forefront of the action and danced her way into the penalty area where, after a couple of stepovers, she drew a challenge from defender Emily Sonnett that resulted in a spot kick for the Courage. Stepping up to the mark, Debinha produced a near-perfect penalty to her right as she opened her foot and beat Kingsbury with a powerful shot.
At the half, it remained honors even as Hatch’s opening goal off a Courage mistake was cancelled out by Debinha’s effort from the spot.
Seven minutes into the second half, the hosts then lunged ahead as a first NWSL goal for midfielder Malia Berkely separated the two sides. Striding into the attacking third, Berkely took a touch and set herself up about 20 yards from goal where she produced a cross body shot that rippled the top corner of the net on its way in.
Then, five minutes later, Spirit midfielder Anna Heilferty got on the end of a ball played into the center of the area and scuffed a shot that went underneath the goalkeeper Rowland only for defender Jaelene Daniels to sniff out the chance with a goalline clearance to preserve the lead.
The game looked all for the Courage to take in the 71 ^st minute when the hosts earned a second penalty on the day, again with Kerolin the catalyst. The attacker blitzed toward the byline in a one-on-one with Spirit defender Morgan Goff. Going to ground to win the ball, Goff got enough of Kerolin to have been judged to foul her and the Courage earned a second penalty on the day. However, stepping up to take her second of the afternoon, Debinha’s powerful effort was well saved by Kingsbury to her right and the one-goal margin stood.
Then, three minutes later, fortunes changed in Washington’s favor as they were able to earn a penalty of their own having just seen one saved on the other end. Forward Trinity Rodman went down under the challenge of Rowland, which allowed forward Ashley Hatch to step up and score her second goal of the night pushing her effort to the right of goal and in.
Still with a quarter of an hour to play, both teams had plenty in them to test the other and create a potential game-winning opportunity, but neither side were able to convert and honors ended even.
The draw sees the Courage maintain its unbeaten run in Challenge Cup play (3W 3D) and win the East Division, while the Spirit also remain unbeaten (2W 4D) and now wait to learn their fate and if they will advance to the Challenge Cup semifinals.

Match Highlights

Match Highlights