The North Carolina Courage defeated the Washington Spirit, 2-1, in front of a nationally televised audience on CBS to complete its tournament unbeaten run and win the 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup at WakeMed Soccer Park. The Spirit were the first to see a quality opportunity in front of goal after 9 minutes as forward Trinity Rodman slid a ball across the six-yard box for fellow forward Ashley Hatch to latch onto, but she was unable to get enough power on her effort to open the scoring. However, the move became just an early glimpse of the combination play that Rodman and Hatch would produce. Instead, one minute later, it was North Carolina who ushered in the game’s first goal through forward Kerolin Nicoli. A debilitating move by the hosts saw Debinha recover the ball just inside her own half after the Spirit’s chance and sprint into attack. Finding Kerolin in the final third, the Brazilian managed to cut just inside to the middle of the box and fire a low effort past Washington goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury for the goal. Kingsbury was able to get a few fingers on the chance, but ultimately not enough to stop the opening goal from occurring. Per Opta, the goal combination between Kerolin and Debinha was the first time a goal was scored and assisted by Brazilians in an NWSL match since June 2017. A rip-roaring first half again saw the Courage nearly find a second goal and just two minutes after they had found their first. Midfielder Emily Gray found herself on the end of a key pass in front of the net, but her rushed effort amid oncoming pressure from the Spirit defense led her to toe poke a shot toward goal and led to an unbelievable save from Kingsbury to prevent a further deficit. In the 18 ^th minute, Debinha was again involved in the Courage’s attack and ended up hitting the inside post with a shot to keep a scare in the Spirit defense. The midfielder played a quick one-two with forward Diana Ordoñez and, after receiving the ball in the penalty area, fired a shot that beat Kingsbury but not the near post as her effort bounced off the iron and away. Momentum slowly turned in favor of Washington right on the half-hour mark as Spirit forward Trinity Rodman nearly found her side an equalizer. First, Rodman fired high after beating the offside trap, and one minute later she was unable to get by Courage goalkeeper Katelyn Rowland after being played in by Ashley Sanchez. However, Washington’s hard work paid off when, in the 35 ^th minute, the Spirit produced their first goal of the game. This time, Rodman played provider as she threaded a perfectly weighted through ball for teammate Ashley Hatch to run onto, and the forward fired a poised effort past Rowland to the far post to bring the visitors all square. Per Opta, beginning with last season’s playoffs, five of the last 12 goals the Courage have conceded in NWSL play have been scored by Hatch. Not done yet, though, the Courage had another opportunity to again pull ahead through Emily Gray in the 42 ^nd minute. After a scramble in front of goal, Gray managed to get on the ball in the dead center of the penalty area just a few yards out from the goalmouth. However, in clipping a left-footed effort to the right side of goal, she was unable to direct an effort on frame and all remained level. After 45 minutes of end-to-end action, the Courage and Spirit walked into the halftime interval all square, though North Carolina could have felt as if they should have gotten a goal or two more while Washington could have made the case that they themselves deserved to be in front after the hosts’ missed chances. Into the second half, the Spirit earned the first chance off an early second half corner that saw Hatch get a flick on the delivery into traffic at the near post, but Rowland did well to see through the bodies and collect. The pair of sides traded chances from the 55 ^th to the 65 ^th minute, with North Carolina nearly scoring through Carson Pickett’s distance effort and Ashley Sanchez firing just wide for the Spirit as all remained level. Then, the Courage had a chance right on the edge of the six-yard box, and a perfect pass across from Debinha for Ordoñez in the middle saw the forward open her foot just a bit too much as she scuffed the opportunity that would have surely put the hosts in front. One minute later, though, North Carolina again broke through on goal through the forward Kerolin, but a challenge from behind by Spirit defender Sam Staab saw the ball over the endline as a corner was given. The Courage protested loudly for a penalty after the heavy challenge from Staab, but only a corner was given. However, on the ensuing corner following the challenge, the Courage built their lead back up through an own goal as Pickett’s ball in bounced off Courage forward Diana Ordoñez before hitting Spirit defender Taylor Aylmer on the way in. Injuries and stoppages added more time to the second half as both sides put their fitness to the test, North Carolina in attempting to keep the lead and the Spirit in hopes of breaking that lead down. After a grueling 90 minutes of action on top of 13 minutes of added time played at the end of regulation, though, the hosts North Carolina were able to prevail and produced a deserved 2-1 win over the Washington Spirit to earn the moniker of 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup Champions.

Match Highlights

Match Highlights