Miami, Florida — The North Carolina Courage became the first-ever champions of the inaugural International Champions Cup Women’s Tournament with a 1-0 victory over five-time UEFA Champion Olympique Lyonnais on Sunday night at Hard Rock Stadium. Midfielder Heather O’Reilly scored the Courage’s game-winner in just the tenth minute of action. Her finish was her first […]

Miami, Florida — The North Carolina Courage became the first-ever champions of the inaugural International Champions Cup Women’s Tournament with a 1-0 victory over five-time UEFA Champion Olympique Lyonnais on Sunday night at Hard Rock Stadium.Midfielder Heather O’Reilly scored the Courage’s game-winner in just the tenth minute of action. Her finish was her first for the Courage since joining the team from Arsenal last month. [Empty Body] Courage forward Lynn Williams picked off a back pass from Lyon defender Saki Kumagai and whipped a cross off into the center of the box where O’Reilly was crashing. O’Reilly finished it off one-time past Lyon goalkeeper Lisa Weiss. The final featured two of the best clubs in their respective leagues. The Courage got the better of the result and earned the historic victory and will return to NWSL action where they top the league with a 14-1-4 overall record and 46 points. Lyon are in preseason ahead of their season and suited a squad of world class players in the tournament. Five Lyon players who were in the starting lineup against the Courage were recently named to the FIFA The Best Women’s Player short list: Amandine Henry, Wendie Renard, Lucy Bronze, Ada Hegerberg and ****Saki Kumagai. The match slipped away from Lyon early thanks to O’Reilly’s goal, however the French side saw the better of the possession on the night dominating 70.6% to the Courage’s 29.4%. Lyon finished with 23 shots to the Courage’s seven. Courage goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo earned her first start since May and earned a shutout on the night making five saves.

Watch the full highlights from the ICC final below:

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