North Carolina Courage vs. NJ/NY Gotham FC

Cary, North Carolina – North Carolina Courage hosted NJ/NY Gotham FC on Sunday afternoon and the visitors hold on to three vital points with a statement 3-0 win.

Fans were featured to a thrilling display at WakeMed Soccer Park as both teams sent their attacking lines forward right from the start. Gotham almost opened the scoring around six minutes in following a scramble in the box but the Courage managed to get themselves out of danger. Chances continued to fly and by half time, both sides had three shots on target. Debinha and Lynn Williams were active for the hosts while Carli Lloyd was a threat at the other end. Williams, in particular, was the most active player on the pitch with four individual chances. Coming out after the break, both sides continued to lunge for the opener and the breakthrough came roughly 10 minutes after the restart. A missed clearance in the box allowed Margaret Purce to put her strike past Casey Murphy for 1-0. With momentum flowing, Gotham continued their hunt for more and ran through North Carolina’s defense with ease. Purce would add a second in the 64th minute before Lloyd made it 3-0 three minutes later. The hosts remained persistent throughout the second half but despite multiple runs forward, they couldn’t find a way to break Gotham down. Goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan, in particular, was at the top of her game. With the result, both teams are on 32 points but Gotham move up to fifth while the Courage are seventh.