Kansas City NWSL Unable to Find Second Win in North Carolina

CARY, N.C. (Aug. 21, 2021) - Kansas City NWSL traveled to Cary, North Carolina for the first time to play the North Carolina Courage in a Saturday night match. Despite Kansas City leading the statistical charts with 26 shots and 54 percent possession, things did not go the team’s way. On the other end, scoring was not a problem for the Courage as two goals came in the first half from Lynn Williams and Jessica McDonald, both assisted from Carson Pickett. The sec ond half found two more goals for the Courage from Amy Rodriguez and Meredith Speck, putting the final score at 4-0.

Kansas City came out hoping to ride the momentum from the team’s first win in the last game. In the sixth minute of action Hailie Mace slipped a ball to Addie McCain in the box. McCain then slotted a cross to the back post that just missed a running Kristen Hamilton to tap it in. Mace finished with five shots in the match and many close opportunities to find the back of the net. 

Head Coach Huw Williams thought his team was the better of the two at times and explained after the game that they need to handle those moments, in the attack and defensively, better than how they did today. 

In the 12th minute, the Courage struck first as Pickett crossed a ball from the left flank right on Williams’ foot in the center of the box. Her one-touch shot tucked home the ball past Kansas City goalkeeper Katelyn Rowland to put the Courage up 1-0. Just eight minutes later, the Courage found the back of the net again on a corner from Pickett, finding McDonald to head it home in the upper left netting. 

Kansas City sprung into action in the second half with Kristen Hamilton and Mace nearly combining for a goal in the first minutes of the period. Hamilton slotted a cross to Mace, but the shot went just wide. 

It wasn’t until the 60th minute that Kansas City had their best chance of the match when LaBonta found McCain who used her pace to dribble forward and rocket a shot to the left corner, but Murphy was able to make a diving save to keep Kansas City off the score board.

Although Kansas City had their chances to find the back of the net, nothing seemed to go their way. As for the Courage, everything seemed to be falling into place, as it did in the 64th minute when Amy Rodriguez slotted a one-touch goal from a cross by Ryan Williams to make it 3-0 for North Carolina. 

Things changed in the 75th minute when Courage player Havana Solaun received her second yellow of the night (equaling a red card) and caused the Courage to finish out a player down. Kansas City again had chances of their own that nearly found the back of the net from Mallory Weber and Hamilton, but both just missed the back of the net. 

North Carolina finished off the night after a Kansas City attack was rebounded deep into the midfield. Rowland, being the only player back to defend, rushed to the ball, but Meredith Speck was able to dribble around Rowland at midfield and tap it in to score the final goal of the match and seal the 4-0 victory for the Courage.

Kansas City returns home to face Racing Louisville on Wednesday, August 25th at 7 p.m. CT. The match will on Paramount+.

NWSL Match Report
Match: North Carolina Courage vs Kansas City NWSL
Date: August 21, 2021
Venue: WakeMed Soccer Park, Cary, North Carolina
Kickoff: 6:07 p.m. CT, 7:07 p.m. ET
Weather: 80 degrees, sunny

Discipline
40’ NC - Solaun (Yellow)
44’ KC - McCain (Yellow)
47’ KC - K. Pickett (Yellow)
75’ NC - Solaun (Red, Second Yellow)

Scoring
12’ NC - L. Williams (Pickett)
21’ NC - McDonald (Pickett)
64’ NC- Rodriguez (R. Williams)
90’ NC - Speck (Smith)

Scoring Summary

Lineups: 
North Carolina: Murphy, Pickett, Erceg©, Kurtz, Mathias (59’ Williams), McDonald (59’ Speck) Williams (83’ Roccaro), Rodriguez (76’ Smith), Solaun, Debinha (83’ Ratcliffe), O’Sullivan
Substitutes Not Used: Murphy, Baisden, Caldwell, DeBree, James

Kansas City: Rowland, Weber, Edmonds©, Ball (79’ Larroquette), Pickett, K., Bowen (80’ Vasconcelos), LaBonta, Pickett, V., McCain (67’ Logarzo), Mace (67’ Jenkins), Hamilton  
Substitutes Not Used: Franch, Del Fava, Silva, Vincent, Johnson

CARY, N.C. (Aug. 21, 2021) - Kansas City NWSL traveled to Cary, North Carolina for the first time to play the North Carolina Courage in a Saturday night match. Despite Kansas City leading the statistical charts with 26 shots and 54 percent possession, things did not go the team’s way. On the other end, scoring was not a problem for the Courage as two goals came in the first half from Lynn Williams and Jessica McDonald, both assisted from Carson Pickett. The sec ond half found two more goals for the Courage from Amy Rodriguez and Meredith Speck, putting the final score at 4-0.

Kansas City came out hoping to ride the momentum from the team’s first win in the last game. In the sixth minute of action Hailie Mace slipped a ball to Addie McCain in the box. McCain then slotted a cross to the back post that just missed a running Kristen Hamilton to tap it in. Mace finished with five shots in the match and many close opportunities to find the back of the net. 

Head Coach Huw Williams thought his team was the better of the two at times and explained after the game that they need to handle those moments, in the attack and defensively, better than how they did today. 

In the 12th minute, the Courage struck first as Pickett crossed a ball from the left flank right on Williams’ foot in the center of the box. Her one-touch shot tucked home the ball past Kansas City goalkeeper Katelyn Rowland to put the Courage up 1-0. Just eight minutes later, the Courage found the back of the net again on a corner from Pickett, finding McDonald to head it home in the upper left netting. 

Kansas City sprung into action in the second half with Kristen Hamilton and Mace nearly combining for a goal in the first minutes of the period. Hamilton slotted a cross to Mace, but the shot went just wide. 

It wasn’t until the 60th minute that Kansas City had their best chance of the match when LaBonta found McCain who used her pace to dribble forward and rocket a shot to the left corner, but Murphy was able to make a diving save to keep Kansas City off the score board.

Although Kansas City had their chances to find the back of the net, nothing seemed to go their way. As for the Courage, everything seemed to be falling into place, as it did in the 64th minute when Amy Rodriguez slotted a one-touch goal from a cross by Ryan Williams to make it 3-0 for North Carolina. 

Things changed in the 75th minute when Courage player Havana Solaun received her second yellow of the night (equaling a red card) and caused the Courage to finish out a player down. Kansas City again had chances of their own that nearly found the back of the net from Mallory Weber and Hamilton, but both just missed the back of the net. 

North Carolina finished off the night after a Kansas City attack was rebounded deep into the midfield. Rowland, being the only player back to defend, rushed to the ball, but Meredith Speck was able to dribble around Rowland at midfield and tap it in to score the final goal of the match and seal the 4-0 victory for the Courage.

Kansas City returns home to face Racing Louisville on Wednesday, August 25th at 7 p.m. CT. The match will on Paramount+.

NWSL Match Report
Match: North Carolina Courage vs Kansas City NWSL
Date: August 21, 2021
Venue: WakeMed Soccer Park, Cary, North Carolina
Kickoff: 6:07 p.m. CT, 7:07 p.m. ET
Weather: 80 degrees, sunny

Discipline
40’ NC - Solaun (Yellow)
44’ KC - McCain (Yellow)
47’ KC - K. Pickett (Yellow)
75’ NC - Solaun (Red, Second Yellow)

Scoring
12’ NC - L. Williams (Pickett)
21’ NC - McDonald (Pickett)
64’ NC- Rodriguez (R. Williams)
90’ NC - Speck (Smith)

Scoring Summary

Lineups: 
North Carolina: Murphy, Pickett, Erceg©, Kurtz, Mathias (59’ Williams), McDonald (59’ Speck) Williams (83’ Roccaro), Rodriguez (76’ Smith), Solaun, Debinha (83’ Ratcliffe), O’Sullivan
Substitutes Not Used: Murphy, Baisden, Caldwell, DeBree, James

Kansas City: Rowland, Weber, Edmonds©, Ball (79’ Larroquette), Pickett, K., Bowen (80’ Vasconcelos), LaBonta, Pickett, V., McCain (67’ Logarzo), Mace (67’ Jenkins), Hamilton  
Substitutes Not Used: Franch, Del Fava, Silva, Vincent, Johnson