A Big Night in Monterrey, México

The North Carolina Courage played their third pre-season game Thursday night against Liga MX Femenil leaders Rayadas at the breathtaking Estadio BBVA in Monterrey, México.

During their 2-week trip to México, North Carolina won two closed-door scrimmages in México City against Pumas and Cruz Azul before heading north to Monterrey. Thursday evening’s matchup was the first opportunity the rest of the world had to see how the 2023 Courage team is shaping up.

SHORT GAME RECAP

Rayadas made it clear from the opening whistle that this was going to be a physical match and that they would try to set the Courage back on their heels with a hard high press.

The pressure paid dividends almost immediately when they earned a free kick just outside of the North Carolina penalty area. During the resulting play, the ball hit the arm of a Courage defender, and Monterrey was awarded a penalty kick.

Although goalkeeper Casey Murphy guessed correctly, it was a well-taken penalty from Rayadas captain Rebeca Bernal and the home club had a 1-0 lead just four minutes into the game.

The home team continued to keep the pressure on throughout the first half, but the Courage offense, led by a phenomenal performance from Kerolin Nicoli and an impressive showing from rookie forward Haley Hopkins, managed to break the press to create several offensive opportunities. They went into the halftime break down a goal but showed signs of promise for the second half.

Rayadas doubled their lead at the hour mark when Diana Evangelista intercepted an errant attempted back pass and slotted the ball past Murphy.

Courage head coach Sean Nahas rotated in several players in the second half who made an impact on the game. Tyler Lussi, who signed with the club in the off-season, came in on offense but moved to right back when starter Ryan Williams came out of the game. North Carolina showed a lot of tenacity, and the fresh legs brought plenty of energy to close out the final 30 minutes of the match.

Kerolin continued her outstanding performance in the second half and in the 79th minute forced the Rayadas defense into a turnover. The ball wound up at the feet of Olivia Wingate, and the rookie finished off the chance to pull the visitors to within one.

North Carolina continued to put pressure on the Monterrey defense through the last 10 minutes of the game but couldn’t find the equalizer and the Liga MX Femenil-leading Rayadas came away with the victory.

The match was the first of a home-and-home with Rayadas expected to visit WakeMed Soccer Park later this year.

SO, WHAT DID WE LEARN?

First of all, it’s important to view the game through the lens of the Courage being in pre-season form with a lot of changes to the roster, while Rayadas is in midseason form at the top of Liga MX Femenil’s Clausura season table.

All in all, it was a good showing for the Courage. They showed a lot of tenacity to weather the pressure from Rayadas. There were some nervy moments on defense, but these are issues that will work themselves out with time and experience.

With the departure of Abby Erceg, Merritt Mathias, and Carson Pickett, that leaves Kaleigh Kurtz as the defender with the most experience on the Courage back line. North Carolina acquired Emily Fox from Louisville in the trade for Erceg and Pickett. She, along with Kurtz, will anchor the back line for the Courage.

As for offense, well, let’s face it: you don’t replace a player of Debinha’s caliber. But North Carolina did sign Japan National Team star Narumi Miura who, along with Brianna Pinto, shows a lot of two-way technical prowess. And, if Thursday night’s performance is any indication, Kerolin is putting the world on notice that she is ready to be a superstar.

It was also fun to see Brittany Ratcliffe get into the game and bully the Rayadas defense a bit and I’m hoping to see more of that in 2023. Mille Gejl and Olivia Wingate made an impression as well.

And with all of the off-season personnel changes, having two weeks in México gave the team the chance to bond on and off the field which, hopefully, will smooth out the learning curve.

So, at first glance, the 2023 North Carolina Courage shows the potential to be a dynamic and entertaining team.

The Courage begin the 2023 NWSL campaign on Saturday, March 25 as they take on Debinha and the Kansas City Current. It’s a 2:00 p.m. kickoff at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, NC.