Despite 80 minutes of hard-fought deadlocked play, the North Carolina Courage defeated the Chicago Red Stars 1-0 on Sunday to notch their third win of the Challenge Cup and remain at the top of the tournament table.
The game was a rematch of the 2019 NWSL championship, which saw the Courage clinch their second consecutive league title with a 4-0 rout of the Red Stars. Despite Chicago's loss of 2019 league MVP Sam Kerr, the two teams were more evenly matched on Sunday.
Led by keeper Alyssa Naeher and centerback Julie Ertz, the Chicago defense effectively shut down the lethal Courage attack for the first half, limiting the reigning champs to only three shots on frame all match.
Despite the loss, Ertz was enthusiastic about the defensive performance against the Courage.
"It's so fun," Ertz said. "It's just massive respect, I mean how can you not? I love how they brought a different way of playing to women's soccer. It's really fun to be able to be out there and compete and do it out of the utmost respect."
The Red Stars also broke through the North Carolina high press to threaten on the attack, forcing keeper Kelly Rowland to make two saves. New Chicago attacker Kealia Watt almost cracked open the scoring with a full-field run on goal in the 21st minute, but a controversial no-call on a foul on the box left the score level.
With both sides scoreless, Chicago pulled off its top three attackers _ Watt, Yuki Nagasato and Rachel Hill _ in the 79th minute. Almost immediately, North Carolina launched onto the attack to take the lead, with defender Abby Erceg netting the lone goal of the game with a header off a set piece.
The Courage have now shut out two of their three opponents in the Challenge Cup, winning their first three games to take the lead in tournament standings with nine total points.
"I think we do have another gear," Erceg said. "I think this game in particular was a game of two halves. Our first half was a little below par for us. I think Chicago forced us into that style of play. Second half when we came out, we just really wanted to control the tempo and play our style of football."
