NWSL concludes preliminary round Monday, NC Courage to be No. 1 seed in knockouts
Two weeks after its start on June 27, the NWSL Challenge Cup concludes its preliminary round Monday night, just as other leagues are returning to play.
NC Courage plays Sky Blue FC at 10:00 p.m. ET to conclude the round, with the OL Reign and Portland Thorns facing off earlier in the day. The tournament’s preliminary round consisted of 16 games to determine seeding prior to the quarterfinal.
The Courage are a lock for the No. 1 seed with nine points heading into Monday’s match, trailed by the Washington Spirit as of Sunday evening. Points follow the same system as regular NWSL games: three for a win, one for a tie and zero for a loss.
Heading into the final two days of the preliminary rounds, Sky Blue was the three seed, followed by the Houston Dash. Seeds one, four, five and eight will comprise one half of the knockout round bracket, while seeds two, three, six and seven will make up the other side. As of Monday morning’s standings, the Courage will play the Portland Thorns for its first quarterfinal match.
The tournament’s knockout round will be shorter than it’s prelims, spanning 10 days and starting on June 17 with the first two quarterfinal matches. Semi-final games and the championship, which will be broadcast on CBS, will take place at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah.
NC Courage captain Abby Erceg noted the tournament’s structural similarity to international tournaments like the World Cup. Erceg plays for the New Zealand national team.
“It’s very familiar to me, but for a lot of players this is new and it’s a new format,” she said. “So in terms of a team going through this process and the league going through this process, it’s very new for everyone. You do kind of fall back on the experience of a couple players who have been to world cups.”
While the MLS has already had two teams drop due to COVID-19 complications, the NWSL hasn’t faced any setbacks since its tournament began. In a virtual press conference on June 30, NC Courage coach Paul Riley said the team had been tested multiple times for coronavirus and that the procedures taken by the league have been “terrific.”
Prior to the tournament, members of the Orlando Pride tested positive and the team was forced to withdraw.
Courage, Sky Blue to close out preliminary round
Sky Blue FC finished its opener against the OL Reign in a scoreless tie on June 30. It lost its second game against Utah Royals FC, but added a 2-0 win over the Houston Dash in its midweek matchup.
Paige Monaghan and Nahomi Kawasumi were the goal scorers for the Dash.
The Courage and Sky Blue closed out the 2019 regular season against each other, with North Carolina winning 3-2. Jessica McDonald scored two goals for the Courage, and Debhina netted the third.
Sky Blue’s goals in that game came from Carli Lloyd and Domi Richardson. Lloyd, a USWNT captain, is not taking part in the Challenge Cup, a decision shared by several other national team players.
The match kicks off at 10:00 p.m. ET Monday. Fans can watch on CBS All Access, which offers a 1-week free trial and then costs $6 a month.
Recap: NC’s first three games
The Courage opened up the tournament against the Portland Thorns, winning 2-1 behind goals by attackers Debhina and Lynn Williams.
Both Riley and Erceg said the team’s performance in the opening game, which attracted a record-breaking number of viewers, was not up to team standards.
“I think the first game for us was a little bit disappointing,” Erceg said. “The way that we play and the standards that we have, we just didn’t quite hit it.”
Williams netted both goals in North Carolina’s second game, a 2-0 win over the Washington Spirit. The 27-year-old scored 12 goals for the Courage last season, and has appeared in 28 games for the USWNT.
“With Lynn, I think the one thing we all need to understand is it’s not just about the goal scoring,” Riley said. “It’s about all the other things she brings to the team, both attacking and defensively.”
Erceg scored the lone goal in the Courage’s matchup against the Chicago Red Stars with a header off an assist from Jaelene Daniels following a short corner kick.
North Carolina had 12 corner kicks against Chicago. In its game against Portland, it had 13. Following that game, Riley said the team could be more productive on those set plays.
“We had a lot of corner kicks [Saturday],” he said. “We will get corner kicks, we will get behind them. The question is what damage we can do when we get there.”
Injury report
Riley has stated multiple times that he feels confident in his roster depth, and that he doesn’t believe in sticking to a strict roster.
“I think the competitiveness of practice, the competitiveness of the squad is hugely important for the culture of the team,” he said. “I stress to all the players that you gotta be your very best all the time otherwise someone’s going to nick your spot off of you.”
Injury-wise, the Courage lost Ally Watt, but are looking to return Jessica McDonald.
Watt, a rookie attacker, tore her ACL in the tournament opener. She scored 16 goals in her senior season at Texas A&M and earned All-SEC First Team honors before joining the Courage as the 6th pick overall in the 2020 NWSL Draft.
Riley said losing Ally was a “massive blow,” but that she’s already looking toward her return next season.
McDonald, who joined the Courage in 2016 when it was still the Western New York Flash, has been recovering from a right thigh injury. She’s one of North Carolina’s five players who are also members of the USWNT, and played in the 2019 Fifa World Cup.
On June 30, Riley said that McDonald was close to being ready, but that the team would continue to “put baby gloves around her.” She has yet to make an appearance on the field, but Riley said she could return in Monday’s game against Sky Blue.
This story was originally published July 13, 2020 at 11:43 AM.