NC Courage takes down Racing Louisville for third consecutive NWSL win

Three times is the charm, as they say.

It took Tyler Lussi three attempts to score the game-winning goal against Racing Louisville, after entering the game just moments prior.

After her first two shots were blocked, Lussi nudged the ball away from a sprawled Katie Lund to tuck the ball into the net for her third goal of the season. Now, every goal Lussi has scored this season has been a game-winner.

“It definitely feels really good,” she said. “And I’m just trying to play my part and help the team win.”

And on the other end of the field, Courage keeper Casey Murphy notched her 30th career clean sheet in her final Courage match before the FIFA World Cup, making her the fourth — and youngest — player in the league to reach the milestone.

Murphy said she had no clue she was even close to her 30th clean sheet, but it made the 6-foot-1 keeper beam after an already successful evening.

“I didn’t even know where I was with that, but that’s pretty cool news,” Murphy said.

In the second match at home, NC Courage (7-4-2) held on for a 1-0 victory over Racing Louisville (3-4-6), extending its unbeaten streak to three consecutive league wins, and it has won eight of the past nine including the Challenge Cup in front of 4,041 fans.

It also extends NC’s perfect streak against Louisville to 8-0 all-time.

Despite maintaining possession for the majority of the first half, the Courage struggled to connect its passes in its offensive half. And despite taking a high-kick to her face early on in the match, Ryan Williams kept the NC defense steady during Louisville’s chances late in the first half.

Racing Louisville had eight shots by the end of the first half, and NC Courage only had one.

“The passes that we made with just passes to pass the ball, there was really no purpose on them,” Courage head coach Sean Nahas said. “And then we started to get a little bit impatient. We started going a little bit more direct and pushing the ball too straight, and the runs were off. So needless to say, there was a massive challenge at halftime.”

Once the second half began, the Courage’s unsuccessful attempts earlier were cleaned up. The players’ passes were sharper, off-ball movement improved and they were getting the ball toward the net. Racing Louisville’s press that dominated NC Courage earlier on weakened, making it easier for defender Ryan Williams to sprint up the sideline and create a few opportunities for her teammates to score.

Sometimes, watching the match from the outside pays off. And in this case, it did for Lussi, who scored her goal of the season in the 73rd minute to break a scoreless tie for the game-winner. The attacker had one thing in mind when she entered the match, she said — bring some extra energy against the Louisville press.

“I think it’s just the mentality,” Lussi said “Just bringing more energy to the game and just that relentless attitude. So that’s what we did.”

So the tale of two halves gives NC Courage another three points with one more home match against Houston Dash to finish up its three-match homestand. And for Nahas, those were important points.

“Yeah, massive three points,” he said. “I’m exhausted.”

This story was originally published June 24, 2023 at 9:29 PM.