Durham Reporter

The North Carolina Courage concluded their NWSL regular season with a 0-1 defeat against the Washington Spirit on Saturday night at WakeMed Soccer Park. The match, attended by 10,026 fans, marked the second-largest regular season attendance in the club's history and was their third sellout since moving to North Carolina in 2017.

Ashley Hatch scored the decisive goal for Washington Spirit in the 37th minute with a long-range shot that gave her team a lead going into halftime. The Courage made several substitutions at halftime, including bringing on Denise O’Sullivan and Ashley Sanchez, which improved their performance in the second half. Tyler Lussi nearly equalized in the 58th minute after connecting with a cross from Aline Gomes, but her goal was disallowed due to an offside call.

Looking ahead, North Carolina Courage will compete against Kansas City Current in the NWSL quarterfinals on Saturday, November 9, at noon ET. The game will be available on CBS and streamed via Paramount+.

In terms of lineup changes, North Carolina Courage made five adjustments from their previous match—the most they have made between games this season. Notably, Kaleigh Kurtz and Casey Murphy completed every minute of play during the regular season. This achievement marks Kurtz's third consecutive time as an Iron Woman.

The lineups for both teams were as follows:

North Carolina Courage (4-3-3): Casey Murphy; Dani Weatherholt (Feli Rauch – 76‘), Malia Berkely, Kaleigh Kurtz, Ryan Williams; Riley Jackson (Denise O’Sullivan – 46’), Narumi Miura, Victoria Pickett (Ashley Sanchez – 46’); Aline Gomes, Haley Hopkins (Manaka Matsukubo – 66‘), Tyler Lussi (Olivia Wingate – 66‘).

Washington Spirit (4-2-3-1): Aubrey Kingsbury ©; Casey Krueger, Annaïg Butel, Tara McKeown, Gabrielle Carle; Hal Hershfelt, Heather Stainbrook; Trinity Rodman (Kate Wiesner – 73’), Courtney Brown (Brittany Ratcliffe – 73‘), Makenna Morris (Leicy Santos – 61’); Ashley Hatch (Lena Silano – 85‘).

Final Score: NCC: 0 WAS: 1

The venue for this event was WakeMed Soccer Park located in Cary, N.C., where attendance reached a total of 10,026 spectators.