NY/NJ Gotham FC VS NC Courage, October 17, 2021 Photo Gallery

Check out our gameday photos for the NY/NJ Gotham FC VS NC Courage, October 17, 2021 Match

Sunday afternoon’s NC Courage home game was bittersweet — more bitter than sweet for the NC Courage and Courage fans. The match versus NY/NJ Gotham FC represented the last time the Courage will play at home in 2021, and it was the last time USWNT Carli Lloyd will play in Cary, NC with her pending retirement.

Teams again united at midfield prior to the start of play to support each other, and reiterate the protection of players, and not staying silent about abuse and exploitation.

Starting XI

The starting XI for the Courage consisted of Lynn Williams, Jess McDonald, Meredith Speck, Debinha, Denise O’Sullivan, Cari Roccaro, Carson Pickett, Abby Erceg (C), Kaleigh Kurtz, Merritt Mathias, and Casey Murphy in goal.

Shutout

Neither team was able to find the back of the net the entire first half. The Courage had trouble all match, USWNT Gotham players found the back of the net three times,  with two from Midge Purce, and one from Carli Lloyd, with the final score 3-0 in favor of Gotham, dropping the Courage down to 7th place in the standings, and out of the six-team post-season picture.

Next for North Carolina Courage

The North Carolina Courage have one more match of the regular season on the road against the Portland Thorns after nearly two weeks of needed and deserved rest. The Courage would have to win or tie and have NY/NJ Gotham FC and/or Houston Dash would need to lose to break the current three-way tie between the three teams at 32 points. The Courage are unfortunately on the wrong side of any tiebreaker, with Gotham and Houston beating the Courage in head-to-head matchups. NY/NJ also has two more matches, where they’re likely going to pick up some points to move ahead of Houston and North Carolina.

All photos by Gregory Ng @FollowGregSports

Check out all of our North Carolina Courage photo galleries.