#NCCourage

[immunobiz]

Game faces on, spirits high! ⚽✨ Washington Spirit players are taking the field with determination and heart. Can you guess which of these stars will be heading to the Olympics this year? Stay tuned for our big reveal and join us in cheering them on! 🎉🏆 We’re proud to be official product sponsors of such an incredible and inspiring team! 💙

Jeu en vue, esprits élevés ! ⚽✨ Les joueuses de Washington Spirit entrent sur le terrain avec détermination et cœur. Devinez lesquelles de ces stars iront aux Jeux Olympiques cette année ? Restez à l’écoute pour notre grande révélation et rejoignez-nous pour les encourager ! 🎉🏆 Nous sommes fiers d'être les sponsors officiels de cette équipe incroyable et inspirante ! 💙

[rahmercy]

As a proud 🇳🇬 it is important to raise my daughter in some cultural norms even if it's not the norm to the same extent where we are located. To have shared in this amazing red carpet event surrounded by women in football with my beautiful princess, it's a moment we won't forget! The building was filled with supporters, allies & investors of women making significant strides. That made the night even more special. Congrats to @thenccourage on the newly released team jerseys! Thank you @northcarolinafc for an opportunity to connect with so many making a big impact! #soccer #soccerteam #nccourage #womanssoccer #ncfc #ncevents #raleighevents #shifteventrentals (at Raleigh N C) https://www.instagram.com/p/CoG38UgO4xW/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[sonchez]

ashley.sanchez: Shocked and heartbroken to be leaving such a special place. D.C. will always feel like home to me. Thank you to the fans and my teammates for the best years of my life. Truly don’t have the words to describe tbe gratitude I have, thank you a million.

@nccourage thank you for this opportunity, excited to get started ❤️

[uswnt-among-other-things]

Well done Sammy. // NC Courage Twitter

[g0dblessthefandom]

Proud of my team today! Can’t wait to watch the rest of the #NWSLChallengeCup!

GO COURAGE!!!

[womenssportsenthusiast]

I would tell Portland to play closer to Lynn Williams but she’s just going to skyrocket the ball anyway so I guess give her the space. It’s like letting the person who can’t make three shoot threes in a basketball game

[andrewuttaro]

A History of Dominance: NC Courage - Guest Writer

The following article is guest written by Allison Uttaro. Allison has been an avid player and watcher of Women’s soccer her whole life. You can follow Allison on twitter @augold99. Allison’s piece today details a bit of National Women’s Soccer League history with background on its most dominant club.

The quarterfinals of the NWSL Challenge Cup begin tomorrow, and to no one’s surprise the North Carolina Courage is seeded first after a dominant performance in the preliminary round. They have played in the championship game each year since moving to Cary, NC in 2017, and won two of them. How does a team achieve such dominance in a league that otherwise brags about the parity between teams? Let’s look at the history, and some notable players who you’ll recognize.

This team began as the Buffalo Flash in 2009 in the USL W-League. This first season they reached the conference semi-final with a 10-3-3 record through the regular season and playoffs. In 2010, the Flash signed some notable players from abroad, including Canadian National Team player Kelly Parker and English National Team player Gemma Davison. The Flash finished the season undefeated and went on to win the W-League Championship. 

In 2011, the Flash announced plans to move up to the Women’s Professional Soccer League (WPS), the top-flight women’s soccer league at the time (NWSL’s predecessor). This move came with a plan to split home games between Buffalo, NY and Rochester, NY.  A deal was quickly reached with the City of Rochester to play in Rochester’s downtown Soccer stadium PAETEC Park, and the team’s name was changed to the Western New York Flash. A stadium with the capacity required for the WPS proved harder to find in Buffalo. The Flash set their sights on Niagara Field (set to be expanded to 4,000 seats) at Niagara University or All-High Stadium, owned by Buffalo Public Schools. An agreement could not be reached, and the Flash played their entire home schedule in Rochester. 

Star players came aboard as the Flash made their transition to the WPS. They drafted Alex Morgan with the first overall pick in the WPS draft and signed the Brazilian phenom Marta. The Flash achieved a 13-2-3 record for the 2011 season, the best in the league. They also set the attendance record for PAETEC Park (renamed Sahlen Stadium from 2011-2015) in a regular season matchup featuring hometown hero Abby Wambach, recently returned from the 2011 Women’s World Cup. The Flash earned home field advantage for the championship game and won on penalty kicks in front of another record crowd.  

Unfortunately, they wouldn’t have a chance to break those records. The WPS folded in 2012, as WUSA had before it. The team played the 2012 season in the semi-professional WPSL Elite League. Again they won the championship on penalty kicks. 

The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) was founded in 2013, and the Western New York Flash joined. Their dominance continued, claiming the shield for best performance in the regular season and making it to the first NWSL championship game. They ended up losing to the Portland Thorns, stymying the attempt for a fourth straight title in four separate leagues. 

The Flash experienced a playoff drought during the 2014 and 2015 seasons, and hired a new coach, Paul Riley. There was quite a bit of turnover on the roster too, and expectations were quite low for the 2016 season. In an inspiring underdog story, the Flash cruised into the playoffs, upset the #1 seeded Portland Thorns in extra time in the semi-finals, and defeated the Washington Spirit to hoist the NWSL trophy for the first time.

After the 2016 season the franchise rights were sold to the owners of North Carolina FC, and the team was rebranded again, this time as the North Carolina Courage. Many of the Courage’s current and future stars made the move with the team, including Samantha Mewis, Abby Ecerg, Lynn Williams, McCall Zerboni, Abby Dahlkemper, Kristen Hamilton, and Jessica McDonald. In 2017 they won the shield and advanced to the championship, losing to perennial rival Portland Thorns. 

In 2018 and 2019 the Courage secured the shield and the championship, defeating the Portland Thorns 3-0 in 2018 and the Chicago Red Stars 4-0 in 2019. They hold the record for the winningest season in NWSL history, just one game shy of an undefeated season in 2018. 

This year, in a non-traditional tournament-style season prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Courage is heavily favored to win the NWSL Challenge Cup. And given the history, today’s game against the struggling Portland Thorns looks especially enticing. Now if only CBS would break these matches out from behind their paywall and put them on TV!!

[midnightfood4thought]

Ashlyn is one of the most humble people I have ever met.  Thank you so much for signing my roster, taking a picture with me and taking the time to just say hi. It’s the small things that make me smile after such a tough year.  

Credit please!

[jediirnbru]

WakeMed Soccer Park - @thenccourage . Initial pen sketch and digital sketch. I'll be working in this one today. . #nccourage #courage #northcarolina #sketch #pen #digital #wakemed #usa🇺🇸 #nwsl #soccer #groundhopping #stadiumhopping #stadium #prints #art #illustration #graphicdesign #design #giftsforher #giftsforhim #giftideas #artwork #inspire #football #stadia #stade #stadio (at WakeMed Soccer Park) https://www.instagram.com/p/B8vf6eaDa7j/?igshid=11bbabb9studt

[nicolewilde88]

Game day! #LFG #nccourage #nofinishline https://www.instagram.com/p/B4I4YDAlQO_/?igshid=1i5wzsp7vpebt

[writeandwrong]

My girls are treating me so well.

[rahmercy]

We are so excited & grateful about this evolving partnership with the NCFC organization! Thank you for the opportunity to have our team be a part of an evolving diversity inclusive organization. The release of the newly released @thenccourage team jersey was such a wonderful event to attend as we prepare to kick off Black History Month tomorrow! #collaborationovercompetition #soccerteam #ourstopshop #nccourage (at Junction West) https://www.instagram.com/p/CoGmNqhsjUe/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[kellhaight]

It was a million degrees this weekend, but @thenccourage won 2-0 and the Kenedys are always great company. #nccourage #soccer #wakemedsoccerpark #ncfc #nc (at WakeMed Soccer Park) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz8PddGBysF/?igshid=1auqpu8qji151

[thegreatrosh]

Had an amazing weeked! I got to meet Lynn Williams, Abby Dahlkemper, Allie Long, and Meghan Klingerberg said hi to me 😀💪⚽

[42lyss]

Literally just bought a TunnelBear package just to watch these games on a good stream because KeeperNotes said to.

[womenssportsenthusiast]

I dont think you all are ready for me and live blogging. Jokes will happen.Confusion will occur. And lets pray that the courage to not win. A woman