Courage open with 5-1 win over Houston Dash

The North Carolina Courage opened the 2024 NWSL regular season with a win, taking down the Houston Dash, 5-1, on Saturday in front of a crowd of 5,878 to set a club record for a home opener.

The Courage put five on the board before putting the legendary number five, Sam Mewis, into the newly formed Courage Ring of Honor with a post-match ceremony.

North Carolina out-shot Houston 20-8, including an 8-3 edge in shots on frame, for the night and held nearly 59% of possession and passed at 81% accuracy.

Malia Berkely opened the scoring for the Courage in the 19’ from the penalty spot, sending Jane Campbell the wrong way before coolly slotting the ball into the bottom right corner. Brianna Pinto drew the spot kick as her cross was blocked by a sliding defender’s arm.

The goal was the first for Berkely’s career in regular season play.

Houston nearly responded just moments later, but Courage keeper Casey Murphy denied the Dash a rebuttal in the 21’ with a stellar diving save to her left. Murphy came up big again in the 52’, fully extending to tip another shot wide of the post to keep the Courage in front.

Haley Hopkins gave the Courage some insurance in the 55’, capitalizing on a midfield takeaway by Denise O’Sullivan with a strong one-on-one finish from the left wing. Hopkins had five shots on the night, two on target, and a team-best six touches in the Dash penalty area.

Houston pulled back within one goal in the 65’ after a free kick deflected off Kaleigh Kurtz during a scramble in the box for an own goal.

Bianca St-Georges would restore the two-goal lead in the 76’ with a debut goal, scoring just two minutes after subbing into the game following a nice give-and-go with Manaka Matsukubo. St-Georges would find a brace ten minutes later when an initial shot by Hopkins was blocked but deflected perfectly to St-Georges at the top of the box to pick out corner netting.

St-Georges became the first NWSL player to record a brace in a team debut since the 2014 season.

Dani Weatherholt, another free agent signing making her Courage debut, would cap off the night with a goal late in stoppage time for the magic number five.