North Wake News

The North Carolina Courage will host Seattle Reign FC at First Horizon Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park for their home opener on Saturday, March 22, at 7 p.m. ET. This match marks the first time this season that the Courage will play on their home turf.

After the game, legendary forward Jessica McDonald will be inducted into the club's Ring of Honor alongside Sam Mewis, a 2024 inductee who will attend to help honor McDonald. Fans can meet McDonald and get autographs during FanFest at 5:30 p.m. ET.

Both teams drew their season openers last weekend with second-half goals from U-20 USWNT stars. Riley Jackson scored an equalizer for the Courage against Racing Louisville, while Emeri Adams did the same for Seattle against Gotham. Both players were teammates in last year's FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup.

Jackson's goal was her second in a Courage kit and her first in a regular-season career. In last Saturday’s draw, the Courage held 67.8% possession, marking one of the highest totals in club history since Opta began tracking stats in 2016.

Assistant coach Nathan Thackeray commented on the team's performance: "The team is in a good frame of mind. We came away from the Louisville game with a lot of positives." He acknowledged areas needing improvement but praised their control during the second half.

Jaedyn Shaw, Hannah Betfort, and Shinomi Koyama made their debuts for the Courage during this match. Betfort contributed by creating two chances and having six touches in the opposition box within 34 minutes as a substitute.

Goalkeeper Casey Murphy delivered an impressive performance with six saves despite rainy conditions and aims to continue her strong form against her former team this weekend.

Under Head Coach Sean Nahas since 2022, the Courage have maintained a strong home record of 20-9-9 during regular seasons at First Horizon Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park. They narrowly missed an undefeated home season last year after losing to Washington Spirit but hope to begin another streak starting Saturday.

Seattle Reign FC features offensive talents such as Jordyn Huitema and Ji So-Yun; however, they missed new addition Lynn Biyendolo due to injury during their opener. Biyendolo previously played five seasons with North Carolina scoring a club-record 42 goals.

With both teams holding one point after Week 1 and only three league teams securing wins so far this season opener provides an opportunity for North Carolina to set early momentum heading into further matches this year.