The 2018 North Carolina Courage season was the team's second season as a professional women's soccer team. North Carolina Courage played in the National Women's Soccer League, the top tier of women's soccer in the United States. On August 5, the Courage clinched the 2018 NWSL Shield for the second consecutive season after a 2–1 win over Portland. The Courage finished the 2018 regular season with only 1 loss and broke the record for most wins in a season (17), most points (57) and most goals (53).
On September 22, North Carolina defeated the Portland Thorns 3-0 to win the 2018 NWSL Championship and completed one of the most successful seasons for a professional women's soccer team in the United States.
Team
Coaching staff
Source: North Carolina Courage
PositionStaffHead coach Paul RileyAssistant coach Scott VallowAssistant coach Bill PaladinoAssistant coach Sean NahasAssistant coach Nathan Thackeray
First-team roster
Source: North Carolina Courage
Player transactions
2018 NWSL College Draft
Source: National Women's Soccer League
RoundPickPlayerPrevious TeamRound 110 FW Penn StateRound 220 MF University of ColoradoRound 438 DF Duke UniversityRound 439 DF Yale UniversityRound 440 Ryan Williams DF TCU
In
DatePlayerPositions playedPrevious clubFee/notesRef. January 16, 2018 Crystal Dunn FW Chelsea F.C. Rights were acquired in trade with the Washington Spirit. January 30, 2018 Julie King DF Boston BreakersAcquired during Boston Breakers Dispersal DraftJanuary 30, 2018 Allysha Chapman DF Boston BreakersAcquired during Boston Breakers Dispersal Draft January 31, 2018 Merritt Mathias DF Seattle Reign Acquired in a trade with the Seattle Reign in exchange for North Carolina's first round pick in the 2019 NWSL College Draft. The Courage also received Seattle's second round pick in 2019. June 28, 2018 Heather O'Reilly MF ArsenalSigned after rights were acquired in trade with Utah Royals FC
Out
DatePlayerPositions playedDestination clubFee/notesRef. October 23, 2017 Stephanie Ochs FW Placed on the Re-Entry Wire after the 2017 Season, wasn't claimed by another team. January 16, 2018 Taylor Smith DF Washington Spirit Traded to the Washington Spirit in exchange for the rights to Crystal Dunn. January 16, 2018 Ashley Hatch FW Washington Spirit Traded to the Washington Spirit in exchange for the rights to Crystal Dunn. May 9, 2018 Allysha Chapman DF Houston DashTraded to the Houston Dash in exchange for the Houston's first round draft pink in the 2019 NWSL College DraftJune 28, 2018 Makenzy Doniak FW Utah Royals FCTraded to Utah Royals FC in exchange for the rights to Heather O'Reilly.
Competitions
National Women's Soccer League
Preseason
Source: North Carolina Courage
Regular season
Source: North Carolina Courage
Postseason playoffs
League table
Results by round
International friendlies
As defending 2017 Shield winners and playoff finalists, the Courage were selected to participate in the inaugural Women's International Champions Cup. They defeated French side Paris Saint-Germain Women in the semi-final round and French side and defending UEFA Women's Champions League titleholders Lyon Women in the final at Miami Garden's Hard Rock Stadium to become the first ever champions of the event.
Statistics
Appearances PlayerNWSL Regular SeasonNWSL PlayoffsWomen's ICC Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Goalkeepers 0 GK Katelyn Rowland 18 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 GK Sabrina D'Angelo 6 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 Defenders 6 DF Abby Erceg 24 2 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 11 DF Merritt Mathias 22 3 3 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 DF Abby Dahlkemper 19 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 DF Jaelene Hinkle 20 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 16DF Cari Roccaro 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 020100 20 DF Yuri Kawamura 1+1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 01+10000 22 DF Julie King 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 000000 25 DF Meredith Speck 2+12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 020100 27DF Morgan Reid 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00+20000 29DF Ryan Williams 0+1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 01+10000 31 DF Kaleigh Kurtz 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 020000 Midfielders 4 MF Elizabeth Eddy 1+1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 000000 5 MF Sam Mewis 11+6 3 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 000000 7 MF McCall Zerboni 20 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 000000 8 MF Denise O'Sullivan 20+2 0 2 0 0 2 0 1 0 020000 10 MF Debinha 20+1 8 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 000000 17 MF Heather O'Reilly 2+6 0 0 0 0 0+2 0 0 0 021000 30MF Sarah Teegarden00000 0 0 0 0 00+10000 Forwards 9 FW Lynn Williams 20+1 14 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 020000 12 FW Frannie Crouse 0+1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 000000 14 FW Jessica McDonald 20+2 7 1 0 0 2 3 1 0 01+11000 16 FW Darian Jenkins 0+12 0 0 0 0 0+1 0 0 0 00+21000 19 FW Crystal Dunn 21+1 8 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 000000 23 FW Kristen Hamilton 8+15 3 3 0 0 0+2 0 0 0 020000Totals52160053003200
Goalscorers Rank NameNWSL Regular SeasonNWSL PlayoffsWomen's ICC Total19FW Lynn Williams140014214FW Jessica McDonald73111310FWDebinha9009419FWCrystal Dunn800855MF Samantha Mewis310467MF McCall Zerboni300311DF Merritt Mathias300323FW Kristen Hamilton300396DFAbby Erceg20021012FW Frannie Crouse100117MFHeather O'Reilly001121FWDarian Jenkins0011Totals522358 Last updated: September 22, 2018. Source: Competitive matches
Honors and awards
NWSL Season Awards
Most Valuable Player: Lynn Williams (finalist), McCall Zerboni (finalist) Defender of the Year: Abby Dahlkemper (finalist), Abby Erceg (finalist) Coach of the Year: Paul Riley (finalist) Best XI: Abby Dahlkemper, Abby Erceg, McCall Zerboni, Crystal Dunn Second XI: Merritt Mathias, Debinha, Lynn Williams
NWSL Championship Game Awards Most Valuable Player: Jessica McDonald
NWSL Team of the Month
Month Goalkeeper Defenders Midfielders Forwards Ref.March Jaelene Hinkle Debinha Crystal DunnApril Jaelene Hinkle Crystal Dunn McCall Zerboni Jessica McDonaldMay Abby Erceg McCall Zerboni Crystal DunnJune Abby Erceg Merritt Mathias McCall Zerboni Crystal DunnJuly Abby Erceg McCall ZerboniAugust Abby Erceg Lynn Williams
NWSL Player of the Month MonthResultPlayerRef. June Crystal Dunn
NWSL Player of the Week WeekResultPlayerRef 3 McCall Zerboni 5 McCall Zerboni8 Crystal Dunn13 Crystal Dunn16 Lynn Williams19 Lynn Williams
NWSL Goal of the Week WeekResultPlayerRef.1 Debinha2 Jessica McDonald3 McCall Zerboni4 Merritt Mathias5 Kristen Hamilton8 Crystal Dunn9 Jessica McDonald10 Frannie Crouse13 Merritt Mathias14 Jessica McDonald15 Lynn Williams19 Lynn Williams24 Jessica McDonald
NWSL Save of the Week WeekResultPlayerRef.5 Sabrina D'Angelo6 Sabrina D'Angelo7 Katelyn Rowland8 Katelyn Rowland14 Katelyn Rowland15 Denise O'Sullivan16 Katelyn Rowland
See also 2018 National Women's Soccer League season 2018 in American soccer
References