Sunday brought two more games in the NWSL Challenge Cup before the April international break, both in the East Division.
NJ/NY Gotham FC 1, North Carolina Courage 1
The Skinny: Ifeoma Onumonu headed home an equalizer in the 84th minute to salvage a point for Gotham in their 2022 home debut at Red Bull Arena. Debinha had given the Courage the lead 25 minutes into the match on a spectacular free kick from just outside the 18.
One Key Moment: The aforementioned free kick was vintage Debinha. Just watch and soak it in.
Inside the Game: The Courage came out on the front foot, controlling the center of the park with their signature box midfield against Gotham’s midfield three, who were without McCall Zerboni due to yellow-card suspension. Kristie Mewis went the full 90 for Gotham and delivered the assist to Onumonu via a corner kick. Estelle Johnson was everywhere for Gotham defensively, making several tackles which denied dangerous opportunities.
Kerolin made her NWSL debut for North Carolina in the second half and nearly got on the scoresheet right away, hitting the post from close range. Rylee Baisden started up front for North Carolina, with Meredith Speck slotting into the other No. 6 role alongside Denise O’Sullivan.
Margaret “Midge” Purce also missed a tap-in at the back post in the first half which would have served as an early equalizer. Gotham pushed on for a winner following Onumonu’s late tally, with head coach Scott Parkinson saying that he wanted to practice what they preach about “fearlessness,” a word he used several times postgame.
The Goals:
- North Carolina Courage — Debinha, 25′
- NJ/NY Gotham FC — Ifeoma Onumonu (Kristie Mewis), 84′
— Jeff Kassouf
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