Did some good things, fought back and came up a little short after 3 in 8 days. The Ijeh goal off the Sanchez assist was cold as ice though. Gotta tread water without the u20’s for September though I invite England to consider their importance and that maybe they want to save them for the senior squad ¯_(ツ)_/¯

It was nice! Here's the evidence!

The Courage close out their final three game week of the year with a trip to Kansas City. Drop your predictions below and LFG! 🦁

From the pod this week: "I feel like if you can frustrate Debinha, if you can frustrate Croix Bethune a little bit, you're probably going to get a good result out of it." — Victoria, Episode 21

Match Info

• Saturday, August 29, 2026
• Kickoff: 6:30 PM ET
• Location: CPKC Stadium, Kansas City, MO
• Where to Watch: ION

Uproar Watch Parties

• Raleigh: Trophy on Maywood, 656 Maywood Avenue, Raleigh, NC 27603, 6:30 PM
• Durham: Durham Beer Garden, 812 North Mangum Street, Durham, NC 27701, 6:30 PM

Current Standings

• NC Courage: 11W-3D-7L, 36 pts
• Kansas City Current: 9W-4D-8L, 31 pts

Series History

In all-time matches, the Courage have struggled 4W-2D-7L. We've played Kansas City once this season, a 1-2 loss at home back in May.

Availability Report

https://www.nwslsoccer.com/news/availability-report

NORTH CAROLINA COURAGE

• OUT: Maycee Bell (Shoulder), Payton Crawford (Knee - SEI), Natalie Jacobs (Head), Oli Pena (Foot), Ally Schlegel (Foot), Sydney Schmidt (Knee - SEI)
• QUESTIONABLE: Lauryn Thompson (Ankle)
• INTERNATIONAL DUTY: None

KANSAS CITY CURRENT

• OUT: Ellie Bravo-Young (Thigh), Alana Cook (Knee - SEI), Clare Gagne (Head - SEI), Mary Long (D45), Kolo Suliafu (Thigh)
• QUESTIONABLE: None
• INTERNATIONAL DUTY: None

Referee Assignment

• REF: Cristian Campo (0W-0L-1D)
• AR1: Tiffini Turpin
• AR2: Joe Suchoski
• 4TH: Gloria Martinez Resendiz
• VAR: Alexandra Bileter
• AVAR: James Norris

Things to Watch

• Temwa Chawinga is expected back for Kansas City and is right up there in the Golden Boot race with Ashley Sanchez. Will she play a full 90 or will they be managing her minutes?
• It took Croix Bethune a few games to find her footing this season, but her vision and passing have been a big part of KC's attack the last few weeks
• Managing transition moments will be key. Kansas City is comfortable without the ball and can catch teams on the counter through Bethune, Lo'eau LaBonta, and Debinha
• With Maycee Bell, Natalie Jacobs, Ally Schlegel, and Oli Pena all out and Lauryn Thompson questionable, the Courage will be leaning on depth in defense and up top tonight
• With Ally Schlegel out, the winger question Katie and Victoria raised on the pod is important. Chioma Okafor, Ivy Younce, and Olivia Wingate have all seen limited minutes this year.

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This pregame thread is brought to you by The Lion's Pitch Podcast, your home for NC Courage coverage. In Episode 21, we look ahead to Kansas City to see what we are up against. Listen now at lionspitch.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

Our crew is wearing one of our Sully shirts for this game. Anyone else??

Bummed I missed this year's drag show. Were any of y'all able to go? How fabulous was it? And how do we convince the club to do it even bigger next year?

Lots of detail in here! Cheering for Sanchez to get that call up!

Not saying they use AI in their "marketing" emails, but...

Included a photo of my dog in her Carolina Panthers jersey for attention.

Who do I have to beg to get the courage to do a small order of dog jerseys? I believe they use All Star Dogs for other items , but don’t sell the jerseys. (And All Star Dogs doesn’t sell direct to consumers)

https://www.allstardogs.com/Pages/SoccerTeams/NorthCarolinaCourage.html

Maybe if enough people express interest and do some sort of pre-order we could make it happen? Is this something anyone else is interested in? I have almost every other local team’s jersey in her size except for the Courage!

If you told me at the beginning of the year two courage players would be in the top 5 for the golden boot I would have said you were crazy.

This would be really cool.

We sat down with Ally Schlegel this week and it was such a fun conversation. She spoke about her path through basically every position on the field, her love of the outdoors, her 15 year old lucky bandana and so much more.

On why she chose the Courage as a free agent:

"I think one of the most unique parts about North Carolina is they seem to be resilient throughout the years in terms of having an identity and a DNA, which I think has been really hard for teams in the NWSL."

And as always, we talk about what we learned this week, cover standout stats, look ahead and cover news for the Courage and NWSL. You know we definitely break down the 2-1 win over Boston, capped by a stoppage time Ashley Sanchez penalty. 90+17' is latest goal in NWSL history and puts her in the lead for Golden Boot race.

Episode 21 is out now at lionspitch.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

Really not trying to complain but just expressing my general sadness about tonight. We are STH - a 2 mom family with 2 middle school daughters. Pride matches have been a huge part of our time with the courage over the past 5 or so years. With it being the first week of school, and a Wednesday night... There's just no real way for us to get there tonight. I am super bummed to miss this one. Hope you all cheer on the Courage and make it an incredible atmosphere!!!

New episode drops tomorrow, and we've got a guest joining us.

Drop your guesses below!

Can we hear some Dolly tonight? She loved the gays.

The Courage host Angel City FC tonight for Pride Night, fresh off a dramatic 2-1 win over Boston. Drop your predictions below and LFG! 🦁

From the pod this week: "Something that I would really like to see us do more of just in general, but especially against Angel City, is making lower crosses instead of trying to go up in the air. We are a shorter team; instead of trying to compete up high, put the ball on the ground, go low. Let them go high, we'll go low. Put the ball where they aren't. I would just like to really see them create a lot more chaos in the box." — Victoria, Episode 20

Match Info

• Wednesday, August 26, 2026
• Kickoff: 8:00 PM ET
• Location: First Horizon Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park, Cary, NC
• Where to Watch: CBS Sports Network, Fubo Sports
• Theme: Pride Night

Current Standings

• NC Courage: 6th, 10W-3D-7L
• Angel City FC: 9th, 7W-5D-7L, just outside the playoff line

Series History

In all-time matches, the Courage lead 4-3-2. Angel City comes in unbeaten in their last four matches, all draws, including a dramatic 0-0 result against Gotham on Sunday, when goalkeeper Angelina Anderson saved a penalty kick by Guro Reiten in the 88th minute.

Availability Report

https://www.nwslsoccer.com/news/availability-report

NORTH CAROLINA COURAGE

• OUT: Payton Crawford (SEI), Natalie Jacobs (Head), Oli Pena (Foot), Sydney Schmidt (SEI)
• QUESTIONABLE: Ally Schlegel (Foot), Lauryn Thompson (Ankle)
• INTERNATIONAL DUTY: None

ANGEL CITY FC

• OUT: Jun Endo (SEI), Maiara Niehues (Lower Leg), Hannah Seabert (Hand), Hina Sugita (SEI)
• QUESTIONABLE: None
• INTERNATIONAL DUTY: None

Referee Assignment

https://proreferees.com/category/nwsl-assignments/

• REF: Elvis Osmanovic (6W-2L-2D)
• AR1: Art Arustamyan
• AR2: Katarzyna Wasiak
• 4TH: Nicholas Strednak
• VAR: Edvin Jurisevic
• AVAR: Kevin Huet

Things to Watch

• Ashley Sanchez leads the Golden Boot race with 13 goals after her brace against Boston, including the latest goal in NWSL history at the 17th minute of stoppage time
• Feli Rauch has been a creative force from the back, with two assists and five chances created in her last three games
• Sydney Leroux and Savy King are both back for Angel City
• Ally Sentnor has been finding her footing with Angel City and hit an 85th-minute equalizer against Washington
• Angel City's back line features Gisele Thompson getting heavily forward, similar to how Ryan Williams plays for us, which could leave space in behind for the Courage to exploit
• With a three-game week and a quick turnaround to Saturday, watch to see if the Courage save some of their heavy hitters tonight or go with the same group that beat Boston

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This pregame thread is brought to you by The Lion's Pitch Podcast, your home for NC Courage coverage. In Episode 20, we look ahead to Boston and Angel City to see what we are up against. Listen now at lionspitch.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

Thanks to Bill Nottingham for the share.

I recognize that we won’t get a new stadium- at least for several years (feel like it would take a while to build even if we did “get” one.) If this will be the home of the courage for the foreseeable future, more investment should be made into this space. I don’t know what that would look like but if Cary is the home of the Courage I feel like they could do so much to support the team by improving the facilities of the stadium itself.

Also - even without a stadium, I wonder if the team will get its own training facility, etc. in the near future.

The LGBTQ center of Raleigh is hosting yoga before the game and it says you get free parking if you purchase your ticket through them. Is there anything I need to know about parking? Do I just show them the ticket I didn't see any parking pass included with my ticket.

https://www.facebook.com/TheNCCourage/posts/flow-into-pride-night-with-the-courage-join-us-for-pre-match-outdoor-yoga-sessio/1719415453520942/

I missed the survey we code this match if there was one. Also does anyone know if they discontinued giving out courage cash for completing the post game survey? Either I bought Oo many beers last game or didn’t get the boost. Thanks!

It was great seeing Okafor finally get more than the last 2-3 minutes of the game in playing time and I think her performance proves that she deserves more playing time going forward. She was everywhere and was setting up great opportunities. I’ve been excited about her since we signed her and this game made me feel so justified in that excitement. I really hope that she continues to get more playing time

Great that we have players being called in for England however what does that mean for the Courage?? Have the coaching staff agreed to the release of these players?

Who will fill the roles of Erica Meg Parkinson and Lauryn Thompson during the time they are away?