Courage face Houston Dash to kickoff three-game road trip

Pre-game Notebook: North Carolina Courage at Houston Dash | May 29, 2022 | NWSL Regular Season

The North Carolina Courage kick off a three-match road trip this weekend, taking on the Houston Dash at PNC Stadium on Sunday, May 29.

The Dash are currently in fifth place after a 2-1-1 start to the year, while the Courage are still in search of the first regular season point.

Quick Hits:

Rhythm and routine

Between the Challenge Cup and COVID protocols, the Courage’s start to the regular season has been far from normal. But with three straight weekend road games and no midweek games in between, the team has an opportunity to settle into a rhythm and push for its first point or win.

“It just gets us into a normal routine, gets us into a consistent routine,” said Courage head coach Sean Nahas. “The beginning of the year was so crunched with so many things. We think we’ve had it bad, Washington has it 10 times as bad. That's not good for the league by any stretch, especially with such a compact schedule because of qualifying. So yeah, it'll be good to at least get into a rhythm and be able to manage players a little bit differently. But that's really all we see with it. I don't see it changing much other than proper rest, proper recovery, proper training habits.”

College graduation

This past weekend, Courage forward Diana Ordoñez graduated from UVA with a degree in Sociology. And while the graduation took place the day before North Carolina’s game, Ordoñez was not only able to attend the ceremony, but was also encouraged to do so by Nahas.

“It was good,” Ordoñez said. “I was really grateful because obviously we had a game the day after and Sean was really, really supportive and really wanted me to go and have my graduation and experience that. So I was really grateful to him just because he was so supportive of me going and doing that even though it was like the day before a game, but it was really good. I was glad that I went.”

For Nahas, an opportunity like college graduation is far bigger than any individual game.

“She earned it,” Nahas said. “Even if we had a game that day, I would tell her to go. I think anytime you have an opportunity to dedicate so much of your life to a university and a sport and you earn an education with such a high degree, and she did it three years if I'm not mistaken, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity. Who am I to take that away from her and say, ‘You need to be just because you're a pro and we're playing you.’ 

“She's in the situation she's in because of UVA. She's an intelligent kid and she deserved to be able to walk across that stage and receive that diploma in front of her family. As soon as she came into my office, I looked at her and said, ‘Go, I won't let you not go.’ I didn't want her to live with any regret down the road. Soccer is going to end at some point and that's a moment that she should be proud of and I didn't want to take that away from her.” 

Returning to Texas

While Houston isn’t exactly close to Ordoñez’s hometown of Prosper, which is just outside of Dallas, this weekend’s match against the Dash will still be a bit of a homecoming for the Courage forward.

“I think it's a really important game for us,”  Ordoñez said. “We haven't started off the season the way that we would have wanted to. So for many reasons it's an important game, but I think the team's finally just trying to regroup and look to get our first regular season win. And obviously, it's nice to go home. It's not that close to where I grew up, but I will have a lot of family there. It's gonna be really nice for some of them to see me playing, or at least in, the Courage uniform for the first time in person, so that will be really nice.”

Guavin in training

Valérie Gauvin is in training but is probably still a ways out from being ready to go. 

“It's gonna take some time, catching up with the speed, the fitness levels and all that,” Nahas said. “She has been nursing some little knick knack injuries when she was over in England. We're slowly incorporating her, getting into our plan, catching her up to speed with some things. We're gonna be cautious with it just so that we're not forcing her back into a situation where we set her back or risk any other further injury.”

Last time out:

Courage (0-3-0, 0 pts): 1-0 loss against San Diego Wave FC (NWSL Regular Season)

Alex Morgan’s first-half goal separated the two sides, handing the Courage their third loss of the regular season. North Carolina out-shot and out-possessed their opponents, but weren’t able to find the back of the net.

Dash (2-1-1, 7 pts): 2-0 win at Portland Thorns (NWSL Regular Season)

The Dash have gotten off to a really good start to the 2022 season, with the team’s only loss coming against San Diego in their season opener.

Most recently, Houston beat Portland on the road thanks to goals from Rachel Daly and Sophie Schmidt.

Availability Report:

Courage:

Out: Kerolin (left ankle), Valerie Gauvin (left knee), KiKi Pickett (right knee), Havana Solaun (right knee)

Questionable: None

Dash:

Out: Cali Farquharson (right leg), Lindsey Harris (left elbow), Annika Schmidt (SEI - right knee)

Questionable: Elizabeth Eddy (right leg)

Match Info:

Date: Sunday, May 29

Time: 7 p.m.

Location: PNC Stadium (Houston, TX)

Broadcast: Paramount + / Twitch (International)