2017 North Carolina Courage season explained

Club:	North Carolina Courage
Season:	2017
Owner:	Stephen Malik
Chrtitle:	General manager
Chairman:	Curt Johnson
Mgrtitle:	Head coach
Manager:	Paul Riley
Stadium:	Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park Cary, North Carolina (Capacity: 10,000)
League:	NWSL
League Result:	1st
Cup1:	Playoffs
Cup1 Result:	Runner-up
Highest Attendance:	7,020 (September 30 vs. Orlando)
Lowest Attendance:	2,383 (May 24 vs. Sky Blue FC)
League Topscorer:	Lynn Williams (9)
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Prevseason:	2016
Nextseason:	2018

The 2017 North Carolina Courage season was the team's first season as a professional women's soccer team. North Carolina Courage plays in the National Women's Soccer League, the top tier of women's soccer in the United States. The Courage finished the regular season atop the table, winning the NWSL Shield and earning a spot in the NWSL Playoffs. After defeating Chicago 1–0 in the semi-finals of the playoffs, it lost 0–1 to Portland in the final.^[1]

Review

See also: 2016 Western New York Flash season and Western New York Flash.

The team played its previous season as the Western New York Flash, which won the 2016 NWSL Championship. The owners of North Carolina FC purchased the Flash and moved them to Cary, North Carolina, in January 2017 to create the Courage franchise, and retained most of the Flash's roster and coaching staff.^{[2] [3]}

Team

First-team roster

Source: North Carolina Courage^[4]

Transactions

2017 NWSL College Draft

Source: National Women's Soccer League^[5]

Round	Pick		Player		class=unsortable	Notes	Previous Team
Round 1	2			FW		Brigham Young University
Round 1	7			DF		UCLA
Round 2	20			DF		Clemson
Round 3	27			FW		University of Nebraska

In

Date	Player	Positions played	Previous club	Fee/notes	Ref.
December 23, 2016	Rosana	MF		Acquired while the franchise operated as the Western New York Flash.	^[6]
January 5, 2017		MF			^[7]
January 19, 2017	Samantha Witteman	MF	Orlando Pride	Acquired in a trade for Alanna Kennedy.	^[8]
April 4, 2017	Yuri Kawamura	DF	Albirex Niigata Ladies		^[9]
April 10, 2017	Ashley Hatch	FW	Brigham Young University	Signed college draft picks.	^[10]
	Darian Jenkins	FW	University of California, Los Angeles
June 16, 2017		DF	Houston Dash	Acquired off waivers.	^[11]
July 26, 2017		DF	FC Bayern Munich		^[12]
July 28, 2017		MF	Houston Dash	Acquired off waivers.	^[13]

Out

Date	Player	Positions played	Destination club	Fee/notes	Ref.
January 19, 2017	Alanna Kennedy	DF	Orlando Pride	Traded to acquire Samantha Witteman.
May 27, 2017	Courtney Niemiec	DF		Retired.	^[14]
June 21, 2017	Rosana	MF		Waived.	^[15]

Competitions

National Women's Soccer League

Preseason

Source: North Carolina FC^[16]

Regular season

Source: National Women's Soccer League^[17]

Results by round

Honors and awards

NWSL Team of the Month

Month	Goalkeeper	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards	Ref.
April			Debinha Sam Mewis	Lynn Williams	^[18]
June		Abby Dahlkemper	Sam Mewis	Ashley Hatch	^[19]
July		Abby Dahlkemper Taylor Smith	McCall Zerboni		^[20]
August	Katelyn Rowland	Taylor Smith	Sam Mewis		^[21]

NWSL Goal of the Week

Week	Result	Player	Ref.
1		McCall Zerboni	^[23]
2		Debinha	^[24]
3		Lynn Williams	^[25]
6			^[26]
7		Debinha	^[27]
8		Ashley Hatch	^[28]
9			^[29]
16		Sam Mewis	^[30]

NWSL Save of the Week

Statistics

Source: National Women's Soccer League^[32]

1	GK	Sabrina D'Angelo	7	7	630	0	0	0	0	0	--	0	0	1	0	0
13	DF	Abby Dahlkemper	10	10	900	0	0	0	2	1	50.00%	65	0	1	0	0
10	MF	Débora Debinha	10	9	819	3	1	0	22	13	59.09%	4	0	9	0	0
3	FW	Makenzy Doniak	10	9	657	0	2	0	2	0	0.00%	0	0	5	0	0
4	DF	Elizabeth Eddy	2	0	26	0	0	0	0	0	--	0	0	0	0	0
6	DF	Abby Erceg	8	8	687	1	1	0	6	3	50.00%	0	0	3	1	1
23	FW	Kristen Hamilton	5	1	154	2	0	0	2	2	100.00%	0	0	6	0	0
12	FW	Ashley Hatch	8	2	266	2	0	0	12	8	66.67%	0	0	5	1	0
15	DF	Jaelene Hinkle	8	8	694	0	1	0	4	1	25.00%	1	2	8	0	0
16	FW	Darian Jenkins	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	--	0	0	0	0	0
20	DF	Yuri Kawamura	8	7	588	0	0	0	2	1	50.00%	0	0	10	1	0
14	FW	Jessica McDonald	8	7	620	2	1	0	19	8	42.11%	0	2	1	0	0
5	MF	Samantha Mewis	10	10	900	2	2	2	16	7	43.75%	7	0	11	2	0
17	DF	Courtney Niemiec	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	--	0	0	0	0	0
22	DF	Stephanie Ochs	1	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	--	0	0	0	0	0
8	MF	Rosana Rosana	4	1	68	0	0	0	1	1	100.00%	0	1	5	0	0
0	GK	Katelyn Rowland	3	3	270	0	0	0	0	0	--	0	0	0	0	0
11	DF	Taylor Smith	10	5	553	0	1	0	2	2	100.00%	0	0	13	1	0
26	DF	Meredith Speck	2	0	17	0	0	0	0	0	--	0	0	0	0	0
9	FW	Lynn Williams	9	9	810	3	2	0	30	16	53.33%	0	7	3	0	0
26	MF	Sam Witteman	7	4	305	0	0	0	1	1	100.00%	0	0	8	1	0
7	MF	McCall Zerboni	10	10	900	2	1	0	10	5	50.00%	3	0	21	4	0
Team Total			140	110	9867	17	12	2	131	69	52.67%	80	12	110	11	1

See also

• 2016 Western New York Flash season
• 2017 National Women's Soccer League season
• 2017 in American soccer

References

Match reports (pre-season)

Match reports (regular season)

Notes and References

1. News: Portland Thorns beat North Carolina Courage to win NWSL title . October 14, 2017 . July 30, 2022 . . Associated Press.
2. North Carolina Football Club Enters into Agreement to Acquire Rights to NWSL's 2016 Champions Western New York Flash. North Carolina FC. northcarolinafc.com. January 9, 2017. June 17, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170110090302/http://www.northcarolinafc.com/news/2017/01/09/north-carolina-football-club-enters-into-agreement-to-acquire-rights-to-nwsls-2016-champions-western-new-york-flash. 2017-01-10. dead.
3. News: NWSL champion Flash relocates, becomes North Carolina Courage . January 9, 2017 . July 30, 2022 . . Associated Press.
4. Web site: 2017 Roster. North Carolina FC. June 21, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170606151843/http://www.northcarolinafc.com/nccourage-roster. 2017-06-06. dead.
5. Web site: Draft Results 2017. National Women's Soccer League. www.nwslsoccer.com. January 12, 2017. June 18, 2017.
6. Web site: Western New York Flash acquire rights to Rosana from Houston Dash. https://web.archive.org/web/20180131202142/http://www.excellesports.com/news/flash-acquire-rights-rosana-brazil/. dead. January 31, 2018. Excelle Sports. www.excellesports.com. Meg. Linehan. December 23, 2016. June 18, 2017.
7. Web site: Western New York Flash sign Brazilian forward Debinha. Excelle Sports. www.excellesports.com. Nick. Forrester. January 5, 2017. June 18, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20180131202138/http://www.excellesports.com/news/western-new-york-flash-brazil-forward-debinha/. January 31, 2018. dead.
8. Web site: Pride trade Sam Witteman for Australian national team defender Alanna Kennedy. Orlando Sentinel. www.orlandosentinel.com. Alicia. DelGallo. January 19, 2017. June 18, 2017.
9. Web site: NC Courage sign Japanese defender Yuri Kawamura. https://web.archive.org/web/20170630091320/http://www.excellesports.com/news/nc-courage-yuri-kawamura/. dead. June 30, 2017. Excelle Sports. www.excellesports.com. Adele. Jackson-Gibson. June 16, 2017. June 18, 2017.
10. Web site: North Carolina Courage sign Ashley Hatch and Darian Jenkins. https://web.archive.org/web/20171106155826/http://www.excellesports.com/news/north-carolina-courage-hatch-jenkins/. dead. November 6, 2017. Excelle Sports. www.excellesports.com. Nick. Forrester. April 10, 2017. June 18, 2017.
11. Web site: The North Carolina Courage acquire defender Stephanie Ochs before Saturday's match. https://web.archive.org/web/20170921092008/http://www.excellesports.com/news/stephanie-ochs-acquired-north-carolina-courage/. dead. September 21, 2017. Excelle Sports. www.excellesports.com. Celia. Balf. June 16, 2017. June 18, 2017.
12. Web site: North Carolina Courage Bolsters Defense With Acquisition Of Norwegian International Nora Holstad. North Carolina FC. 14 August 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170728160146/http://www.northcarolinafc.com/news/2017/07/27/north-carolina-courage-bolsters-defense-with-acquisition-of--norwegian-international-nora-holstad-. 2017-07-28. dead.
13. Web site: North Carolina Courage Adds Firepower To Roster With Denise O'Sullivan. North Carolina FC. 14 August 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170814100341/http://www.northcarolinafc.com/news/2017/07/28/north-carolina-courage-adds-firepower-to-roster-with-denise-osullivan. 14 August 2017. dead.
14. Web site: Courtney Niemiec Announces Retirement from Professional Soccer. North Carolina FC. www.northcarolinafc.com. May 27, 2017. June 18, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170601234230/http://www.northcarolinafc.com/news/2017/05/27/courtney-niemiec-announces-retirement-from-professional-soccer. June 1, 2017. dead.
15. Web site: Wednesday Roundup: Alex Morgan officially added to Pride roster. The Equalizer. June 21, 2017. June 21, 2017.
16. Web site: North Carolina Courage Preseason Game Schedule Announced. March 21, 2017. June 18, 2017. North Carolina FC. https://web.archive.org/web/20171116095826/http://www.northcarolinafc.com/news/2017/03/21/north-carolina-courage-preseason-game-schedule-announced. November 16, 2017. dead.
17. Web site: Schedule. National Women's Soccer League. www.nwslsoccer.com. June 18, 2017.
18. News: April Team of the Month announced. May 7, 2017. National Women's Soccer League. May 4, 2017.
19. Web site: June Team of the Month announced. NWSL. Meg. Linehan. 30 June 2017. 30 June 2017.
20. Web site: July Team of the Month announced. NWSL. Meg. Linehan. 1 August 2017. 30 August 2017.
21. Web site: August Team of the Month . NWSL. Jacqueline. Purdy. 6 September 2017. 6 September 2017.
22. Web site: Week 16 Player of the Week. National Women's Soccer League. www.nwslsoccer.com. August 15, 2017. August 30, 2017.
23. Web site: Goal of the Week Nominees: Week 1. National Women's Soccer League. www.nwslsoccer.com. April 18, 2017. June 18, 2017.
24. Web site: Goal of the Week Nominees: Week 2. National Women's Soccer League. www.nwslsoccer.com. April 24, 2017. June 18, 2017.
25. Web site: Goal of the Week Nominees: Week 3. National Women's Soccer League. www.nwslsoccer.com. May 1, 2017. June 18, 2017.
26. Web site: Week 6 Goal of the Week Nominees. National Women's Soccer League. www.nwslsoccer.com. May 22, 2017. June 18, 2017.
27. Web site: Goal of the Week Nominees. National Women's Soccer League. www.nwslsoccer.com. May 29, 2017. June 18, 2017.
28. Web site: Week 8 Goal of the Week Nominees. National Women's Soccer League. www.nwslsoccer.com. June 5, 2017. June 18, 2017.
29. Web site: Goal of the Week Nominees. National Women's Soccer League. www.nwslsoccer.com. June 19, 2017. June 30, 2017.
30. Web site: Goal of the Week Nominees: Week 16. National Women's Soccer League. www.nwslsoccer.com. August 14, 2017. August 30, 2017.
31. Web site: SAVE OF THE WEEK NOMINEES: WEEK 3. National Women's Soccer League. www.nwslsoccer.com. May 1, 2017. June 18, 2017.
32. Web site: Statistics. National Women's Soccer League. www.nwslsoccer.com. June 18, 2017.