2023 North Carolina Courage season

North Carolina Courage

2023 season
Managing Owner	Steve Malik
Club President	Francie Gottsegen
Head Coach	Sean Nahas
Stadium	Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park Cary, North Carolina (Capacity: 10,000)
NWSL Regular Season	3rd
NWSL Challenge Cup	Champions (2nd title)
Playoffs	Quarterfinals
Top goalscorer	Kerolin (9 goals)
Highest home attendance	7,070 (May 6 vs POR)
Lowest home attendance	4,014 (Jun 17 vs ORL)
Average home league attendance	4,800
Home colors Away colors
← 2022 2024 →
All statistics correct as of July 9, 2023.

The 2023 North Carolina Courage season was the team's seventh season as a professional women's soccer team. The Courage played in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top tier of women's soccer in the United States.

On June 5, 2023, the Courage announced that Bally Sports South would regionally broadcast eight of the team's games.^[1]

As of July 17, 2023.^[2][3][4][5]

No.	Pos.	Player	Nation
0	GK	Katelyn Rowland	United States
1	GK	Casey Murphy	United States
2	DF	Sarah Clark	United States
3	DF	Kaleigh Kurtz	United States
4	MF	Emily Gray	United States
5	FW	Haley Hopkins	United States
6	MF	Narumi Miura	Japan
7	DF	Malia Berkely	United States
8	MF	Brianna Pinto	United States
9	FW	Kerolin	Brazil
10	MF	Denise O'Sullivan	Republic of Ireland
11	FW	Brittany Ratcliffe	United States
12	DF	Emily Fox	United States
13	DF	Ryan Williams	United States
14	FW	Tyler Lussi	United States
17	FW	Rikke Madsen	Denmark
18	DF	Sydney Collins	Canada
19	MF	Frankie Tagliaferri	United States
20	FW	Olivia Wingate	United States
21	DF	Nikia Smith	United States
22	FW	Mille Gejl	Denmark
23	DF	Kiki Pickett	United States
24	DF	Estelle Johnson	Cameroon
25	MF	Meredith Speck	United States
26	MF	Clara Robbins	United States
28	FW	Tess Boade	United States
29	FW	Millie Farrow	England
44	GK	Marisa Bova	United States
55	GK	Hensley Hancuff	United States
99	MF	Victoria Pickett	Canada
—	MF	Rikako Kobayashi	Japan

As of April 29, 2023.^[6][7][8]

Executive
Chairman	Steve Malik
President	Francie Gottsegen
Chief soccer officer	Curt Johnson
Assistant general manager	Bobby Hammond
Coaching
Head coach	Sean Nahas
Assistant coach	Nathan Thackeray
Assistant coach	Emma Thomson

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	San Diego Wave FC (S)	22	11	4	7	31	22	+9	37	Playoff semifinals and W Champions Cup
2	Portland Thorns FC	22	10	5	7	42	32	+10	35
3	North Carolina Courage	22	9	6	7	29	22	+7	33	Playoff quarterfinals
4	OL Reign	22	9	5	8	29	24	+5	32
5	Angel City FC	22	8	7	7	31	30	+1	31

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
22	9	6	7	29	22	+7	33	5	5	1	15	9	+6	4	1	6	14	13	+1

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	T	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		NC	NJY	WAS	ORL
1	North Carolina Courage	6	3	2	1	15	5	+10	11	Advance to knockout stage		—	1–1	6–0	0–0
2	NJ/NY Gotham FC	6	3	2	1	10	7	+3	11			2–0	—	1–0	1–1
3	Washington Spirit	6	3	0	3	10	13	−3	9			1–2	4–2	—	4–2
4	Orlando Pride	6	0	2	4	5	15	−10	2			1–1	1–3	0–1	—

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
6	3	2	1	15	5	+10	11	2	1	0	12	1	+11	1	1	1	3	4	−1

Draft picks are not automatically signed to the team roster. The 2022 NWSL Draft was held on December 18, 2021.

R	P	Nat.	Player	Pos.	College	Status	Ref.
1	6		Olivia Wingate	FW	Notre Dame	Signed through 2025.	[10][11]
	8		Sydney Collins	MF	California
	9		Clara Robbins	MF	Florida State
	11		Haley Hopkins	FW	Virginia

Date	Nat.	Player	Pos.	Notes	Ref.
November 15, 2022		Marisa Bova	GK	Option exercised.	[10][12]
		Kaleigh Kurtz	DF
		Tess Boade	MF
		Emily Gray	MF
		Fuka Nagano	MF
		Frankie Tagliaferri	MF
		Diana Ordóñez	FW
		Jaelene Daniels	DF	Option declined.

Date	Nat.	Player	Pos.	Notes	Ref.
November 28, 2022		Kaleigh Kurtz	DF	Re-signed through 2025 on a guaranteed contract.	[10]
December 6, 2022		Meredith Speck	MF	Free agent re-signed through 2024 on a guaranteed contract.	[13]
January 3, 2023		Casey Murphy	GK	Re-signed through 2025 on a guaranteed contract.	[10]
January 5, 2023		Brianna Pinto	MF	Re-signed through 2025 on a guaranteed contract.	[10]
January 19, 2023		Ryan Williams	DF	Re-signed through 2025.	[10]
January 23, 2023		Brittany Ratcliffe	FW	Free agent re-signed through 2023, with a mutual option to extend through 2024.	[10]
January 24, 2023		Katelyn Rowland	GK	Free agent re-signed through 2025.	[10]

Date	Nat.	Player	Pos.	Previous club	Fee/notes	Ref.
July 27, 2023		Manaka Matsukubo	MF	MyNavi Sendai	Loaned until June 2024. Courage have option to transfer playing rights to the club on a permanent basis following the loan period.	[14]

Date	Nat.	Player	Pos.	Destination club	Fee/notes	Ref.
November 15, 2022		Tess Boade	MF	Western Sydney Wanderers	Loaned until February 2023. Returned December 17, 2022, due to injury.	[12][15][16]
August 15, 2023		Hensley Hancuff	GK	Växjö DFF	Loan runs through the 2023-24 Damallsvenskan season.	[17]

Date	Nat.	Player	Pos.	Previous club	Fee/notes	Ref.
December 1, 2022		Estelle Johnson	DF	NJ/NY Gotham FC	Free-agent signed through 2024 on a guaranteed contract.	[18][19]
January 20, 2023		Tyler Lussi	FW	Angel City FC	Acquired in exchange for Merritt Mathias.	[10][20]
		Mille Gejl	FW	BK Häcken FF	Signed through 2024.	[10][21]
January 23, 2023		Emily Fox	DF	Racing Louisville FC	Acquired in exchange for Abby Erceg and Carson Pickett.	[10][22]
February 7, 2023		Narumi Miura	MF	Tokyo Verdy Beleza	Acquired for an undisclosed transfer fee. Under contract through 2024.	[10][23]
April 7, 2022		Victoria Pickett	MF	NJ/NY Gotham FC	Acquired in exchange for $200,000 in allocation money.	[24][25]
June 27, 2023		Hensley Hancuff	GK	Brisbane Roar FC	Short-term national team replacement player signing.	[4]
		Sarah Clark	DF	Virginia Cavaliers
		Nikia Smith	DF	F.C. Ramat HaSharon
July 17, 2023		Rikako Kobayashi	MF	Tokyo Verdy Beleza	Free transfer signed to a two-year contract with an option for an additional year.	[5][26]

Date	Nat.	Player	Pos.	Destination club	Fee/notes	Ref.
November 15, 2022		Rylee Baisden	FW	Perth Glory	Contract mutually terminated.	[10][12]
		Katie Bowen	DF	Melbourne City
December 18, 2022		Diana Ordóñez	FW	Houston Dash	Traded with the 30th-overall selection of the 2023 NWSL Draft in exchange for the eighth-overall selection in the 2023 NWSL Draft, Houston's natural first-round selection in the 2024 NWSL Draft, a 2023 international slot, and $100,000 in allocation money.	[10][12]
December 22, 2022		Debinha	MF	Kansas City Current	Free-agent signing.	[10][12]
January 14, 2023		Fuka Nagano	MF	Liverpool F.C.	Transfer terms not disclosed.	[27]
January 20, 2023		Merritt Mathias	DF	Angel City FC	Traded in exchange for Tyler Lussi.	[10][12]
January 23, 2023		Abby Erceg	DF	Racing Louisville FC	Traded in exchange for Emily Fox.	[10][22]
		Carson Pickett	DF

Date	Nat.	Player	Pos.	List	Injury	Ref.
March 20, 2023		Tess Boade	MF	45-day injured reserve	Shoulder injury suffered while on loan to Western Sydney Wanderers.	[16][28]
		Emily Gray	MF	Season-ending injury	Anterior cruciate ligament tear during preseason.	[28]

Trialists are non-rostered invitees during preseason and are not automatically signed. The Courage released their preseason roster on February 3, 2023.^[29]

Nat.	Player	Pos.	Previous club	Notes	Ref.
	Elianna Beard	MF	F.C. Kiryat Gat	Not signed.	[29]
	Sarah Clark	DF	Virginia Cavaliers	Signed as a national team replacement player.	[29][4]
	Jennifer Cudjoe	MF	NJ/NY Gotham FC	Not signed.	[29]
	Nikia Smith	DF	F.C. Ramat HaSharon	Signed as a national team replacement player.	[29][4]
	Croix Soto	DF	Oregon Ducks	Not signed.	[29]