— Last year’s tagline for the North Carolina Courage, #NoFinishLine, became the rallying cry for the most accomplished American women’s professional soccer team in history. Their honors included league titles, an international trophy, team records, and more players earning spots on their respective national teams. The 2018 Courage didn’t cross a finish line, but they did become a team of destiny.

But lest you presume that the Courage’s seasonal mantras emanate exclusively from the mind of Paul Riley, the team’s impish manager, the club’s motto for 2019 was a collective effort, the product of a two-hour team brainstorming session.

“I just sat there and refereed it, basically,” Riley claims.

“Lay the Tracks” is the sort of nebulous slogan that the Courage players enjoy. Its superficial meaning appears obvious: a group on a journey, forging a path towards a desired destination. But the nuances of the maxim are more multifaceted, tailored for a team whose collective goal during a World Cup year will take them on a fragmented odyssey.

“There are so many different tracks this year,” Riley says. “The tracks are different because we don’t have just one track. We’re going to have different players playing, and everybody is going to be needed. Everybody is on the train, but who lays the tracks is different. The team that starts [the season] will lay one track, then the team that takes over is going to lay another track.”

Riley is referencing the fact that the Courage, returning virtually its entire 2018 championship roster, will suffer some casualties of its success.

As many as nine players will depart the team for France during the season to participate in the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Riley is preparing for eight players to leave for their respective national teams, while Heather O’Reilly will be part of FOX Sports’ broadcast coverage.

The NWSL schedule will only pause from June 3-14 for the World Cup. With the varied rules regarding when players are called into camp by different national teams, the Courage’s 2019 roster begins to resemble a Venn diagram.

“I’ve got three squads this year,” Riley declares. “I have my first and last lineups [of the season], when everyone’s here. I have my second lineup when all the national team players are away. And then I have my May team, when basically the Americans plus [Canadian goalkeeper] Stephanie Labbé are gone, but Abby [Erceg] and Debinha are here for three games in May, which makes a big difference to us.”

The “May team” will look different because the Courage won’t have to release Erceg and Debinha to New Zealand and Brazil, respectively, outside of the FIFA window, while O’Reilly won’t yet be in France for World Cup broadcasting duties.

“Having those two [Erceg and Debinha] for an extra three games makes it a lot more viable for us,” Riley says. “They’ll miss three games, maybe four games max. It’s a big plus for us, because having Erceg in the back and Debinha at the No. 10 is a big help.”

Further complicating the process is that U.S. national team players are given seven days to return to their respective NWSL clubs following the USWNT’s last World Cup match, whereas players from other countries will return straightaway. Ultimately, Riley estimates that the Courage will play three or four matches this year without all of their national team players.

Lynn Williams, the Courage’s perennial goal-scoring leader, is one of several starters who will remain with the team throughout the year. She says her approach will shift depending on which teammates are on the pitch.

“When the whole team is here, it’s one mentality,” Williams explains. “I can get away with just worrying about my game, in the sense of normal communication with my teammates. When everybody’s gone, I’ve realized I need to be more of a leadership presence. This is my fifth season, and I’m not a rookie anymore … It’s another part of my game where I haven’t been challenged until this moment.”

In concert with the World Cup call-ups, this year’s NWSL roster rules add another dynamic. For 2019, NWSL teams are permitted to sign a maximum of 22 players, plus four more supplemental roster spots that will not count against the team’s salary cap. However, if the Courage lose nine players to World Cup duties, that will leave Riley with fewer than 18 game-day active players, even before the inevitable toll of injuries. He hopes to fill the gaps utilizing, in part, the national team replacement rule the NWSL instituted for 2018.

Riley has essentially settled on his 26-player roster plus a cadre of potential replacement players, all of whom have trained with the Courage throughout the preseason.

While the faces on the field will fluctuate, the common denominator this year will be the team’s formation. Riley’s penchant for experimentation appears to have subsided, as he’s settled on the tried-and-true box midfield that lent the Courage much success last year. That means several players are already being called upon to train outside their normal and natural positions, roles that may vary depending on which players are around and available.

It all makes for a harried but heady mission in 2019, even for a team that’s proven to be among the world’s elite.

“You can have all the greatest plans in the world and have all the best maps in the world, but when you get on this thing, who the [heck] knows what’s going to happen,” Riley says, adopting the role of train conductor. “Honestly, I don’t know what’s going to happen. So, I would rather be a traveler with the players, and wherever the track takes us, it takes us.”

Forwards

Notable returnees: Lynn Williams; Jessica McDonald; Crystal Dunn; Kristen Hamilton

Notable additions: Leah Pruitt; Julia Spetsmark

Notable departures: Darian Jenkins

The Courage’s formidable quartet of Lynn Williams, Jessica McDonald, Crystal Dunn and Kristen Hamilton will spearhead the team’s full-strength attack. The speedy Williams scored a career-high 14 goals last year, second-most in the NWSL.

“I think if you asked all the league defenders who is the one person you don’t want to play against, I think Lynn Williams would be the name on everybody’s lips,” Riley says.

Riley’s been particularly impressed with McDonald and her meteoric rise into the national team setup, seemingly sparked by her MVP performance during last year’s NWSL playoffs.

“She’s ready to play,” Riley says about McDonald, whom he has coached since their days together in Portland. “I’ve never seen Jess like this. She’s completely focused on causing trouble. She’s playing fantastic right now.”

However, when Dunn and perhaps McDonald are away at the World Cup, Riley expects to shift Hamilton to the No. 10 midfield position and cycle newcomers Leah Pruitt and Julia Spetsmark at the No. 9 alongside Williams.

The 29-year-old Spetsmark arrives from Sweden, where she’s played most of her pro soccer. Although not a regular with the Swedish national team, she’s been called into a several camps, and that’s the very profile Riley says he wanted for offseason player acquisitions.

“We wanted somebody who might not make the World Cup but wanted to make her national team and get better in a better league,” Riley says. “We searched everywhere, and we thought Spetsmark was that piece who might be 24 or 25 on the Swedish roster, good enough to bring into camp but not the World Cup. Now she’s getting used to our speed and athleticism. She’s great in front of net. She doesn’t need five or six chances; she needs two, and that’s different for us as a team.”

Judging off her preseason performances, the Courage are very high on Pruitt, a standout at the University of Southern California and the fifth pick in January’s NWSL College Draft. Although still learning the Courage’s system, Pruitt is a rare forward who combines size, speed, shooting skill, and technical prowess.

“I think Leah is going to be a great forward in this league, if she’s not already,” Williams says. “She has a natural, raw, innate talent about her. She’s very strong and hard to get off the ball, good goal scorer, and hungry to learn.”

Midfielders

Notable returnees: Sam Mewis; McCall Zerboni; Debinha; Denise O’Sullivan; Heather O’Reilly; Elizabeth Eddy; Cari Roccaro; Meredith Speck

Notable additions: Lauren Milliet

Notable departures: None

The Courage midfield will see the most upheaval over the course of the 2019 season. Proven stars Sam Mewis, Debinha and McCall Zerboni are all probable call-ups for the World Cup. In their stead, Riley says the “critical” Courage player this year is Denise O’Sullivan, an Irish woman whose national team didn’t qualify for the World Cup. O’Sullivan has shown very well during the preseason, assuming an added leadership role on the team.

“[O’Sullivan] makes us click,” Riley says. “In 18 months, the improvement in the player is dramatic. She’s stronger, she’s quicker, she’s got more vision, she’s better on the ball. She’s like a machine in there for us. She’s the engine who makes everybody run.”

“Sully is just a freak, in the best way possible,” Williams adds. “She’s small, she keeps the ball, she’s feisty, and I think she’s so underrated.”

The remainder of the midfield during the World Cup is an evolving patchwork. O’Reilly, a legendary winger, is being re-trained for a No. 10 spot in the box midfield. So is Liz Eddy, who played right back for Riley every game of Western New York’s 2016 championship season. Hamstring injuries have sidelined Eddy most of the last two years.

“Liz Eddy has come back, and it’s so great to see her healthy again,” Williams says. “This is what I’ve missed for two years. You can see that there’s this joy and spark back in her. It’s so cool to see because we’re going to need her.”

“Having Liz Eddy is like having a new player,” Riley adds. “We’ve spent a lot of time the past four or five weeks making sure she’s got it. She has a tendency to play with her back to the goal. We’re trying to get her and [Hamilton] out of that habit and get into half spaces to open up and threaten the back line as much as possible.”

After appearing in just two NWSL matches for the Courage in 2018, Cari Roccaro may play a significant role this year, filling in as a No. 6 midfielder. Roccaro played youth soccer for Riley, won the 2012 U-20 Women’s World Cup, and co-captained the 2014 U.S. U-20 World Cup team.

“[Roccaro’s] lost ten pounds from last year,” Riley says. “She’s more agile, mobile, getting used to the training program. She was a little bit slow for me last year, but one thing about Cari is I know what I’m going to get.”

It’s undecided whether Lauren Milliet, the Courage’s second-round draft pick out of Colorado College, will keep a full-time roster spot or serve as a national team replacement player. But the Courage certainly want to keep the budding dynamo, who could see field minutes during the season.

“Lauren has a great vision for the field,” Williams says. “The balls she’s been playing, especially the past week in practice, I’ve been like, ‘Dang, Lauren … get it girl.’”

Defenders

Notable returnees: Abby Dahlkemper; Abby Erceg; Jaelene Hinkle; Merritt Mathias; Kaleigh Kurtz; Ryan Williams; Julie King

Notable additions: Ally Haran; Hailey Harbison

Notable departures: Yuri Kuwamura; Morgan Reid

The Courage’s starting back four remain ensconced and unchanged, with outside backs Merritt Mathias and Jaelene Hinkle likely to remain in Carolina all season. Mathias has earned several call-ups to the USWNT over the past year. Still, Riley has been surprised by Mathias’ improvement entering training camp, even beyond her breakout 2018.

“Merritt Mathias has gotten younger,” Riley says. “She’s leaner, meaner, fitter, and quicker this year. Merritt wants to make the national team. Maybe she makes the Olympics [in 2020], but she won’t make the World Cup team this year. But she’s the best right back in this league. There are things she can do that nobody else can do.”

However, starting center backs Abby Dahlkemper and Abby Erceg are both going to France. When they’re gone, Riley anticipates Kaleigh Kurtz and Ally Haran will fill their spots. Kurtz, who signed with the Courage in 2018 as a preseason invitee, boasted impressive play while appearing in six matches last season. Haran played four years for Wake Forest, where she was a two-year team captain and started 66 of 67 games.

Hailey Harbison, who played at Pepperdine and was the ninth pick in this year’s NWSL draft, has also earned high marks at outside back during the preseason.

“If we didn’t have Merritt Mathias, Harbison would play,” Riley says. “I’d start her, and I’d be pretty confident starting her. But, she’s behind the best right back in the country.”

Goalkeepers

Notable returnees: Katelyn Rowland

Notable additions: Stephanie Labbé, Sam Leshnak

Notable departures: Sabrina D’Angelo

The most notable departure over the offseason was Sabrina D’Angelo, who played three years under Riley with the Flash and Courage. But as D’Angelo moves to Sweden in hopes of playing her way back into the Canada national team set-up, her replacement with the Courage is the Canadian No. 1 goalkeeper, Stephanie Labbé. The 32-year-old Labbé returns to the NWSL, having last played for the Washington Spirit in 2016-2017.

Kate Rowland, the starting Courage keeper the last two years, returns for 2019. The Courage will rely heavily on Rowland, particularly when Labbé is away at the World Cup. That said, Rowland suffered a shoulder injury during preseason that will sideline her until at least mid-May. Riley hopes that Rowland will be available around the time Labbé departs for France.

The third goalkeeper looks to be Sam Leshnak, who was invited into camp after finishing four years with the North Carolina Tar Heels. Leshnak will begin the season backing up Labbé, and she could see match time if Rowland’s return is delayed.