The North Carolina Courage head to Texas on Wednesday night for a Hurricane Harvey-postponed make up game with the Houston Dash. After this game, the Courage will have only one more game left in the season: Saturday at home against the Orlando Pride.

If they lose tonight, that game will be far more important. A win in Houston secures the best regular season record for NCC and the NWSL Shield.

For the first time this entire season, the Courage got their first draw last Sunday against Sky Blue FC. Yes, their first of the entire season. They could have secured the Shield on Sunday, but they have another chance to do it tonight with their game in hand over second-place Portland.

With yet another goal again in that game against Sky Blue FC, rookie Ashley Hatch has been unstoppable in 2017. That was Hatch’s sixth goal of the season and ties her for the team lead in goal scoring. With names like Lynn Williams, Sam Mewis, and Jessica McDonald, for Hatch to have accomplished that in her first season is remarkable.

That’s what makes this team so hard to defend against too: any one of them can put the ball in the net.

The Courage are two games out from the playoffs, and they have only lost six times all season. Their recent loss to potential playoff opponent Chicago Red Stars wasn’t all bad either: a loss this close to the postseason can help them refocus and regroup as a team and not take them lightly should they meet in October.

For Houston, the season has been rough. Coming off a four-game losing streak, the Dash will hope to finish the season on a high note tonight. Their 8th-place finish is already secured in the 10-team league.

Some good news for the Dash though: In their last loss, they ended their three game scoreless streak. They lost to Chicago 2–3, but those two goals could give them confidence against a tough Courage defense.

Even though the Dash are second to last in scoring, Rachel Daly has led the team in scoring, and she should be the Dash player to watch tonight. Daly was also one of the players to help end the Dash scoreless streak, winning the NWSL Goal of the Week.

Recent Form

North Carolina: D | W | L | W | W

Houston: L | L | L | L | W

Game Details

What: Houston Dash vs. North Carolina Courage (NWSL season)

Where: H-E-B Park, Edinburg, Texas

When: 8:00pm ET

#HOUvNC

Prediction

This game should be all Courage. I expect Paul Riley to switch it up some this match for the starters after playing on Sunday. This team has a lot of attacking power, and a lot of options, but they will want to clinch the NWSL Shield tonight and avoid a pressure-packed game with the Pride on Saturday. Zack’s prediction: 2–1 WIN.