The NC Courage clinched the first spot in the NWSL Playoffs last night in a hard-fought match with the Washington Spirit. After not playing for over ten days, the ladies earned three points Wednesday night to put them five points ahead of second place Portland and 13 points clear of fifth place Sky Blue FC. The top four teams make the playoffs, to be held in Orlando.

In the first five minutes of play on Wednesday night, the ladies were dominant. The Courage had three shots and a nice cross, early: you could tell that the game plan was to attack and go up early. Then off a fast break that slipped through the midfield, the Spirit got a shot off and after goalkeeper Katelyn Rowland deflected the first shot, Estefania Banini was there to finish it and send the Spirit up 1–0 in the 8th minute, completely against the run of play.

The Courage answered back before the halftime whistle on a free kick from Abby Dahlkemper who sent in a great pass that went right off the head of Mewis into the back of the net. If the Courage didn't score there, I was sure that Paul Riley would've been pretty upset with them being down 1–0 at halftime after their performance.

Paul Riley halftime anger avoided.

The Courage came out to start the second half fast, hoping to build on the goal that tied the game. The lightning-fast Lynn Williams sent an early cross in to McCall Zerboni, but she was not able to finish that one. Then, in the 61st minute, Jaelene Hinkle took a free kick, and this time it was Jessica McDonald who was able to send it in off her head to the back of the net.

Just five minutes later, McDonald was able to connect with the ball again when Sam Mewis stole a pass and sent it down field to Lynn Williams who passed it to McDonald who sent it into the goal. Very quickly, the score was 3–1.

Washington was able to bounce back in the 74th minute to narrow the lead to one goal.

But the Spirit, who have struggled this season with injuries and did so again on Wednesday, ran out of subs for the match and had to finish the game with ten players. The game ended 3–2, and the Courage booked their spot in the NWSL Playoffs a month before the end of the regular season.

Match Stats and Facts

Jessica McDonald passed Christen Press to move into second place all-time in the NWSL with 35 career goals.

This was the first game all season that the Courage won after going down a goal first. They were previously 0–5 when conceding first.

Courage out shot the Spirit 21–6 and corners 11–2.

Thanks for reading our recap. We will have more on the Courage playoff push here at Soccer ‘n’ Sweet Tea in the coming weeks, it should be a fun September and October in Cary.