— Last year, the North Carolina Courage raced out to four consecutive victories to open the NWSL season, the club’s first season in Cary, then lost their fifth game to the Orlando Pride. Saturday afternoon at WakeMed Soccer Park, the Courage kind of bested their 2017 start in a 2-2 draw with the Utah Royals. Both North Carolina and Utah held and lost leads, and although it wasn't a win, North Carolina remains undefeated over five games to begin 2018.

“I think we gave out of steam, and the third game [this week] caught up to us,” said Courage manager Paul Riley. “I give the players credit—they showed a lot of character coming back.”

On a seasonal spring day in Cary, the Courage christened the scoreboard in emphatic fashion. A corner kick clearance by Utah’s Desiree Scott in the 6th minute found North Carolina defender Merritt Mathias stationed about 30 yards from goal. Mathias cut loose a golazo that flew past Royals goalkeeper Abby Smith and rippled the postage stamp, giving the home side a 1-0 advantage.

Somewhat surprisingly, Mathias’ goal is the first first-half goal the Courage have scored in four home matches this year. It was a rush for the former forward, whose mother happened to be in attendance.

“The ball came rolling out, and I’m like, well, here’s my chance,” Mathias said. “I hit it, and it was one of those balls you hit where you’re like, yep, that’s a goal. I looked up right in time to see it go into the upper 90. It was pretty sick.”

Utah mustered a lone shot over the opening 45, a meek attempt by Kelly O’Hara that was easily snared by Courage keeper Katelyn Rowland, who was getting her first start of 2018. However, the Royals found an equalizer in the 52nd minute thank to a Courage howler. Off a harmless looper towards the top of the area, Abby Dahlkemper’s header clearance sailed the wrong direction over Rowland, who had inexplicably rushed out, and bounded towards an open Courage goal. Utah’s Katie Stengel caught up to the ball first and nodded it over the goal line to even the scoreline at 1-1.

The Royals found an improbable go-ahead goal in the 66th minute. Off a soft back pass from Abby Erceg, Rowland made a feeble clearance that found the feet of Utah’s Brittany Ratcliffe just outside the area. Ratcliffe took a touch or two, then uncorked a screamer that flew past Rowland into the same upper 90 Mathias found in the first half, giving the visitors a 2-1 lead.

While seemingly unexpected occurrences, both Utah goals were the product of various factors, from Courage fatigue and perhaps apathy, to the Royals putting long balls over the top to purposefully test North Carolina’s keeper and center backs.

“[Utah] changed their philosophy in the second half,” Riley said. “They didn’t want to get caught in the press, so they just banged over the press and whacked everything deep. They didn’t exactly play much football through the midfield in the second half. There was a lot of miscommunication [by us] over who’s doing what and where.”

“In the second half, we knew they might tire a little bit, and we knew we had a bench who could come on and cause them problems,” said Utah manager Laura Harvey. “I thought we were the better team in the second half, and we’re disappointed to concede that second goal.

“We broke their pressure better [in the second half], which means you’re not playing those balls from your 18-yard box. You’re playing them 20 yards higher, which makes a difference. I told the girls if we can keep our grit, determination, and work ethic, then we’ll be a team people fear.”

It was the first time the Courage trailed in the second half this season, and the team reacted to those uncharted waters a bit frenetically. But Utah’s own keeper miscue handed North Carolina their equalizer in the 80th minute. When Smith rushed out and whiffed on a kick clearance, Crystal Dunn pounced and got a boot on the ball that took a parabolic path into the open net to account for the final 2-2 scoreline.

“I saw the ball getting played back to Abby Smith, and once I saw she miscleared it, I was like, whoa, the ball is rolling perfectly in my path,” Dunn said about her second goal this season. “I sprinted for it, open net … and I got my foot in there, toe-poked it, and I think there was a deflection off the defender. It went in, and I was like, whoa, effort!”

It was a bittersweet result for the Courage, which remains undefeated but feels like they let a home win wriggle off the hook.

“We gave up two really soft goals, if I’m being honest,” Mathias said. “They were goals we need to be better on. That’s [a matter of] not being casual and being better in the back. I’m glad we tied it up, for sure. At least we get out of here with a point and we still have no losses.”

Afterwards, Riley was seen consoling a dejected Rowland.

“It did not go well, obviously,” Riley said about his decision to change goalkeepers for the match. “Kate [Rowland] will be disappointed, and I’m disappointed for her. We want two good goalkeepers going down the road. We figured with the third game in a week, it was a good opportunity for the other goalkeeper to [get the start]. There was little difference between them in preseason. [Rowland] got her start [today], and maybe that was the issue. She hadn’t played in a while and her timing was maybe a little off. I take full responsibility—I played her, and I still believe in her. She’s a great goalkeeper, but today obviously she didn’t have a great time.”

“Abby [Dahlkemper] has had a tough week personally, and I think that showed today, too,” Riley continued. “She wasn’t at her best, although she’s a fantastic defender … If we put games away, those moments don’t count. When you look at all the other opportunities we had in the first half, if we bury the game 3-nil and go in at halftime, we’re probably not talking about those incidents.”

Even amid the Courage’s blue-chip beginning to 2018, there are caveats. North Carolina has played four of their five matches at home, and it has benefited from facing teams like the Portland Thorns and Seattle Reign while they were missed key players.

Even so, the Courage’s 13 points are six more than second-place Portland Thorns and Chicago Red Stars, which plays later Saturday evening. North Carolina (4-0-1) hits the road next Saturday, April 28 to visit the Houston Dash. Then it’s two more matches at home, first on Sunday, May 6 against the Chicago Red Stars, then Saturday, May 12 versus the Washington Spirit.

“When we scored the second [goal], you were just hoping for one more chance for Lynn [Williams] or one more chance to drop for Crystal [Dunn],” Riley said. “But we didn’t have the legs to produce it … We’ll take our point, but sometimes you need to take a step back to move forward.”

BOX SCORE

LINEUPS

NC: Rowland, Mathias, Dahlkemper, Erceg, Hinkle, Zerboni, O'Sullivan (Eddy, 86’), Hamilton (S. Mewis, 67’), Dunn, McDonald (Jenkins, 55’), L. Williams

UTA: Smith, Miramontez, Corsie, Sauerbrunn, O’Hara (Thorsnes, 69’), Scott, Jonsdottir, Bowen, Ratcliffe (Matheson, 85’), Stengel, Labonta (Rodriguez, 69’)

GOALS

NC: Mathias, 6’; Dunn, 80’

UTA: Stengel, 52’; Ratcliffe, 66’

CAUTIONS

NC: Hamilton, 18’; Dahlkemper, 87’

UTA: Ratcliffe, 28’

EJECTIONS

NC: ---

UTA: ---

ATTENDANCE: 3,958