— The biggest news at the outset of Wednesday evening’s match between the North Carolina Courage and Seattle Reign at WakeMed Soccer Park involved who wasn’t playing.

Abby Dahlkemper, the stalwart Courage and U.S. national team defender, was missing from the lineup card for the first time in her three-plus NWSL career, a span of 67 games. Moreover, her absence ended a streak of 5,850 consecutive minutes played, the longest current stretch in the league.

By the match’s end, another Courage player made her long-awaited return to the field, and Jessica McDonald notched another game-winning goal as North Carolina continued their undefeated 2018 with a 1-0 win over the Reign.

“The second half was a great half,” Riley said. “We created three or four breakaways, and we kept everybody in the seats until the end, as we do normally. It was a really good performance in the second half.”

The Courage didn’t lack for scoring chances, particularly after intermission. In the 48th minute, Lynn Williams found herself free on goal, but she pushed her left-footer at the spot wide of goal. In the 65th minute, McDonald gathered a giveaway in the area by Seattle’s Jessica Fishlock, but Reign goalkeeper Michelle Betos made a kick save of McDonald’s sure shot to deflect it off the woodwork.

North Carolina finally found the target in the 70th minute. A Courage counterattack saw Kristin Hamilton bang a long ball over the top that found McDonald in behind the Seattle back line. McDonald drove goalward and slotted her shot past Betos to put the Courage up 1-0.

It was McDonald’s second goal this year, both of them game-winners.

“Kristin Hamilton picked up the ball and kind of whacked it as hard as she could and, lucky me, it came in my vicinity,” McDonald said. “I just chased the ball down and though I’d make up for the last breakaway I had when I hit the post. This one I just wanted to get in the back of the net. I saw the keeper freeze and then went near post.”

After a slow opening 45 minutes, the Courage ended the match with 22 shots, five of them on frame. Contrary to the pressure the Reign rained upon the Courage in the first half, North Carolina’s attackers began finding open range soon into the second stanza. Seattle manager Vlatko Andonovski cited fatigue and injuries for his team’s second half malaise, including the absent Megan Rapinoe and an ill Christen Westphal, who started Wednsday night's game but had to come off in just the 18th minute.

“I thought it was a good battle,” Andonovski said. “Two good teams playing against each other. We showed flashes of good things, and obviously in the second half, we gave up more a little more room. When you play a team like the Courage, you’re going to get punished.”

Three minutes after McDonald's goal, on the same night Dahlkemper finally sat, Sam Mewis made her return. Mewis has not played since injuring her right knee during a U.S. national team friendly in Vancouver last November.

“It feels great to be back out here,” Mewis gushed. “I miss playing with my teammates so much, and being able to feel their support out there, and getting the first couple of touches felt really good. We’re such a family, so I knew all along they would embrace me back and make this easy for me.”

Indeed, there were times when Mewis’ status this year was far from certain. Her return Wednesday night was a notable achievement for her, along with being a big boost for the Courage.

“There was a lot of uncertainty with the injury,” Mewis said. “I was in really good hands all along . Everyone who had been involved with this has been great, and I feel like even though it was a very uncertain injury, I was put in the best hands. Without all those people, it could have been more uncertain than this.”

“I didn’t know if she’d play all season, to be honest with you,” Riley said. “To see her play this quickly early in the season, she’s still not fully fit, she’s still got a lot to do and we have a lot of work to do with her. Over the next month to six weeks, we’ll get her fully fit and ready to play 90 minutes. Sammy’s a hard worker—she’s doing two training sessions a day right now, doing a lot of lifting [weights], a lot of rehab, cryotherapy, massage, and just about everything.”

Riley saved special commendation for Kaleigh Kurtz, who played her first NWSL game in place of Dahlkemper, who was tending to an undisclosed personal matter and given an excused absence. Kurtz, a former college All-American with the University of South Carolina who signed with the Courage this year, only learned she was going to play at around 4:00 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, according to Riley.

“We need to give [Kurtz] some pats on the back tonight, coming in the back line having never played an NWSL game before,” Riley said. “She was coping with the pace of Jodie Taylor and Jasmyne Spencer, and I thought she did a really good job for us.”

The Courage (4-0-0, 12 pts.) has a quick turnaround before their next match this Saturday, April 21 against the Utah Royals in Cary.

BOX SCORE

LINEUPS

NC: D'Angelo, Hinkle, Erceg, K. Kurtz, Mathias, Zerboni, O'Sullivan, Hamilton (Mewis, 73’), McDonald (Jenkins, 79’), L. Williams, Dunn

SEA: Betos, Nielsen, Oyster, Averburch, Westphal (L. Barnes, 18’), Fishlock, Long, Andrews (Addo, 73’), Yanez, Dallstream (Spencer, 67’), J. Taylor

GOALS

NC: McDonald, 70’ (Hamilton)

SEA: ---

CAUTIONS

NC: Hamilton, 14’

SEA: ---

EJECTIONS

NC: ---

SEA: ---

ATTENDANCE: 3,011