Cary, NC (March 4, 2020)- The North Carolina Courage have signed captain Abby Erceg and star defender Jaelene Daniels (formerly Hinkle) to two-year contracts with one-year options. Per club policy, no further details were disclosed.



Both Daniels and Erceg bolstered the defensive lines of the 2019 and 2018 NWSL Champion NC Courage teams. In 2019, the two played a combined 48 games for 4,355 minutes. Daniels played every minute of every game, making her the only player in the NWSL to do so.



Erceg, Daniels and the NC Courage defense allowed only 23 goals in 26 games during their run to a second-consecutive NWSL Championship, which was won in Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park.



Erceg has captained the North Carolina Courage since the team relocated to Cary in 2017. The New Zealand native represented her country in the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup and will look to do so again at the 2020 Olympic Games. During the 2019 season, Erceg won the team’s Leadership Award. On the field, she had 77 clearances and a 71% duel success rate.



Daniels was voted by her teammates as the Defender of the Year in 2019. She scored her first goal in a Courage uniform and had six assists during the season. Known for her work up and down the left flank, Daniels had 161 open play crosses and 43 key passes.



The North Carolina Courage kick off their 2020 season at home against the Chicago Red Stars in a rematch of the 2019 NWSL Championship. The match will take place on Saturday, April 18 at 7 p.m. at Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park. The full schedule can be found here.



Single-game tickets to all home NC Courage games will be available for purchase on Monday, March 9 at 10:00 a.m. Season tickets are currently on sale. To purchase, call 919-459-8144.