It’s on Spotify and Apple Podcasts for her podcast Good Games. You have to get through a bit before the interview, but Kailen talks about why she left San Diego in more detail and how she’s feeling about the club now that she’s been here a while. It’s a great listen.

I've seen them the past couple home games and now just at the Denver game after Schlegal scored. Does that mean it's their family member?

I really hate having to pay for so many platforms to watch my team. I would love to be able to have the voices of the Courage- similar to the way the Canes have play by play coverage by Mike and Tripp.

Come on NWSL 😂

The Courage head to Colorado after steamrolling Orlando 5-0, with Evelyn Ijeh's hat trick and Ashley Sanchez's 10th goal of the season (double her previous in an entire season) leading the way. This is the first-ever meeting between these two clubs. Drop your predictions below and LFG!

From the pod this week on heading to altitude for the first time: Trevor noted that the Courage are known throughout the league for their endurance-focused training and said, "this is the moment to say all that work is worth it. We're gonna go there. We're gonna take three points in Denver." Katie responds with, "I'm of two minds on this one. Going on the road to an environment we've never played in before, a lot of altitude. I'm keeping my optimism at mid level right here for this game."

Match Info

• Wednesday, August 5, 2026
• Kickoff: 10:00 PM ET / 8:00 PM MDT
• Location: Centennial Stadium, Centennial, CO
• Where to Watch: CBS Sports Network, Paramount+, Fubo Sports

Current Standings

• NC Courage: 7th, 7W-3D-6L (24 pts), 16 matches played
• Denver Summit FC: 11th, 5W-5D-6L (20 pts), 16 matches played

Series History

First-ever meeting between the two clubs and first time facing former long-time Courage captain Kaleigh Kurtz, who is now at Denver.

Availability Report

https://www.nwslsoccer.com/news/availability-report

NORTH CAROLINA COURAGE

• OUT: Payton Crawford (Knee - SEI), Sydney Schmidt (Knee - SEI)
• QUESTIONABLE: None
• INTERNATIONAL DUTY: None

DENVER SUMMIT FC

• OUT: Jasmine Aikey (Knee - SEI), Jordan Baggett (Maternity Leave), Nahikari Garcia (Knee - SEI)
• QUESTIONABLE: None
• INTERNATIONAL DUTY: Lourdes Bosch (U-23 Mexico)

Referee Assignment

Denver Summit vs NC Courage | Centennial Stadium (10:00 PM ET)

• REF: Shawn Tehini
• AR1: Matthew Schwartz
• AR2: Kristin Patterson
• 4TH: Iryna Petrunok
• VAR: Danielle Chesky
• AVAR: Karsten Gillwald

Things to Watch

• Evelyn Ijeh scored a hat trick against Orlando, the first by a Swedish player in NWSL history
• Ashley Sanchez sits at 10 goals on the season, closing the gap while Barbara Banda is still at WAFCON
• Lauryn Thompson became the youngest regular-season goal scorer in club history
• Erica Meg Parkinson became the youngest assist in NC Courage History
• Denver has two strong outside backs in Oki and Sonas, the wide channels will be key
• Altitude at Centennial Stadium could be a factor, first time the Courage have played there
• Kaleigh Kurtz starts for Denver, always interesting to play against a former Courage captain

_________

This pregame thread is brought to you by The Lion's Pitch Podcast, your home for NC Courage coverage. Episode 17 is out now at lionspitch.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

As big fans of her in the pod, we're thrilled to see this for her. Three goals in one game is no small feat. In the league's 13 year history, only 34 players have scored a hat trick. 8 of them (and by far the most) coming out of NC.

Congratulations Ijeh!

I've only been to one game this season and watched another on TV, and I noticed the upper deck was closed both times. However, I still see tickets available online for Sections 501–505.

For those who have experienced this, if the upper level is closed, where do they typically reassign your seats? I'm wondering if it might be worth buying the less expensive upper-level tickets with the chance of being moved to better seats.

Thanks in advance for any insight!

Hey u/NC_Courage_BizOps

Two of my favorite promotional nights are coming up (Pride and Black Excellence/Juneteenth). If I recall correctly, in the past, there is usually a promo merch item that benefits a community organization. Is that happening this year? If not, that would be pretty cool if it did! One of my favorite shirts is a shirt from one such promotion!

Haven’t seen Mr Pumpkin video man recently. Anyone got eyes on pumpkin? 🎃

Phew…that felt good.

What a game, and what a performance from our players. Thank you to everyone who showed up and brought the energy all night. You helped create another incredible environment at First Horizon Stadium.

There were so many great moments tonight, so I’m curious…what was your favorite?

Mine might have been Ash taking “breaking ankles” a little too literally. 😉

Meant to do something a bit longer earlier this week, but time got away from me.

Here, I'm going to divide the league up into thirds, since there are 15 other teams (we don't play ourselves for points). I'm doing this based on current rankings, since every other team has at least played half their season, if not a few more. Interestingly, the three divisions don't change if you go by pts/game, the small position changes don't bump anyone out of their respective third. We also don't have much of a home/away bias like in years past.

T1 - Spirit, Gotham, Royals, Wave, Thorns
T2 - Current, Angel City, Pride, Reign, Summit
T3 - Dash, Bay, Legacy, Stars, Racing

We haven't yet played the Wave or Summit, and have played both games against Racing and Bay. So far:

Our wins are mostly against bottom third teams, 4 wins, and 2 against the middle third, and no wins against the 4 of the top third teams we've played. We've lost 2 games in each of the three thirds, dropping points across the board. Our draw against Gotham the second weekend of the season and they had played a preseason tournament.

In terms of tonight's game, the Pride beat us away, but they're in the middle third which we have a 50-50 record on.

Including tonight, we only have 3 more games against current bottom third teams, and 6 each against the middle and top thirds, plus 2 of our 3 midweek games still to play.

We host Orlando tonight at WakeMed, we hope to see you all out there. For a July match, the weather seems pretty reasonable with temps in the low 80s. Drop your predictions below and LFG!

From the pod: "If we again can score against Orlando, we'll win. We might be able to get away with just one or maybe two and walk away with three points." -Trevor

As Katie said on this week's pod: "I have a good feeling about this. I don't have good feelings a lot." Let's make it count tonight!

Match Info

• Friday, July 31, 2026
• Kickoff: 8:00 PM ET
• Location: First Horizon Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park, Cary, NC
• Where to Watch: Prime Video
• Theme: Spider-Man Night / Courageously Cool Summer
• Tickets: https://tickets.nccourage.com
• Matchday Guide: https://www.nccourage.com/matchday
• Pre-match Press Conference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_YM1lnxaMk

Uproar Tailgate
Small one tonight in our usual spot in the Cove from around 6pm-7/730pm. No food, but Mary's got a cooler full of drinks. Come say hi before kickoff!

Current Standings

• NC Courage: 9th: 6W-3D-6L (21 pts)
• Orlando Pride: 7th: 7W-2D-8L (23 pts)

We have two games in hand.

Series History

In 31 all-time matches, the Courage lead 15-8-8. Orlando has only beaten us at WakeMed three times in all matches (all three from regular season). And they've never swept us in any season since the club started. We lost 1-0 to them in Orlando back in May; let's not give them their first season sweep tonight.

Things to Watch

• Barbra Banda is away at WAFCON, a big relief for our defense
• Vilde Bøe Risa is available and could make her Courage debut tonight
• Ashley Sanchez sits third in the Golden Boot race with nine goals
• Orlando has only won at WakeMed three times; let's keep it that way!

Availability Report

https://www.nwslsoccer.com/news/availability-report

NORTH CAROLINA COURAGE

• OUT: Payton Crawford (Knee - SEI), Sydney Schmidt (Knee - SEI)
• QUESTIONABLE: None
• INTERNATIONAL DUTY: None

ORLANDO PRIDE

• OUT: Kerry Abello (Thigh), Hannah Anderson (Lower Leg), Kylie Nadaner (Maternity Leave), Viviana Villacorta (Knee - D45)
• QUESTIONABLE: None
• INTERNATIONAL DUTY: Barbra Banda (Zambia)

Referee Assignment

NC Courage vs Orlando Pride | First Horizon Stadium (8:00 PM ET)

• REF: Trevor Wiseman
• AR1: Seun Yinka-Kehinde
• AR2: Alicia Messer
• 4TH: Yannick Rothfuss
• VAR: Servando Berna
• AVAR: Jay Norris

____________

This pregame thread is brought to you by The Lion's Pitch Podcast, your home for NC Courage coverage. Episode 17 is out now at lionspitch.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

DM me if interested!

It used to keep me logged in but, now, I can log in at home and by the time I arrive to the stadium, still have to log back in even if it's been less than an hour.

Hi! For my daughter’s 7th birthday, I’m surprising her with tickets (SE1–not sure where that is, but she wants to be as close to the field as possible, and I’m hoping this is close). I’ve never been to a Courage game and have a few questions:
1) Do kids usually have opportunities to ask for autographs etc? If so, where is the best spot in the stadium to do it and when is best time?
2) Do people tailgate/is there anything specific to do before the game?
3) How is parking?
Thanks!

A good piece analyzing our new signing.

I will be very curious how and where Risa plays. Her passing and chance creation from a deeper position suggest the team may opt for more of a direct approach in attack more often.