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NJ/NY Gotham FC Falls at Home to North Carolina

By Gotham FC, 08/08/21, 12:00AM EDT

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NJ/NY Gotham FC was back home at Red Bull Arena to face the North Carolina Courage on Saturday night. The team saw their first loss in eight games, and second loss overall, after a North Carolina goal in the 38th minute from Meredith Speck. With the loss, Gotham FC holds steady at 20 points and moves down the table to third place behind Portland and North Carolina.

The first half saw a battle in the midfield that created a lot of back and forth between both teams. In the last ten minutes of the half, Carson Pickett sent a ball into the box that connected with Jessica McDonald’s head. DiDi Haracic made the initial save, but Speck cleaned up the rebound to give North Carolina the lead. Gotham FC nearly responded back when Delanie Sheehan got a ball on the right flank and saw Nahomi Kawasumi open on the back post. Kawasumi hit a right-footed volley that forced a tough save from Casey Murphy to keep the score 1-0 heading into the half.

Gotham FC maintained a high-press throughout the second half, but was unable to capitalize on any of the chances created. The home team’s best chance came in the 90th minute when Caprice Dydasco made a run down the right flank and found Kawasumi on the back post who put it back into the mix for a Brianna Pinto header that went just over the crossbar. Despite Gotham FC’s efforts, North Carolina held the 1-0 lead for the win.

Gotham FC Head Coach Freya Coombe on the match:

“It was a very close competition in terms of possession also in terms of shots on goal, shots on target, etc. Unfortunately, it went their way tonight with that goal. We had a similar situation with McCall Zerboni last week that was called offside. Unfortunately it didn’t go our way with the offside call tonight and that can sometimes be the difference between winning and losing.”

Following Saturday’s match, Gotham FC will close out a two game home stand at home on Sunday, August 15 at 5:00 p.m. ET against Racing Louisville. The team will then travel to Cheney Stadium to take on OL Reign on Saturday, August 21st, at 10:00 p.m. ET. Single and group tickets are now on sale and pricing details can be found here.

MATCH REPORT

Match: NJ/NY Gotham FC vs. North Carolina Courage
Date: August 7, 2021
Venue: Red Bull Arena; Harrison, N.J.
Kickoff: 7:00 p.m. ET 
Weather: Low 80s; partly cloudy

Scoring Summary:               1     2       F
NJ/NY Gotham FC                  0       0       0
North Carolina Courage      1       0       1

NC – Meredith Speck 38’

Lineups:

NJY: 13-DiDi Haracic; 8-Erica Skroski (19-Elizabeth Eddy, 80’), 12-Gina Lewandowski, 24-Estelle Johnson, 3-Caprice Dydasco; 7 McCall Zerboni (capt.), 16-Allie Long, 27-Gaëtane Thiney (2-Brianna Pinto, 69’); 18-Delanie Sheehan, 25-Ifeoma Onumonu, 9-Nahomi Kawasumi
Substitutes not used: 5-Nicole Baxter, 6-Jennifer Cudjoe, 11-Sodam Lee,14-Kenie Wright, 15-Sabrina Flores,17-Domi Richardson, 21-Mandy McGlynn

NCC: 1-Casey Murphy; 3-Kaleigh Kurtz, 4-Carson Pickett, 6-Abby Erceg, 11-Merrit Mathias (13-Ryan Williams, 87’); 8-Denise O’Sullivan, 34-Angharad James (21-Cari Roccaro, 62’),19-Havana Solaun, 25-Meredith Speck (2-Taylor Smith, 87’); 14-Jessica McDonald (27-Brittany Ratcliffe, 77’), 12-Amy Rodriguez

Substitutes not used: 7-Diane Caldwell, 20-Lindsay Agnew, 29-Rylee Baisden, 30-Kendall Fletcher, 42-Sam Murphy

Stats Summary: NJY / NC
Shots: 9 / 8
Shots on Goal: 2 / 4
Saves: 3 / 2
Corner Kicks: 4 / 2
Fouls: 8 / 6
Offside: 3 / 4

Misconduct Summary:
NJY – McCall Zerboni (caution) 58’

Officials:
Referee: Tori Penso
Assistant Referee 1: Tom Felice
Assistant Referee 2: Zeno Cho
4th Official: Kenneth Rojas

Budweiser Player of the Match: Estelle Johnson

About NJ/NY Gotham FC:

Originally named Sky Blue FC, the Club underwent a major rebrand in April 2021 and officially changed its name to NJ/NY Gotham FC. Representing New Jersey and New York, the Club plays its National Women’s Soccer League home matches at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, NJ. The Club has been part of the NWSL since the league launched in 2013. Founded in 2007, Gotham FC originally debuted as Jersey Sky Blue in the W-League of United Soccer Leagues. The Club won its first trophy as Sky Blue FC in 2009 after winning the inaugural Women’s Professional Soccer championship. Most recently, Gotham FC played in the 2021 Challenge Cup Final against the Portland Thorns, the Club’s first ever championship appearance in NWSL competition.

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