The North Carolina Courage kept its playoff hopes alive, if only barely, with a 0-0 draw against the Portland Thorns on Saturday, Oct. 30.
While there was no win-and-you’re-in scenario for the Courage heading into Saturday’s game, NC needed to better whatever result the Houston Dash manages to get against the Washington Spirit on Sunday, Oct. 31. With the draw in Portland, the Courage’s only path into the playoffs is a Houston loss.
“What I said to them before the game was we just want to have life,” said interim Courage head coach Sean Nahas. “We want to make sure we give ourselves a chance for tomorrow. Even though we don’t control our own fate, we want to make sure we have a chance. And they did that. And tomorrow, we’ll be the biggest Spirit fans in the league. The players. We will be the biggest Spirit player fans in the league.”
In what was a very earnest post-game press conference, Nahas talked about what lessons the players had taught him over the last few weeks
“The thing that I’ve learned the most is how much a group of players, and I’ve coached a lot of players, how they can affect you in a positive way in their darkest hour,” Nahas said. “How they can, in their darkest moment, bring life and show such character and make us look at them and say, ‘Man on how you do it.’ They made me want to be on the field every single day. … They could have easily said, ‘We want time off,’ but they showed up every day and never complained.”
Nahas also reflected on his favorite moment from the season. The moment he received the call from captain Abby Erceg asking him to step into the interim role.
The Courage had plenty of opportunities to grab a winner throughout the game, but were denied by the assistant referee’s flag in the opening minutes and the crossbar in the closing minutes.
“The players were brilliant,” Nahas said. “I haven’t seen the goal that was taken back replayed yet, but the players showed, as they have for the last four weeks, tons of character, resilience. … It was just a high-level game of two good teams. We will take a point, let’s be honest, because it gives us life. But I felt the group was remarkable tonight.”
Portland had its own fair share of opportunities to eliminate the Courage outright, but goalkeeper Casey Murphy kept North Carolina in the game with five saves. Earning her 11th clean sheet of the season, Murphy tied NWSL’s single-season record.
“I had Casey when I was with the U20s at the World Cup,” Nahas said. “And I knew she was quality back then. But man, she’s come into her own. Obviously one of the best keepers in the league. The future of our national team. There’s no doubt in my mind.”
Murphy said during the post-game press conference that shutouts are a team effort and gave ample credit to the defense and assistant coach Nathan Thackeray, who she said put in a lot of time to help prepare her to perform.
The humble and selfless approach to the accolade was exactly what Nahas expected out of the goalkeeper.
“She’s kept us in game, she’s won us games,” Nahas said. “And knowing Casey the way I do, she’ll credit the people around her as well for those clean sheets. … What she’s done for the club this year, her first year, is unbelievable. That she’s on our side, let’s put it that way.”
The Courage will now have an anxious wait for the result of Houton’s game against Washington, which kicks off at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, Oct. 31.
“It’s not the best position to be depending on other teams, but I think we gave everything that we could tonight and that’s all we could do,” said Courage midfielder Denise O’Sullivan. “I’ll be the Washington Spirit’s biggest fan tomorrow., I don’t want the season to finish yet. I’ll be really sad. But hopefully things go our way tomorrow and we can be together for another week at least.”
