North Carolina Courage 1–0 Denver Summit FC, NWSL Matchday 27

North Carolina Courage v Denver Summit FC

North Carolina Courage8th 45 pts

K. Kurtz 90+4′ og

1

1–0

Full time

Sun 1 Nov

Expected goals: North Carolina Courage 0.42, Denver Summit FC 1.17

Denver Summit FC10th 41 pts

0

Sun 1 Nov, 5:00 pm EST First Horizon Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park NWSL 2026, Matchday 27

The match story

Ashley Sanchez portrait — Courtesy North Carolina Courage

NWSL News

Ashley Sanchez returns as a scorer, and a link for others

Sanchez’s Courage season has brought more frequent shooting. Her return against Spain also showed the value of moving the ball on.

17 October 2026

Key moments

90+4′Own goal K. Kurtz (Denver Summit FC)1–0

An own goal shows the scorer’s club and counts for the other club.

Top performers

North Carolina Courage

A. SanchezFNCshirt 20G5SH
BiaFNCshirt 210G2SH
E. IjehNCshirt 10, came off the bench0G2SH

Denver Summit

M. KösslerFDENshirt 250G4SH
N. FlintMDENshirt 260G3SH
Y. RyanMDENshirt 90G2SH

Three per club, chosen from the match record: goals, then shots.

What it means

North Carolina Courage

8th▲1 from 9th

Finished 9th in the regular season, out of the playoffs, 2 points behind Seattle Reign FC in the last playoff place.

Denver Summit FC

10thNo change

Finished 10th in the regular season, out of the playoffs, 6 points behind Seattle Reign FC in the last playoff place.

Season series

Matchday 16 Wed 5 Aug

Denver Summit FC0

North Carolina Courage2

Matchday 27 Sun 1 Nov

North Carolina Courage1

Denver Summit FC0

North Carolina Courage took both meetings, 3–0 on aggregate.

Team stats

NC DEN

Expected goals: North Carolina Courage: 0.42; Denver Summit FC: 1.17
Possession: North Carolina Courage: 51%; Denver Summit FC: 49%
Shots: North Carolina Courage: 13; Denver Summit FC: 12
Corners: North Carolina Courage: 6; Denver Summit FC: 3

NWSL table 2026

Standings →

NWSL table
#	Club	P	GD	Pts
1	Gotham FC	29	+14	58
2	San Diego Wave FC	29	+13	55
3	Washington Spirit	29	+13	52
4	Kansas City Current	29	+13	50
5	Angel City FC	29	+19	49
6	Portland Thorns FC	29	+7	47
7	Utah Royals FC	29	+7	47
8	North Carolina Courage	30	+10	45
⋯
10	Denver Summit FC	30	+11	41

After this result

By the numbers

North Carolina Courage have 6 points from last 5, in step with their season. 1.2 a match, against 1.5 all season. NWSL average 1.4.

Denver Summit FC have 7 home wins from 15 at home, and 4 from 15 away. 1.7 points a match at home, 1.1 away.

The match on the pitch

North Carolina Courage: 51% possession; 100 possessions; 9% ended in a shot; 29% reached the box; 5.5 actions each
Denver Summit FC: 49% possession; 103 possessions; 11% ended in a shot; 23% reached the box; 5.5 actions each

Where each team won the ball

North Carolina Courage

Denver Summit FC

Where each possession began, both teams attacking right. North Carolina Courage started 9% of their possessions in the final third, Denver Summit FC 6%.

Where the shots came from

North Carolina CourageDenver Summit FC

North Carolina Courage attack right, Denver Summit FC left. A larger ringed dot is a goal. Own goals are not shots.

How each team moved the ball

North Carolina Courage

Denver Summit FC

Passes between 20 zones, both teams attacking right. Forward moves in the team colour, backward moves dark, sideways moves pale; line weight is the share of the team’s passes.

How long possessions ran

North Carolina CourageDenver Summit FC

Share of possessions by number of actions.

Longer possessions shot more

North Carolina CourageDenver Summit FC

Of the possessions with each number of actions, the share that produced a shot. A gap marks too few possessions to rate.

Where play slowed down

North Carolina CourageDenver Summit FC

Mean seconds between one action and the next in the same possession, by where the action happened.

Every recorded action

Observed match events

Every action recorded in this match, where it happened: what was seen on the pitch, not a simulated path. 1,727 events in the record.

Period Minute 95 Only the 5 minutes up to it

North Carolina Courage attack right, Denver Summit FC left. Passes are arrows to where they ended, dashed when not completed; a ringed start is a restart. A dot is a shot, a larger ringed dot a goal; a diamond is a take-on, a square a keeper action. Showing the whole match.

Choose an action on the pitch or in the list to see everything recorded about it.

73 events shown.

Events shown, in recorded order
Time	Player	Team
1:00	J. Sonis	Denver Summit FC
1:42	L. Heaps	Denver Summit FC
5:28	Bia	North Carolina Courage
5:29	A. Smith	Denver Summit FC
5:48	A. Smith	Denver Summit FC
8:54	Bia	North Carolina Courage
10:09	N. Flint	Denver Summit FC
10:09	K. Sheridan	North Carolina Courage
11:07	Y. Ryan	Denver Summit FC
11:35	Bia	North Carolina Courage
11:39	A. Smith	Denver Summit FC
12:45	Y. Ryan	Denver Summit FC
13:24	M. Kössler	Denver Summit FC
15:26	M. Kössler	Denver Summit FC
15:29	Y. Ryan	Denver Summit FC
18:46	N. Flint	Denver Summit FC
21:15	K. Sheridan	North Carolina Courage
22:06	J. Sonis	Denver Summit FC
22:14	Y. Ryan	Denver Summit FC
22:18	Y. Ryan	Denver Summit FC

Page 1 of 4

Lineups

North Carolina CourageFormation 4-3-3

North Carolina Courage, 4-3-3, each line from right to left. Goalkeeper: 1 K. Sheridan. Line 1: 13 R. Williams, 4 N. Jacobs, 18 U. Shiragaki, 17 D. Weatherholt. Line 2: 19 E. Parkinson, 20 S. Koyama, 16 R. Jackson. Line 3: 21 Bia, 35 A. Schlegel, 2 A. Sanchez.

North Carolina Courage lineup: 11 starters, then 5 substitutes who came on, then the team, with minutes, goals, assists and expected goals for this match
#	Player	Min	G
1	K. Sheridan	90	0
13	R. Williams	90	0
17	D. Weatherholt, off at 89′	89	0
20	S. Koyama	90	0
4	N. Jacobs	90	0
18	U. Shiragaki	90	0
19	E. Parkinson, off at 74′	74	0
16	R. Jackson, off at 89′	89	0
35	A. Schlegel, off at 67′	67	0
21	Bia, off at 67′	67	0
2	A. Sanchez	90	0
Substitutes
7	L. Thompson, on at 89′	1	0
10	E. Ijeh, on at 67′	23	0
14	C. Wickenheiser, on at 89′	1	0
23	G. Paul, on at 67′	23	0
26	V. Bøe Risa, on at 74′	16	0
Team			0

Unused: M. White, I. Younce, N. Staude, E. Hase

All player stats

North Carolina Courage lineup: 10 outfield starters, then 9 substitutes, then the team, with every figure for this match
#	Player	Min	G	Sh	CC	Pass %	Tkl	Int
13	R. Williams	90	0	0	1	74%	1	3
17	D. Weatherholt, off at 89′	89	0	0	0	88%	3	2
20	S. Koyama	90	0	0	1	81%	2	5
4	N. Jacobs	90	0	2	0	89%	1	0
18	U. Shiragaki	90	0	0	0	87%	2	4
19	E. Parkinson, off at 74′	74	0	0	1	77%	4	0
16	R. Jackson, off at 89′	89	0	1	1	77%	0	1
35	A. Schlegel, off at 67′	67	0	0	0	81%	0	0
21	Bia, off at 67′	67	0	2	0	31%	0	0
2	A. Sanchez	90	0	5	0	77%	1	0
Substitutes
99	M. White	–
6	I. Younce	–
7	L. Thompson, on at 89′	1	0	0	1	67%	1	0
10	E. Ijeh, on at 67′	23	0	2	1	86%	0	0
12	N. Staude	–
14	C. Wickenheiser, on at 89′	1	0	0	0	71%	0	0
23	G. Paul (link unavailable), on at 67′	23	0	0	0	0%	0	0
26	V. Bøe Risa (link unavailable), on at 74′	16	0	1	1	80%	0	0
36	E. Hase (link unavailable)	–
Team			0	13	7	80%	15	15

North Carolina Courage goalkeeper
#	Goalkeeper	Min	Saves	SOT faced	Save %	GA	Claims
1	K. Sheridan	90	4	4	100%	0	2

Clean sheet: K. Sheridan

Denver Summit FCFormation 4-2-3-1

Denver Summit FC, 4-2-3-1, each line from right to left. Goalkeeper: 1 A. Smith. Line 1: 7 A. Oke, 23 E. Gaetino, 3 K. Kurtz, 6 J. Sonis. Line 2: 24 D. Sheehan, 5 D. Lynch. Line 3: 9 Y. Ryan, 10 L. Heaps, 26 N. Flint. Line 4: 25 M. Kössler.

Denver Summit FC lineup: 11 starters, then 3 substitutes who came on, then the team, with minutes, goals, assists and expected goals for this match
#	Player	Min	G
1	A. Smith	90	0
7	A. Oke	90	0
6	J. Sonis	90	0
5	D. Lynch, off at 74′	74	0
23	E. Gaetino	90	0
3	K. Kurtz	90	0
9	Y. Ryan	90	0
24	D. Sheehan (link unavailable)	90	0
25	M. Kössler, off at 74′	74	0
10	L. Heaps (link unavailable)	90	0
26	N. Flint, off at 81′	81	0
Substitutes
8	E. Regan (link unavailable), on at 74′	16	0
11	A. Brazier (link unavailable), on at 74′	16	0
33	O. Thomas (link unavailable), on at 81′	9	0
Team			0

Unused: M. Reid, N. Means, Y. McCormack, Y. Yamamoto, G. Bonner, K. Asman

All player stats

Denver Summit FC lineup: 10 outfield starters, then 9 substitutes, then the team, with every figure for this match
#	Player	Min	G	Sh	CC	Pass %	Tkl	Int
7	A. Oke	90	0	0	1	74%	3	4
6	J. Sonis	90	0	1	2	79%	4	1
5	D. Lynch, off at 74′	74	0	0	0	87%	0	2
23	E. Gaetino (link unavailable)	90	0	0	0	81%	1	1
3	K. Kurtz	90	0	0	0	86%	1	2
9	Y. Ryan	90	0	2	0	61%	1	0
24	D. Sheehan (link unavailable)	90	0	1	1	81%	1	1
25	M. Kössler, off at 74′	74	0	4	0	72%	0	0
10	L. Heaps (link unavailable)	90	0	1	3	84%	0	0
26	N. Flint, off at 81′	81	0	3	1	91%	1	0
Substitutes
2	M. Reid (link unavailable)	–
4	N. Means (link unavailable)	–
8	E. Regan (link unavailable), on at 74′	16	0	0	0	86%	0	0
14	Y. McCormack (link unavailable)	–
11	A. Brazier (link unavailable), on at 74′	16	0	0	0	0%	0	0
18	Y. Yamamoto (link unavailable)	–
13	G. Bonner	–
33	O. Thomas, on at 81′	9	0	0	0	100%	0	0
36	K. Asman	–
Team			0	12	8	80%	12	11