The 2019 NWSL championship game between the North Carolina Courage and the Chicago Red Stars was settled by halftime. The Courage held a 3-0 halftime lead on goals by Debinha, Jessica McDonald and Crystal Dunn. Samantha Mewis made it 4-0 with a second-half goal.
The final was the third straight for the Courage, which has won the last two. The game was played on home soil at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, NC before a sold-out crowd on 10,227.
Back in April the same two teams, in the same stadium, opened the regular season with a 1-1 draw. Sam Kerr and Dunn scored for their respective teams.
After the opener the Red Star won both additional games in regular season play. Those were rare losses for the Courage, which posted a 15-5-4 final record, winning the Supporters Shield as the top team in regular season play. The Red Stars finished 14-8-2, five points behind the Courage and four ahead of the Portland Thorns FC.
For a number of Courage players, who came to North Carolina when the franchise moved from Western New York, it was their fourth consecutive final. The Western New York Flash won the 2016 title before the move.
Both teams included U.S. World Cup stars. In addition to Dunn, McDonald and Mewis, Abby Dahlkemper anchored the Courage defense, and was selected to the NWSL Best Eleven First Team.
Chicago goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher started for the USA on the World Cup championship team and Julie Ertz was the defensive midfield anchor. Casey Short was a reserve defender for the USWNT. Kerr, who led the NWSL in scoring with 22 goals and was league MVP, was Australia’s best player.
What these teams accomplished throughout the season was remarkable, as they played through a long stretch without their World Cup players, a stretch that extended through the post-event Victory Tour.
Courage coach Paul Riley and owner Steve Malik have been part of the success since the franchised moved to Cary. Riley was not named Coach of the Year as he was in 2018, but he probably should have.
Not lost in the moment was the way veteran Heather O’Reilly stepped up in her final professional game to start at right back, a position she had seldom played in her long professional and international career.
And she got to do it at WakeMed Soccer Park where she helped her UNC Tar Heels win a national championship to begin her collegiate career.