Ashley Sanchez scored in the 76th minute and the North Carolina Courage held off a National Women’s Soccer League expansion team from winning its first game in a second-half draw with Boston Heritage 2-2 on Wednesday.
In other games, the San Diego Waves lost 2-0 to the Portland Thorns. Gotham FC defeated the Chicago Stars 2-0; Louisville Athletic lost to the Washington Spirit 1-0.
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Heritage did win their first point in the club’s history, but they remain bottom of the table.
In the 5th minute, Alba Canio scored on a pass from right wing Nichelle Prince to give Boston a 1-0 lead at Gillette Stadium. Eight minutes later, Prince cut inside on the edge of the six-yard box and found Massachusetts native Sammy Smith, who fired the ball into the top right of the net.
In the 53rd minute, North Carolina’s Danny Weatherholt scored from a corner kick to make the score 2-1. Uno Shirugaki opened the scoring when Casey Murphy’s knockdown block landed right at the feet of Weatherholt, who knocked the puck toward the left side of the net.
Portland summit
In a game between the league’s top two teams at Providence Park in Portland, the Thorns snapped San Diego’s five-game winning streak and moved to the top of the standings.
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Marie Muller scored her first career NWSL goal in the 10th minute to give the Thorns the win. Sophia Wilson extended the lead in the 64th, scoring her second goal of the season.
This is the second time the two teams have met this season. San Diego won the first game last month 3-1.
Gotham’s scoring woes
Despite scoring just two goals before the international break earlier this month, Gotham FC’s goal-scoring woes appear to be over.
In the first two games of the resumption, they defeated Bay FC 3-0 at home, scoring 5 goals, and then scored 2 goals in the away game against Stars.
In the first minute of the game, Jardine Shaw’s cross passed through the Stars defense and Jordin Dudley scored. It was the second fastest goal in the club’s history.
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In the 10th minute, Rose Lavelle volleyed past Alyssa Neher from the left wing.
Katie Atkinson, who had played in the Stars’ first two games, was ruled out with a thigh injury.
Trinity Rodman scored her 30th career goal in the 15th minute with a volley from the center of the penalty area at Audi Field in Washington.
The long-lost Andy Sullivan came on in the 63rd minute. She tore her ACL at the end of the 2024 season and went on maternity leave in 2025.
The Spirit has defeated their opponents in four straight games, winning three and losing three, with a 0-0 tie against the Denver Nuggets.
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AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
