Courage top Spirit in 4-3 thriller

The North Carolina Courage topped the second-place Washington Spirit in a dramatic 4-3 victory in Saturday National Women’s Soccer League action.

They started by absolutely stunning the Spirit by scoring three goals in the first 15 minutes. Ashley Sanchez continued her career-best season when she scored her 11th of the season in just the second minute. Evelyn Ijeh then kept up her fine form, following up last week’s hat trick with a brace, scoring in the ninth and 15th minutes to bring her total to nine goals on the season. North Carolina maintained that 3-0 lead to halftime.

After the break, Washington made four substitutions and quickly got back in the game. Trinity Rodman and Sofia Cantore scored in the first five minutes of the half to cut the Courage lead to one. Rebeca Bernal scored the equalizer in the 90th minute, setting up stoppage time drama.

Minutes before the final whistle, North Carolina defender and captain Natalie Jacobs scored her team’s fourth goal and the game-winner. It was a clinical finish in transition, particuarly for not a forward.