Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports
CARY, N.C. – A new-look North Carolina Courage defeating the Kansas City Current, last year’s finalists, 1-0 to open the NWSL season might seem like a surprising turn of events, if not for Kansas City’s lengthy availability report.
The Current had six players unavailable for Saturday’s match, and that included all three of their new midfield signings: Debinha, Vanessa DiBernardo and Morgan Gautrat.
Despite this, the Courage’s home opener provided more insight into their self-proclaimed new era, one that includes a lot of question marks for the team that once set the standard for success in the NWSL. Keeping in mind that this was merely one result in a very long regular season, here are a few things we learned about North Carolina’s new look, and whether or not it can sustain them.
Kerolin is the focal point of the Courage attack
Playing as a false 9 in the Courage’s 4-3-3, Kerolin capitalized on Kansas City’s disorganized back-four and found the space the fullbacks left open…
