Kaleigh Kurtz scored in the 76th minute to break a scoreless tie, lifting the North Carolina Courage to a 1-0 victory over the Utah Royals on Friday night in Cary, N.C.
Utah (1-8-1, four points) made life easy for Courage goalkeeper Casey Murphy, who didn’t even have to make a save to record the clean sheet. The Royals failed to put a shot on goal while losing for the seventh time in their past eight matches.
Kurtz allowed North Carolina (5-5-0, 15 points) to snap a three-match skid. The Courage had been held without a goal in each of their previous two matches.
Although it never put a shot on target, Utah did threaten in the final minutes of the match, when Hannah Betfort missed a pair of solid chances wide right. She came up empty on a header in the 83rd minute before failing to convert a left-footed shot in the first minute of second-half stoppage time.
Thorns 2, Dash 0
Shelby Hogan made three saves, including a denial of Michelle Alozie in the seventh minute of second-half stoppage time, and visiting Portland blanked Houston.
The Dash’s Sophie Hirst also misfired on an attempt in the second minute of second-half stoppage time as the Thorns (6-3-1, 19 points) stayed hot with their sixth straight victory.
Portland’s Ana Dias, in the 56th minute, and Olivia Moultrie, in the 68th, scored to prevent the Dash (2-5-3, 9 points) from winning back-to-back matches for the first time this season.
Houston goalie Jane Campbell was credited with eight saves.
Bay FC 2, Wave 1
Hanna Lundkvist had a costly own goal in the 87th minute that sent Bay FC past San Diego in San Jose.
The Wave (3-4-2, 11 points) took an early lead when Kyra Carusa scored in the 23rd minute. Scarlett Camberos leveled the match in the 55th minute before Lundkvist’s mishap.
San Diego finished with a 15-6 edge in shots and a 10-3 advantage in shots on goal, but Bay FC (3-7-0, nine points) was able to end a five-match losing streak.
–Field Level Media
