NC Courage 2026 season review - what went right
On Sunday, September 6th, the North Carolina Courage thoroughly defeated the Chicago Stars. They outshot the Stars 24-6. Ashley Sanchez had a hat trick, moving to second place on the list of most goals in a NWSL season. The Courage won 6-0, and moved up to third in the standings.
That was the last time in the year that the Courage would score multiple goals in a game. They proceeded to lose five of their final seven games, and finished two points out of the final playoff spot.
There’s lots of time to go back and focus on what’s wrong. Head coach Mak Lind said he was going to.
For me it's about zoom[ing] out and see[ing] the big picture because every game can be different, different opponents, different players. And I need to see the big picture and not dive into details too much because I think I can point out 15 different things we did good and 25 different things we can do better. And in the end, it's about finding couple of things, maybe three things to say this is something we're going to focus on. And I don't have that answer fully right now. I will have that answer in a couple weeks heading to a new season.
For now, looking at 2026, let’s focus on what went right. Maybe I won’t list fifteen different things, but there’s a lot of good that happened this season for the Courage that is worth celebrating.
Ashley Sanchez and the goal scoring explosion #
Under Sean Nahas, the Courage were at best a middle-of-the-pack team offensively. New head coach Mak Lind came in and immediately noted he was “obsessed with scoring goals”. That obsession paid off.
Despite the late-season slump, the Courage finished only two goals off the league lead. Ashley Sanchez, of course, paced the team with 20 goals, tying Temwa Chawinga’s NWSL record for most goals in a season and winning the league’s Golden Boot. For details on how Sanchez exploded in Lind’s system, see previously on this blog. But it wasn’t just Sanchez.
The Courage finally have a productive center forward again. Evelyn Ijeh chipped in 11 goals and four assists - the same total as Manaka Matsukubo last year. While they’ve had higher-scoring wide forwards (Sanchez, Lynn Biyendolo, Kerolin), Ijeh’s fifteen goal contributions ties 2018 Jessica McDonald for the most from a number 9 in team history.
Overall they had 14 different goal scorers and five players with four or more assists, numbers not seen since the 2019 championship season. The Courage moved from one of the more dull teams to watch to one of the most exciting.
Defensive performance despite concentrated injuries #
Every team deals with injuries. But North Carolina’s injuries in 2026 were heavily concentrated. Of their thirty games, they only played four full games with their starting centerbacks Maycee Bell and Natalie Jacobs. Meanwhile, they played a full third of games with neither, having to rely on third and fourth string centerbacks (rookie Uno Shiragaki and Talia Staude). Their starting left back, Feli Rauch, played less then half of the seasons’ minutes, and one potential backup, Sydney Schmidt, went on the season-ending injury list after three apperances and 70 minutes.
For many teams that would spell disaster. And they did have their nervy minutes, especially in transition. But overall they were a league average defense despite putting together a makeshift back line. It’s impressive and it bodes well for next season when they will hopefully return to health.
Vibes are good #
2026 marked a new era for the Courage. For the first time in their history, no member of the coaching staff had had full-time involvement with the Paul Riley era. (Goalkeeper coach Katelyn Rowland did play under Riley).
In prior seasons, under prior staffs, players said they had to leave the team to be themselves. Now players talk about the good vibes of the squad, the relationships that the staff helps to develop, and how much they enjoy playing for Mak Lind.
Ally Schlegel touched on this.
To answer your question about team chemistry, I really do think both Ceri [Bowley] and Mak [Lind] and just this environment in general has done a really good job emphasizing the importance of that both from an off-field culture perspective to onfield. I think when you see parts of team chemistry coming out on the field, I think it should just be known that that's like a very intentional thing that goes on here. And I think Mak does a really good job of trying to integrate those relationships and training. I think he does a good job at allowing those things to blossom. So, I would just say anything that you see from that front is both like very intentional and also like very organic.
Ashley Sanchez echoed the same.
He’s just a really good person. And I think when we all talk about it – he’s just so nice – we’re just like, 'We need to protect him.' It’s the first time that I’ve been like, ‘Wow, I do want to win for him.’ … He puts a lot of trust and confidence in me and I want to reward how he treats his players. He’s definitely the kindest coach I’ve ever had in my life.
Even a player no longer with the team, Olivia Wingate, talked about Lind when discussing her return from injury.
Honestly, I just feel like the support that I've gotten from [Lind], even though he hasn't known a lot of what I went through in my injury and the ins and outs of all last year, just being able to come in, being injured, I still felt like I was a big part of the team. And I think that that's really special to do as a head coach and make people feel like they're very cared about as a person, not just as a player on the field. I think that he does that really well with everybody.
All the players still talk about how the team is built on hard work, and intense training. But the continuing thread in their statements is just how much more they seem to be enjoying it this season, a credit to the new staff.
Continued attendance growth in-market #
For the fifth straight season, the Courage increased their attendance, setting an overall attendance record for the club. They finished the season with five sellouts, one more than in all previous seasons combined.
Overall they finished 11th of the league’s 16 teams in raw attendance numbers, their highest placement since the pre-expansion days in 2021. As a percentage of venue capacity, the Courage finished third in the league at 83% capacity, behind Kansas City and Denver, and just ahead of the Washington Spirit.
The Courage do play in the smallest venue in the league, and are running out of room to grow attendance. Owner Steve Malik continues to push for Raleigh to build a new stadium In an interview with WUNC club COO Ralph Vuono noted that about 70% of attendance is first-time attendees. What will be key to continue to grow their presence in-market is to get more of that 70% coming back regularly, including as season-ticket members.
The Courage front office’s work to ensure the house is full has paid dividends. Multiple players have noted the excitement that comes from playing in front of a full house. Said goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan:
Yeah, it's massive. I think it I could feel that it put the opposition on the back foot. Like the energy and when the the fans got into it, and when everybody in the stands was doing the "NC!" "Courage!" back and forth it I could feel our momentum and that's something that's really special. I think the more that we can lean on that and bring in the fans as like a 12th man it's going to be massive going forward.
Ally Schlegel echoed this in an earlier press conference.
I want to give a little shout out there to our front office and the work they've done. It's been so fun to be playing in front of these crowds and being a part of these crowds when I was out. The atmosphere has been incredible and I think that absolutely helps on the field.
Renovated the roster on the fly #
That the Courage were as successful as they were, given the extreme makeover to the roster, should not be taken for granted. It’s not just moving on from their reigning top scorer and midfielder of the year at midseason. Looking at the gameday roster for the final game against Denver makes that clear.
A look at the lineup 👀
— North Carolina Courage (@nccourage.com) November 1, 2026 at 4:08 PM
[image or embed]
Only seven of the 20 players who dressed for the season finale were on the gameday roster for the 2025 finale. Five of the 20 players for the 2026 finale weren’t even on the opening day roster. They’ve got much younger (Evelyn Ijeh at just over 25 years old is older than the average), and much deeper (every field player save one saw the field). Going into the offseason, they already have 24 out of 26 roster spots filled for the next year, and a 14 player core signed for 2028.
That level of turnover usually signals a team going into full rebuild; the only-seven-holdovers matches the Chicago Stars. Instead, the Courage were in the playoff race until the final moments.
Despite the frustrating end to the season, the North Carolina Courage accomplished a lot in 2026. Over the offseason, we’ll dig more into how they got the results they did, questions they need to answer, how they might address free agents and signings, and more.