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North Carolina cap historic season with NWSL Championship

By Jordan Small

North Carolina Courage celebrates their first goal during the final of the 2018 Women's International Champions Cup against Olympique Lyonnais at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. on Sunday, July 29, 2018. (Sam Navarro/Miami Herald/TNS via Getty Images)
North Carolina Courage celebrates their first goal during the final of the 2018 Women's International Champions Cup against Olympique Lyonnais at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. on Sunday, July 29, 2018. (Sam Navarro/Miami Herald/TNS via Getty Images) /
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3 takeaways from the North Carolina Courage’s win over the Portland Thorns in the 2018 NWSL Championship Game on Saturday afternoon.

In a rematch of last year’s final, the Portland Thorns and North Carolina Courage met at Providence Park for the 2018 NWSL Championship. Two goals in the first half and one more in the second was the difference for North Carolina who capped off their historic season with a 3-0 win to capture their first NWSL Championship in club history.

Courage defense completely shuts down Portland offense

The North Carolina Courage finished the regular season as the best defensive team in NWSL history. On Tuesday against Chicago, they proved that once again. But the performance they put in for the championship match was something special. They shut down the Portland offense and made the NWSL MVP Lindsey Horan go completely quiet on the offensive side of the ball.

One of the things that the Courage defense did well was not allow any runners in behind their lines. This then forced Portland to have to play in out of the back under a lot of pressure from the Courage front line. At the end of the day, the Courage’s defensive structure foiled any sort of game plan that the Thorns had.

Jess McDonald proves to be too much for Portland’s backline

Jess McDonald had herself a game on Saturday afternoon. The Final’s Most Valuable Player ended up with two goals on the day, both with her head. McDonald was all over the field, even when she was not putting the ball in the back of the net. She also ended up playing a huge part in the defense for North Carolina. As one of the players on the front line, she was key in the counterattack for North Carolina.

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Providence Park proves why it is the best venue in women’s soccer

When it was announced that Providence Park would host the NWSL Championship, it was expected to be a wonderful crowd. Then Portland made the final and all expectations were elevated. There were rumblings that the game was sold out early in the week. Then came the actual game and it lived up to the hype.

21,144 people packed into Providence Park, the most ever for a women’s pro soccer championship in U.S. history. The Rose City Riveters in the north end stayed in it for the whole game, drumming and chanting from their end of the field. The Courage also had a contingent of fans in attendance at the opposite end of the field.

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