The defender courted controversy during the season, refusing to play on the team’s Pride Night
The North Carolina Courage announced they have declined their 2023 option on defender Jaelene Daniels, ending her time with the team.
Daniels was a controversial signing for the Courage in the offseason, with the club being forced to apologize for bringing her back to the team after a brief retirement.
“We are very sorry to all those we have hurt, especially those within the LGBTQIA+ community,” the Courage said in December.
At issue was Daniels previously refusing to play for the U.S. national team when they wore rainbow-colored numbers for Pride Month, a decision she attributed to her Christian faith.
The Courage were put on the defensive as fan discontent simmered over the 29-year-old’s continuing presence on the roster. Some fans believed that the Courage’s declining attendance was at least partially due to the club’s decision to bring back Daniels — though there were a number of other factors at play including the team losing a host of established stars in the offseason.
But Merritt Mathias, one of the Courage’s veteran leaders, openly questioned the club’s decisions and hinted that she agreed with fans who opted to stay away because of Daniels.
Daniels was a regular contributor to the Courage during her return to the team, playing in 19 of the club’s 22 regular-season games while making eight starts.
“The club wishes Jaelene the best in her future endeavors,” the Courage said in a statement.
The 20-year-old has now scored seven times in her last four matches
Diana Ordóñez is a rookie goalscorer the likes of which the NWSL has not yet seen.
The 20-year-old scored two more times for the North Carolina Courage over the weekend, taking her total for the season to 10 goals.
Ordóñez has already far surpassed the league’s previous rookie scoring record of seven goals in a season, and now the Mexico international has an unlikely Golden Boot bid in her sights.
The 20-year-old has been especially on fire of late, scoring seven times in her last four matches including two in Saturday’s 4-0 win over the Chicago Red Stars.
After that game, Courage head coach Sean Nahas expressed his admiration for how Ordóñez is learning how to succeed in the league after some early growing paints.
“Sometimes you have to learn by fire, and you have to just fail a little bit,” Nahas told reporters. “But her ability and what she’s doing in those areas, she’s putting herself in scoring [positions] and you can see her confidence growing.”
On scoring goals, Ordóñez said: “It’s always been a knack of mine since I was little. It’s just what I feel like I was honestly born to do.”
The Mexico international has made the transition from the University of Virginia look easy of late, which is a huge development for a Courage side that lost attacking mainstays Lynn Williams and Jessica McDonald before the season.
“We’ve lost massive forwards in the history of this club, and now she’s setting her own history,” Nahas said.
Ordóñez is part of a 2022 NWSL rookie class that might be the best in league history. Naomi Girma, Jaelin Howell, Savannah DeMelo, Elyse Bennett and Sam Coffey are among a host of first-year players making a name for themselves.
For Nahas though, there is only one choice for the league’s top rookie.
“I’ll say right now,” Nahas said, “if [Ordóñez] is not Rookie of the Year I don’t know who is.”
For reasons we can (and cannot) explain, every Courage game is bonkers
Whatever your plans are for a given weekend of soccer viewing, you have to make sure the North Carolina Courage are on your schedule.
“Now wait a minute,” you might be thinking. “Pro Soccer Wire, are you telling me to watch a team currently sitting in last place? With so many things going on in soccer right now?”
Yes, we are! And here’s why: the Courage are guaranteed entertainment right now. This is a team that has, over its last eight games, scored and conceded 20 times. An average soccer match has somewhere between two or three goals. NWSL, as a league, has produced 242 goals in 89 matches this season, or an average of 2.72.
The average Courage match over these eight games? Five goals. They’re not just a team that scores and concedes more than most; they’re out on the fringes of what we even thought was possible.
Just look at their recent games all at once. It’s overwhelming.
Let’s talk about their latest game, Saturday’s 4-3 loss to the Kansas City Current that started out at 100 miles an hour, and then just never even remotely slowed down. North Carolina took the lead twice in a breathless first half, only for the Current to get level both times before the break. The Courage went in front again, only to watch Kansas City equalize for a third time. North Carolina never took a lead that lasted more than nine minutes before we’d be back in a tie game.
And then, to cap it off, a fully end-to-end second half was capped off with an absolute wondergoal from Kansas City’s Claire Lavogez, who surged up the middle and unleashed a nearly 30-yard rocket to take the three points:
This madcap, non-stop action is just what the Courage provide. Their last two games before this were 3-3 draws. One saw them come from 2-0 and 3-2 down against league-leading Portland while on the road, and the other saw them nearly replicate what Kansas City just did to them, pulling themselves level against the Washington Spirit three times.
This loss to Kansas City isn’t even their first 4-3 loss of the summer, as they did the same at home against the Houston Dash back in June. A 2-2 draw with the Chicago Red Stars about a month ago saw them lead 2-0 going into stoppage time, only to concede twice.
No lead, whether it’s North Carolina or their opponent, is safe when the Courage are playing.
How on earth is this happening?
Going forward, there are two main factors about why the Courage are scoring so freely. First and foremost, they’re just stocked with talented players. Debinha and Kerolin are, save for maybe Trinity Rodman and Ashley Sanchez, the most entertaining one-two punch in NWSL. They’re electric, and really this article could have the same headline if it were simply about watching those two combine on the break. You should have already been trying to watch them whenever possible.
Those two are playing off of Diana Ordoñez, who has emerged as a major Rookie of the Year contender. With a goal against Kansas City, the Mexican international took her goal total up to eight on the season, a new record for an NWSL rookie, and the Courage still have 10 games to play.
Secondly, North Carolina’s approach under Sean Nahas is generally built around high-pressing, transitional soccer. They sprint forward after turnovers, they stretch teams from touchline to touchline, and they overwhelm defenses with sheer numbers. That means a wide-open game, and the Courage seem to be able to force these terms onto just about anyone they play against.
All of that is very good, but their inability to slow opposing teams down is just as much of a factor in these bonkers results. The Courage are so committed to going forward at full speed that when things go the other way, there’s always space to attack.
Dovetailing with that in a way that benefits neutrals and absolutely shreds the nerves of North Carolina fans, the Courage haven’t been able to defend well. Numerous players are having down years on this side of the ball, with American Soccer Analysis’ Goals Added metric not reflecting well on U.S. women’s national team goalkeeper Casey Murphy (13th out of 14 goalkeepers with 300+ minutes played in the regular season) or normally dependable defensive midfielder Denise O’Sullivan (34th out of 40 central or defensive midfielders with the same minutes requirement).
Finally, there’s just a dash of the bizarre thrown in the mix here. North Carolina may have their strengths and flaws, but they’re also seeing some inexplicable wildness in their games. Expected goals totals should reflect their tactical tendencies towards opting for high-scoring track meets, right?
Nope. North Carolina has, on a per-game basis, NWSL’s fifth-best expected goals rate (1.42), and while their 1.50 expected goals against is 10th out of 12 teams, they’re closer to being a top four team in the category than they are to Gotham FC’s woeful 1.79 xGA.
And yet, there’s Lavogez going unchallenged to hit a banger. There’s a simple throw-in becoming a four-on-four that ends in Cece Kizer being wide open in the box to score. They keep generating point-blank chances for Ordoñez, even when Debinha and Kerolin were away with Brazil.
In other words, the fates have decided that we’re all getting a goal feast that defies explanation whenever the Courage play. The only rational choice is to fire up a stream and have a blast.
This goes beyond any personal disagreement with an individual’s beliefs
Not many clubs would make a signing for which they are forced to immediately beg for forgiveness. Even fewer would actually keep that player around anyway.
But that’s what the North Carolina Courage did in December when they brought Jaelene Daniels back into the fold after the defender returned from a brief retirement.
“We are very sorry to all those we have hurt, especially those within the LGBTQIA+ community,” the Courage said, acknowledging the impact of signing a player who had refused to play for the U.S. women’s national team when it featured rainbow numbers for Pride Month.
Suffice it to say, not every fan will agree with the beliefs of all of their players. But Daniels is a unique case: a player who appears to be actively harming her team’s business outlook and locker-room chemistry, while simultaneously failing to boost its on-field performance.
Many of the club’s fans felt Daniels’ return was an affront to them personally. Some of them have decided to stop giving the club their money.
According to Soccer Stadium Digest, the Courage currently rank 10th out of 12 NWSL teams in attendance. Their average of 4,621 is down eight percent from last year and, according to WUNC, that is down from an average of 5,875 in 2019, which was good for fourth out of nine teams.
There is, of course, no single explanation for this phenomenon. But it is a notable outlier in a league that has seen a 20 percent growth overall in attendance from last season to this season.
And at least anecdotally, some of the club’s biggest fans said the organization’s decision to bring Daniels back made them question whether they wanted to support the club financially.
“For me, the biggest sticking point [for renewing season tickets] was the re-signing of Jaelene Daniels,” Courage fan Jessica Turner told WUNC. “They knew that there had been issues in the past with this player, very publicly… And they decided to go with that knowing that there is going to be backlash, knowing that there is going to be a whole section of our fanbase that are going to feel harmed by this and are going to feel like the club doesn’t support them.”
Merritt Mathias, one of the Courage’s veteran leaders, openly questioned the club’s decisions and hinted that she understood – and agreed with – fans who opted to stay away because of Daniels.
“There are reasons why people aren’t here and haven’t wanted to spend their money or beliefs and that is up to them,” Mathias said in May. “If this gets out there, I am a part of the community that has struggled with some of the choices that this club has made.”
Speaking to fans directly, she added: “If you don’t like one player, then there are 25, 26 other ones to choose from. Find someone you love.”
Andy Mead-USA TODAY Sports
This all seems like an awful lot of trouble to go through to keep one player on the roster. One would hope, at the very least, that Daniels was exceptionally helpful for the Courage on the field.
Not really.
Daniels has been a regular contributor, having appeared in all of the Courage’s games this season before Friday. But according to American Soccer Analysts’ Goals Added metric, which measures the overall impact a player has, Daniels ranks 252nd out of 267 NWSL players for the 2022 regular season.
Stephen Brashear-USA TODAY Sports
The Courage struggled to explain Daniels’ actions after Friday’s game. Head coach Sean Nahas admitted it had been a “distraction.”
“I don’t necessarily have to agree with what people think and what they choose to believe,” Nahas said.
Club captain Abby Erceg said she understood fans deciding to stay away, but lamented how that decision ultimately hurts every Courage player.
“I think the offseason in particular gave us a lot to think about,” Erceg said. “I’m kind of with Merritt. We’re desperate to have our fans back. The fans, the stadium, the community that we’ve created here over the past five or six years has been really really special to the girls.
“I understand that the fans want to take a stand for the players and the fans want to have their voice heard as well. And we appreciate that, but when we can’t get fans into the stadium it hurts them, it hurts the players, it hurts the club and at the end of the day, it’s the players that suffer.”
When she opted out of playing for the USWNT, Daniels was really only harming her own personal on-field prospects. After all, these were just friendlies and this is the USWNT we’re talking about: there will always be high-quality players eager to step in and fill any on-field void.
But Friday was something different. This was a player, already at odds with so many teammates and fans, opting out of a crucial regular-season game when she was fully capable of playing physically.
But the Courage, as a private entity, are under no obligation to maintain the status quo. Regardless of what metric you use, it’s difficult to argue that Daniels is making a positive impact.
“Of course we want the fans back,” Erceg said. “But at the same time we need the club to hear what the fans are saying as well, because they’re the ones that are paying the ticket prices.”
The defender addressed the club’s controversial decision to bring back Jaelene Daniels in the offseason
North Carolina Courage defender Merritt Mathias aired out some of her frustrations with her club on Sunday as she reflected on a tumultuous period for the Courage that has appeared to drive some fans away.
The Courage drew a season-high 6,070 fans at WakeMed Soccer Park in a 1-0 defeat to the San Diego Wave, with the game’s only goal scored by Alex Morgan.
The attendance boost was notable for Mathias, who was under no illusions as to why more fans than normal were in the stands.
“The fan support has wavered,” Mathias told the media in comments documented by reporter Nicholas Schnittker. “It isn’t a coincidence that Alex Morgan is playing and there are 6,000 people that are here. Previous games, the fan support has wavered and there are reasons for that.
“And there are reasons why people aren’t here and haven’t wanted to spend their money or beliefs and that is up to them. If this gets out there, I am a part of the community that has struggled with some of the choices that this club has made. They’ve made it very clear.”
A difficult year for the Courage
In the fall, a report in The Athletic featured on-record accusations of sexual coercion against Courage coach Paul Riley, who was quickly ousted from his position.
Courage owner Steve Malik was put on the defensive after Riley was fired, saying in an open letter that the club conducted “due diligence” when Riley was brought to North Carolina in 2017 and that the club had no knowledge of any alleged inappropriate behavior.
Malik did apologize for a “failure to create an environment where players feel safe and comfortable coming forward.”
Two months later the Courage would again be apologizing to their fans, many of whom were outraged when the club re-signed defender Jaelene Daniels.
Daniels made headlines when, citing her Christian faith, she refused a U.S. national team call-up in 2017 because the team was wearing rainbow-themed jerseys for LGBTQ Pride Month.
“In response to the recent news of re-signing Jaelene Daniels, we as a club acknowledge the impact this announcement has on our community,” the Courage said in December in an open letter to fans. “We’ve spent the past few days reading your messages and reflecting on our actions. We are very sorry to all those we have hurt, especially those within the LGBTQIA+ community.”
Daniels, however, was kept on the roster.
Mathias addresses Daniels decision
Mathias was asked how she felt the club could win fans back and addressed the controversial re-signing of Daniels during her answer.
“My personal opinion is that, from a player standpoint, the voices that have been heard have been from the front office,” Mathias said. “There’s been a very particular voice that has been heard in wanting to support the community. And personally, I don’t think we’ve done a great job of that in the past years. And that is fair. I don’t think that has been any secret.
“We didn’t have a Pride Night for three years, we didn’t wear a jersey. Everyone knows all these things and I think bringing back Jaelene was a decision made by the club and as a player who is part of the community, you have to work through those struggles but that is what a team is about. You have to be able to embrace people of all different religions, of all different views, of all different backgrounds.
“For me, I think it is really important that we have a voice as much as the club. That there is a group here that truly, truly loves and supports and is here for the LGBTQ community. I think that is a really important message to get out there, because we definitely miss you guys. We definitely miss our fans. They are a huge, huge reason why we were so successful for so many years. The way they had our back and the support we had day-in and day-out. I hope putting a good product on the field gets people back, but also knowing that you’re loved and believed in.
“From a team standpoint, we love and believe in our fans. For sure. We know how important they are and we definitely miss them. It is still a long season. Hopefully we can get a product out there that is winning and we are proud of. But I think this is a group that fans can be really proud of. For what they stand for and just the entertainment factor that they have and the beliefs that they have and the people that they are. If you don’t like one player, then there are 25, 26 other ones to choose from. Find someone you love.”
The game was supposed to be a showcase, but instead it again revealed some of the NWSL’s player-safety challenges
The NWSL Challenge Cup final was supposed to be a showpiece event, but the league may not have been pleased that a national TV audience witnessed some of the ugliness in Saturday’s match.
The North Carolina Courage defeated the Washington Spirit 2-1 in the finale of the preseason tournament, but the final score seemed secondary after age-old issues of refereeing and player safety again stole the headlines.
The most prominent incident came near the end of the game when the Spirit’s Jordan Baggett scarily collided with an opponent and stayed down. With Spirit medical staff on the pitch, players took it upon themselves to get a stretcher out to their teammate quicker.
Spirit star Trinity Rodman was far from pleased after the game.
Two more incidents left Courage players fuming. Courage defender Abby Erceg was caught with a stud to the chest, but Erceg and goalkeeper Katelyn Rowland said the incident went unpunished because the referee (wrongly) determined it was the ball, not Ashley Hatch’s boot, that caught Erceg.
The Spirit again got away with a potentially serious challenge when Sam Staab’s tackle in the box on Kerolin was not deemed to be a penalty despite replays clearly showing Kerolin’s ankle being rolled up under Staab’s tackle.
Courage defender Kayleigh Kurtz, among others, was left fuming.
This is just so not okay!! Refs are meant to protect the players, and tackles like this will continue to happen if players go unchecked! https://t.co/IB2NWU7uwa
Unlike in most professional men’s leagues, NWSL referees do not have the ability to utilize VAR, which could have reversed the decisions in the incidents with Erceg and Kerolin.
NWSL players past and present weigh in
With player safety on the pitch clearly still an issue, a number of NWSL players, both current and former, took to social media after the game to voice their displeasure with what they saw.
Horrible scenes from yesterday’s @NWSL match. A situation I’ve been in myself, and still cannot understand how nothing has changed since. Why isn’t medical care a number 1 priority in that league? It’s professional football, player safety needs to come first.
