McDonald’s goals lead Courage to NWSL title
PORTLAND, ORE. » A nearly flawless season came to the perfect end for the North Carolina Courage.
Jess McDonald scored two goals and the Courage — who lost just once this year — won the National Women’s Soccer League championship with a 3-0 victory over the Portland Thorns Saturday.
“It was kind of an all-ornothing kind of game, and we just continued our process this season,” McDonald said. “The only thing we wanted to do was improve in today’s game and that’s kind of what we did.”
The victory was a bit of revenge for the Courage, who lost 1-0 to the Thorns in last year’s title match.
The Courage (17-1-6) won the league’s Supporters’ Shield for best record and never dropped a game on the road. The team also set records this season for the most wins, points and goals.
The match was played before a sellout crowd of 21,144 at Portland’s Providence Park. That was a record for the final of a women’s pro league championship in the United States.
Brazilian Debinha scored on a header in the 13th minute, and McDonald followed with her own in the 40th. Shortly thereafter, Portland goalkeeper Adrianna Franch appeared to tweak her ankle, but she returned for the second half.
Portland came out energized in the second half, but Courage keeper Katelyn Rowland denied a Tobin Heath blast in the 55th minute.
McDonald struck again with a header in the 64th minute that Franch got a hand on but couldn’t stop.
McDonald, a 30-year-old vet who has played for five teams in six years, led the league with eight assists in the regular season. She has three goals in the postseason.
“It feels absolutely amazing. This is what we worked so hard for,” McDonald said. “Every single minute, every single day that we put work into — it counted today,” McDonald said.
Courage coach Paul Riley said he couldn’t imagine a better ending for McDonald, who was named the game’s MVP.
“What a leader she’s been in the locker room, what a leader off the field,” Riley said. “She’s a phenomenal person, Phenomenal player, and to see her get the MVP for the final, it’s just, what a script, you couldn’t write it.”