Boston Legacy Earn First Point of the Season as North Carolina Courage Rally for 2-2 Draw

For 13 minutes on Wednesday night, Boston Legacy FC looked like a team that had finally cracked the code. Alba Caño scored in the fifth minute, Sammy Smith doubled it in the 13th, and Gillette Stadium had the feel of a breakthrough party for a club playing its inaugural season.

The North Carolina Courage had other plans for the second half. Dani Weatherholt bundled in a rebound in the 53rd minute, Ashley Sanchez headed home the equalizer in the 76th, and the match finished 2-2 in Foxborough in front of 3,804 fans. Boston still walked away with its first point of the season, after losing its first five matches. North Carolina walked away wondering how it did not take all three.

Prince Sets the Table

Boston's start was as sharp as anything the Legacy had shown all season. In the fifth minute, Nichelle Prince cut the ball back, and Caño fired it from the right side of the box into the bottom left corner. The Legacy say that goal ended North Carolina's run of two straight road shutouts.

Smith nearly made it two in the ninth minute, nodding a Caño corner over the bar from point-blank range. Four minutes later she did not miss. Prince turned provider again, Smith struck from the centre of the box into the bottom right corner, and a team that had scored once in its first five matches suddenly had two goals in 13 minutes.

North Carolina spent the rest of the half knocking without an answer. Manaka Matsukubo sent one just past the top left corner in the 19th minute, Sanchez dragged a shot from distance narrowly wide in the 35th, and Uno Shiragaki headed a Riley Jackson corner delivery just wide in the 41st. Per the Legacy, Boston leaned on Smith and Jorelyn Carabalí out wide to build attacks and kept winning first and second balls in the final third. Boston went into the break with a 2-0 lead and a clean sheet.

The Courage Turn the Screws

Whatever was said in the North Carolina locker room worked. The Courage came out flying, and Boston spent the opening minutes of the second half defending wave after wave. Maycee Bell had a header blocked in the 47th, Shinomi Koyama and Sanchez had efforts charged down, and the corners kept coming.

The breakthrough arrived in the 53rd minute after yet another corner. Evelyn Ijeh's header was blocked, Shiragaki's shot was saved by Casey Murphy, and Weatherholt was there to poke the rebound in from close range. The Courage say it was her second goal for the club.

From there, it felt like a matter of when. Ijeh missed twice before making way for Hannah Betfort in the 60th minute, Bell had another header blocked, and North Carolina launched three more attempts in the 70th minute alone. Boston tried to slow things down with spells of possession in midfield, but the pressure never let up.

The Turning Point

The equalizer came in the 76th minute, and it was a classic. Ryan Williams whipped in a cross, and Sanchez headed it past Murphy into the bottom left corner from close range. That goal changed the question from whether Boston could hold on to whether North Carolina could find a winner.

It nearly did. Betfort fired just wide in the 81st minute, and in the 88th a VAR review confirmed there would be no penalty for the Courage. Nine minutes of stoppage time followed, and Boston had its own late looks, with Chloe Ricketts blasting over on a fast break and a Caño shot blocked. Nobody found the last word.

Who Mattered

Nichelle Prince was Boston's best player, with assists on both goals before the hosts lost their grip. Alba Caño and Sammy Smith each scored on two shots.

Ashley Sanchez led North Carolina's comeback with four shots and the equalizer. The Courage say it was her fifth goal of the season, tying her career high and pulling her into a tie for first in the Golden Boot race. Dani Weatherholt got the comeback started, and Ryan Williams supplied the assist for the equalizer.

Maycee Bell was a menace in the air with three headed attempts, while Manaka Matsukubo added three shots and kept feeding the box. For Boston, Casey Murphy made one save, the stop on Shiragaki that Weatherholt turned in. Laís Araújo, making her Boston debut according to the club, had to come off injured in the 84th minute.

Stats That Matter

• Shots: North Carolina 22, Boston 7. On target: Courage 4, Legacy 2.
• Corners: North Carolina 7, Boston 3.
• Crosses: North Carolina attempted 22 and completed 8. Boston attempted 7.
• Defending: Boston made 23 clearances and 20 interceptions.
• Possession: North Carolina 50.8 percent, Boston 49.2.

What It Means

Boston moves to no wins, one draw and five losses with 1 point, its first of the season after defeats to Gotham FC, the Houston Dash, the Utah Royals, San Diego Wave FC and Chicago Stars FC. It is not the win Boston has been chasing, but the first 13 minutes showed what the attack can look like when Prince is pulling the strings. The Legacy, who wore their Common Ground kits on what the club billed as Boston Sports Night, host Denver Summit FC at Gillette Stadium on Sunday, May 3.

North Carolina sits at two wins, three draws and one loss with 9 points and is unbeaten in three matches, after a 2-2 draw with Portland Thorns FC on April 4 and a 1-0 win at the Houston Dash on April 25. The Courage say this was their first-ever meeting with Boston. They head home to host the Kansas City Current on Saturday, May 2, their first home match in nearly a month.

The Final Word

This was a two-act play with a very different lead in each act. Boston owned the opening scene, North Carolina rewrote the ending, and both sides left the theater a little unsatisfied. For the Legacy, though, a first point is a first point. Every franchise story needs a pilot episode, and Boston's finally made it to air.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Additional details as reported by BostonLegacyFC.com and NCCourage.com. No official postgame quotes were available.