Ashley Sanchez Scores Twice as North Carolina Courage Beat Seattle Reign 3-1 for Fourth Straight Win

It was 94 degrees in Cary on the Fourth of July, according to Seattle's match notes, which is the kind of heat that turns a soccer match into a test of who melts last. Seattle Reign FC melted first. Ashley Sanchez did not melt at all.

Sanchez scored twice, Riley Jackson converted a penalty, and the North Carolina Courage came from behind to beat Seattle 3-1 on Saturday night at First Horizon Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park. It was both teams' first match back from the midseason break, and the Courage picked up right where they left off in May: winning. The club said it was North Carolina's first four-match winning streak since 2023.

Seattle Strikes, Sanchez Answers

Seattle came out flying. Maddie Dahlien missed wide on a fast break in the second minute, Sofia Huerta had a shot blocked in the fourth, and Dahlien had another effort blocked in the 10th. The Reign had the ball, the tempo and, in the 19th minute, the lead.

Huerta delivered it. Her pass found Sally Menti in the middle of the box, and Menti slotted a left-footed finish into the bottom right corner. Seattle's notes said it was Menti's first goal of the season and the second of her NWSL career. The assist mattered too: it was Huerta's 35th in NWSL regular-season play, extending her league record.

The lead lasted three minutes. Evelyn Ijeh set up Sanchez in the center of the box, and Sanchez finished right-footed down the middle for 1-1 in the 22nd minute. North Carolina nearly flipped it entirely in the 31st, when Sanchez got on the end of a Shinomi Koyama cross at the six-yard box and pushed it just wide.

The Barrage That Didn't Land

A drinks break arrived in the 31st minute, and Seattle came out of it pushing again. The 44th minute was pure pinball: Menti had two shots blocked, Mia Fishel missed narrowly to the right, and Huerta had another effort blocked, all in the same minute. Fishel had also been blocked in the 43rd. Kailen Sheridan then saved an Ainsley McCammon shot at the bottom right corner in the second minute of stoppage time.

Seattle finished the night with seven shots blocked, and that late first-half flurry was the story of the Reign's evening in miniature: plenty of the ball, plenty of bodies in the box, not enough clean looks.

Sanchez nearly punished it right before the break, sending a shot from outside the box just wide in the third minute of added time. The teams went to the locker room level at 1-1.

The Whistle That Changed It

Sam Meza headed a Menti corner wide early in the second half, and Cassie Miller and Sheridan traded saves on Koyama and Dahlien. Then came the moment that tilted the match. In the 60th minute, Madison Curry was penalized for a foul on Ally Schlegel in the box. The referee pointed to the spot, VAR confirmed it a minute later, and Curry was booked in the 63rd.

Jackson stepped up in the 64th and drilled it down the middle. Per the Courage, it was her first goal of the season. Seattle had controlled long stretches of the night and suddenly trailed.

The Reign tried to respond immediately. Brittany Ratcliffe replaced Menti in the 65th, Fishel had another shot blocked, and McCammon fired high and wide in the 66th. Sanchez tested Miller at the other end in the 66th, and Ijeh headed a Jackson cross over in the 69th.

Sanchez Puts It Away

Then Sanchez ended it. In the 71st minute, Koyama slid a through ball into the middle, Ijeh let it run through her legs according to the Courage, and Sanchez finished into the bottom right corner for 3-1.

Laura Harvey threw on Nérilia Mondésir, Emeri Adames and Angharad James-Turner in the 76th minute, and Holly Ward in the 87th, but North Carolina managed the rest comfortably. Sanchez came off to a well-earned rest in the 85th, and Ivy Younce nearly added a fourth in the eighth minute of stoppage time before Miller saved.

Who Stood Out

Ashley Sanchez scored twice on five shots, with three on target. The Courage said those were her eighth and ninth goals of the season, keeping her atop the team's scoring chart, and her second brace of the year.

Shinomi Koyama assisted Sanchez's second goal and teed her up three other times.

Riley Jackson buried the penalty that put North Carolina ahead for good and supplied the cross for Ijeh's header.

For Seattle, Sally Menti scored and took three shots, which the Reign called a single-match career high. Sofia Huerta added to her own league record. Cassie Miller made three saves in her Reign debut.

Numbers Worth Knowing

• Shots: Seattle 17, North Carolina 16.
• Shots on goal: North Carolina 6, Seattle 4.
• Possession: Seattle 53.4 percent.
• Blocked shots: Seven of Seattle's attempts were blocked.
• Saves: Miller 3, Sheridan 2.

What It Means

North Carolina moves to six wins, three draws and three losses with 21 points, and the Courage said that put them sixth in the standings. The streak now covers a 4-0 home win over Chicago, road wins at Racing Louisville and Angel City and this one. Next up is a home date with the Washington Spirit on Saturday, July 11.

Seattle drops to four wins, two draws and six losses with 14 points after a second straight loss. The Reign said the defeat closed a run of three straight road matches, and that Harvey has now used 11 different starting lineups in 12 matches. The good news is a homecoming: Seattle hosts the Portland Thorns at Lumen Field on Sunday, July 12, in what the club billed as the 45th edition of the Cascadia rivalry.

The Last Word

There is a version of this match where Seattle's first-half pressure turns into a second goal and the Reign fly home happy. Instead, North Carolina did what good teams do in brutal conditions: rode out the pressure, waited for its moment and let its best player decide it. Sanchez is the Courage's leading scorer for a reason, and on a scorching holiday night, she looked like the coolest person in the building.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Additional details as reported by NCCourage.com and Reign FC's postgame release.