Evelyn Ijeh Becomes First Swede With an NWSL Hat Trick as Courage Rout Pride 5-0

The North Carolina Courage walked into Friday night on a three-game losing streak. They walked out of it with a hat trick, a teenage record-setter and the biggest winning margin the league had seen all season.

Evelyn Ijeh scored three times, Lauryn Thompson and Ashley Sanchez added one each, and the Courage demolished the Orlando Pride 5-0 at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary. Per the Courage, Ijeh became the first Swedish player to score a hat trick in the NWSL, and the five-goal margin was the largest win in the league this season.

A Teenager Sets the Tone

It took four minutes. Erica Parkinson slipped the ball to Thompson in the middle of the box, and Thompson finished left-footed into the bottom right corner. That one goal carried a pile of history, according to the Courage: Thompson, a Wake Forest, North Carolina, native, became the youngest player to score for the club in the NWSL regular season, Parkinson became the sixth-youngest player in league history to record an assist, and it was only the third teenager-to-teenager goal in NWSL history. Not a bad way to start a Friday.

The Courage kept the foot down. Riley Jackson forced Anna Moorhouse into a save in the sixth minute, and in the eighth Moorhouse had to stop Ijeh from point-blank range. Orlando briefly found some rhythm, piling up corners between the 16th and 31st minutes, but Marta's best look sailed over the bar and nothing else got through.

The Ijeh Show

Then Ijeh took over. In the 26th minute, moments after having a shot blocked, Sanchez set up Ijeh, who finished left-footed into the bottom left corner. Nine minutes later, almost the same movie: Sanchez blocked again, Thompson this time with the assist, and Ijeh slotted another left-footer into the bottom right corner. 3-0 at the half, and the Pride looked shell-shocked.

Orlando head coach Seb Hines did not sugarcoat it. "We killed ourselves in the first half," he said. "Teams like North Carolina can punish you in transition and they did tonight."

Orlando did have a couple of moments after the break. Ally Lemos sent a direct free kick over in the 57th minute, and McCutcheon, who was caught offside three times on the night, put a left-footed shot just past the top left corner in the 62nd. That was about as close as the Pride got.

The second half also brought injury trouble on both sides. Shinomi Koyama left for the Courage in the 53rd minute, and Marta went off injured for Orlando in the 68th after a lengthy stoppage. Two minutes after Marta's exit, Ijeh completed the hat trick, a right-footed finish from very close range into the bottom left corner with no assist required. According to the Courage, it was the eighth hat trick in club history, and no NWSL club has more.

Sanchez put the bow on it in stoppage time. Riley Jackson threaded a through ball, and Sanchez finished left-footed down the middle for 5-0. Even then the Courage kept hunting. Substitute Ally Schlegel forced Moorhouse into a save in the first minute of stoppage time, and Hannah Betfort, on for Ijeh, put two late chances wide.

The Stars of the Night

Evelyn Ijeh: Three goals on four shots, all four on target, in 80 minutes before Betfort replaced her. A historic night in every sense.

Ashley Sanchez: A goal, an assist and four shots. The Courage said it was her 10th goal of the season, doubling her previous career high and putting her second in the Golden Boot race.

Lauryn Thompson: A goal and an assist, plus the record books. Per the Courage, it was also her first goal as a professional.

Kailen Sheridan: Only two saves needed, on Ally Lemos in first-half stoppage time and Haley McCutcheon in the 84th, but she kept the clean sheet.

Anna Moorhouse: Five goals against will sting, but the Pride said her three saves pushed her to 292 career regular-season saves, passing Ashlyn Harris (289) for the most in Pride history.

The Turning Point

The 26th minute. Orlando had just won four corners in a span of eight minutes and was knocking on the door. Instead, the Courage went the other way, Sanchez kept the move alive and Ijeh made it 2-0. That sequence summed up Hines' complaint perfectly: Orlando's pressure produced nothing, and North Carolina's transition produced goals. Nine minutes later it was 3-0, and the rest of the night was about how big the Courage wanted the number to be.

Stats That Matter

• Shots on target: North Carolina 9, Orlando 2.
• Corners: Orlando 10, North Carolina 2. All that set-piece volume, zero goals.
• Blocked shots: Seven of Orlando's 12 attempts were blocked.
• Clearances: North Carolina 35, Orlando 10.
• Possession: 50.1 percent to 49.9. The ball was shared. The goals were not.

What It Means

North Carolina improves to 7-3-6 with 24 points and snaps a three-match skid that included a 2-0 home loss to Washington, a 3-0 defeat at Bay FC and a 4-1 home loss to Utah. The Courage now head out on a road trip to Denver and Washington. Captain Natalie Jacobs also made her first start since March 21, and Vilde Bøe Risa, who signed with the club this week per the Courage, made her NWSL debut off the bench.

Orlando drops to 7-2-9 with 23 points, one behind the Courage, after a 1-0 home win over Chicago the previous week. Zoe Matthews made her Pride debut as a substitute. Hines said he told his players afterward they need to compete more. The Pride return home to face Racing Louisville FC on Friday, Aug. 7.

Closing Take

Every great breakout needs its main-character moment, and Ijeh's came on a Friday night in Cary. The Courage had been sliding, the vibes were shaky, and then a Swedish forward and a couple of teenagers turned the place into a highlight reel. If North Carolina can bottle this version of itself, the losing streak will look like a typo.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Postgame quotes as reported by OrlandoPride.com; additional details from NCCourage.com.