Crystal Dunn scored one goal and set up another in North Carolina’s 4-2 win over Washington. (Photo by Matthew Levine)
BOYDS, Md. — Crystal Dunn scored her first goal for the North Carolina Courage in its 4-2 win over the Washington Spirit in a National Women’s Soccer League Saturday night.
The first-place Courage (3-0-0, 9 points), coached by Bay Shore, N.Y. resident Paul Riley, remained unbeaten while the Spirit fell to 1-2-0.
A brace from McCall Zerboni bookended by goals from Dunn and Lynn Williams. Dunn, a Rockville Centre, N.Y. native, also registered an assist.
North Carolina fell behind early when a defensive mistake opened up scoring for Washington. Mallory Pugh capitalized on an intercepted pass and buried her shot past goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo for a 1-0 lead.
The momentum began to shift when Dunn netted her goal in 20th minute. Williams played a ball into the box from the left side, where Jess McDonald flicked it on to Dunn, who hit her shot by keeper Aubrey Bledsoe to knot it up at 1-1.
Only four minutes later, Zerboni found the go-ahead goal thanks to a direct free kick outside the 18 that sent North Carolina into the locker room leading, 2-1.
In the second half, Zerboni picked up right where she left off and completed her brace in the 48th minute, easily finishing an assist from Kristen Hamilton.
Washington continued to fight, and began its quest for a comeback in the 58th minute when second-half substitute Havana Solaun found Francisca Ordega in the box to close the gap to a one-goal deficit.
The Courage, however, locked in the lead. Williams got the fourth Courage goal of the night when she dribbled a pass from Dunn into the center of Washington’s defensive third and rocketed her shot into the bottom left corner past Bledsoe.
