North Carolina Courage Vs Chicago Red Stars: The rivalry NWSL needs

For the ‘growth of the game’, the NWSL needs a rivalry. Perhaps the North Carolina Courage and the Chicago Red Stars could be precisely that.

The North Carolina Courage travelled to face off against the Chicago Red Stars in front of a record-breaking crowd at SeatGeek Stadium. The home side took all three points in a 2-1 win, thus continuing the Stars’ success against the Courage that no other team has had.

Dating back to the first time the two sides matched up after the Western New York Flash became the North Carolina Courage, the Red Stars have won five of the eleven games. North Carolina taking three wins — two of which have come in the playoffs — and three draws between the two sides.

This somewhat back-and-forth affair has created what seems to be a rivalry in the National Women’s Soccer League. But around the rest of the league, it’s hard to call anything a rivalry, the closest being the Portland Thorns against Reign FC as the Cascadia rivalry.

But just because two teams can beat each other doesn’t make it a rivalry. Part of what makes teams despise each other is the fact that they are meeting up in games that mean something, not just regular-season matches.

The North Carolina Courage have made the playoffs in both seasons in North Carolina. And both times, they met the Red Stars in the semi-final, winning both. One of those resulted in North Carolina’s 2018 championship season, something the Red Stars have yet to accomplish in the NWSL.

This is comparable to an Atlanta United-New York Red Bulls scenario in MLS, one team wins the majority of the regular season matches, but when it matters most, the opposing side flips the script and wins a championship while doing it.

The personnel has all the makings for a rivalry, specifically Red Stars striker Sam Kerr from Australia and Carolina defender Abby Erceg from New Zealand. Both players are leaders for both club and country and meet up regularly in league and international play. The two nations are nearby rivals also.

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The women’s game is still riding high from the United States’ World Cup victory, resulting in record-breaking numbers going to games and watching at home. This a vital time for the NWSL to maximize growth as much as possible, and for that to happen, a rivalry between the best teams in the league would be most beneficial.

At its core, the NWSL is just like any other league in America. Fans want to be entertained when they watch any sport, and a large part of that is two teams and fan bases that genuinely don’t like one another. And in the NWSL at present, that doesn’t really exist. Teams are annoyingly nice and fans have their favorite team but really don’t dislike any others, often for the sake of ‘growing the game’. But perhaps a heated rivalry is precisely what is required to grow the women’s domestic game.

Now, rivalries can get out of hand and soccer fans who follow the game around the world know that all too well, but a healthy hatred of one another can be fun for everyone. It creates a special atmosphere that fans want to be apart of when the two sides hit the field together. This is what puts bums on seats and helps develop the watching audience at home.

Part of what makes sports something to love is the tension and drama when your favorite team faces the one club you can’t stand. NWSL needs a rivalry. Perhaps, then, it is time for the North Carolina Courage and Chicago Red Stars to take center stage.