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NC Courage goalkeeper Casey Murphy heading to the 2024 Olympics with USWNT

NC Courage vs. Racing Louisville in Cary, North Carolina on June 24, 2023.
Mitchell Northam
/
WUNC
NC Courage goalkeeper Casey Murphy on June 24, 2023 against Racing Louisville in Cary, North Carolina.

When the U.S. women’s national soccer team plays in a major tournament, it’s becoming a guarantee that a player from the North Carolina Courage will be on the squad.

Since the National Women’s Soccer League club moved to Cary from Buffalo, New York in 2017, at least one Courage player has made the roster for every World Cup and Olympics that followed. And this summer is no different.

Courage goalkeeper Casey Murphy was named to the final 18-player roster on Wednesday for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, USWNT coach Emma Hayes announced.

While this will be Murphy’s first time playing in the Olympics, she was also on the Americans’ roster for the World Cup last year, where the U.S. lost to Sweden on penalty kicks in the Round of 16.

Murphy, 28, has played in 19 games with the national team since 2021. That was also Murphy’s first year playing with the Courage after the club acquired her in a trade that sent fellow national-teamer and UNC-Chapel Hill product Crystal Dunn to the Portland Thorns. Murphy led the NWSL in clean sheets in 2021 and 2023.

The New Jersey native is one of two goalkeepers on the U.S. squad heading to Paris. Murphy joins veteran Alyssa Naeher, who is expected to start. Murphy did earn a start for the Americans earlier this month, notching three saves in a 3-0 victory over South Korea.

For the Courage, Murphy has started all 14 games this season, saving 41 of the 56 shots she has faced. Murphy actually began her professional career in France, playing the 2018 season with Montpellier HSC where she was named by the French media as the league’s best goalkeeper.

Murphy and the Americans will begin play in the 2024 Olympics on July 25 — one day before the Opening Ceremonies — against Zambia at 3 p.m. EST at Stade de Nice in Nice, France. The squad will then take on Germany on July 28 and Australia on July 31 to round out group stage play.

The Courage are 6-1-7 this season — good enough currently for sixth place in the NWSL standings — and play away at the Washington Spirit on Saturday.

In addition to Murphy and Dunn, also on the USWNT roster is defender Emily Fox, who played with the Courage in 2023 and played her college soccer at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Another Courage player heading to the Olympics is forward Cortnee Vine, who will play for Australia. All rosters for other countries competing in women’s soccer in the Olympics have yet to be announced, but Courage forward Kerolin Nicoli — the 2023 NWSL Most Valuable Player — is expected to be named to Brazil’s squad.

Mitchell Northam is a Digital Producer for WUNC. His past work has been featured at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, SB Nation, the Orlando Sentinel and the Associated Press. He is a graduate of Salisbury University and is also a voter in the AP Top 25 poll for women's college basketball.
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