Governor Cooper honors NC Courage

RALEIGH (WTVD) -- Governor Roy Cooper made August 15 an official day to recognize the excellence of the NC Courage soccer team.

The Courage earned their trip to the Governor's house by winning the International Champions Cup in Miami last month, after taking out heavily favored Lyon of France 1-0 thanks to Heather O'Reilly's first-half goal.

That mythical world championship was a pretty sweet trophy to bring home, but it's the Courage's NWSL dominance that's been their hallmark this season.

Paul Riley's team has gone wire to wire, their superiority never once in question, in wrapping up a second straight NWSL Shield as the regular season champions.

All that remains is to grab a second NWSL Championship.

The NC Courage came up just short last year in the championship game.

Nothing short of another trophy will suffice this year, but today there was no pressure.

Just fun and celebration.