Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
After a fairytale week that saw them beat both the Portland Thorns and OL Reign for the first time ever, Racing Louisville fell 2-0 to the North Carolina Courage in the Challenge Cup Final on Saturday after exhaustion and injuries finally caught up with them.
Ultimately, the Courage was simply the better team throughout the match. Racing had a few moments — particularly at the end of the first half — where they could have gotten on the board, but, on the whole, they didn’t threaten their opponents much with only one out of 10 shots on goal. North Carolina, meanwhile, had 11 shots on goal that required Racing keeper Katie Lund to make nine big saves to keep the scoreline from getting out of hand.
This result ultimately should not be too much of a surprise — and that’s not a dig on Racing by any means. The odds were just very stacked against them. First, they have some key players out injured, like Carson Pickett and Jaelin Howell. Although Elli Pikkujämsä has been performing quite well…
