Racing Louisville FC advances to NWSL Challenge Cup final

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Racing Louisville FC is one win away from its first NWSL trophy in club history.

Louisville pulled within a victory of taking the NWSL Challenge Cup by defeating OL Reign in the semifinals, 1-0, in Seattle late Wednesday night. Racing will travel to face the North Carolina Courage in the Challenge Cup final at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.

"In the end, it is just about the fighting spirit," Racing Louisville FC head coach Kim Björkegren said. "They did an amazing job, and I'm really proud of the group."

"I couldn't be more happy for us and for the way that we played," Racing Louisville FC goalkeeper Katie Lund said. "We've been through a lot, and this just shows we have the grit and the fight. We can win in this league."

WE'RE HEADED TO THE UKG NWSL CHALLENGE CUP FINAL! LET'S GO BIG PURP!!#RacingLou | @PNCBank pic.twitter.com/iTPJN0MOPO
— Racing Louisville FC (@RacingLouFC) September 7, 2023

Kirsten Davis scored the deciding goal for Racing in the 28th minute. The forward intercepted an errant Reign pass and buried the chance to give Louisville an early lead.

"She has been taking on step forward," Björkegren said of the development of Davis. "She has better control over everything: the ball and the target play. She can keep the ball for us much stronger."

That's what we call a 'Pick and Goal' 😉 pic.twitter.com/tYHgdPr9vD
— Racing Louisville FC (@RacingLouFC) September 7, 2023

The visitors had to hang on tight throughout the second half. Racing continued to defend as chances piled on for OL Reign, who outshot Louisville in this match.

"It obviously wasn't pretty at the end," Lund said. "We stuck together and we kind of put our bodies on the line to block shots and keep things out of the way."

"We defended at the end with our hearts out," Racing Louisville FC defender Elli Pikkujämsä said. "So, that was the most important thing."

.@JordynHuitema comes as close as @OLReign have to pull level! 😩 pic.twitter.com/tvjOOs08gL
— National Women’s Soccer League (@NWSL) September 7, 2023

Björkegren praised Pikkujämsä for stepping up to play defensive midfield without Jaelin Howell, saying she often acted as a fifth defender in the second half. Racing was able to protect a lead on an even bigger stage in its first-ever win over OL Reign, something it could not do in previous meetings during the regular season.

"It's just belief and belief in one another," Lund said. "We have the talent and we've seen that every day of practice, but we haven't been able to show it late in games.

"And so tonight, it was such an effort of working and fighting for each other in the locker room. We're so close and we've said it a lot, but it doesn't mean anything until you show it on the field.

"So tonight, we kind of just came together. We had those experiences and we didn't want to feel like that again leaving here."

This will be the third cup final in Racing Louisville FC history, but its first in NWSL competition. The last cup it played for was in last year's Women's Cup final, which resulted in a loss to OL Reign. Louisville won the first-ever Women's Cup by beating Bayern Munich in penalty kicks.