Challenge Cup Final Post Match Thoughts
Courtesy Elizabeth Shaw
I will forgo my traditional format to some degree and touch a little more on the big picture in this post. Let's get the painful stuff out of the way first.
The Courage were the better team on the day once again. You can't really say anything other than Kerolin's goal was a fine finish from a tough angle and that Manaka Matsukubo's goal was an absolute stunner. Those things happen in soccer and you just have to accept it and congratulate you opponent.
Louisville didn't play poorly on the day, especially given the circumstances. I entered this week of the opinion that I was sad to see the Challenge Cup go and now I have done a complete 180 to say that I am glad to see the back of it and “good riddance.” I still like the idea of a cup competition, but it has to be better and the NWSL has to find the right partner to televise it. The TV partnership with CBS/Paramount has outlived its usefulness and the league needs to move on. It was extremely detrimental to Louisville to have a 12:30 PM kickoff locked in after the travel day they had on Thursday. The lack of flexibility in the CBS schedule especially on the weekends in the fall meant that there were limited time spots. Ironically, it didn't even matter because CBS didn't show most of the match due to the weather delay. Broadcast television can die if we collectively have to will to euthanize it. It is no longer needed and if we can get over the misguided idea of having to have big events aired on “Big CBS” or “Big NBC”, etc. we can move to a better system.
The coaches and players won't make excuses and the Courage have no need to apologize for winning, but I cannot think of another competition where you don't know where you will be playing on such short notice. The idea of playing a semifinal on Wednesday and a final on Saturday is laughable and the NWSL has proven itself unserious once again for backing itself into a corner. Fortunately, Louisville will get a couple of days off to recover before preparing for Houston and trying to make a playoff push.
As tough as it is to lose a cup final as a fan it pales in comparison to losing one as a player. Both Milliet and Lund looked absolutely miserable when I talked to them after the match. Coach Björkegren was a little less sad, but it's definitely a feeling you don't want to repeat.
If it cheers you up at all, I can tell you that I was less than impressed with WakeMed Park. To call it a “dump” would be an insult to dumps. The field was fine and there seemed to be a great sense of pride in how quickly it drained. On the other hand it is an anonymous stadium in an anonymous part of an anonymous “city”. I estimate that only 10-15% of the seats have chair backs. There was absolutely no character to the park. It's like if Mitt Romney was a soccer stadium. Appreciate Lynn Family Stadium because it really is quite a gem in this league.
I will briefly pause my embargo on the word “deserve” to say that the North Carolina players deserve a better place to play and I will say that 95% of the fans do as well. The other 5%, who yelled at an injured DeMelo that she “hurt herself” and was “wasting time” deserve WakeMed Park and its complete pathological lack of charm.
The small crowd that remained after the rain delay was pretty good. This is the second stadium I have visited where the fans got involved in a simple chant. This time it was a simple alternating “NC” on one side of the field and “Courage” on the opposite site. It was signaled and led by the waving of a giant flags. It was effective and makes me wonder why we can't get something simple like this figured out at Lynn.
At some point hopefully (maybe when the prize money gets deposited in their accounts) the players will look back fondly on the run that they made in this competition. They represented the city well and exceeded expectations. I just hope it hasn't drained the energy from them so that they can make a real playoff push. I think the big takeaway from this competition and the season so far is that Louisville's 1 through 11 are as good as any in the league but that the back end of the roster still needs some development. They need out least one more reliable outside back and a little more midfield depth. The quantity of injuries and absences caught up to them in this match.
