When North Carolina Courage midfielder Debinha goes to sleep tonight, it would be little surprise if her dreams are fretful and filled with nightmares of Portland Thorns FC goalkeeper Britt Eckerstrom.
Eckerstrom, making her first start in the NWSL Challenge Cup presented by P&G and Secret in a massive quarterfinal match up between the eighth-seeded Thorns and top-seeded Courage, put in a masterful performance with a career-high eight saves as Portland shutout North Carolina 1-0 Friday morning at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman, Utah.
Debinha took seven shots for the Courage, five of them on target, and each time, Eckerstrom was up to the task of denying North Carolina and, almost improbably, making each save’s brilliance to seemingly top the previous one.