Say what you will about the 2025 Racing Louisville FC season, but it’s been anything but boring.
And say what you will about the 2025 Racing Louisville FC team, but it’s certainly improved.
Both of those truths were on display Friday night at Audi Field in Washington, D.C., as Racing Louisville conceded a stoppage-time equalizer to the Washington Spirit to earn a heartbreaking point on the road with a 2-2 draw.
For Racing (6-6-4, 22 points) Friday’s finish felt like a recurring nightmare. Last week, Louisville held the lead six minutes into second half stoppage time, only to concede an own goal and drop two points at the Orlando Pride.
This week, it was 10 minutes into added time, out of a minimum of 11, when Washington’s Rosemonde Kouassi’s curler eluded the fingertips of Racing goalkeeper Jordyn Bloomer, sending a hostile home crowd into rapture.
“Obviously we’re disappointed, to be so close to walking away with three points away to a quality side,” Racing head coach Bev Yanez said.
“It hurts, it sucks. Such is football,” Yanez added. “I just felt like the group really deserved three points tonight.”
Racing took the lead when a Washington defender tripped Louisville’s Ary Borges in the penalty area, earning a spot kick that Savannah DeMelo expertly dispatched in the 80th minute.
From there, Racing held the lead for 20 minutes. Had it been 21, the club would have walked away with a landmark road win.
“This is the NWSL. This is why we play in this league — it’s chaos,” Racing co-captain Janine Sonis said, of the game’s crazy finish.
With the result, Racing remains in seventh place in the NWSL standings, though that could change if either Gotham FC or the North Carolina Courage were to win this weekend.
Louisville is enduring what is inarguably the most difficult stretch of schedule in the NWSL this season — six straight games against top-four opposition, with four of the games on the road. The fact that Racing Louisville earned yet another point away from home shows that the team has progressed, from a bottom feeder to perhaps the league’s toughest opponent to face — and a genuine playoff contender.
“We just need to learn how to close out games,” midfielder Taylor Flint said.
Racing’s road-trip gauntlet concludes next week in sunny California against the San Diego Wave, currently in fourth place in the league. It’s a rematch of Louisville’s worst loss of the year, a 4-1 thumping at home in April.
The club will then return home for a date with the Houston Dash. It’ll be Girl Scouts Night at Lynn Family Stadium. For tickets and more information, visit RacingLouFC.com/scouts.
Game Summary: Washington Spirit vs. Racing Louisville FC
Date: August 15, 2025
Venue: Audi Field
Kickoff: 8 p.m.
Weather: 86 degrees, humid
Scoring
Washington Spirit (1, 1, 2)
Racing Louisville FC (0, 2, 2)
Goals:
Washington Spirit
39′ Sofia Cantore (Gift Monday)
90’+10 Rosemonde Kouassi
Racing Louisville FC
53′ Rebecca Bernal (own goal)
80′ Savannah DeMelo (penalty)
Lineups
Washington Spirit: 1 – Aubrey Kingsbury (c); 4 – Rebeca Bernal, 9 – Tara McKeown, 24 – Esme Morgan, 6 – Kate Wiesner (45′ 2 – Trinity Rodman), 17 – Hal Hershfelt, 10 – Leicy Santos, 14 – Gabrielle Carle (26 – Paige Metayer), 7 – Croix Bethune (81′ 13 – Brittany Ratcliffe), 21 – Gift Monday (82′ 8 – Makenna Morris), 27 – Sofia Cantore (54′ 19 – Rosemonde Kouassi)
Subs not used: 28 – Sandy MacIver; 16 – Courtney Brown, 22 – Heather Stainbrook, 25 – Kysha Sylla,
Head Coach: Adrián González
Racing Louisville FC: 24 – Jordyn Bloomer; 11 – Courtney Petersen, 3 – Arin Wright (c), 5 – Ellie Jean, 16 – Janine Sonis, 26 – Taylor Flint, 14 – Marisa DiGrande (61′ 8 – Ary Borges), 7 – Savannah DeMelo (90′ 20 – Katie O’Kane), 6 – Ella Hase (90′ 88 – Bethany Balcer), 13 – Emma Sears, 42 – Sarah Weber (61′ 9 – Kayla Fischer)
Subs not used: 77 – Madison White; 15 – Ángela Barón, 19 – Jordan Baggett, 31 – Katie Scott, 32 – Avery Kalitta
Head Coach: Bev Yanez
Stats Summary: Washington Spirit / Racing Louisville FC
Shots: 13 / 11
Shots on Goal: 5 / 4
Expected goals: 1.05 / 1.31
Possession: 60.3% / 39.7%
Fouls: 11 / 15
Offside: 0 / 3
Corners: 7 / 3
Discipline Summary
Washington Spirit:
27′ Leicy Santos (yellow)
58′ Hal Hersfelt
Racing Louisville FC:
33′ Courtney Petersen (yellow)
85′ Ella Hase (yellow)
90’+6 Ary Borges (yellow)
Match referee: John Matto
