Racing Louisville FC puts a bow on a period of schedule congestion at 4 p.m. Saturday when it hosts Chicago Stars FC back at Lynn Family Stadium.
It’s a homecoming for Louisville, as it closes out a difficult stretch of three games in seven days after back-to-back road contests.
Saturday’s fixture at Lynn Family Stadium will also serve as Youth Sports Day, where kids wearing a jersey of any kind or a team T-shirt can claim a free ticket at the box office. For tickets and more information, visit RacingLouFC.com/youth.
Racing (3-11-2, 11 points) will be eyeing to bounce back following a 5-1 midweek defeat at the Kansas City Current Wednesday night at CPKC Stadium. Kansas City, the league leader in points at home, registered five goals for just the sixth time in its history. The loss for Louisville came off the back of consecutive positive results: a draw versus the Houston Dash followed by a 2-1 win at Angel City FC.
From the perspective of head coach Bev Yanez, Louisville is “forced to move on” from the disappointment in the midweek, largely due to how condensed this period of the schedule is.
That lack of time to dwell on the loss can be viewed both positively and negatively. Either way, Racing will take on a side Saturday that it has experienced great success against in years past — Chicago. Louisville has a 7-3-4 record across all competitions versus Chicago, with the seven wins being the most for Racing against a single opponent. The recent dominance is of note, as Louisville is unbeaten in its last four matches versus Chicago.
Similar to last season, Chicago (4-12-0, 12 points), a two-time NWSL Championship runner-up, has struggled to find consistency in its results. The Stars find themselves just ahead of Racing in the NWSL table — 15th place — but hold a league worst minus-23 goal differential through 16 games played. The club is notably in its first campaign under Swedish head coach Martin Sjögren, who joined the Stars following a stint with Hammarby in Sweden.
Sjögren’s team carries a three-match losing streak into Saturday’s clash, but hasn’t played since a 1-0 defeat at the Orlando Pride on July 24 — an eight-day layoff during which Louisville has played twice on the road.
Chicago has lacked offensive production this year. Saturday’s visitors have been shutout 12 times, including seven instances away from home. Its eight goals through 16 matches rank last in the NWSL — eight fewer than Bay FC, the next-lowest scoring team in the league.
Follow Along
- The game will air nationally on CBS Sports Network. Fans can also listen to the match on Sports Talk 790AM or 790louisville.com.
- For the starting lineup and in-game updates, follow @RacingLouFC on Twitter and Racing Louisville FC on Facebook. You can also find us at @racinglouisvillefc on Instagram.
Story Lines …
Clinical from 12 yards: Racing’s Taylor Flint smashed home her third penalty of the season late on in the defeat at the Kansas City Current, continuing her stretch of perfection from the spot. Flint, for her career, is six for six on penalties — all of which have been converted while a Louisville player. The strike Wednesday night extended Flint’s club record in made penalties, while also putting her in a tie for the 2026 league lead in the category with Boston Legacy FC’s Amanda Gutierres.
First starting nods: Amid a Louisville lineup that included eight changes Wednesday, rookie Audrey McKeen and Avery Ciorbu earned their first career NWSL starts. McKeen, 17, notably became the youngest-ever player to start a match for Racing. The Virginia native, McKeen, was Louisville’s first under-18 signing, having inked her first professional contract in January. Ciorbu, a second-year player, had appeared in four matches as a substitute before moving into the starting XI in Kansas City. The lineup, as a whole, had an average age of 25.7 years old — the youngest for a starting group this year.
Nearing multiple milestones: As the second half of the NWSL season pushes on, more than one Racing player is on the cusp of a significant career milestone. With three more starts, Flint will reach 100 for her NWSL career. Of the 97 to date, 61 of Flint’s start have been in lavender. All the while, Kentucky native Arin Wright continues to inch toward 200 career regular-season starts, needing only just five to hit the mark.
Old friend between the pipes: For the first time since departing Racing in December by way of free agency, goalkeeper Katie Atkinson (née Lund) is back at Lynn Family Stadium. A member of the inaugural 2021 Louisville team, Atkinson, has started in the Chicago net in each of the last six games. She left Racing after five seasons as its all-time saves leader with 305, while also ranking second all-time in minutes played (7,200) and games started (80). In her most recent start for the Stars at Orlando, Atkinson stood tall in defeat, making nine saves for the first time since September 2022.
Brutal injury blow: Just over a week ago, Chicago received some unfortunate injury news regarding one of its standout forwards this season — Jordyn Huitema. Huitema, who was acquired by the Stars via trade with Seattle Reign FC back in March, was recently placed on the season-ending injury list after sustaining a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her left leg on July 18. The Canadian international is the only player with more than one goal this season for Chicago. In 12 starts since making the move to the Windy City, Huitema recorded four goals, including two crucial ones to lift the Stars past a surging Utah Royals FC side.
