With three of its next four games against teams that sit between Racing Louisville FC and the NWSL’s playoff cut line, the club will have no choice but to approach this stretch like a postseason of its own starting Sunday when the Houston Dash visit Lynn Family Stadium.
Racing sits ninth on the NWSL table with 17 points, six off the Washington Spirit in sixth. Among other key upcoming games, Louisville hosts eighth-place NJ/NY Gotham FC on Oct. 1 and plays at Washington on Oct. 9.
At stake are two pieces of league history. Never has an expansion club qualified for the NWSL playoffs in its inaugural season. Plus Racing is chasing the right to rank its success after prior expansion teams finished their first years with 18 points (Dash, 2014) and 19 points (Orlando Pride, 2016).
Sunday’s matchup will mark the end of the NWSL’s international break, which saw players from both sides head to national team camps. The visiting Dash squad will feature, among others, U.S. internationals Abby Dahlkemper, Kristie Mewis and Jane Campbell as well as English standout Rachel Daly.
Here’s more of what to watch for ahead of kickoff at 3 p.m.
Interim Coach Mario Sanchez says…
“It has been great to have time without prepping for a game last week. That alone was really valuable for both them and me to get some ideas across — to get to know them even more. I have been happy with the work ethic, the training and the ideas. Now we have to apply them. As far as games, the cliche here is true. We have to focus on one game at a time. We can’t look too far ahead because it doesn’t matter. We have to take care of Houston on Sunday and that is the focus.
“…There is always urgency for any coach at any point of the season. You want to win your next game. No coach wants to lose their next game. From a team side, we continue to prepare with our process. We want to be consistent. Our job as coaches is to demand consistency for every game.”
Follow along
For Starting XI and in-game updates, follow @RacingLouFC on Twitter and Racing Louisville FC on Facebook. Also find us at @racinglouisvillefc on Instagram.
Watch the match on Paramount+ with play by play from Michael Minnich and color commentary by Kaylyn Kyle. Internationally, fans can also stream the match on Twitch.
Notes to know
Recovering momentum: That’s what Racing will seek to do after carrying a four-game unbeaten streak across all competitions to win The Women’s Cup last month over FC Bayern Munich. Since then, the ladies in lavender have stumbled to losses in three of four league games aside from drawing OL Reign on Sept. 4.
Back in the States: Two members of Racing’s roster — forwards Ebony Salmon (England) and Vanessa Kara (Dominican Republic) — spent time with their respective national teams during the recent break. Salmon was in for the start of 2023 World Cup qualifying. While she didn’t appear in two England games, the 20-year-old was the youngest player invited to camp.
Kizer’s Ce-son: Forward Cece Kizer continues to have her most productive year as a professional. Last time out against the Orlando Pride, she scored her third goal of the regular season and fifth across all NWSL competitions. Before joining Louisville, Kizer spent two years with the Dash, earning sporadic minutes until Racing selected her in the 2020 expansion draft.
An injury setback: Racing will trudge on this weekend without one of its talisman players after forward Nadia Nadim — who had scored three goals and tallied an assist since arriving earlier in the summer — went on the Season-Ending Injury List with a torn ACL. Nadim is looking forward to a return to the pitch in 2022.
Dat assist: Having come on for the injuries Nadim in the 17th minute at Orlando, forward Yuki Nagasato found herself on the score sheet when connecting with Kizer to set up Racing’s goal. It marked the first assist in lavender for Nagasato, who led the NWSL in that statistical category with eight of them in 2019.
Taking their chances: Despite losing to Orlando, Racing out-shot the opposition 12-6. As the club continues to find its footing in the world’s top women’s soccer league, that marked only the second time this season it has happened following a 17-10 shot differential in a July 31 defeat at OL Reign.
Series history: In both prior meetings between these foes, the home side came out victorious. Back on June 20, forward Ebony Salmon subbed on and scored a game winner seconds into her Racing debut. But the Dash returned the favor on Aug. 29 in Houston when Rachel Daly scored the lone goal of another 1-0 contest.
Dash connections: Along with Kizer, fellow 2020 expansion draftee Erin Simon formerly played for Houston. Forward Jorian Baucom also signed with the Dash in June of 2019 as a national team replacement player. She made Racing’s roster out of a successful preseason trial and has featured in both of Mario Sanchez’s starting lineups since he assumed the role of interim head coach.
Injury report
- Emina Ekic – Out
- Addisyn Merrick – Out
- Nadia Nadim – Out
- Gemma Bonner – Questionable
- Kaleigh Riehl – Questionable
Milestone watch
Michelle Betos is one shutout away from her 15th NWSL regular season clean sheet and would be one of seven players to earn that stat.
Yuki Nagasato is one goal away from her 15th in NWSL regular season play.
