Kirsten Davis and Jess McDonald scored their first goals in a Racing Louisville FC uniform, but the club dropped a 3-2 decision in NWSL Challenge Cup group play to the Houston Dash on Friday night at Lynn Family Stadium.
Racing led 2-0 at halftime for the first time in the club’s year-long competitive history after Davis opened the scoring in the 16th minute and McDonald added the second just five minutes before halftime. However, Houston’s three goals in a nine-minute span early in the second half flipped the game on its head.
First-year Racing coach Kim Björkegren said the match served as a valuable lesson for his team.
“We need to fight even harder,” Björkegren said. “If you’re (ahead) 2-0, you need at least one point or you need to win, especially a home game like that.”
Racing now has a short turnaround for its first road trip of the Challenge Cup, a 7:30 p.m. Wednesday match at Chicago. Björkegren and his team will want to reproduce the mojo from the sharp first half against Houston.
Pressing high and often, Racing harried Houston into a number of early defensive errors, culminating with Davis’s breakthrough moment. A bad pass put Houston center back Katie Naughton under immediate pressure from Davis, who blocked Naughton’s attempted clearance and smashed in the loose ball a few steps later.
“It was really an incredible moment,” Davis said. “I’ve been thinking about having my first goal here for over a year now. More importantly, I wish we’d won the game because we had good goals and good team building in the first half. I think the first half was the best we’ve played all preseason.”
Quality passing and movement built up to McDonald’s goal, a highlight-reel finish to open her account with Racing.
Midfielder Lauren Milliet, inserted into the starting lineup as the lone change from Game 1, caught up to a lead pass down the right flank and lifted a cross into the area from the end line. Houston’s Naughton headed the initial ball away, but McDonald volleyed it with her right foot into the top right corner from 12 yards out.
“To be honest, I underestimated Lo Milliet’s speed a little bit,” McDonald said. “The girl went from zero to 100 real quick going to the end line. I read that it was going to go out, so I just held back into a space and no one was around me, and luckily it just bounced right to me. I just wanted to keep it on frame.”
The momentum shifted in the second half. Houston got quick-fire goals from Maria Sanchez in the 56th minute and Marisa Viggiano in the 58th, both from fights for the loose ball in the area, to level the match. Rachel Daly converted a penalty in the 65th minute to give the Dash a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.
Björkegren summed the game up as “a good first half and then a gift in the second.”
Racing signed McDonald, a World Cup and NWSL championship winner over a decorated professional career, to help teach a young team how to win games. Her experience, along with English defender and team captain Gemma Bonner, will come in handy in processing the disappointing loss.
“It’s all about encouragement,” McDonald said. “We don’t need any type of negativity on the field, so I try to bring my positive presence. … Hopefully with that it kind of inspires the girls to want to show a little more grit at the end of games, because we didn’t show that. We were on our heels in the second half and didn’t know how to handle the pressure we were under, especially when we were tied 2-2. It was as if we didn’t know what to do with ourselves.
“Hopefully with our experience, from Gemma in the back and my experience up front, we just help the girls learn from that and learn to move on because we’re going to be in situations like that.”
Racing combined this defeat with a Challenge Cup-opening draw against the KC Current to sit on a point through two of six group stage games to the preseason tournament.
Game Summary: Louisville City FC vs. Houston Dash
Date: March 25, 2022
Venue: Lynn Family Stadium
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m.
Weather: 45 degrees, cloudy
Player of the Match: Jess McDonald
Attendance: 3,800
Scoring
Racing Louisville (2, 0, 2)
Houston Dash (0, 3, 3)
Goals
Racing Louisville FC:
16’ Kirsten Davis
40’ Jess McDonald
Houston Dash:
56’ Maria Sanchez
58’ Marisa Viggiano
65’ Rachel Daly (penalty)
Lineups
Racing Louisville FC: 1 – Katie Lund; 17 – Nealy Martin (63’ 13 – Emina Ekic), 26 – Addisyn Merrick, 4 – Gemma Bonner (c), 11 – Emily Fox (29’ 15 – Julia Lester); 6 – Jaelin Howell, 8 – Freja Olofsson (80’ 7 – Savannah DeMelo), 5 – Cece Kizer, 2 – Lauren Milliet, 22 – Kirsten Davis (80’ 23 – Sh’Nia Gordon); 14 – Jessica McDonald
Subs not used: 24 – Jordyn Bloomer; 3 – Erin Simon; 9 – Ebony Salmon, 19 – Taylor Otto; 21 – Parker Goins
Head Coach: Kim Björkegren
Houston Dash: 1 – Jane Campbell; 2 – Allysha Chapman (72’ 19 – Elizabeth Eddy), 25 – Katie Naughton, 13 – Sophie Schmidt, 9 – Haley Hanson; 15 – Marisa Viggiano, 17 – Kelcie Hedge (46’ 12 – Julia Ashley), 10 – Shea Groom (46’ 26 – Makamae Gomera-Stevens); 7 – Maria Sanchez, 8 – Nichelle Prince (87’ 21 – Ryan Gareis), 3 – Rachel Daly (c) (90’ 34 – Michaela Abam)
Subs not used: 20 – Lindsey Harris; 14 – Bri Visalli,
Head Coach: James Clarkson
Stats Summary: Racing Louisville FC / Houston Dash
Shots: 10 / 12
Shots on Goal: 5 / 6
Possession: 53.1% / 46.9%
Fouls: 11 / 11
Offside: 1 / 2
Corner Kicks: 3 / 6
Discipline Summary
Houston Dash: 4’ Marisa Viggiano (yellow)
Houston Dash: 20’ Allysha Chapman (yellow)
Houston Dash: 45’ Kelcie Hedge (yellow)
Racing Louisville: 61’ Freja Olofsson (yellow)
Houston Dash: 72’ Nichelle Prince (yellow)
Referee: Sergii Demianchuk
