Fresh off its first win of the 2023 regular season, Racing Louisville turns its attention to the UKG NWSL Challenge Cup, hosting the Kansas City Current at 7:30 p.m. ET Wednesday in Racing’s first match of the league-wide tournament.
The game will be broadcast on Paramount+.
This year’s Challenge Cup will be a different format than last year, when it was primarily played in the preseason buildup to the regular season. The 2023 version will run concurrently with the NWSL season, with all 12 teams competing in three groups through August and the semifinals and final set for early September.
A $1 million pot will be shared among the players on the four semifinalists.
Wednesday marks the Challenge Cup opener for Racing, but the tournament is well underway, with several NWSL teams already playing two of their six group-stage matches. Kansas City will be participating in its second Challenge Cup contest after beating Houston, 2-0, on April 19.
A quirk of the schedule: After Wednesday’s Challenge Cup matchup, Racing travels to Kansas City to play the Current on Saturday. That match is part of the NWSL regular season.
Still, first things first. Racing is hoping to improve on its 1-2-3 record in last spring’s Challenge Cup. Louisville’s lone win came in Kansas City, where Racing topped the Current, 3-0. The teams drew, 1-1, in Louisville to open the tournament.
The Louisvillians enter Wednesday’s match with an eye on extending a home unbeaten streak that has now stretched to five games, with a win and two ties this season and two home wins to close out the slate last year. Racing beat Kansas City, 1-0, in the regular-season finale at Lynn Family Stadium.
This will be the eighth meeting between the two clubs in either the regular season or Challenge Cup since Racing joined the NWSL, with Louisville leading the all-time series 3-2-2.
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.
• The game will be streamed live on Paramount+, and international viewers may watch for free on NWSLSoccer.com.
Story lines …
Wang Shuang makes history: Racing Louisville forward Wang Shuang entered the National Women’s Soccer League record books in Friday’s 3-0 win over Chicago, becoming the first Chinese player to score a goal in the NWSL. The 28-year-old slotted home a penalty in first-half added time to give Racing a 2-0 lead just before the break. The goal highlighted a standout performance for Wang Shuang, who created three scoring chances, hit the crossbar from distance and won seven duels and three tackles. She was nominated for NWSL Player of the Week.
DeMelo delivers – again: Standout midfielder Savannah DeMelo picked up right where she left off after sitting out the Orlando match because of a red card suspension, creating an own goal on Chicago goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher when her penalty banged off the post, off Naeher and in. DeMelo tallied three shots on target, 12 touches in the Chicago box, two scoring chances created, three possessions won in the opponent’s final third, two fouls won and two interceptions. She ranks seventh in the league in shot-creating actions and eighth in goal-creating actions, and she’s tied for 10th with 11 scoring chances created.
Go-ins up on a Friday: Second-year forward Parker Goins reached a new career milestone in Friday’s win, scoring her first professional goal. The Arkansas grad and former collegiate All-American slipped a low left-footed shot past Alyssa Naeher and in off the post in the 89th minute against Chicago. An Oklahoma native, Goins became the 20th player in Racing club history to score a regular-season goal.
Clean sheet Katie: Racing goalkeeper Katie Lund added to her clean sheet haul against Chicago, parrying four shots in a shutout effort. The Texas native has two clean sheets for the season and eight regular-season shutouts since taking over as Racing’s No. 1 goalkeeper late in the 2021 campaign. The 26-year-old leads the league in saves, with 29.
Lynn Family Fortress: Racing hasn’t always had a ton of success at home, but the Louisvillians are changing that trend for the better in recent games. Coach Kim Björkegren’s team is now on a five-match unbeaten run at Lynn Family Stadium extending back to last fall, when Racing finished its home slate with back-to-back wins over Orlando and Kansas City, respectively. This year, Racing is 1-0-2 at home, with Friday’s win over Chicago also matching the club’s largest margin of victory at home in its short history.
Global Racing: Racing Louisville is the first club in NWSL history to feature players from six different continents on its roster. The Louisvillians already had an international flavor last year, with four continents represented. But the additions of Brazilian midfielder Ary Borges as well as Nigerian forward Uchenna Kanu and South African forward Thembi Kgatlana nudged Racing to six continents. Abby Erceg, who made 146 appearances for New Zealand’s national team, reinforced Australian midfielder Alex Chidiac as a second representative from Oceania.
World Cup year: This is a big year for women’s soccer, with the 2023 FIFA World Cup set for Australia and New Zealand from July 20-August 20. Racing should be well-represented at the planet’s biggest competition. There are nine current internationals on Racing’s roster, and seven of their countries have qualified for the World Cup. The NWSL will only play one regular-season game in the World Cup window, instead scheduling half of the NWSL UKG Challenge Cup matches for that period.
