Racing Louisville entered the NWSL’s summer break in grand fashion, beating Kansas City, 2-1, at Lynn Family Stadium in a performance far more dominant than the score line suggests and building a three-game home winning streak for the first time in club history.
Elli Pikkujämsä and Paige Monaghan scored goals for Racing, which peppered Kansas City with 26 shots, seven corners, 35 touches in the Current’s penalty area and 68 final-third entries. The win moved seventh-place Racing within a point of playoff position in the jam-packed NWSL standings, and for icing on the cake, the Louisvillians enjoyed the much-anticipated return of star forward Nadia Nadim from a 10-month knee injury rehabilitation process.
“I am extremely proud,” Racing coach Kim Björkegren said. “It was such an important game for us. … We talked about it and said, ‘We need to win today if we want to be a top-six team,’ so there was only one way to go.”
Racing Louisville (4-4-7, 19 points) now has beaten Kansas City four consecutive times, extending back to the 2022 regular-season finale and including a May victory in the UKG NWSL Challenge Cup. The Louisvillians completed their first regular-season sweep of another NWSL team, and improved to 5-1-3 across all competitions at Lynn Family Stadium this season.
On Friday night, they had their work cut out for them early on. Racing conceded a penalty in the sixth minute in unusual fashion when captain Jaelin Howell threw her hands in front of her face to prevent defender Abby Erceg’s clearance from smacking into her, illegally handling the ball in Louisville’s defensive box. Kansas City’s Michelle Cooper converted the penalty to give the Current a 1-0 lead.
But Racing immediately put Kansas City on the defense, controlling possession and creating a number of shooting opportunities. Louisville thought it had equalized through Abby Erceg in the 14th minute, but the goal off a corner was ruled out for offside.
Six minutes later, Pikkujämsä instead put Racing on level-pegging, ripping a right-footed shot through traffic from eight yards out to tie the game. It was the Finnish international’s first NWSL goal and first in a Racing uniform, and she wheeled away in delight all the way to midfield.
“It feels amazing,” Pikkujämsä said. “I was so excited – maybe everyone saw that. I needed to take everything out of (the celebration), because you never know how much you’re going to score. … I got a nice and slow ball and I saw a little gap for a nice hard shot. That’s it, and then I needed to make sure it went in. I took my time and saw it went in, and then I ran my ass off.”
Over the next 25 minutes, Racing continued the blitz on Kansas City, nearly scoring on several occasions. Kirsten Davis, Wang Shuang and Kayla Fischer each made KC goalkeeper AD Franch work to keep the game on even terms. Louisville had more shots on target in the first half (five) than it averaged per game (4.7) coming into the contest.
Right after the halftime break, Monaghan finally broke through for Racing, curling in a screamer from 19 yards out after cutting inside from the left to get the ball onto her right foot. The 26-year-old winger has scored in consecutive games, and her highlight-reel effort on Friday night also gave rookie midfielder Kayla Fischer her first professional assist.
As the cap to a fun night in Louisville, Nadim, who tore her ACL last fall and recently returned to full training, entered the game as a substitute in the 82nd minute to a strong ovation from the home crowd. The 35-year-old striker called the moment “hard to describe.”
“I spent a lot of hours in the gym and on the training field to be healthy again,” Nadim said. “I’m emotional about it. I’m grateful for the opportunity again.”
Racing now has a week off for the NWSL’s summer break. The team will return to training on July 17 to prepare for its July 21 NWSL Challenge Cup game against the Chicago Red Stars at Lynn Family Stadium.
Game Summary: Racing Louisville FC vs. Kansas City Current
Date: July 7, 2023
Venue: Lynn Family Stadium
Kickoff: 8 p.m. ET
Weather: 90 degrees, sunny
Player of the Match: Elli Pikkujämsä
Attendance: 5,097
Scoring
Racing Louisville (1, 1, 2)
Kansas City Current (1, 0, 1)
Goals
Racing Louisville
20’ Elli Pikkujämsä
46’ Paige Monaghan (Kayla Fischer)
Kansas City
8’ Michelle Cooper (penalty)
Lineups
Racing Louisville FC (4-3-3): 1 – Katie Lund; 16 – Carson Pickett, 20 – Abby Erceg, 4 – Elli Pikkujämsä, 2 – Lauren Milliet; 6 – Jaelin Howell (c), 9 – Kayla Fischer (82’ 17 – Maddie Pokorny), 19 – Jordan Baggett; 5 – Paige Monaghan (82’ 10 – Nadia Nadim), 22 – Kirsten Davis (62’ 21 – Parker Goins), 77 – Wang Shuang (90’+6 13 – Emina Ekic)
Subs not used: 99 – Olivia Sekany; 3 – Zaneta Wyne, 15 – Julia Lester, 25 – Rebecca Holloway, 31 – Riley Parker
Head Coach: Kim Björkegren
Kansas City Current (4-3-3): 21 – AD Franch;, 18 – Izzy Rodriguez (81’ 23 – Croix Soto), 7 – Elizabeth Ball, 24 – Gabrielle Robinson, 8 – Kate Del Fava; 2 – Morgan Gautrat (61’ 14 – Chardonnay Curran), 5 – Cece Kizer (43’ 9 – Mimmi Larson), 19 – Jenna Winebrenner (78’ 22 – Alex Loera), 77 – Alexa Spaanstra (46’ 26 – Addisyn Merrick); 17 – Michelle Cooper, 25 – Kristen Hamilton (79’ 6 -Rylan Childers)
Subs not used: 38 – Cassie Miller
Head coach: Caroline Sjöblom
Stats Summary: Racing Louisville / Kansas City Current
Shots: 26 / 6
Shots on Goal: 9 / 3
Expected goals: 1.47 / 1.24
Possession: 55.2% / 44.8%
Fouls: 12 / 12
Offside: 1 / 0
Corner Kicks: 7 / 2
Discipline Summary
Kansas City Current
34’ Elizabeth Ball (yellow)
83’ Michelle Cooper (yellow)
90’ Rylan Childers (yellow)
Referee: Anya Voigt
VAR: Geoff Gamble
