Racing Louisville came back from a two-goal deficit to win for the first time in club history, topping Orlando, 3-2, in a dramatic rally at Lynn Family Stadium on Friday night.
Needing a win to stay alive in the NWSL playoff race, Racing got goals from Nadia Nadim and Kirsten Davis to pull even with Orlando after a rough start saw them fall behind 2-0.
Then, in the 74th minute, Orlando goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse punched Carson Pickett’s corner into her own goal, giving Racing the game-winning goal it so desperately needed.
“It felt like everything was going the wrong direction for us, but we never gave up,” said Racing coach Kim Björkegren, comparing the feeling to the frustrating back-to-back losses to Chicago and Houston over the past three weeks. “The only thing I was talking about at halftime was that we are the better team, and we have to go for the win. We are not happy with one point – we needed all three, and we took them.”
Racing Louisville (6-6-9, 27 points) climbed back within two points of the playoff line heading into next weekend’s season finale at San Diego on Decision Day, when every team in the NWSL kicks off at 5 p.m. ET. In the process, Racing set a new mark for single-season wins, snapped its first-ever three-game scoreless streak across all competitions and scored two or more goals at home against Orlando for the fourth consecutive game.
To get there, Racing had to dig deep.
Orlando landed two haymakers early, with Brazilian legend Marta converting a penalty in the 17th minute and Kerry Abello scoring five minutes later.
Wobbled but not down, Racing began putting more pressure on Orlando as the clock approchaced the half-hour mark. Nadia Nadim’s flicked-on header opened Thembi Kgatlana up on the left side of the box, but Kgatlana’s shot whistled just past the far post.
Just before halftime, Elli Pikkujämsä played in Savannah DeMelo on the left side as DeMelo ran into the Orlando box. When DeMelo got a first touch, Orlando forward Messiah Bright knocked her down from behind, winning a penalty for Racing.
Nadim smacked in Louisville’s first goal a minute into first-half stoppage time.
Louisville put Orlando under serious pressure in the first half-hour of the second half as it pursued an equalizer and finally broke through in the 70th minute with a beauty of a goal.
Pickett curled a long-range pass past two defenders and into Kgatlana’s run down the left side, and the blazing-fast Kgatlana caught up to the pass to hit a low cross first-time into Davis’s path. The 25-year-old pushed in for her fourth goal of the regular season to tie the game.
“Honestly, I kind of blacked out because I was so excited,” Davis said. “I know when I see Thembi running, I have to get my butt in the box and be ready if she plays it to me or if it’s a deflection off a shot. But (that was) such a good ball by her.”
That set up the game-winner four minutes later. Again putting on serious pressure, Racing won a corner on the left side. Moorhouse got a fist to Pickett’s cross in a crowd of players, but it spun backward and crossed the line.
From there, Racing defended for another 15 minutes of regulation and 12-plus minutes of stoppage time to secure the important result.
“We had to come here and leave everything, at least to thank the fans for all the support that they’ve given us throughout the season,” Kgatlana said. “I think it was fair enough for us to take every chance that we got. Some of the decisions were against us, especially in the first half, but we ended the first half really well. We used the same momentum (in the second half).
“We knew that to get three points, we had to suffer, to defend, to run forward, to use our chances, and I think the attitude was very good from the girls. We got the three points.”
Game Summary: Racing Louisville FC vs. Orlando Pride
Date: Oct. 6, 2023
Venue: Lynn Family Stadium
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. ET
Weather: 69 degrees, cloudy
Scoring
Racing Louisville (1, 2, 3)
Orlando Pride (2, 0, 2)
Goals
Racing Louisville
45’ Nadia Nadim (penalty)
70’ Kirsten Davis (Thembi Kgatlana)
74’ Anna Moorhouse (own goal)
Orlando Pride
17’ Marta
21’ Kerry Abello (Marta)
Lineups
Racing Louisville FC (4-3-3): 1 – Katie Lund; 2 – Lauren Milliet, 15 – Julia Lester, 20 – Abby Erceg (c), 16 – Carson Pickett; 4 – Elli Pikkujämsä (69’ 9 – Kayla Fischer) , 7 – Savannah DeMelo, 26 – Taylor Aylmer; 5 – Paige Monaghan (57’ 17 – Maddie Pokorny), 10 – Nadia Nadim (57’ 22 – Kirsten Davis), 11 – Thembi Kgatlana (90’ 13 – Emina Ekic)
Subs not used: 18 – Hillary Beall, 99 – Olivia Sekany; 6 – Jaelin Howell, 25 – Rebecca Holloway
Head Coach: Kim Björkegren
Orlando Pride (4-3-3): 21 – Anna Moorhouse; 2 – Haley McCutcheon, 4 – Rafaelle Souza, 6 – Emily Madril, 3 – Kylie Strom; 13 – Celia Jimenez Delgado (78’ 32 – Brianna Martinez), 19 – Jordyn Listro (78’ 7 – Mariana Larroquette), 25 – Kerry Abello; 9 – Adriana Leal da Silva (45’ 11 – Ally Watt), 23 – Messiah Bright (63’ 8 – Mikayla Cluff), 10 – Marta Vieira da Silva (78’ 20 – Julie Doyle)
Subs not used: 31 – Carly Nelson; 5 – Megan Montefusco, 28 – Summer Yates, 29 – Amanda Allen
Stats Summary: Racing Louisville / Orlando Pride
Shots: 12 / 11
Shots on Goal: 5 / 5
Expected goals: 1.82 / 1.48
Possession: 50.3% / 49.7%
Fouls: 13 / 15
Offside: 5 / 0
Corner Kicks: 6 / 3
Discipline Summary
Racing Louisville:
90+2’ Kirsten Davis (yellow)
90+5’ Savannah DeMelo (yellow)
Orlando Pride
54’ Haley McCutcheon (yellow)
59’ Marta (yellow)
82’ Kylie Strom (yellow)
Referee: Kevin Broadley
VAR: Shawn Tahini
