The 2024 NWSL season kicks off this weekend, and Racing Louisville is set to host a season opener at Lynn Family Stadium for the first time since 2021.
If any of the previous seven meetings are any indication, the 4 p.m. Saturday matchup against the Orlando Pride should be a cracking way to start the new campaign. The teams have produced 22 goals between them in those prior clashes, and they’re both entering the 2024 season with their sights set on the new eight-team NWSL Playoffs.
For Racing, it’s a fresh start under new head coach Bev Yanez, who slid over a seat on Louisville’s bench after spending the 2023 season as the team’s assistant coach. After a busy preseason that included three exhibitions against NWSL competition, Yanez’s squad is starting to take shape in her preferred way, with an emphasis on possession and free-flowing, attacking soccer.
The Louisvillians return a number of key players from last season, including U.S. Women’s National Team midfielder Savannah DeMelo, who is coming off an NWSL Best XI second-team performance last season. Captain Jaelin Howell is back for her third year with the club, too, and Racing originals Katie Lund and Lauren Milliet are ready for their fourth year in lavender and mint. Star defenders Abby Erceg and Carson Pickett are back for second years, as is young Brazilian star Ary Borges.
Yanez and Racing had a busy offseason adding key pieces to the 26-player roster, including U.S. Women’s National Team midfielder Taylor (Kornieck) Flint and NWSL veterans Marisa (Viggiano) DiGrande, Ellie Jean and Arin Wright. Jean joins Racing after winning the NWSL Championship with NJ/NY Gotham, and Flint comes to Louisville after claiming the NWSL Shield (regular-season first place) with San Diego. Wright, a University of Kentucky Hall of Famer, is considered the best soccer player ever produced by the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
Orlando opens the 2024 campaign with high hopes of its own. The Pride roared into playoff contention late last year under second-year coach Seb Hines, with the help of a breakthrough campaign from star forward Adriana, a teammate of Borges on Brazil’s national team.
Last year, Orlando topped Racing, 1-0, over Derby weekend in May. Racing returned the favor in its home finale, storming back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 in front of a lively Lynn Family Stadium crowd. Of the seven meetings between the teams, four have been ties or decided by one goal. The Orlando win in 2023 was the only time a game between the clubs involved fewer than two combined goals.
Racing’s opening day record has produced mixed results over its first three seasons in the NWSL, with two draws and a loss. Louisville and Houston produced an exciting but scoreless tie in the 2023 opener.
Follow along …
• For Starting XI and in-game updates, follow @RacingLouFC on Twitter and Racing Louisville FC on Facebook. You can also find us at @racinglouisvillefc on Instagram.
• The game will be broadcast on WAVE channel The 365 – over-the-air on channel 3.3 – and streamed on WAVE3.com and the WAVE News app. The new NWSL+ app and watch.nwslsoccer.com will also carry the match.
• Fans can listen to the match broadcast on iHeart Media’s News Talk 1080 AM radio or stream the live play-by-play on talkradio1080.iheart.com.
Storylines …
Entering our Bev Era: Saturday will mark the NWSL coaching debut of 35-year-old Bev Yanez, a former NWSL MVP finalist who spent the past three years as an assistant coach, first with NJ/NY Gotham FC and then last year with Racing. The rising star in the coaching profession hired a standout staff, including fellow former NWSL player Carmelina Moscato as an assistant. Yanez has familiarity with Louisville after last year as an assistant, and she is hoping to implement a style of play and jolt of energy to lift Racing to its first playoff appearance in the club’s young history.
Familiar faces back in lavender: Racing retained 16 players from the 2023 campaign who accounted for 73.5% of the team’s minutes played and 65% of the team’s scoring. The returning group is led by NWSL Best XI selection Savannah DeMelo and captain Jaelin Howell, Racing’s 2022 NWSL Draft first-round picks who’ve established themselves as two of the top midfielders in the league alongside Brazilian star Ary Borges. Returners also include Racing’s three iron women who played every minute last season: goalkeeper Katie Lund and defenders Abby Erceg and Lauren Milliet, who is the club’s all-time appearances and minutes leader.
DeMelo’s record book chase: Racing Louisville’s history is obviously short, with just three years of NWSL play. That means we’re witnessing history as it’s made, from Lauren Milliet’s pace-setting in appearances and minutes to Katie Lund’s 48 consecutive starts. This could be the year that Savannah DeMelo puts a significant stamp on the Racing record books, too. The third-year midfielder is a goal away from matching Nadia Nadim’s 10 scores in a Racing uniform, and her four assists put her in a tie as the club’s assists leader.
Key NWSL experience added: Louisville has grown into an experienced squad over the past two years, and that process continued in the offseason with the additions of Taylor (Kornieck) Flint, Marisa (Viggiano) DiGrande, Ellie Jean and University of Kentucky legend Arin Wright. The four accomplished NWSL veterans bring league shields and championships, Best XI selections and multiple playoff appearances between them.
Global Racing: Racing Louisville became the first club in NWSL history to feature players from six different continental confederations on its roster in 2023, and that hasn’t changed despite roster turnover this offseason. Louisville’s 26-player roster consists of two players from Oceania Football Confederation; one from Asian Football Confederation; two from Confederation of African Football; one player from Union of European Football Associations; two from CONMEBOL (South America); and the remaining 18 from the U.S. (Note: Forward Elexa Bahr was born and raised in the U.S. but competes for the Colombian national team.)
More Racing NWSL Draft success: Racing once again found quality in the NWSL Draft, selecting UCLA star Reilyn Turner and Ohio State standout Emma Sears in the first two rounds of the event. Turner, the No. 6 overall pick, signed a three-year contract with Racing amid a standout preseason. She enters the professional ranks after an immense collegiate career that saw her win a national title and be named the most outstanding player of that NCAA Tournament while also collecting All-American, All-Pac-12 and Pac-12 Forward of the Year honors over the course of her four years with the Bruins. Sears, 28th overall, inked a new deal with Louisville after starting both of The Women’s Cup Colombia matches. The Ohio native was an All-Big Ten forward with her home state Buckeyes, guiding them to multiple NCAA Tournaments.
Racing in home openers: Louisville enters the 2024 season opener looking for a first. Despite a number of career goals across the 26-playe roster, no one on Racing’s roster has ever scored in a regular-season opener for Louisville or any other NWSL club. In last year’s home opener, the second match of the year, Ary Borges and Abby Erceg scored their first goals in lavender. But only former defender Emily Fox, Louisville’s No. 1 NWSL Draft pick in 2021, has scored for Racing in a regular-season opener.
