Racing Louisville hits the road for the first time in the 2024 season with an away trip to Houston for the Dash’s home opener at 8:30 p.m. ET Saturday.
Shell Energy Stadium is the stage for the eighth NWSL regular-season meeting between the two clubs and 12th all-time across all competitions. Based on the series history, expect a tight, physical affair – nine of the 11 all-time meetings have been ties or determined by one goal, including seven matches with 0-0, 1-0 or 1-1 score lines.
For Racing, the trip to the Space City represents an opportunity to erase Louisville’s difficult history in Texas. In five games at Houston, Racing has an 0-3-2 record with one goal scored.
This past weekend’s season-opening results, however, suggest a potential change in the low-scoring pattern charted from Racing and Houston’s previous meetings. The teams started the season with games that featured 10 combined goals – Racing played the Orlando Pride to a 2-2 draw, while Houston fell, 5-1, at North Carolina.
New addition Elexa Bahr, a 25-year-old who also plays for the Colombia national team, was electric in her Racing Louisville debut, becoming the fourth player in the club’s young history to register a goal and an assist in a match. She was the first player since former Houston star Rachel Daly in 2016 to ring up a goal and an assist in her first NWSL match.
Bahr had help up front, too. Rookie forward Reilyn Turner was instrumental in both goals, assisting Bahr’s score and making the outstanding first pass that led to Uchenna Kanu’s first NWSL regular-season goal. The trio made up one of the youngest attacking corps in club history to start a game, with an average age of 24 years old.
There were other firsts on opening weekend, with Taylor Flint making her first start in lavender after moving to Louisville via trade from San Diego this offseason. In addition to Turner, fellow rookie Emma Sears made her NWSL debut as a substitute. Another new signing this offseason, Linda Motlhalo, came on as a sub, too.
Now Racing’s attention turns to Houston, which is hoping to bounce back from a second half that saw a 1-0 game blow up into a North Carolina rout. Last year, the Dash was the league’s top defense, only allowing 18 goals in 22 matches and shutting Racing out twice.
The Louisvillians opened their 2023 campaign with a scoreless draw in humid, hot conditions in Houston. This weekend’s forecast is a tad more forgiving, with temperatures expected to be in the mid-70s at kickoff.
Not only would a win Saturday be Racing’s first in Houston – it’d also be the first win in the month of March in club history in either the NWSL Challenge Cup or regular season.
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 streamed on the new NWSL+ app and plus.nwslsoccer.com. You can listen to the match on Sports Talk 790 AM or online at 790louisville.iheart.com.
Storylines …
Bahr none: How about that for an NWSL debut? For the first time in eight years, a player registered an assist and a goal in their NWSL debut, with Racing’s Elexa Bahr matching Houston’s Rachel Daly in 2016 with the feat. Bahr scored a magnificent opening goal in Saturday’s draw vs. Orlando, chipping the goalkeeper from the edge of the box. She added an assist a few minutes later on Uchenna Kanu’s well-taken goal in transition. Bahr, who grew up in Georgia and starred collegiately at South Carolina, joined Racing this winter after helping Colombia reach the FIFA Women’s World Cup quarterfinals for the first time in the nation’s history last summer.
Racing in road openers: Up on the docket, Racing’s fourth NWSL regular-season road opener, a game Louisville has not won yet in its short history. As a club, Racing is 0-2-1 in road openers, with last year’s 0-0 draw at Houston breaking a two-match losing streak in the category. In addition to Saturday representing an opportunity to win its first road opener, Racing can also win its first-ever NWSL Challenge Cup or regular-season match in the month of March and its first game in Houston.
No chill in DeMelo: Racing star Savannah DeMelo matched the club record for fouls won in a single match with six on Saturday vs. Orlando. The mark has been hit three other times in the club’s young history – twice in 2022 and last year against Angel City. Every single mark has been set by DeMelo, who has led the NWSL in fouls won in each of the past two seasons.
Top four-bound: Veteran defender and team vice-captain Abby Erceg is fast approaching fourth place on the NWSL’s all-time minutes list, needing just 15 more to surpass Ali Krieger. Erceg, who played every minute last year in her first season with Racing, has amassed 15,011 minutes over her NWSL career, with 170 appearances between Racing, North Carolina, Western New York and Chicago. She played a complete 90 minutes on Saturday vs. Orlando and has started all but one match for Louisville across all competitions since joining the club before the 2023 campaign.
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 full 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 49 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.
