Today is a milestone day for two Racing Louisville players as goalkeeper Katie Lund and defender Abby Erceg close in on big personal marks.
Those two big career moments and the return of captain Jaelin Howell headline Louisville’s lineup as Bev Yanez’s squad looks for the first road opener victory in the club’s four-year history. Racing has never won at Houston, nor has it won in the month of March, with tonight’s 8:30 p.m. ET kickoff at Shell Energy Stadium presenting a new bite at the apple.
The match will be broadcast on the new NWSL+ app, also found at plus.nwslsoccer.com, and carried on local radio by News Talk 1080 AM, talkradio1080.com and the iHeart Radio app.
Lund is set to make her 50th career appearance (and start) when she takes the pitch in her home state of Texas. The 27-year-old will become the second player in club history to reach the 50-match milestone, joining defender Lauren Milliet, who like Lund arrived in the 2020 NWSL Expansion Draft and is now the club’s all-time leader in appearances and minutes played. Lund will be making her 49th consecutive start.
In front of Lund, the center back Erceg is primed to pass recently retired U.S. Women’s National Team and NJ/NY Gotham defender Ali Krieger on the NWSL’s all-time minutes played list. Anything more than 15 minutes of action for Erceg, who is starting her 24th consecutive regular-season game for Racing, will push the New Zealander into fourth in NWSL career minutes.
Howell returns to Racing’s lineup after seeing 24 minutes in the season opener. The 24-year-old Colorado native was on a minutes limit for the 2-2 draw against the Orlando Pride this past Saturday as she returned from preseason injury. She’ll join Taylor Flint in the core of Racing’s midfield, with attacking midfielder Kayla Fischer moved into the starting lineup for Savannah DeMelo, who was listed as questionable ahead of the match with an upper leg ailment. This will be Fischer’s sixth career NWSL regular season start, and her insertion into the lineup alongside Howell represents the only two changes to Racing’s lineup from last weekend.
Across the attacking lines, Racing will trot out the same starters who roared into the 2024 NWSL season with two goals inside the first 20 minutes of the Orlando game, with Uchenna Kanu on the left wing, Elexa Bahr on the right and rookie Reilyn Turner leading the line. The trio combined for both goals last weekend, with Turner assisting Bahr’s game-opening goal and Turner’s pass leading to Bahr’s assist of Kanu’s goal seven minutes later.
Joining Erceg along the back line will be three familiar faces: Milliet on the right, Elli Pikkujämsä at center back and Carson Pickett on the left.
Arin Wright and Marisa DiGrande, who spent the past two seasons at Houston, are on the substitutes bench and could make their Racing debuts this evening. They’re joined by DeMelo, Jordan Baggett, Maddie Pokorny and Parker Goins, along with rookie Emma Sears and South Africa star Linda Motlhalo, who both made their first appearances in Louisville’s lavender last weekend. Jordyn Bloomer is the backup goalkeeper behind Lund.
Racing Louisville lineup vs. Houston Dash
1 – Katie Lund
2 – Lauren Milliet
4 – Elli Pikkujämsä
6 – Jaelin Howell (c)
9 – Kayla Fischer
16 – Carson Pickett
20 – Abby Erceg
23 – Elexa Bahr
26 – Taylor Flint
29 – Uchenna Kanu
66 – Reilyn Turner
Substitutes: 24 – Jordyn Bloomer; 3 – Arin Wright, 7 – Savannah DeMelo, 10 – Linda Motlhalo, 13 – Emma Sears, 14 – Marisa DiGrande, 17 – Maddie Pokorny, 19 – Jordan Baggett, 21 – Parker Goins