Racing Louisville begins a challenging five-week run of games with a 5 p.m. Sunday match at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey, against the reigning NWSL champion NJ/NY Gotham FC.
Four of Racing’s next five matches will be away from the friendly confines of Lynn Family Stadium in Louisville, and they’ll all be against opponents either in the top five of the league standings or, in Gotham’s case, with championship pedigree and a loaded roster.
Sunday’s match will be broadcast over the air on WAVE’s The 365 channel and streamed on the WAVE News app, WAVE3.com or NWSL+ for free with a sign-up. Fans can access NWSL+ online at plus.nwslsoccer.com or via the app on Apple, Fire or Roku services. News Talk 1080 AM or online at talkradio1080.iheart.com, and the iHeart Radio app will carry the radio broadcast.
Racing Louisville (1-0-4, 7 points) climbed into sixth place in the NWSL standings with its first win of the season last Saturday, a 5-1 battering of expansion side Utah Royals in the first professional soccer match played during Thunder Over Louisville. Coach Bev Yanez’s squad is on a five-match unbeaten run, only the third run of its kind in club history.
Last Saturday was a milestone day for Louisville – record attendance, most goals in a game and largest win margin in club history. It was also Yanez’s first win as a head coach in addition to Savannah DeMelo’s first regular-season scoring brace, rookie forwards Emma Sears and Reilyn Turner’s first pro goals, and Marisa DiGrande and Carson Pickett’s first assists in Racing lavender.
The Louisvillians will aim to keep the good vibes going in north Jersey, where Gotham (1-1-2) is hoping to bounce back from a 2-0 loss at Washington this past weekend. Coach Juan Carlos Amoros’s squad has struggled scoring through its first four matches, with two goals while working through injuries that have sidelined several stars on the roster.
The NWSL regular-season meeting is a rematch of The Women’s Cup Colombia final on March 1, when Gotham topped Louisville, 3-1, at Estadio Olimpico Pascual Guerrero in Calí. Esther Gonzalez scored twice, including the game-winner, in a second-half Gotham comeback after Turner gave Racing the lead in the game’s opening minutes.
This meeting will look a bit different with Racing captain Jaelin Howell back from injury and starting again alongside Taylor Flint in addition to Elexa Bahr, Ary Borges and Uchenna Kanu all playing for Louisville after missing The Women’s Cup because of national team duty. For Gotham, U.S. Women’s National Teamers Crystal Dunn, Jenna Nighswonger, Emily Sonnett and Lynn Williams are back with their club, too.
Racing leads the all-time series with Gotham, with two wins to the Bats’ one, while the teams have drawn four times. Louisville is 1-0-3 at Red Bull Arena, with three goals and two allowed over the four games. Last August, the teams played to a scoreless draw.
Follow along …
- For the starting lineup and in-game updates, follow @RacingLouFC on Twitter and Racing Louisville FC on Facebook. You can also find us at @racinglouisvillefc on Instagram.
- WAVE’s The 365 channel will carry the match over the air, with the stream on the WAVE News app, WAVE3.com or NWSL+ for free with a sign-up. Fans can access NWSL+ online at plus.nwslsoccer.com or via the app on Apple, Fire or Roku services. International viewers can watch the match on NWSL+ or view this schedule to see where the match will be shown in their region or country. News Talk 1080 AM or online at talkradio1080.iheart.com, and the iHeart Radio app will carry the radio broadcast.
Storylines …
DeMelo sets record book pace: Racing Louisville’s history is obviously short, with just three full years of NWSL play. Nevertheless, Savannah DeMelo put her stamp on the club record books on Saturday, surpassing Nadia Nadim as Racing Louisville’s all-time leading scorer with her 10th and 11th career goals. It was the California native’s first regular-season brace and second of her career, with the other coming against Kansas City in group stage play of last summer’s NWSL Challenge Cup. The goals ended DeMelo’s 10-month scoring drought in league play, with her last goal coming on June 18, 2023, against this weekend’s opponent, NJ/NY Gotham FC.
Kanu believe this? Racing Louisville forward Uchenna Kanu is off to a blazing-hot start, with four goals in five matches to continue setting the pace in the NWSL golden boot race. The Nigerian international added to her scoring haul with a towering back-post header to open Racing’s account in Saturday’s 5-1 win over Utah, slotting home her second headed goal of the season. It’s the first time in club history a Racing player has four goals in five regular-season games.
Rocking rookies: TheThunder Over Louisville game this past weekend merely cemented what has been evident through the first fifth of the season – Racing has some really talented rookies. Reilyn Turner opened her professional scoring account with an excellent header over a Utah defender late in the 5-1 win, and Emma Sears added her first pro goal a few minutes later with a 50-yard dribble capped by a rifled-in right-footed shot. The two rookies are tied for eighth in the NWSL in goal-creating actions, with three apiece. Turner has two assists to go with her goal.
A day of firsts: Carson Pickett has been one of the NWSL’s best passers over the past few seasons, leading the league in assists in 2022, and she has lived up to that billing through five matches this year. The left back notched her first assist in Racing colors on Reilyn Turner’s goal against Utah, and she now ranks second in the league in chances created and ninth in shot-creating actions. Pickett was joined by Marisa DiGrande in notching her first assist for the club – DiGrande fed Emma Sears at the start of the rookie’s magnificent individual effort for a goal this past Saturday.
Sparks Fly: Taylor Flint continued her dominant start to her first season with Racing Louisville on Saturday, winning nine possessions and all five of her tackles while also nabbing six interceptions and firing three shots on target. The commanding midfield presence was unlucky to score on a close-range header as well as a well-struck shot from the edge of the area. Flint ranks first in the league in duels won, interceptions and tackles won while also ranking third in aerial duels won and possession recoveries.
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 the season-opening draw vs. Orlando on March 16, 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.
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.)
