![](https://www.racingloufc.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/65/2024/05/Reilyn-Turner-16x9-LCC.jpg?w=1024)
Racing Louisville’s difficult five-game stretch continues on Saturday with a trip to the banks of the Missouri River to play the first-place Kansas City Current.
The match will be broadcast over the air on ION and streamed for free on ionnwsl.com. News Talk 1080 AM or online at talkradio1080.iheart.com, and the iHeart Radio app will carry the radio broadcast.
Racing (1-2-5, 8 points) is amid a five-week run of games against four of the top five teams in the league – plus reigning league champion NJ/NY Gotham – with four of those matches away from home. Coach Bev Yanez’s team opened the campaign with a six-match unbeaten streak, including two road draws at fourth-place Portland and at Gotham.
Now the Louisvillians are aiming to snap a two-game losing skid in what has been one of the league’s toughest environments, the Current’s CPKC Stadium.
Kansas City (6-0-3, 21 points) sits atop the NWSL standings in large part because of its success at home, where the Current is a perfect 4-0-0 with 15 goals scored. Coach Vlatko Andonovski’s team has scored four or more goals in three of its four home games, including the entertaining 5-4 win over Portland in the stadium’s debut.
Saturday’s game will feature some of the NWSL’s top scorers between Louisville’s Uchenna Kanu (four goals) and Savannah DeMelo (three) and KC’s Temwa Chawinga (five) and Vanessa DiBernardo (three). Another leading goal scorer, the Current’s Bia Zaneratto, who has four goals, has missed the past three games through injury.
Racing brings one of the league’s stingier defenses to Kansas City hoping to slow down the NWSL’s most potent attack. Yanez’s squad is first in blocked shots and tackles won in the defensive third, second in interceptions and fourth in both goals allowed and expected goals allowed. Kansas City is first in goals, big scoring chances, shots on target per match and touches in the opposition box.
Eight games into the season, Louisville is fourth in the NWSL in expected goal differential but 11th in the overall standings, albeit with a game in hand on seven of the teams ahead in the table. Racing is three points back from eighth-place San Diego, which currently holds the last spot in the newly expanded playoff picture.
To get back into the playoff chase, Racing needs to capitalize on its scoring opportunities, with 11 goals from an expected 13.3. Louisville is tied for first in the league in missed big chances, with 15.
Louisville has had some success in Kansas City, including a 2-0 win there on May 20 last year. That win, highlighted by goals from DeMelo and Kirsten (Davis) Wright, was one of two victories over the Current in the same week. Racing had previously topped KC, 3-2, at Lynn Family Stadium in the NWSL Challenge Cup a few days prior to the regular-season meeting.
Racing is 4-2-1 all-time against Kansas City in regular-season games, though both of those losses have come at KC.
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.
- The game will be broadcast on ION – viewers can search for the channel number in their area by typing in their ZIP Code here – or streamed free at ionnwsl.com. You can listen to the match on News Talk 1080 AM or online at talkradio1080.iheart.com.
- Racing Louisville’s Pub Partners — participating bars, breweries and restaurants — will feature the club’s away games on TVs (with sound!) throughout the season. For more information on where to watch, visit our Pub Partners page.
Storylines …
DeMelo from distance: The club’s all-time leading scorer, Savannah DeMelo added to her career haul with a 25-yard free-kick goal this past Friday against Washington. The laser from long range was the third free-kick goal of her career, making her the NWSL’s leader among current players. She’s now tied for third all-time in free-kick goals. It only helps the 25-year-old is first in the league in fouls drawn and fouls drawn in the final third. With three goals this season in just five appearances, DeMelo is tied for ninth in scoring and sixth in goals per 90 minutes.
Pick(ett) a pass: One of the NWSL’s best passers over the past few seasons, Carson Pickett is once again showing off her range, leading the league in both key passes and passes into the penalty area. She is second in chances created and third in big chances created while ranking sixth in progressive passes and ninth in passes into the final third. The left back earned her first regular-season assist in a Racing kit on Reilyn Turner’s goal against Utah on April 20. She has two assists in 34 appearances across all competitions since joining Racing in 2023.
Swiftly ingraining herself: The addition of Taylor Flint has been a game-changer for Racing. The central midfielder was named to the NWSL Best XI for March and April after a dominant seven-match run to start her Racing career. Through a third of the season, Flint ranks first in the NWSL in interceptions and blocks; second in tackles won; third in aerial duels won; and fourth in possession recoveries among non-goalkeepers. The 25-year-old has created eight scoring chances and played every minute for Racing.
Are you Searsious? Rookie forward Emma Sears is racking up the impressive performances in her first year. In eight games, Sears leads the league in progressive distance covered per 90 minutes and ranks second in successful dribbles, carries into the penalty area and progressive carries per 90 minutes. The Ohio State grad is 14th in the league in shots on target despite only 4.1 90s this season. She scored her first pro goal in the 5-1 win over Utah, dribbling some 40 yards before roofing a right-footed shot from 16 yards out.
Rei of sunshine: Much like her fellow rookie in Sears, California native Reilyn Turner has been a revelation as a first-year player. The UCLA grad has two goals and two assists in her eight appearances and set a Racing club record with eight shots on target in the 0-0 draw vs. Houston on March 23. Her 69.2% shots on target rate ranks seventh in the NWSL, and she is ninth in the league in goal-creating actions.
Kanu believe this? Racing Louisville forward Uchenna Kanu is off to a hot start this season, with four goals in eight matches to rank fourth 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 the 5-1 win over Utah on April 20, slotting home her second headed goal of the season. She scored twice in the 2-2 draw at Portland and netted the second goal in a 2-2 draw vs. Orlando in the season opener on March 16.
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.
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.)