ORLANDO, Fla. – Reilyn Turner’s 67th-minute goal gave Racing Louisville hope of a late win to advance to the NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup semifinals, but the visitors left Florida with a 1-1 draw against the Orlando Pride on Thursday night at Inter&Co Stadium, just falling short of an appearance in the tournament’s knockout round.
Racing won the ensuing penalty shootout, 4-3, to finish the inaugural Summer Cup’s group stage with six points, one shy of group-winning North Carolina.
“We wanted to put two goals in and win the match to be able to advance,” Racing coach Bev Yanez said. “A big takeaway for us was winning the PK shootout – two big saves from (Jordyn Bloomer). Last match, we weren’t able to win the PK shootout, so for us, that was a positive moving out of this. Our focus now becomes regrouping, getting a proper week in of training and preparing for The Women’s Cup.”
Yanez lauded her team for going unbeaten in the group stage of the tournament created to keep league teams active while a record 56 NWSL players compete in the Summer Olympics, including Racing forwards Milly Clegg (New Zealand) and Uchenna Kanu (Nigeria).
Racing Louisville (1-0-2, 6 points) topped Mexican power Monterrey in the opener and drew North Carolina before Thursday’s result in Orlando. Racing needed to either beat Orlando by multiple goals or beat Orlando and score more than one goal – either would’ve triggered a favorable tiebreaker for the Louisvillians.
After Evelina Duljan opened the scoring in the 38th minute for Orlando, Racing came out firing in the second half and almost equalized through Turner in the 47th minute. Twenty minutes later, Turner took her second opportunity, nodding in a cross from fellow rookie Emma Sears to bring the score level at 1-1.
It was Turner’s fifth goal across all competitions, tying her for the team lead with Savannah DeMelo.
“This game, we knew what we needed to do going into it,” Turner said. “Our energy in the second half really picked up, and we were able to create more chances and get that goal. It was obviously a great ball by Emma. We needed one more goal, but I feel like our momentum really picked up. Now it’s just that final piece and finishing what we know we can finish.”
Racing pushed for a second over the game’s final phase, coming close on several occasions. Sears narrowly missed a half-volley in the 80th minute, fizzing it past the far post. Lauren Milliet just clipped a shot from the edge of the box over the crossbar in the 83rd.
As part of the tournament, the game went directly to a penalty shootout after ending the 90 minutes on equal footing. Jaelin Howell smacked the post in the opening penalty for Racing, but Sears, Marisa DiGrande, Lauren Milliet and Taylor Flint converted theirs. Bloomer made back-to-back saves at the end of the penalties to claim the shootout.
It was Bloomer’s third start in an NWSL cup game over her three-year career, and the shootout saves provided a nice boost to her second solid performance in the group stage.
“You definitely can’t fault our work ethic and our effort,” Bloomer said, “and then winning the shootout is fantastic. To come out with points there, even though it doesn’t move us forward, is a great result for the girls.”
Racing now has a week to prepare for third edition of The Women’s Cup to be played in Louisville, hosting Brazilian powerhouse Palmeiras on Friday, Aug. 9, at Lynn Family Stadium.
Game Summary: Racing Louisville at Orlando Pride
NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup
Date: Aug. 1, 2024
Venue: Inter&Co Stadium
Kickoff: 7 p.m. ET
Weather: 76 degrees and rainy
Scoring
Racing Louisville (0, 1, 1) – 4
Orlando Pride (1, 0, 1) – 3
Goals
Racing Louisville
67’ Reilyn Turner (Emma Sears)
Orlando Pride
38’ Evelina Duljan (Kerry Abello)
Penalties
Racing Louisville
Jaelin Howell – missed
Emma Sears – goal
Marisa DiGrande – goal
Lauren Milliet – goal
Taylor Flint – goal
Orlando Pride
Mariana Larroquette – goal
Ally Lemos – goal
Julie Doyle – goal
Morgan Gautrat – saved
Ally Watt – saved
Lineups
Racing Louisville FC (4-2-3-1): 24 – Jordyn Bloomer (GK); 2 – Lauren Milliet, 5 – Ellie Jean, 20 – Abby Erceg (c), 3 – Arin Wright; 19 – Jordan Baggett (46’ 6 – Jaelin Howell), 26 – Taylor Flint; 23 – Elexa Bahr (46’ 13 – Emma Sears), 8 – Ary Borges (57’ 14 – Marisa DiGrande), 66 – Reilyn Turner (70’ 17 – Maddie Pokorny); 21 – Parker Goins (46’ 9 – Kayla Fischer)
Subs not used: 1 – Katie Lund (GK); 10 – Linda Motlhalo
Head coach: Bev Yanez
Orlando Pride (4-4-2): 1 – Anna Moorhouse (GK); 13 – Celia, 25 – Kerry Abello (62’ 36 – Claire Winter), 3 – Kylie Strom (c), 31 – Cori Dyke; 28 – Summer Yates (46’ 11 – Ally Watt), 2 – Haley McCutcheon (72’ 7 – Mariana Laroquette), 30 – Ally Lemos, 17 – Evelina Duljan (85’ 16 – Morgan Gautrat); 33 – Alex Kerr (63’ 29 – Amanda Allen), 20 – Julie Doyle
Subs not used: 40 – McKinley Crone (GK), 21 – Sofia Manner (GK), 38 – Kenna Caldwell (GK)
Head coach: Seb Hines
Stats Summary: Racing Louisville / Orlando Pride
Shots: 13 / 16
Shots on Goal: 3 / 4
Expected goals: 1.58 / 1.39
Possession: 57.5% / 42.5%
Fouls: 5 / 13
Offside: 2 / 0
Corners: 1 / 3
Discipline Summary
Racing Louisville
84’ Emma Sears (yellow)
Orlando Pride
60’ Celia Jiménez (yellow)
90’+5 Seb Hines (yellow)
90’+9 Claire Winter (yellow)
Match referee: Alejo Calume
Assistant referees: Colin Ashley and Juan Pablo Casas
Fourth official: Russell Miller
