SANDY, Utah — A second half strike from Ana Tejada tipped the scales as Utah Royals FC edged visiting Racing Louisville, 1-0, on Saturday night at America First Field.
The defeat stunted Racing’s two-game win streak, though Louisville remains just above the playoff line in eighth position before two more playoff hopefuls – Bay FC and Seattle Reign FC – meet Sunday night in Seattle.
“Simply it just wasn’t good enough from us,” said Racing head coach Bev Yanez. “We had opportunities to put the ball in the back of the net, so I definitely feel like as a group, we had those. We created those. But overall, it wasn’t good enough as a group.”
Louisville (6-9-7, 25 points) has four matches remaining in the regular season – two at Lynn Family Stadium and two on the road – to punch its ticket into the postseason for the first time in the club’s short history.
In Utah, Racing relied on another outstanding performance from goalkeeper Katie Lund to keep the match level through the opening 78 minutes. Lund made four saves, including a fantastic stop of Cam Tucker in a 1-on-1 situation in the 68th minute.
“Katie is playing as one of the best goalkeepers in the league,” said winger Janine Beckie. “She’s kept us in games – back-to-back-to-back games in the last couple of weeks. That’s a world-class save. Nine times out of ten, that’s probably a goal. She made herself big and she kept us in the game.”
Two halftime substitutes, Ohio State grads Kayla Fischer and Emma Sears, pushed Louisville into a more aggressive posture, finding some success in the final third down the right flank.
Midfielder Taylor Flint nearly put Racing ahead in the 58th minute when she plucked possession off a Utah defender at the top of Utah’s box and blasted a shot off the crossbar. Four minutes later, amid a frenzied sequence in front of goal, Lauren Milliet saw her shot from inside the box headed away from two yards off the goal line.
In the 78th minute, Tejada broke the deadlock, scoring a long-range effort to give Utah its first win since Aug. 31.
“Our job is to go back and look at the game, recap it, ensure that we take something from this game, and ensure that we continue,” said Yanez. “There are still four matches left. There’s still massive opportunity, taking it game by game and putting these learnings to work.”
Game Summary: Racing Louisville FC at Utah Royals
Date: September 28, 2024
Venue: America First Field, Sandy, Utah
Kickoff: 7 p.m. ET
Weather: 92 degrees, sunny
Scoring
Racing Louisville (0, 0, 0)
Utah Royals (0, 1, 1)
Goals
Utah Royals
78’ Ana Tejada (Claudia Zornoza)
Lineups
Racing Louisville FC (4-2-3-1): 1 – Katie Lund; 2 – Lauren Milliet, 3 – Arin Wright, 20 – Abby Erceg, (c), 11 – Courtney Petersen; 8 – Ary Borges (46’ 13 – Emma Sears), 26 – Taylor Flint; 7 – Savannah DeMelo, 14 – Marisa DiGrande, 16 – Janine Beckie (86’ 17 – Maddie Pokorny); 88 – Bethany Balcer (46’ 9 – Kayla Fischer)
Subs not used: 24 – Jordyn Bloomer (GK); 5 – Ellie Jean, 15 – Ángela Barón, 19 – Jordan Baggett, 21 – Parker Goins, 23 – Elexa Bahr
Head Coach: Bev Yanez
Utah Royals FC (4-2-3-1): 32 – Cristina Roque; 3 – Olivia Smith-Griffitts, 8 – Kate Del Fava, 18 – Kaleigh Riehl, 12 – Zoe Burns; 26 – Claudia Zornoza, 17 – Ana Tejada (87’ 7 – Michele Vasconcelos); 24 – Cloé Lacasse, Dana Foederer (46’ 21 – Mikayla Cluff), Paige Monaghan (c) (7’ 20 – Cameron Tucker); 33 – Hannah Betfort
Subs not used: 1 – Mandy Haught (GK); 2 – Julia Grosso, 6 – Agnes Nyberg, 16 – Madison Pogarch, 35 – Shaelan Murison
Interim Head Coach: Jimmy Coenraets
Stats Summary: Racing Louisville / Utah Royals
Shots: 11 / 17
Shots on Goal: 2 / 5
Expected goals: 1.11 / 1.72
Possession: 45.6% / 54.4%
Fouls: 9 / 17
Offside: 0 / 0
Corners: 2 / 8
Discipline Summary
Racing Louisville
45’+3 Taylor Flint (yellow)
Utah Royals
11’ Cameron Tucker (yellow)
56’ Kate Del Fava (yellow)
66’ Kaleigh Riehl (yellow)
87’ Zoe Burns (yellow)
Match referee: Alex Billeter
Assistant referees: Cameron Siler, Melissa Beck
Fourth official: Adorae Monroy
Video Assistant Referee: Corbyn May
Assistant VAR: Tom Felice
