Racing Louisville FC lost to Utah Royals FC 3-2 Friday night at America First Field in Sandy, Utah. It was Louisville’s third consecutive loss, dropping the club out of the playoff positions for the first time since May 24.
Louisville (7-9-5, 26 points) now sits 10th in the standings, but will drop no further this weekend.
In a trying week for Racing, the second half showed resolve. Louisville scored twice to make things interesting late but couldn’t change the result.
“A big conversation at halftime was: It’s time to test the character. This game can go one of two ways, and it’s our decision with where this game goes,” Racing head coach Bev Yanez said. “Obviously it’s very difficult to come back from a 3-0 deficit at halftime.”
Utah scored all three goals before halftime, with Mina Tanaka, Janni Thomsen and Cloé Lacasse all finding the net. For Thomsen and Lacasse, the goals were the first of their seasons.
It could’ve started differently. Racing’s Taylor Flint was denied a an early goal after the video assistant referee Brad Jensen spotted Louisville defender Ellie Jean interfering in the play from an offside position.
Tanaka put Utah ahead less than a minute later with a strike worthy of goal of the week.
From there, Louisville merely adjusted the scoreline, not the result. In the 68th minute, USWNT forward Emma Sears scored on the first career assist for rookie forward Sarah Weber.
Janine Sonis pulled another back for Louisville with a terrific direct free kick in the 81st minute, but it wasn’t enough.
Racing played the game on just two days’ rest, after the second half of Sunday’s game at Seattle was suspended until Tuesday following a medical emergency for Racing midfielder Savannah DeMelo. The club only arrived in Utah on Friday evening.
“It’s been emotionally exhausting, and emotionally (its) taken a toll on all of us,” Yanez said. “We’re doing the best that we can, and I think the group showcased some really good character in the second half in particular.”
“This week is for sure the most adversity that we’ve faced all year long. If you would’ve asked me how I intended this long road trip to go prior to being on it, I definitely could’ve never guessed that this would be the situation.”
On the stat sheet, Racing outperformed Utah in many areas. On the night, Louisville finished with more expected goals (xG), 1.41 to 1.38. It’s the fifth time in six games Racing has taken the analytic, however none have been wins. In fact, the lone game in that stretch in which Racing lost the xG battle was its lone win, over the San Diego Wave.
“I’m proud of us for fighting back,” Sears said. “Obviously it’s tough no matter what going in to halftime being down three goals, but we were able to collect ourselves and regroup a little bit at halftime and kind of refocus on us and our identity and what we know we want to put out on the field to be proud of.”
Racing will return home next week to host Angel City FC on Sept. 27 at Lynn Family Stadium. It will be a game pitting teams in 10th and 11th place, fighting for their playoff lives with just five games to go in the regular season.
The game will be Pups at the Pitch Night, a fan favorite event. For tickets and more information, visit RacingLouFC.com/pups.
Game Summary: Utah Royals FC vs. Racing Louisville FC
Date: September 19, 2025
Venue: America First Field
Kickoff: 10 p.m. ET
Scoring
Utah Royals FC (3, 0, 3)
Racing Louisville FC (0, 2, 2)
Goals:
Utah Royals FC:
13′ Mina Tanaka
38′ Janni Thomsen (Mina Tanaka)
45’+3 Cloé Lacasse
Racing Louisville FC:
68′ Emma Sears (Sarah Weber)
81′ Janine Sonis
Lineups
Utah Royals FC: 1 – Mandy McGlynn; 14 – Nuria Rábano, 18 – Kaleigh Riehl, 8 – Kate Del Fava, 7 – Janni Thomsen, 10 – Claudia Zornoza, 17 – Ana Tejada (90’+1 22 – Dana Foederer), 24 – Cloé Lacasse (75′ 13 – Brecken Mozingo), 11 – Mina Tanaka, 4 – Paige Monaghan (c) (75′ 28 – Imani Dorsey), 30 – Aisha Solórzano (59′ 53 – Bianca St-Georges)
Unused substitutes: 23 – Mia Justus; 5 – Lauren Flynn, 16 – Madison Pogarch, 25 – Cece Kizer, 33 – Aria Nagai
Head coach: Jimmy Coenraets
Racing Louisville FC: 24 – Jordyn Bloomer; 4 – Makenna Morris (69′ 2 – Lauren Milliet), 11 – Courtney Petersen, 5 – Ellie Jean, 16 – Janine Sonis, 26 – Taylor Flint, 8 – Ary Borges (89′ 88 – Bethany Balcer), 20 – Katie O’Kane (69′ 14 – Marisa DiGrande), 6 – Ella Hase, 13 – Emma Sears, 9 – Kayla Fischer (45′ 42 – Sarah Weber)
Unused substitutes: 33 – Cristina Roque, 77 – Madison White; 12 – Allie George, 32 – Avery Kalitta
Head Coach: Bev Yanez
Stats Summary: Utah Royals FC / Racing Louisville FC
Shots: 13 / 13
Shots on Goal: 4 / 5
Expected goals: 1.38 / 1.41
Possession: 57.6% / 42.4%
Fouls: 12 / 12
Offside: 0 / 6
Corners: 1 / 4
Discipline Summary
Utah Royals FC:
53′ Mina Tanaka (yellow)
77′ Nuria Rábano (yellow)
82′ Mandy McGlynn (yellow)
90’+2 Kate Del Fava (yellow)
Racing Louisville FC:
56′ Emma Sears (yellow)
71′ Marisa DiGrande (yellow)
Match referee: Lauren Aldrich
