Over the last year, Racing Louisville FC has made one thing clear: the team can take a punch.
Louisville took one on the chin to open the 2026 NWSL season, falling 2-1 to the North Carolina Courage at First Horizon Stadium in Cary, N.C.
The Courage prevailed on an 86th-minute Ashley Sanchez goal, which took a deflection and looped in over Louisville keeper Jordyn Bloomer’s outstretched hands.
Head coach Bev Yanez was not discouraged by the result, however, perhaps leading by example on a team with 10 newcomers, including six rookies — the NWSL isn’t about haymakers, but rather a long season’s worth of jabs.
“I think hitting adversity early is a good thing,” Yanez said. “Would we prefer to be in a position with three points? Yeah. But it’s football. It’s life. You’re going to hit it. So, we didn’t necessarily experience a high volume of that throughout preseason. So I think it’s a good thing for us to see how we bounce back from this adversity.”
Behind on the scoreboard and in the run of play in the first half — following an earlier goal from Sanchez, in the 29th minute — the Racing players showed no signs of a stagger before a a season-opening record crowd of 8,157 for North Carolina, but instead managed to find their feet.
In the first minute of first-half stoppage, Emma Sears delivered the ball to Sarah Weber, who had missed a chance a few minutes earlier. The second-year pro put her second big opportunity away, smashing it home from inside the penalty area to bring Louisville level.
“Yeah, I mean, we really just need to capitalize. There’s even a couple in the first half, one of myself included, that we just have to put away,” Weber said. “And I think that’s just a huge momentum shifter, honestly. If we can find the back of the net early when we are getting those looks like that’s only going to swing it more so to our side.”
The life of a center forward: it’s not the chances you get, but the chances you take — a lesson Louisville could use to grow into the team it hopes to be this season, and also an apropos synopsis of Saturday’s performance.
Racing had several chances to take the lead Saturday — an Ella Hase curler that missed the top corner by an inch and an Emma Sears breakaway that was denied by Courage keeper Kailen Sheridan stood out among them.
“We had opportunities to go up. So I think that’s the first conversation (with the players),” Yanez said. “Obviously we’re going to have to take a deep dive into the goals themselves and maybe potential opportunities that we could have put in the back of the net as well. So, I think it’s just an assessment on that and how we can continue to be better and we go from there.”
In what has become a trademark of Racing’s high pressing, hard-working identity under Yanez, Louisville was significantly out-possessed on the night (60.9%–39.1%) but produced more shots (17-15) and a significantly higher expected goals value (2.53 to 1.04).
And it wasn’t just the stat sheet that was a cause for lavender-tinted optimism — Racing had several positive performances on the night: the goal from Weber, a 63rd-minute double save from goalkeeper Jordyn Bloomer and five club debuts — including a first-career start for Quincy McMahon and the professional debuts of Taylor White, Audrey McKeen and Macy Blackburn.
“Overall, I think obviously you want to walk away from the opening match with the result,” Yanez said. “You want to feel as best as possible going into this next game. I think there was very good things tonight. I think there’s a lot of good takeaways from this opening match and I am pleased specifically with those adjustments second half and how we started to grow into the game.”
Still, the game goes down as a loss. Bloomer was particularly disappointed with the late goal.
“At the end of the day, I think at least on that second (goal), that needs to be kept out of the back of the net by myself,” she said.
Racing’s first opportunity to put the lessons of Saturday’s loss into action will come quick, less than a week later. Louisville will return home to Lynn Family Stadium for the first time in 2026 on Friday, hosting the Washington Spirit in a playoff rematch. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m.
Fans can learn more about the game at RacingLouFC.com/opener, but they’ll come prepared with one piece of knowledge: Racing has a puncher’s chance — and then some.
Game Summary: North Carolina Courage vs. Racing Louisville FC
Date: March 14, 2026
Venue: First Horizon Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park
Kickoff: 7 p.m. ET
Weather: 70 degrees, mostly sunny
Scoring
North Carolina Courage (1, 1, 2)
Racing Louisville FC (1, 0, 0)
Goals:
North Carolina Courage:
29′ Ashley Sanchez (Payton Linnehan)
86′ Ashley Sanchez (Shinomi Koyama)
Racing Louisville FC:
45+1′ Sarah Weber (Emma Sears)
Lineups
North Carolina Courage: 1 – Kailen Sheridan; 17 – Dani Weatherholt (11 – Feli Rauch, 87′), 25 – Maycee Bell, 4 – Natalie Jacobs (c), 13 – Ryan Williams, 2 – Ashley Sanchez, 14 – Carly Wickenheiser, 16 – Riley Jackson, 15 – Payton Linnehan (22 – Cortnee Vine, 62′), 33 – Hannah Betfort (7 – Lauryn Thompson, 74′), 20 – Shinomi Koyama
Subs not used: 99 – Madison White; 3 – Sydney Schmidt, 5 – Cameron Brooks, 6 – Ivy Garner, 8 – Chioma Okafor, 12 – Natalia Staude
Head Coach: Mak Lind
Racing Louisville FC: 24 – Jordyn Bloomer; 12 – Quincy McMahon (23 – Macy Blackburn, 89′), 8 – Courtney Petersen, 5 – Ellie Jean, 2 – Lauren Milliet (c), 26 – Taylor Flint, 20 – Katie O’Kane, 9 – Kayla Fischer (88 – Audrey McKeen, 89′), 6 – Ella Hase (11 – Taylor White, 74′), 13 – Emma Sears, 42 – Sarah Weber (10 – Macey Hodge, 68′)
Subs not used: 1 – Maddie Prohaska; 15 – Mirann Gacioch, 16 – Maja Lardner, 19 – Avery Ciorbu, 22 – Natalie Mitchell
Head Coach: Bev Yanez
Stats Summary: North Carolina Courage / Racing Louisville FC
Shots: 15 / 17
Shots on Goal: 5 / 5
Expected goals: 1.04 / 2.53
Possession: 60.9% / 39.1%
Fouls: 9 / 8
Offside: 2 / 1
Corners: 5 / 6
Discipline Summary
North Carolina:
40′ Natalie Jacobs (yellow)
Match referee: Jaclyn Metz
