Hot off an emphatic victory on the West Coast, Racing Louisville FC remains on the road, quickly heading to the “Heart of America”, Kansas City, for a Wednesday meeting against the Kansas City Current at CPKC Stadium.
Kickoff in KC is set for 8 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network.
Racing (3-10-2, 11 points) thrived under the bright Los Angeles lights Sunday night, taking down an incredibly in-form Angel City FC, 2-1, for its first win away from home this season. The positive result, which was also the club’s first victory since May 8 versus Portland Thorns FC, was thanks to a brace from rookie Maja Lardner.
It was another one of those classic Louisville displays: fewer possession, but greater output in attack. The “spark” that head coach Bev Yanez said she saw in her team’s previous result — a 1-1 with the Houston Dash — persisted Sunday. Racing, before nearly 16,000 away fans, frustrated the hosts into one of its least efficient nights in the final third this year to date. ACFC tallied a season-high 30 shots, but managed to tied its second-worst shots on target percentage of 2026, 20%, as only six were on target.
Louisville notably extended its run of success versus Angel City, with the triumph being its fourth straight against the club. The last time Racing lost to the California outfit was over two years ago: June 2024.
Now, the task for Louisville becomes carrying this hard-earned momentum from out West to the banks of the Missouri River.
There lies the sixth-place Current (8-7-1, 25 points), guided by first-year head coach Chris Armas. The club was flying before the NWSL’s summer break, tallying five wins from six games. It was a run that saw KC jump from 14th place to sixth in just five weeks. Since play resumed, however, the results haven’t been as consistent.
Kansas City now heads into this midweek encounter on a three-match winless run after narrowly falling 1-0 to Boston Legacy FC in Rhode Island Saturday evening. It was the club’s seventh road defeat of the campaign, tying it for the league lead.
Although KC sits near the top of the NWSL in goals scored with 23 through 16 contests, its attack hasn’t been nearly as prolific as the previous two seasons. The Current owns a 1.4 goals per game average this year, short of 2024’s record-breaking 2.1 and 2025’s 1.9. Kansas City has been shutout six times this season across all competitions. That’s already more than last year’s total of four instances.
Follow Along
- The midweek encounter will air nationally on CBS Sports Network. Fans can also listen to the match on Sports Talk 790AM or 790louisville.com.
- 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.
Story Lines …
Rookie at the double: In a city full of stars, Louisville rookie Maja Lardner earned her own spotlight Sunday, bagging a brace to secure the club’s first road win of 2026 over Angel City FC. The goals were Lardner’s first of her professional career. She took advantage of a loose ball inside the opening 25 minutes for her first tally. The former Georgetown University standout, in just her second NWSL start, would then knock a cross home via her head shortly into the final period. Notably, Lardner became the eighth different Racing player to produce a multi-goal display in the regular season, per Opta. She is no stranger to games like these. Lardner produced three two-goal games in her final season at Georgetown with the last coming Nov. 1, 2025 against Xavier University.
Tracking for career year: After netting the opener in Louisville’s 1-1 draw versus the Houston Dash on July 18, Kayla Fischer picked up her third assist of the season in the Angel City win. Fischer set up the second goal after halftime, firing in a cross from out wide, which was brilliantly headed into the back of the net by Lardner. She is now at six goal contributions for the season — three goals, three assists — to already draw even with her single-season career high set last season.
As even as it could get: Racing and Kansas City have met 15 times across all competitions dating back to Louisville’s inaugural season in 2021. The series is split right down the middle, with each side tallying six wins and three draws. KC has held the recent edge over Racing, however, recording wins in three out of the last four regular season encounters. Notably, the last two meetings at CPKC Stadium have been high scoring, with a combined 12 goals scored across 180 minutes.
MVP to miss out: Kansas City will be without one of its most vital attacking threats Wednesday. Current star and two-time NWSL MVP Temwa Chawinga it out on international duty with Malawi for the Women’s African Cup of Nations (WAFCON). Chawinga, who leads KC in goals this year once again with nine, is one of 11 NWSL players out representing their countries at the Morocco-based tournament. Her country, Malawi, was drawn into Group C, which includes 10-time champions Nigeria, Zambia and Egypt. It’ll be Malawi’s first appearance in the competition, as it qualified by way of topping Angola in a close two-legged tie back in October.
Defending home turf: It’s no secret that CPKC Stadium has been a real fortress for the Current since it opened in March 2024. The venue, which sits right along the Missouri River, holds a capacity of 11,500 and became the first stadium in the world purpose-built solely for a women’s professional sports team upon its opening. Kansas City’s 26 regular-season home wins are the most by an NWSL team since the beginning of 2024. This year, the Current hold a 7-0-1 record on home soil, with San Diego Wave FC handing it its only blemish: a back-and-forth 2-2 draw on July 17. KC has lost only once all-time in regular season play at Wednesday’s venue — July 6, 2024 when the eventual league champion Orlando Pride edged the hosts by a 2-1 score.
