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NWSL Racing Louisville FC

Racing Drops 3-0 Decision to North Carolina Courage

June 4, 2022 - National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Racing Louisville FC News Release


Racing Louisville FC midfielder Alex Chidiac
Racing Louisville FC midfielder Alex Chidiac
(Racing Louisville FC, Credit: USA Today Sports Images)

Racing Louisville FC fell behind early and never found its footing in a 3-0 defeat to the visiting North Carolina Courage at Lynn Family Stadium on Saturday night.

The loss was the second in a row for Racing (2-3-2, eight points) after a four-match unbeaten streak pushed the team into third place.

Kaleigh Kurtz, Diana Ordoñez and Debinha scored for the Courage, which won its first game of the National Women's Soccer League regular season.

"I'm really disappointed with the start of the game," said Racing coach Kim Björkegren. "We give away the first goal, and we're losing 50/50 tackles. We were better in the second half - I think we at least gave it a try. We created enough chances to try to score a goal, but again the quality wasn't there, for different reasons.

"In the end, the performance was not good enough and the results are not good enough. It's never OK to lose 3-0. I don't care if it was home or away. I don't care about the opponent. It's never OK."

Racing didn't go without threatening, attempting 12 shots and hitting the woodwork once.

Veteran forward Jess McDonald rattled the post in a one-on-one breakaway in the 24th minute, and she had a goal called back on a close offside call early in the second half. Alex Chidiac's header forced a goal-line save from Courage goalkeeper Casey Murphy.

But North Carolina's fourth-minute goal set the tone for evening. Kurtz flipped in a header on a recycled cross off a corner. Just before halftime, Ordoñez scored on a header from a cross by Merritt Matthias.

"Coming back at home and starting off the way we did - and the performance - we were obviously not happy with it," captain Gemma Bonner said. "The more disappointing thing is that it's come off the back of last week, too. For us, we've got to find within the squad what we can do to start games better because I think when we do that, we know there's chances that we create. It took to the second half for us to really kind of show who we are."

Racing pressed to halve North Carolina's lead through much of the second half, and that's when McDonald's goal from the edge of the area was ruled out.

In the game's waning moments, as Racing pressed forward, North Carolina's Debinha caught Racing on the counterattack to give the Courage its third goal.

Racing is back in action at Lynn Family Stadium next Saturday, kicking off at 8 p.m. against expansion side Angel City FC.

Tap-ins: The game wasn't entirely a loss: Star forward Nadia Nadim returned to action nine months after a severe knee injury ended her first season with Racing. The Danish international came on as a substitute in the 66th minute.

Game Summary: Racing Louisville FC vs. North Carolina Courage

Date: June 4, 2022

Venue: Lynn Family Stadium

Kickoff: 8 p.m. ET

Weather: 82 degrees, partly cloudy

Player of the Match: Emily Fox

Attendance: 5,738

Scoring

Racing Louisville FC (0, 0, 0)

North Carolina Courage (2, 1, 3)

Goals

North Carolina Courage:

4' Kaleigh Kurtz (Carson Pickett)

45+1' Diana Ordoñez (Merritt Mathias)

90+1' Debinha (Taylor Smith)

Lineups

Racing Louisville FC (4-2-3-1): 1 - Katie Lund, 25 - Rebecca Holloway (54' 8 - Freja Olofsson), 15 - Julia Lester, 4 - Gemma Bonner, 11 - Emily Fox, 2- Lauren Milliet (84' 9 - Ebony Salmon), 6 - Jaelin Howell (83' 17 - Nealy Martin), 27 - Alex Chidiac (67' 13 - Emina Ekic), 5 - CeCe Kizer (67' 10 - Nadia Nadim), 7 - Savannah DeMelo, 14 - Jess McDonald

Subs not used: 18 - Hillary Beall, 22 - Kristen Davis, 19 - Taylor Otto

Head Coach: Kim Björkegren

North Carolina Courage (4-3-3): 1 - Casey Murphy, 4 - Carson Pickett, 6 - Abby Erceg, 3 - Kaleigh Kurtz, 11 - Merritt Mathias (83' 13 - Ryan Williams), 8 - Denise O'Sullivan, 7 - Malia Berkely (83' 15 - Jaelene Daniels), 9 - Kerolin Nicoli (83' 2 - Taylor Smith), 10 - Debinha, 5 - Brianna Pinto (66' 25 - Meredith Speck), 12 - Diana Ordoñez (87' 33 - Jorian Baucom)

Subs not used: 29 - Rylee Baisden, 14 - Kate Bowen, 16 - Emily Gray, 99 - Katelyn Rowland

Head Coach: Sean Nahas

Stats Summary: Racing Louisville FC/ North Carolina Courage

Shots: 12 / 10

Shots on Goal: 3 / 5

Possession: 43.9% / 56.1%

Fouls: 8 / 11

Offside: 5 / 3

Corner Kicks: 6 / 3

Discipline Summary

Racing Louisville FC:

53' Savannah DeMelo (Yellow)

North Carolina Courage:

75' Merritt Mathias (Yellow)

Referee: Eric Tattersall

Check out the Racing Louisville FC Statistics




Images from this story

Racing Louisville FC midfielder Alex Chidiac
Racing Louisville FC midfielder Alex Chidiac
(USA Today Sports Images)		   



National Women's Soccer League Stories from June 4, 2022


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