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NWSL Racing Louisville FC

Racing Tops KC, Hits First 3-Game Win Streak in Club History

May 20, 2023 - National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Racing Louisville FC News Release


Racing Louisville FC celebrates win
Racing Louisville FC celebrates win
(Racing Louisville FC)

Racing Louisville keeps on hitting new milestones in the 2023 campaign, this time winning a third consecutive game for the first time in the young club's history, topping hosts Kansas City, 2-0, on Saturday night at Children's Mercy Park.

Kirsten Davis and Savannah DeMelo both scored first-half goals, and Katie Lund made two late spectacular saves to help Racing to its third victory across all competitions over the last eight days.

"We're thrilled," captain Jaelin Howell said. "We're going to continue to build and continue to look at the areas we can get better, because we're not done with this. We know it's exciting, but we know how good this team can be. This is just the beginning. This was huge for our confidence."

Just as it did in Wednesday's UKG NWSL Challenge Cup win over KC, Racing (2-2-4, 10 points) started on the front foot and immediately put pressure on the Current.

Louisville broke through in the 12th minute, when DeMelo pursued a poor pass back to KC goalkeeper Cassie Miller, whose attempted clearance deflected off DeMelo and bounced in. It was the third goal DeMelo has scored this week and the seventh goal in the last six games that DeMelo has been involved in.

"The reason I'm able to do what I can do is because of the people around me," DeMelo said. "I'm just trying to do everything I can to try and help the team succeed. I'm glad it's working out, and I'm glad we're getting the wins."

Fifteen minutes later, midfielder Wang Shuang sprung a counterattack with a well-placed through ball into DeMelo's path. The red-hot DeMelo carried the ball 20 yards and played a pass into the box for Davis, who calmly slotted home the second goal with one touch.

From there, Racing showed how much it learned from earlier this season, when Louisville twice led 2-0 at halftime only to draw 2-2. The Louisvillians led 2-0 at halftime on May 12 against Chicago and won 3-0, and they followed that dominant performance with another strong one Saturday night in Missouri.

"In the second half, I think we controlled (the game) and didn't give up too many chances," said coach Kim Björkegren. "There were a couple late in stoppage time, and (Lund) made some amazing saves - good for her. Overall, a great team performance and team spirit. It's difficult to play three games in eight days, but they have worked so hard together and I'm so proud of the group."

It was the third clean sheet of the season for Lund and Racing, the second-highest number of shutouts in the NWSL so far this campaign.

The win moved Racing into seventh place in the National Women's Soccer League, with a game against sixth-place North Carolina coming up at 7:30 p.m. next Saturday at Lynn Family Stadium.

Game Summary: Racing Louisville FC at Kansas City Current

Date: May 20, 2023

Venue: Children's Mercy Park

Kickoff: 8 p.m. ET

Weather: 69 degrees, sunny

Player of the Match: Savannah DeMelo

Scoring

Racing Louisville (2, 0, 2)

Kansas City Current (0, 0, 0)

Goals

Racing Louisville

12' Savannah DeMelo

27' Kirsten Davis (DeMelo)

Lineups

Racing Louisville FC (4-3-3): 1 - Katie Lund; 16 - Carson Pickett, 20 - Abby Erceg, 15 - Julia Lester, 2 - Lauren Milliet; 6 - Jaelin Howell (c), 7 - Savannah DeMelo (87' 19 - Jordan Baggett), 8 - Ary Borges; 5 - Paige Monaghan (61' 29 - Uchenna Kanu), 22 - Kirsten Davis (76' 11 - Thembi Kgatlana), 77 - Wang Shuang (76' 27 - Alex Chidiac)

Subs not used: 99 - Olivia Sekany; 3 - Zaneta Wyne, 4 - Elli Pikkujämsä, 9 - Kayla Fischer, 25 - Rebecca Holloway

Head Coach: Kim Björkegren

Kansas City Current (4-3-3): 38 - Cassie Miller; 4 - Hailie Mace, 23 - Croix Soto (46' 26 - Addisyn Merrick), 24 - Gabrielle Robinson, 8 - Kate Del Fava; 16 - Vanessa DiBernardo, 10 - Lo'eau LaBonta (c) (76' 77 - Alexa Spaanstra), 99 - Debinha; 5 - Cece Kizer, 9 - Mimmi Larsson (62' 18 - Izzy Rodriguez), 17 - Michelle Cooper (81' 25 - Kristen Hamilton)

Subs not used: 21 - AD Franch, 29 - Jordan Silkowitz; 6 -Rylan Childers, 14 - Chardonnay Curran, 19 - Jenna Winebrenner

Head coach: Caroline Sjöblom

Stats Summary: Racing Louisville / Kansas City Current

Shots: 15 / 18

Shots on Goal: 4 / 6

Expected goals: 1.55 / 1.77

Possession: 51.2% / 48.8%

Fouls: 8 / 10

Offside: 3 / 0

Corner Kicks: 8 / 5

Discipline Summary

Racing Louisville:

35' Jaelin Howell (yellow)

61' Kim Björkegren (yellow)

Kansas City Current

73' Lo'eau LaBonta (yellow)

82' Vanessa DiBernardo (yellow)

Referee: Brad Jensen

VAR: Anya Voigt

Check out the Racing Louisville FC Statistics




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Racing Louisville FC celebrates win
Racing Louisville FC celebrates win
   



National Women's Soccer League Stories from May 20, 2023


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