Sports stats



NWSL Racing Louisville FC

Racing's Three-Match Unbeaten Run Ends with 2-0 Loss to Gotham

June 15, 2024 - National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Racing Louisville FC News Release


Racing Louisville FC defender Abby Erceg goes high for a ball
Racing Louisville FC defender Abby Erceg goes high for a ball
(Racing Louisville FC, Credit: Jordan Prather/NWSL)

Racing Louisville's three-game unbeaten streak came to a close on Saturday afternoon, falling to reigning NWSL champions NJ/NY Gotham FC, 2-0, at Lynn Family Stadium.

The Louisvillians (3-3-6, 15 points) remain in seventh place in the NWSL table, two points above the playoff cutline with a game in hand on the sixth-place Chicago Red Stars.

"Tough loss definitely after coming in here back to back wins," said Racing midfielder Marisa DiGrande. "Luckily, we have a quick turnaround, so we have an opportunity on Wednesday in (Los Angeles) to bounce back from it. Now, it's all about recapping this, learning, moving forward and putting it behind us all together."

Gotham's pressure and press in the beginning stages of the match paid off. It opened the scoring through Yazmeen Ryan, who scred her first goal of the season in the 21st minute, firing a low shot from the top of the box into the bottom left hand corner.

The New Jersey outfit had just over 66 percent in the first half and doubled its lead in the 53rd minute as Racing pushed for an equalizer in the early stages of the second half. Full back Mandy Freeman found Ella Stevens at the far post, and Stevens converted on a volley for her fifth goal of the campaign.

"Gotham's just a very good team - the way they keep it, their spatial awareness, the way they play off of each other - everybody knows that," said Racing captain Jaelin Howell. "But at the same time, we can also do those things, and so I think it's just not allowing early momentum, especially like I said, against a quality team like that. It's hard to dig yourself back into games when it's a quality opponent that has a lot of the ball. And so early on, we just can't let them dictate the play and maintain possession. We've got to come out flying."

Racing ran at goalkeeper Ann-Katrin Berger and the Gotham backline to start the second half, producing some early chances. Emma Sears smashed a right-footed shot from the half-space to Berger's left, but Berger redicted the attempt over the bar just two minutes into the second period of play.

Louisville added up 26 final-third entries in the second half as it tried to break into the match, producing all five of its shots over the final 45 minutes.

"Now, going back to the drawing board as quick as possible in the sense of what we clip and how we recapture this match is incredibly important from the mentality standpoint but also from a performance standpoint," said Racing head coach Bev Yanez. "For us, continuing to know and believe that we are very capable of being a very good team in this league is important for us, even when we're walking away from games without the result we want."

Racing quickly shifts its attention to the West Coast after the loss. The Louisvillians leave Monday for a 10 p.m. Wednesday meeting with Angel City FC in Los Angeles, a match that will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network. They'll then travel to Seattle for a 6 p.m. ET Sunday game against the Reign.

Game Summary: Racing Louisville FC vs. NJ/NY Gotham FC

Date: June 15, 2024

Venue: Lynn Family Stadium

Kickoff: 12 p.m. ET

Weather: 82 degrees, sunny

Scoring

Racing Louisville (0, 0, 0)

NJ/NY Gotham FC (1, 1, 2)

NJ/NY Gotham FC

21' Yazmeen Ryan (Crystal Dunn)

53' Ella Stevens (Mandy Freeman)

Lineups

Racing Louisville FC (4-2-3-1): 1 - Katie Lund; 2 - Lauren Milliet, 3 - Arin Wright, 20 - Abby

Erceg (c), 16 - Carson Pickett; 14 - Marisa DiGrande, 26 - Taylor Flint (73' 6 - Jaelin Howell); 13 - Emma Sears (86' 17 - Maddie Pokorny), 7 - Savannah DeMelo, 9 - Kayla Fischer (66' 21 - Parker Goins); 66 - Reilyn Turner (66' 23 - Elexa Bahr)

Subs not used: 77 - Madison White; 5 - Ellie Jean, 10 - Linda Motlhalo, 18 - Milly Clegg, 19 - Jordan Baggett

Head Coach: Bev Yanez

NJ/NY Gotham FC (4-3-3): 30 - Ann-Katrin Berger; 2 - Jenna Nighswonger, 15 - Tierna Davidson (c), 6 - Emily Sonnett, 22 - Mandy Freeman (78' 21 - Sam Hiatt); 16 - Rose Lavelle, 18 - Yazmeen Ryan, 14 - Nealy Martin (78' 77 - Maitane López); 13 - Ella Stevens (68' 7 - McCall Zerboni), 28 - Katie Stengel (63' 17 - Delanie Sheehan), 19 - Crystal Dunn (63' 3 - Bruninha)

Subs not used: 1 - Michelle Betos (GK), 38 - Cassie Miller (GK); 8 - Taryn Torres, 25 - Maycee Bell

Head Coach: Juan Carlos Amorós

Stats Summary: Racing Louisville / NJ/NY Gotham FC

Shots: 5 / 9

Shots on Goal: 2 / 4

Expected goals: 0.39 / 1.25

Possession: 37% / 63%

Fouls: 17 / 12

Offside: 3 / 2

Corners: 4 / 4

Discipline Summary

Racing Louisville

21' Taylor Flint (yellow card)

90'+4 Maddie Pokorny (yellow card)

NJ/NY Gotham FC

5' Katie Stengel (yellow card)

93' Maitane López (yellow card)

Match referee: Danielle Chesky

Assistant referees: John Hill, Zachary McWhorter

Fourth official: Melinda Homa

Video Assistant Referee: Shawn Tehini

Assistant VAR: Maggie Short

Check out the Racing Louisville FC Statistics




Images from this story

Racing Louisville FC defender Abby Erceg goes high for a ball
Racing Louisville FC defender Abby Erceg goes high for a ball
(Jordan Prather/NWSL)		   

• Discuss this story on the National Women's Soccer League message board...

National Women's Soccer League Stories from June 15, 2024


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central