Sears' Brace Powers Racing to First-Ever Victory at Orlando
NWSL Racing Louisville FC

Sears' Brace Powers Racing to First-Ever Victory at Orlando

Published on August 7, 2026 under National Women's Soccer League (NWSL)
Racing Louisville FC News Release


Racing Louisville FC on game night
Racing Louisville FC on game night
(Racing Louisville FC)

Six road trips to play Orlando. No wins to show for it. Friday, that finally changed.

Spearheaded by a brace from Emma Sears and Audrey McKeen's first professional goal, Racing Louisville FC picked up its first-ever road win over the Orlando Pride, 3-1, Friday night at Inter.co Stadium in Orlando, Fla.

Inside 20 minutes, McKeen, 17, got things going for the visitors, becoming the club's youngest-ever goalscorer. Sears followed with a 14-minute second-half brace, emphatically ensuring a regular-season sweep for Louisville over the Pride. Orlando's Kerry Abello clawed one back late for the hosts, but it wasn't enough.

The result marked Racing's (5-11-2, 17 points) second straight win and third in its last four contests, dating back to July 26. The three points also pull Louisville within one point of 14th-place Bay FC.

"Fantastic performance, really, really happy for the group," Racing head coach Bev Yanez said. "... Two fantastic goals. Just really proud of the team. I thought the group worked really hard tonight. I thought the group looked fantastic in multiple ways. I think we hit the crossbar a few times; we had even more chances than obviously what the scoreline shows.

"... I thought the players that started and the players that came in executed really well and really kept the game in our hands throughout the match."

It didn't take long for Racing to signal Friday would deliver some history. In just her second professional start, McKeen opened her professional account in the 16th minute, heading home a Katie O'Kane corner from close range.

"That was kind of my job for corners, just go and find the ball," McKeen said. "They left me unmarked, I saw it, and I just went for it and put it in the back of the net."

Louisville continued to press for a second in the opening half, but that goal would have to wait.

The visitors were rewarded for a strong start to the second half. Sears delivered the first of two brilliantly taken goals in the 68th minute, cutting inside and beating the goalkeeper after some direct play down the right wing. The strike was her first goal since a May 8 win over Portland Thorns FC, and it put her in sole possession of first on Racing's all-time scoring chart.

One goal just wasn't enough for Sears - 14 minutes later, she added a third for the club. She outran Orlando's backline and found the same corner again, putting an exclamation mark on the night for Racing. The brace was Sears' second of her career, with the first coming last October at the North Carolina Courage.

Orlando made things nervy late, with Abello converting a long-range strike in the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time. But as it did in its last two wins, Racing hung on to close things out.

"I think that we're building on some good momentum right now as a group," Sears said. "Obviously, it's always harder on the road, but I'm proud of Audrey [McKeen] for getting her first professional goal. ... She really put the group on top. I think that it helped us build on the energy from her first goal, and we carried it out throughout the rest of the match."

It's a level of momentum that has the group flying, propelling it through travel issues the day before and into the game - and one Racing will look to ride into its upcoming run of fixtures.

Louisville heads back to Lynn Family Stadium next Saturday for one of the biggest games of the year: Down the Stretch Night. There, Racing will look to make it three straight wins against NWSL newcomer Boston Legacy FC, with kickoff set for 6:30 p.m. ET. For tickets and further information on the night, visit RacingLouFC.com/stretch

Game Summary: Orlando Pride vs. Racing Louisville FC

Date: August 7, 2026

Venue: Inter.co Stadium - Orlando, Fla.

Kickoff: 7 p.m. ET

Weather: 82 degrees, cloudy

Scoring

Orlando Pride (0, 1, 1)

Racing Louisville FC (1, 2, 3)

Goals:

Orlando Pride:

90'+4 Kerry Abello

Racing Louisville FC:

16' Audrey McKeen (Katie O'Kane)

68' Emma Sears (Lauren Milliet)

86' Emma Sears (Lauren Milliet)

Lineups

Orlando Pride: 1 - Anna Moorhouse; 12 - Cori Dyke, 4 - Rafaelle, 16 - Zara Chavoshi, 23 - Nicole Payne (55' 29 - Solai Washington), 7 - Angelina (c) (76' 8 - Luana), 6 - Ally Lemos, 80 - Simone Jackson (55' 28 - Summer Yates), 5 - Hailie Mace (76' 33 - Zoe Matthews), 13 - Jacqueline Ovalle, 20 - Julie Doyle (67' 25 - Kerry Abello)

Subs not used: 31 - Cara Martin, 77 - Cosette Morché; 18 - Gabi Nunes

Head coach: Seb Hines

Racing Louisville FC: 24 - Jordyn Bloomer; 4 - Makenna Morris (72' 21 - Rachel Hill), 5 - Ellie Jean, 3 - Arin Wright (c), 15 - Mirann Gacioch, 12 - Quincy McMahon (63' 6 - Ella Hase), 20 - Katie O'Kane (90'+10 19 - Avery Ciorbu), 88 - Audrey McKeen (71' 42 - Sarah Weber), 2 - Lauren Milliet, 13 - Emma Sears, 9 - Kayla Fischer (62' 16 - Maja Lardner)

Subs not used: 1 - Maddie Prohaska, 30 - Erynn Floyd; 8 - Courtney Petersen, 23 - Macy Philippus

Head coach: Bev Yanez

Stats Summary: Orlando Pride / Racing Louisville FC

Shots: 18 / 20

Shots on Goal: 6 / 7

Expected goals: 1.29 / 1.69

Possession: 51.9% / 48.1%

Fouls: 8 / 13

Offside: 1 / 3

Corners: 8 / 9

Discipline Summary

Racing Louisville FC:

45'+1 Katie O'Kane (yellow)

Match referee: Muhammad Hassan

Check out the Racing Louisville FC Statistics

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Images from this story

Racing Louisville FC on game night
Racing Louisville FC on game night
   



National Women's Soccer League Stories from August 7, 2026


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