McDonald’s Late Winner Helps Racing Top Kansas City in Season Finale
October 1, 2022 – National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) – Racing Louisville FC News Release
Racing Louisville FC’s Ella Sanchez in action
(Racing Louisville FC)
Jess McDonald’s late-game heroics helped Racing Louisville FC finish its season on a high, with the veteran forward scoring a 92nd-minute game-winner in a 1-0 victory against the Kansas City Current on Saturday night at Lynn Family Stadium.
The win sent Racing Louisville into the offseason with three victories in its final four games of the year, including back-to-back home wins. The nine points out of a possible 12 marked the best four-game stretch in the club’s two-year history.
“We fought until the end,” McDonald said. “We desperately needed this win, and one thing that we really wanted to pride ourselves on was ending the season with a win. It was something that we needed, and hopefully we keep this momentum going into preseason and into next season.”
Racing (5-9-8, 23 points) moved into ninth place in the National Women’s Soccer League standings, leapfrogging the Orlando Pride on the last weekend of the campaign and eclipsing last season’s points total and points-per-game average.
All that came with a bit of drama.
Racing goalkeeper Katie Lund’s first save of the match was a sprawling left-handed stop on a low, point-blank shot from a wide-open Claire Lavogez. In the 58th minute, Lund again stymied a solid KC scoring chance, diving to her left to block Cece Kizer’s effort from the edge of the area.
In all, Lund totaled six saves, helping her set a new National Women’s Soccer League record for saves in season, surpassing the 2018 mark set by Canadian national team goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan and United States national team goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury, Lund’s close friend and mentor.
“For my first year starting, I’m really proud of it, but honestly, I’m prouder of what we did here tonight,” Lund said. “It kind of brings me to tears, because of the way we came back and fought to win in Los Angeles against 22,000 fans and then to come here tonight and win it in stoppage time, there really was no quit. And I’m really, really proud of that.”
Over the game’s final half-hour, Racing took control and had the lion’s share of scoring chances.
Emina Ekic’s shot from the edge of the area narrowly missed wide of the post, and captain Gemma Bonner’s free header on a corner in the 76th minute went just over the crossbar.
Two minutes later, KC midfielder Desiree Scott was sent off after receiving her second yellow card, giving Racing a one-player advantage for the game’s final 14 minutes.
Racing finally broke through 75 seconds into stoppage time. Ekic’s cross was punched away from KC goalkeeper AD Franch, but it only got so far as Jaelin Howell 20 yards from goal. Howell nudged the ball left to Savannah DeMelo, who turned away from a defender and played in the streaking McDonald.
McDonald’s near-post finish sent her teammates and Lynn Family Stadium into a frenzy.
“It feels like we’ve already started something with this amazing support we have had the whole year from our fans,” said Racing coach Kim Björkegren. “It shows something that we scored at the end of a close game to close out the season, so I hope this is something we can build on for the next year.”
Game Summary: Racing Louisville FC vs. Kansas City Current
Date: Oct. 1, 2022
Venue: Lynn Family Stadium
Kickoff: 7:30 p.m. ET
Weather: 65 degrees, sunny
Player of the Match: Katie Lund
Attendance: 6,622
Scoring
Racing Louisville (0, 1, 1)
Kansas City Current (0, 0, 0)
Goals
Racing Louisville:
90’+2 Jess McDonald (Savannah DeMelo)
Lineups
Racing Louisville FC (4-2-3-1): 1 – Katie Lund; 11 – Emily Fox, 44 – Satara Murray, 4 – Gemma Bonner (c), 15 – Julia Lester; 6 – Jaelin Howell, 2 – Lauren Milliet; 27 – Alex Chidiac (58′ 13 – Emina Ekic), 7 – Savannah DeMelo, 14 – Jess McDonald; 22 – Kirsten Davis (85′ 21 – Parker Goins)
Subs not used: 18 – Hillary Beall, 24 – Jordyn Bloomer, 31 – Kelsey Daugherty; 25 – Rebecca Holloway, 17 – Nealy Martin, 12 – Taylor Malham
Head Coach: Kim Björkegren
Kansas City Current (3-5-2): 21 – AD Franch; 22 – Alexis Loera, 7 – Elizabeth Ball, 3 – Kristen Edmonds; 4 – Hailie Mace, 10 – Lo’eau LaBonta, 11 – Desiree Scott (c), 94 – Claire Lavogez (73′ 23 – Elyse Bennett), 8 – Kate Del Fava; 25 – Kristen Edmonds (64′ 26 – Addisyn Merrick), 5 – Cece Kizer
Subs not used: 14 – Chardonnay Curran, 18 – Isabel Rodriguez, 19 – Jenna Winebrenner, 24 – Taylor Leach, 28 – Addie McCain, 38 – Cassie Miller, 66 – Chloe Logarzo
Head Coach: Matt Potter
Stats Summary: Racing Louisville / Kansas City Current
Shots: 11 / 13
Shots on Goal: 2 / 6
Possession: 51.6% / 48.4%
Fouls: 9 / 18
Offside: 3 / 1
Corner Kicks: 5 / 6
Discipline Summary
Racing Louisville:
72′ Emina Ekic (yellow)
Kansas City Current:
74′ Desiree Scott (yellow)
78′ Desiree Scott (second yellow – red)
90′ + 1 Kate Del Fava
Referee: Karen Callado
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