Chicago Red Stars Hand Racing Home Loss

August 27, 2022 – National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) – Racing Louisville FC News Release

Racing Louisville FC’s Betsy Huckaby in action
(Racing Louisville FC)

The visiting Chicago Red Stars scored early Saturday night and never looked back, topping Racing Louisville, 4-0, in front of a record crowd at Lynn Family Stadium.

Mallory Pugh and Yuki Nagasato each scored twice, and Pugh added two assists while Nagasato totaled another.

“To lose a game is a part of football, but we can’t lose a game like this,” Racing coach Kim Björkegren said. “It was way too easy.”

The defeat was the heaviest of the year for Racing (2-7-8, 14 points) and included the most goals conceded. Louisville has now gone three full months without a win in the National Women’s Soccer League.

Chicago took control of the game in the first 23 minutes. Its first goal came just two and a half minutes in, with Pugh streaking down the left side, losing defenders and slotting home the finish. The Red Stars (7-5-5, 26 points) added two more in rapid succession, both off set piece deliveries by Pugh.

The first Nagasato goal came from a 35-yard free kick to the right of Racing goalkeeper Katie Lund. Nagasato clipped the whipped-in cross with her foot, redirecting it into the back of the net.

Five minutes later, Nagasato skimmed a header from another Pugh free kick up and over Racing’s defenders and into the side netting on the far post.

“This is not good enough from any of us,” said Racing captain Nadia Nadim. “It’s almost embarrassing. The performance we had for the first 45 minutes is just not the way we want to represent the club.”

Racing did grow into the game, with halftime substitution Jess McDonald, midfielder Wang Shuang and midfielder Savannah DeMelo each coming close to goals.

Shuang’s 19-yard curling effort in the 35th minute required a sprawling save from Chicago goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher.

DeMelo’s rebound during a scrum in the 62nd minute was close to crossing the goal line after hitting the post, but the referee ruled that it didn’t.

In the 73rd minute, Pugh got in behind a Racing squad pushing forward for a goal, claiming a long ball from Nagasato and beating Lund in a one-on-one breakaway.

“Obviously it wasn’t great,” said fullback Emily Fox. “Three-zero in the first 25 minutes just wasn’t good enough from us. I did think that we managed to get back into the game, but we just didn’t finish our chances and got a little unlucky. We’re disappointed.”

Game Summary: Racing Louisville FC vs. Chicago Red Stars

Date: August 27, 2022

Venue: Lynn Family Stadium

Kickoff: 7:37 p.m. ET

Weather: 85 degrees, partly cloudy

Attendance: 8,729

Scoring

Racing Louisville (0, 0, 0)

Chicago Red Stars (3, 1, 4)

Goals

Chicago Red Stars:

3′ Mallory Pugh (Bianca St-Georges)

18′ Yuki Nagasato (Mallory Pugh)

23′ Yuki Nagasato (Mallory Pugh)

73′ Mallory Pugh (Yuki Nagasato)

Lineups

Racing Louisville FC (4-2-2-2): 1 – Katie Lund; 11 – Emily Fox, 15 – Julia Lester, 4 – Gemma Bonner (c), 2 – Lauren Milliet (74′ 12 – Taylor Malham); 6 – Jaelin Howell, 7 – Savannah DeMelo (82′ 8 – Freja Olofsson); 27 – Alex Chidiac (33′ 25 – Rebecca Holloway), 77 – Wang Shuang (82′ 30 – Zaneta Wyne); 10 – Nadia Nadim, 22 – Kirsten Davis (46′ 14 – Jess McDonald)

Subs not used: 24 – Jordyn Bloomer; 17 – Nealy Martin; 13 – Emina Ekic, 21 – Parker Goins

Head Coach: Kim Björkegren

Chicago Red Stars (3-4-3): 1 – Alyssa Naeher; 23 – Tatumn Milazzo, 20 – Zoe Morse, 31 – Amanda Kowalski (85′ 15 – Sarah Griffith); 5 – Rachel Hill, 24 – Danielle Colaprico, 10 – Vanessa DiBernardo, 22 – Bianca St-Georges (79′ 14 – Jill Aguilera); 9 – Mallory Pugh (90+2′ 18 – Sam Fisher), 25 – Ava Cook (66′ 8 – Ella Stevens), 7 – Yuki Nagasato

Subs not used: 21 – Emily Boyd; 13 – Morgan Gautrat, 19 – Channing Foster, 26 – Mikenna McManus, 27 – Chelsie Dawber

Head Coach: Chris Petrucelli

Stats Summary: Racing Louisville / Chicago Red Stars

Shots: 11 / 14

Shots on Goal: 2 / 7

Possession: 45.8% / 54.2%

Fouls: 12 / 6

Offside: 3 / 1

Corner Kicks: 4 / 3

Discipline Summary

Racing Louisville:

22′ Gemma Bonner (yellow)

90+4′ Nadia Nadim (yellow)

Referee: Alex Billeter

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