Racing Falls to North Carolina Courage

September 10, 2022 – National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) – Racing Louisville FC News Release

Racing Louisville FC in action
(Racing Louisville FC)

The North Carolina Courage attack proved to be too much Saturday night, beating visiting Racing Louisville, 5-1, at WakeMed Soccer Park and eliminating Racing from NWSL playoff contention.

Racing (2-8-8) entered the match needing a win to keep its playoff hopes alive, but the Courage started fast, scoring the opening goal in the ninth minute and taking a 2-0 lead into halftime. Four of the Courage’s five goals came from its two Brazilian stars, Kerolin and Debinha. The fifth came in stoppage time to Tess Boade. Nadia Nadim scored the lone goal for Louisville.

“It isn’t good enough to finish the game like we did,” said Racing coach Kim Björkegren. “To lose to a team that is pushing for top six is a difficult away game. We can’t finish like we did and give up two goals. That part, we absolutely need to think about and talk about.”

The margin of defeat matched Racing’s largest of the year — a 4-0 loss two weeks ago against the Chicago Red Stars — and extended the team’s winless streak to 13 matches dating back to May 22.

“In this league, you are playing against top players every week and you have to adapt to situations that you are put in,” said captain and center back Gemma Bonner. “We realize that they have excellent players who will have excellent moments, but it’s up to us as a team to stick together and limit them as much as possible.”

Pinned back for most of the first half, Racing goalkeeper Katie Lund had to make two saves in the first five minutes, but the Courage broke through minutes later. Kerolin converted Denise O’Sullivan’s pass into the area with a low shot past Lund. The Brazilian attacker scored her second in the 42nd minute, tucking away a loose ball in the box.

Debinha scored her first goal in the 56th minute on a combination with Kerolin. Nadim’s goal in the 72nd minute scratched one back for Racing, with the veteran forward stealing a poor back pass and finishing with ease.

But North Carolina added two more late, with Debinha converting a penalty in the 83rd minute and Kerolin getting her second assist of the game on Boade’s goal in added time.

Racing dropped to 11th in the NWSL regular season standings with the loss and four more matches remaining. Up next: a home meeting with the Orlando Pride on Friday.

Game Summary: Racing Louisville FC at North Carolina Courage

Date: September 10, 2022

Venue: WakeMed Soccer Park

Kickoff: 7 p.m. ET

Weather: 73 degrees, rainy

Scoring

Racing Louisville (0, 1, 1)

North Carolina Courage (2,3,5)

Goals

Racing Louisville:

72′ Nadia Nadim

North Carolina Courage

9. Kerolin

42′ Kerolin (Denise O’Sullivan)

56′ Debinha (Kerolin)

84′ Debinha (pk)

90′ Tess Boade

Lineups

Racing Louisville FC (4-3-3): 1 – Katie Lund; 30- Zaneta Wyne (77′ 25- Rebecca Holloway), 44 – Satara Murray, 4 – Gemma Bonner (c), 15 – Julia Lester (46′ 17 – Nealy Martin); 2 – Lauren Milliet, 6 – Jaelin Howell, 77 – Wang Shuang (90′ 21 – Parker Goins); 7 – Savannah DeMelo (84′ 13 – Emina Ekic), 10 – Nadia Nadim, 14 – Jess McDonald

Subs not used: 24 – Jordyn Bloomer, 31 – Kelsey Daugherty, 12 – Taylor Malham, 27 – Alex Chidiac, 22 – Kirsten Davis

Head Coach: Kim Björkegren

North Carolina Courage (4-2-2-2): 1 – Casey Murphy; 4 – Carson Pickett (23 – Kiki Pickett), 6 – Abby Erceg (c), 3 – Kaleigh Kurtz, 11 – Merritt Mathias (76′ , 13 – Ryan Williams); 5- Brianna Pinto (85′ 25 – Meredith Speck), 8 – Denise O’Sullivan, 15 – Fuka Nagano, 10 – Debinha (84′ 28 – Tess Boade); 12 – Diana Ordoñez (77′ 15 – Jalene Daniels), 9 – Kerolin

Subs not used: 29 – Rylee Baisden, 14 – Katie Bowen, 27 – Brittany Ratcliffe, 99 – Katelyn Rowland

Head Coach: Sean Nahas

Stats Summary: Racing Louisville / North Carolina Courage

Shots: 5 / 22

Shots on Goal: 2 / 12

Possession: 40% / 54.5%

Fouls: 8 / 10

Offside: 2 / 4

Corner Kicks: 4 / 8

Discipline Summary

Racing Louisville:

41′ Julia Lester

45+1′ Zaneta Wyne

Referee: Samantha Martinez

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