Racing Louisville left North Carolina frustrated by a 1-0 loss in a physical, defensive struggle at WakeMed Soccer Park on Saturday.
North Carolina’s Tyler Lussi scored the game-winner in the 73rd minute, knocking in a rebound from close range. It was one of only two Courage shots on target.
“The goal was pretty unfortunate,” said captain Jaelin Howell. “We limited them for the most part. We played pretty well. Obviously they had most of the possession, but we knew that going into the game. I thought we could’ve been more dangerous in the attacking third – we lacked a little bit of a spark. Definitely better than the last time we played them, but that small detail that led to the goal – we really have to work on that.”
The loss completed a season sweep for North Carolina against Racing (3-4-6, 15 points) and kept the Louisvillians firmly in eighth place in the NWSL standings. Louisville is still three points off NJ/NY Gotham, the team holding the last spot in the playoff race, but Gotham plays Sunday with the chance to pad its lead.
It was a physical battle in Cary, N.C., very similar to the first meeting between the teams in Louisville. North Carolina didn’t threaten until the second half, while Racing had the lion’s share of the chances in the first.
Howell’s flick-on from a Wang Shuang wide set piece delivery in the 28th minute needed a diving stop from North Carolina goalkeeper Casey Murphy.
Four minutes later, Thembi Kgatlana and Savannah DeMelo connected well down the left side to free up Wang Shuang for a drag-back low cross toward the penalty spot. DeMelo received the pass with some space around her, but the Courage did well to scramble and block the U.S. Women’s National Team midfielder’s shot.
“Overall, good work in the defense, well-prepared,” Racing coach Kim Björkegren said. “But against a good team like North Carolina, we need to take care of our attacking transitions a little bit better, we need to keep the ball a little bit longer, especially in the second half, so it’s not only about defense, and we need to take care of the opportunities we had.”
The best chance of the game for Racing came very late, with Louisville chasing an equalizer. In the 88th minute, right back Lauren Milliet’s nifty turn along the touch line allowed her space to loft a curling lead pass into the path of Parker Goins, who fizzed her 1-on-1 right-footed shot from 12 yards out past Murphy but wide of the far post.
Now Racing returns to Louisville for a week of training before another road trip, this time heading out west for a match at OL Reign at 3:30 p.m. ET next Saturday.
“It’s just taking one game at a time,” Milliet said. “Obviously this is a disappointment, but that doesn’t mean we can’t learn from it. The only way to continually get better is to look at what we can improve from and what good things came out of this game. This league moves too fast to dwell on things. … By no means are we out of it, and I think we all know that.”
Game Summary: Racing Louisville FC at North Carolina Courage
Date: June 24, 2023
Venue: WakeMed Soccer Park
Kickoff: 7 p.m. ET
Weather: 83 degrees, cloudy
Scoring
Racing Louisville (0, 0, 0)
North Carolina (0, 1, 1)
Goals
North Carolina
73’ Tyler Lussi
Lineups
Racing Louisville FC (4-3-3): 1 – Katie Lund; 16 – Carson Pickett, 20 – Abby Erceg, 4 – Elli Pikkujämsä, 2 – Lauren Milliet; 6 – Jaelin Howell (c), 7 – Savannah DeMelo, 8 – Ary Borges (77’ 19 – Jordan Baggett); 11 – Thembi Kgatlana (61’ 5 – Paige Monaghan), 22 – Kirsten Davis (61’ 21 – Parker Goins), 77 – Wang Shuang (61’ 29 – Uchenna Kanu)
Subs not used: 99 – Olivia Sekany; 3 – Zaneta Wyne, 9 – Kayla Fischer, 15 – Julia Lester, 25 – Rebecca Holloway
Head Coach: Kim Björkegren
North Carolina Courage (4-2-3-1): 1 – Casey Murphy; 12 – Emily Fox, 7 – Malia Berkely, 3 – Kaleigh Kurtz, 13 – Ryan Williams; 10 – Denise O’Sullivan (c), 6 – Narumi Miura; 22 – Mille Gelj (59’ 20 – Olivia Wingate), 25 – Meredith Speck (41’ 17 – Rikke Madsen), 9 – Kerolin Nicoli (90’+3 5 – Haley Hopkins); 28 – Tess Boade (59’ 14 – Tyler Lussi)
Subs not used: 0 – Katelyn Rowland; 8 – Brianna Pinto, 11 – Brittany Ratcliffe, 19 – Frankie Tagliaferri, 23 – Kiki Pickett
Head Coach: Sean Nahas
Stats Summary: Racing Louisville / North Carolina
Shots: 10 / 12
Shots on Goal: 2 / 2
Expected goals: 0.63 / 1.13
Possession: 40.3% / 59.7%
Fouls: 9 / 11
Offside: 4 / 1
Corner Kicks: 4 / 5
Discipline Summary
Racing Louisville:
46’ Thembi Kgatlana (yellow)
56’ Jaelin Howell (yellow)
81’ Paige Monaghan (yellow)
North Carolina:
90’+3 Kerolin Nicoli (yellow)
Referee: Elton Garcia
VAR: Shawn Tehini
