Recent addition Janine Beckie is slated to make her first start for Racing Louisville in today’s significant 10 p.m. ET clash against Bay FC at PayPal Park.
The starting lineup inclusion of the Canadian international, who Racing acquired via trade on August 21, is one of two changes to Bev Yanez’s XI from last week’s frustrating 3-2 loss to Seattle. Beckie slots in for the club’s all-time assists leader and scorer Savannah DeMelo on the right flank while the 26-year-old serves a one-game suspension for yellow card accumulation.
Emma Sears will make her first league start since the June 29 matchup against Bay at Lynn Family Stadium, replacing the Nigerian international Uchenna Kanu on the left wing. Kanu was ruled out on Friday because of injury.
The match will be broadcast live on ION and streamed for free on ionnwsl.com. Sports Talk 790 AM will carry the radio broadcast that is also available online at 790louisville.iheart.com or via the iHeart app.
Racing (4-7-7, 19 points) sits in 11th position at the moment, two points out of a playoff spot, with eight games remaining in the regular season. The Louisvillians would move back into eighth place – the final postseason position – with a win over current eight-place Bay. They’d also climb within one point of seventh-place Chicago and five of sixth-place Portland, which lost earlier Saturday at Washington.
Beckie, an NWSL champion and Olympic gold medalist, has played 51 minutes since making the move to Louisville after the league break for the Summer Olympics. Beckie and Sears will flank Bethany Balcer, who also joined Louisville during the August transfer window and will start in the center of the front three. It will be the first match the three have started together up front.
Racing’s defense remains unchanged from the previous two home fixtures. Captain Abby Erceg and Connecticut native Ellie Jean form the center back pairing, with Arin Wright on the left and 2023 ironwoman Lauren Millet. Millet has the most consecutive starts and most minutes played of any field player in the NWSL since the start of the 2022 campaign.
Katie Lund is once again the anchor to the defense, starting at goalkeeper for the 67th time in league play. The 27-year-old is three clean sheets off of eclipsing her career high from the previous two campaigns.
In the center of the park, Marisa DiGrande is deployed in the No. 10 position once again, only four outings away from hitting the 100 career appearances mark in the NWSL. Taylor Flint and Ary Borges will make up the double pivot for the third league match running. Flint and Borges are poised to make their first appearances against Bay after both scored last weekend for Racing.
The club’s newest member, defender Courtney Petersen, who Louisville acquired from the Houston Dash on deadline day of the transfer window, is among the Racing substitutes. This season, Petersen started 12 of her 16 appearances for Houston, ranking among four Dash players to complete more than 500 passes.
Petersen will be joined on the bench by reserve goalkeeper Olivia Sekany; Colombian defender Ángela Barón; forwards Kayla Fischer, Elexa Bahr and Parker Goins; versatile winger Maddie Pokorny; and midfielder Jordan Baggett.
Goalkeeper Jordyn Bloomer; defender Elli Pikkujämsä; midfielders DeMelo and Linda Motlhalo; and forwards Kanu and Kirsten Wright were all previously listed as out in the league availability report. Milly Clegg is on national team duty, leading the line for New Zealand at the U-20 Women’s World Cup in Colombia.
Racing Louisville lineup at Bay
1 – Katie Lund
2 – Lauren Milliet
5 – Ellie Jean
20 – Abby Erceg (c)
3 – Arin Wright
8 – Ary Borges
26 – Taylor Flint
16 – Janine Beckie
14 – Marisa DiGrande
13 – Emma Sears
88 – Bethany Balcer
Substitutes: 99 – Olivia Sekany (GK); 9 – Kayla Fischer, 11 – Courtney Petersen, 15 – Ángela Barón, 17 – Maddie Pokorny, 19 – Jordan Baggett, 21 – Parker Goins, 23 – Elexa Bahr
