“All I remember is running and jumping on Jae [Howell],” remarked a grinning Carson Pickett after Racing Louisville’s Friday night’s match. “Just being so excited we finally got three points. We’ve been there. We’ve been up, we’ve been down, tied a lot of games, and now we finally did it.”
Pickett had every reason to be thrilled as Racing Louisville finally broke through to earn their first win of the season in a 3-0 drubbing of the visiting Chicago Red Stars. This win ends a six-game winless streak that had seen Racing remain the last team in the league without a win.
This isn’t to say Racing has played that poorly, however. Their four points from four draws are the most points ever earned by a team in the NWSL through six winless games. So they’ve been knocking on the door consistently, they just didn’t figure out how to get in until Friday.
“Every player performed today,” said midfielder Savannah DeMelo of what made this game different from others. Starters, substitutes, everyone kept relentless pressure on Chicago which buoyed their confidence and allowed them the finally play a complete match. “Everyone contributed today and I think that’s the difference. That’s what we’re going to need moving forward.”
In the first half, Racing’s constant pressure yielded two penalty kicks for Racing. The first, taken by DeMelo in the 35th minute, hit the post and bounced off Chicago keeper Alyssa Naeher in what was ultimately billed as an own goal. In first-half stoppage time, Wang Shuang stepped up to take the second and converted it making her the first Chinese national to score in the NWSL.
In the second half, both teams came out strongly, but even though the Chicago Red Stars improved, Racing did even better. In the 89th minute, two substitutes connected for the third goal when Thembi Kgatlana charged forward and passed to Parker Goins who worked her way out of some poor tackles and scored her first NWSL goal to hammer home Racing’s win.
“We want to be a top-six team that can fight for the final in the end,” said head coach Kim Björkegren. “You have to start to win. We can’t just talk about good performances. A super important three points.”
By the Numbers
Racing dominated this match from beginning to end by almost every metric. They had 16 shots with 11 on target and an xG of 2.65. This is the highest number of shots…
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