Small details sink Racing Louisville in 0-1 loss to the North Carolina Courage

Racing Louisville fell 1-0 to the North Carolina Courage on Saturday night in a match heavy on defense and physicality. After holding the Courage off for the majority of the match, small lapses led to Racing conceding a goal in the 73rd minute off a rebound. And although they did create some decent chances, Racing just wasn’t able to put together a threatening enough offense to get an equalizer. Parker Goins came the closest in the 87th minute, but her shot went just wide leaving Racing empty-handed.

“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.”

Tactically, Racing focused more on defense and played in a lower block than they typically do. This conceded the vast majority of possession to North Carolina but also kept them from being able to get any decent chances through much of the match. Ultimately, this tactical adjustment worked. A couple of bad giveaways and bad touches put Racing on the back foot in the second half, but it was a coughed-up ball during a save that ultimately lost Racing this game instead of any tactical failure.

“I think we were well prepared,” said head coach Kim Björkegren, “In the last game [against North Carolina in May], we were struggling a little bit with our high press. They were so good in the build-up, so we said to sit back a little bit and I think we did a really good job there. But what can I say? They are a good team in the end of the day they will create some chances. They had a little bit of luck also in the goal I think, but overall I think we did a decent performance.” 

It’s hard to find a silver lining in any loss, but the small one here is that Racing continues to have a very solid defense even if their offense continues to struggle.

“I’m proud of the girls,” Howell said. “I thought that we fought really hard and we played a lot better this game than we did the last game against them. It’s just working on that attacking third and finishing. That’s the final piece.”

By the Numbers

This was a game of…