April 13, 2024 – National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL)
Racing Louisville FC News Release
Racing Louisville poured on the attacking pressure in the second half and nearly edged the reigning NWSL regular-season champion on Saturday night at Lynn Family Stadium, but the home-standing Louisvillians finished in a 0-0 deadlock with the San Diego Wave.
It’s only the fourth time in NWSL history that a club has drawn four consecutive games, but Racing left the stadium fired up by its performance and hopeful it was a sign of a winning breakthrough to come.
“I think the positive part and the exciting part is you can see the growth,” said Racing captain Jaelin Howell. “San Diego is a very good team. That’s a team that made it very far in the playoffs (last year), and I thought we did very well, especially the second half. I thought we dominated the game in the second half. Honestly, I thought we had more chances. That’s where I think it’s just going to take one (goal), one of those games to win and let the goals fall and finish out a game. And then I think from there on, we’re just going to be flying.”
Racing Louisville (0-0-4, 4 points) moved into seventh place in the NWSL standings, just inside the playoff line in the 14-team league. Bev Yanez’s team is one of three teams yet to suffer a defeat this year. It was the third time in five meetings between Racing and San Diego that the teams drew 0-0 in a slugfest of a game.
Yanez was particularly pleased with her team’s second 45 minutes. Racing had what it thought was the go-ahead goal waved off in the 72nd minute when Taylor Flint’s header was ruled no goal because of offside on the play. The video assistant referee (VAR) checked the interaction on the goal and agreed with the on-field ruling that Racing forward Kayla Fischer was offside on the play.
Still, Racing pushed for the winner, with Emma Sears fizzing the far post after a quick give-and-go with Lauren Milliet on the right edge of the box. Ary Borges, who returned to action after missing the first three matches because of an ankle sprain, had a well-won header saved on the goal line by a diving Kailen Sheridan, San Diego’s standout goalkeeper.
“Obviously I’m incredibly proud of the group,” Yanez said. “I thought we had a fantastic response coming out second half, and I’m incredibly proud. I know a lot of people will look at the score line and say, ‘Another tie.’ We’re still undefeated in this league, and we’re showing the progress of our group. And I’m incredibly…