August 13, 2024 – National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL)
Racing Louisville FC News Release
Racing Louisville battles Colo Colo
(Racing Louisville FC)
Maddie Pokorny scored her first goal in a Racing Louisville jersey to help the hosts top Chilean side Colo-Colo, 2-0, in The Women’s Cup third-place game Tuesday at Lynn Family Stadium.
Ary Borges added an insurance goal for the Louisvillians, her second in non-league competition this summer.
“So very pleased,” Racing coach Bev Yanez said. “I thought there were good things today. I thought there was improvement from (Friday), but I thought more importantly, we walked away 2-0, and it’s a good step for us in reference to what we felt we could be better at from the last match.”
In the late match Tuesday, Juventus won The Women’s Cup-Louisville with a 1-0 victory over Palmeiras thanks to a goal from Chiara Beccari.
Racing claimed a medal for the fourth consecutive time it has appeared in The Women’s Cup, taking home bronze after winning silver at TWC Colombia earlier this year and at the 2022 tournament. Louisville won the inaugural version of the event, topping German giant Bayern Munich at Lynn Family Stadium in 2021.
Tuesday’s win sent Racing into a three-day break on a high note after a frustrating loss in the TWC semifinals against Brazilian club Palmeiras, which won a penalty shootout after a 0-0 draw in regulation.
Yanez changed four players in her starting lineup, with Pokorny playing the opening 45 minutes at right back. The St. Louis native broke through in the 23rd minute, passing in a neat finish to the far post after Kayla Fischer laid off the rebound from Jordan Baggett’s blocked shot.
Borges nodded in a 49th-minute cross from player of the match Emma Sears, who beat multiple defenders to the end line and teed up a perfectly lofted ball to the Brazilian at the edge of the 6-yard box.
Racing threatened a few more times through Borges, Reilyn Turner and Elexa Bahr, but Colo-Colo came closest to scoring the next goal. Maria Jose Urrutia smacked a back-post header off the crossbar just past the hour mark.
For Racing, the NWSL season now returns to focus after five-week break for the Summer Olympics. Louisville hosts the Chicago Red Stars on Saturday, Aug. 24, at Lynn Family Stadium in a critical match that begins the 10-game final stretch of the season.
Yanez’s squad is two points out of a playoff spot and seven points back from seventh-place Chicago. Racing topped the Red Stars, 1-0, on May 25 in suburban…