July 25, 2024 – National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL)
Racing Louisville FC News Release
Racing Louisville midfielder Yuuka Kurosaki vs. the North Carolina Courage
(Racing Louisville FC, Credit: Meg Lee/NWSL)
Aiming to retain pole position in Group E in the inaugural NWSL x LIGA MX Femenil Summer Cup, Racing Louisville hosts the North Carolina Courage for an 8 p.m. Friday kick off at Lynn Family Stadium.
Louisville’s second meeting this year against North Carolina will be broadcast on Paramount+ and the CBS Sports Golazo Network. It will be a battle for first place in the group after Racing topped CF Monterrey on Saturday and North Carolina prevailed in a penalty shootout against Orlando.
The new Summer Cup, a 33-match tournament featuring 20 teams – 14 from the NWSL and six from Mexico’s Liga MXF – features three group stage games. The four best-performing group winners of the five four-team groups will advance to the Aug. 6 semifinals in Kansas City, Mo.
Racing is a point ahead of North Carolina, which earned two points from its game – one for the draw and one for the shootout victory. After conceding the first goal against Monterrey last Saturday, the Louisvillians rallied to net three unanswered goals for a much-needed three points. The win put an end to a five-match winless run that included a 3-1 regular season loss to the Courage on July 7.
“I thought (the performance) was very, very promising,” said Racing head coach Bev Yanez after the Monterrey win.
Louisville will maintain its place atop Group E with either a win in regulation or on penalty kicks.
To achieve this, Yanez’s squad needs to accomplish something no previous Louisville team has – defeat the Courage. Racing has lost all 10 games it has played against North Carolina across all competitions. The Courage topped Racing in the 2023 NWSL Challenge Cup final last summer in Cary, N.C.
This past weekend, North Carolina’s Manaka Matsukubo scored the opening goal in her team’s 1-1 draw against Orlando, but the Pride clawed back an equalizer to force the game to a shootout. The Courage won, 5-4, on spot kicks.
Follow along …
For the starting lineup and in-game updates, follow @RacingLouFC on Twitter and Racing Louisville FC on Facebook. You can also find us at @racinglouisvillefc on Instagram.
The match will be broadcast live on Paramount+ and CBS Sports Golazo Network in English and streamed for free on the NWSL+ app in Spanish, which is available via Apple TV, Fire TV, and Roku as well as…