Racing Louisville FC struck late to draw with the Orlando Pride, 2-2, on Saturday at Lynn Family Stadium when opening its NWSL era in the Challenge Cup. Along the way were a few milestones…
- A stadium-record 5,300 fans were on hand. Lynn Family Stadium, opened in 2020, hosted about 4,850 per game at Louisville City FC home matches amid the COVID-19 pandemic but was able to relax restrictions just a bit Saturday. All seats were sold out in advance.
- Freja Olofsson, Emina Ekic, Emily Fox, Nealy Martin and Jorian Baucom made their NWSL debuts with four of those five in the starting lineup. Baucom came on as a substitute.
- Racing’s 12th-minute goal went down as the first for Cece Kizer in the NWSL along with the first assist for Emily Fox.
- Brooke Hendrix’s first NWSL and club goal came three minutes into stoppage time.
- Forward Savannah McCaskill marked her 55th career NWSL appearance.
What coach Christy Holly said…
“If you look back at the game there, that said everything about this team. We’re young. They’re hungry. We got a lot of work to do, a lot of growing to do, but they’re not going to stop until the very last minute.”
What defender Brooke Hendrix said…
“It was incredible: The lights, the sounds, the fans. It was unreal, honestly, and kind of took my breath away at first. We’re not going to give up until the very end as you saw. I think there’s a lot to be said about our character tonight and we learned a lot when we were put under the pressure.”
What forward Cece Kizer said…
“It’s just great to be back out on the field with a great pitch. The fans were really loud and rowdy, and we definitely can feel that love and passion behind us. It means a lot to me personally and I know it means a lot to the club, so it’s just great to be a part of something like this.”
