Racing Louisville FC registered its first Challenge Cup victory Saturday afternoon and in the process signaled that the club’s poised to field a far more competitive side in its second NWSL season.
Racing paired an own goal with finishes by Lauren Milliet and Gemma Bonner for a 3-0 victory, spoiling host KC Current’s debut at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City.
“I think the most important thing is to see progress,” said coach Kim Björkegren. “I’ll repeat myself, but we’re doing better and better every week. I want the fans in Louisville to be proud of this team — to see that we’re doing our best every single game. Of course, we’ll sometimes win and sometimes lose, but we’ll always do our best. We did it today.”
The midfielder Milliet made it her first professional goal, and the veteran defender Bonner netted her first NWSL goal after making the move last year from England. Their second half strikes followed a solid run along the end line and cross in from Jess McDonald that created a ninth-minute opener off the foot of KC Current defender Hailie Mace.
Racing weathered some pressure — KC Current took the first half’s final six shots during a 15-minute flurry — before pulling away late. The visitors made it their second straight clean sheet dating back to Wednesday’s scoreless draw with the Chicago Red Stars and haven’t allowed a first half goal yet in four Challenge Cup games.
A win moved Louisville to 1-1-2 through four group stage contests. The five points position Racing two back of the Central Division-leading Current (2-1-1) as clubs vie to advance to the preseason tournament’s semifinals.
“Hopefully it gives us a bit of belief now that we can more than compete with teams in this league,” Bonner said. “But also we’ve created so many chances in the few games that we’ve played so far, and we probably could have had a few more.
“For us, it’s another clean sheet, which is definitely something to build on — that we’re hard to beat — but to go and enjoy the game out there and put the ball into the back of the net, you could see what it meant to the group.”
After McDonald effectively produced the go-ahead goal, Racing used some good fortune to double the lead in the 60th minute when Cece Kizer played a ball in behind the KC Current defense. A deflection fell to Lauren Milliet, who finished the chance. The side referee initially waved for offsides before the goal was allowed.
“I was really excited, but then I looked over and the offside flag was up,” Milliet said. “But I was like, ‘It was a deflection.’ I was really excited, then really upset, then really excited again. It was weird, but it feels really good, honestly, and I’m really happy about it.”
Five minutes later, Bonner got her head on an Emina Ekic corner kick at the near post to round out the scoring.
“It’s been a long time coming, and it’s something I knew I could contribute to the team,” Bonner said. “Set pieces are something we’ve worked on so much with the quality delivery we have on this team. Emina put a brilliant ball in, and it’s my job to finish it off.
“I was just happy to, obviously, get the goal, but more importantly that’s a huge win for us and a convincing one as well. I feel we thoroughly deserved it today.”
KC Current peppered Racing with 17 shots but managed to put just 2 of them on target. Louisville, meanwhile, put 4 of 9 tries on frame and out-numbered the Current’s touches in the box, 23-22.
Coaching his third game in nine days, Björkegren continued to rotate his squad. Midfielder Savannah DeMelo — selected fourth in the 2022 NWSL Draft — received her first start, while Kizer, McDonald and Freja Olofsson returned to the opening 11 off some midweek rest.
Racing heads into the NWSL’s first international break with momentum, returning April 16 to host the Red Stars at Lynn Family Stadium.
Game Summary: KC Current vs. Racing Louisville FC
Date: April 2, 2022
Venue: Children’s Mercy Park
Kickoff: 3 p.m.
Weather: 60 degrees, sunny
Player of the Match: Lauren Milliet
Scoring
KC Current (0, 0, 0)
Racing Louisville (1, 2, 3)
Goals
Racing Louisville FC:
9’ Own goal
60’ Lauren Milliet
65’ Gemma Bonner (Emina Ekic)
Lineups
KC Current: 21 — AD Franch, 4 — Hailie Mace, 22 — Alex Loera, 19 — Jenna Winebrenner, 3 — Kirsten, Edmonds (76’ 20 — Mallory Weber), 25 — Kristen Hamilton, 11 — Desiree Scott, 28 — Addie McCain (63’ 7 — Elizabeth Ball), 14 — Chardonnay Curran, 10 — Lo’eau LaBonta (76’ 18 — Izzy Rodriguez), 99 — Victoria Pickett (46’ 23 — Elyse Bennett)
Subs not used: 38 — Cassie Miller, 8 — Kate Del Fava, 13 — Maddie Nolf, 16 — Jaycie Johnson, 24 — Taylor Leach
Head Coach: Matt Potter
Racing Louisville FC: 1 — Katie Lund, 11 — Emily Fox (89’ 3 — Erin Simon), 15 — Julia Lester, 4 — Gemma Bonner, 17 — Nealy Martin (74’ 26 — Addisyn Merrick), 5 — Cece Kizer, 7 — Savannah DeMelo (89’ 19 — Taylor Otto), 8 — Freja Olofsson, 13 — Emina Ekic (66’ 22 — Kirsten Davis), 14 — Jess McDonald, 2 — Lauren Milliet
Subs not used: 24 — Jordyn Bloomer, 6 — Jaelin Howell, 9 — Ebony Salmon, 21 — Parker Goins, 23 — Sh’Nia gordon
Head Coach: Kim Björkegren
Stats Summary: KC Current / Racing Louisville FC
Shots: 17 / 9
Shots on Goal: 2 / 4
Possession: 49.2% / 50.8%
Fouls: 8 / 9
Offside: 0 / 3
Corner Kicks: 7 / 2
Discipline Summary
Racing Louisville FC: 50’ Savannah DeMelo (yellow)
Racing Louisville FC: 90’+ Erin Simon (yellow)
Referee: Alyssa Nichols
