Two Racing Louisville streaks snapped in one game at Lynn Family Stadium in a 2-1 loss to the visiting North Carolina Courage on Saturday night.
Racing saw its club-record three-match win streak end and lost its six-match home unbeaten run that stretched back to the end of last year.
Kerolin and Rikke Madsen scored for North Carolina, and Jordan Baggett’s first goal in a Racing jersey ultimately served as a consolation for the home team.
“We can’t hang our heads,” said Racing captain Jaelin Howell. “Obviously we were on a high coming in on a three-game win streak. That was huge for us. That was huge for the club. But like I’ve said, even when we were winning, it’s still early in the season. It’s still early now. It’s important we bounce back. … I’m confident we’re going to do that.”
The loss stunted the NWSL table-climbing from Racing (2-3-4, 10 points) after beating Chicago two weeks ago and following that up with back-to-back wins against Kansas City.
Louisville will come away disappointed by the result, having outshot North Carolina, 17-13, and produced what Opta stats defined as three big scoring chances to Carolina’s zero. The first half was particularly strong from Racing, with Savannah DeMelo, Paige Monaghan and Wang Shuang each having opportunities that were saved or narrowly missed.
Madsen scored from a tight angle off a deep cross in the 53rd minute, lofting her header back across the frame of goal and over goalkeeper Katie Lund’s head to give the Courage the lead early in the second half.
Six minutes later, Kerolin dribbled herself into a good shooting position in transition and added an insurance goal from the edge of the area.
“I think we were a little bit unlucky with the second they scored,” Racing coach Kim Björkegren said. “We had an attack. We’d brought in some new players. And then it’s just transition. Kerolin is a great player who can score that kind of goal.”
Racing rallied late, getting a goal from Baggett, who nodded in a Lauren Milliet cross in the 89th minute to inject some energy into the comeback effort. But the Louisvillians didn’t threaten again.
Next up for Louisville is a road trip to Chicago, where Racing will play the Red Stars in the UKG NWSL Challenge Cup on Wednesday.
Game Summary: Racing Louisville FC vs. North Carolina Courage
Date: May 27, 2023
Venue: Lynn Family Stadium
Kickoff: 8 p.m. ET
Weather: 75 degrees, partly cloudy
Attendance: 5,874
Scoring
Racing Louisville (0, 1, 1)
North Carolina Courage (0, 2, 2)
Goals
Racing Louisville
89’ Jordan Baggett (Lauren Milliet)
North Carolina Courage
53’ Rikke Madsen (Ryan Williams)
60’ Kerolin (Narumi Miura)
Lineups
Racing Louisville FC (4-3-3): 1 – Katie Lund; 16 – Carson Pickett, 20 – Abby Erceg, 15 – Julia Lester, 2 – Lauren Milliet; 6 – Jaelin Howell (c) (81’ 4 – Elli Pikkujämsä), 7 – Savannah DeMelo, 8 – Ary Borges (81’ 19 – Jordan Baggett); 5 – Paige Monaghan (59’ 11 – Thembi Kgatlana), 22 – Kirsten Davis (59’ 29 – Uchenna Kanu), 77 – Wang Shuang (72’ 27 – Alex Chidiac)
Subs not used: 99 – Olivia Sekany; 3 – Zaneta Wyne, 9 – Kayla Fischer, 25 – Rebecca Holloway
Head Coach: Kim Björkegren
North Carolina Courage (4-3-3): 1 – Casey Murphy; 13 – Ryan Williams, 3 – Kaleigh Kurtz, 7 – Malia Berkely, 12 – Emily Fox; 6 – Narumi Miura (87’ 26 – Clara Robbins), 10 – Denise O’Sullivan (c), 25 – Meredith Speck (77’ 99 – Victoria Pickett); 9 – Kerolin Nicoli (87’ 11 – Brittany Ratcliffe), 14 – Tyler Lussi (77’ 20 – Olivia Wingate), 17 – Rikke Madsen (67’ 22 – Mille Gejl)
Subs not used: 0 – Katelyn Rowland; 8 – Brianna Pinto, 19 – Francesca Tagliaferri, 23 – Kiki Pickett
Head coach: Sean Nahas
Stats Summary: Racing Louisville / North Carolina Courage
Shots: 17 / 13
Shots on Goal: 6 / 5
Expected goals: 2.45 / 0.96
Possession: 43.7% / 56.3%
Fouls: 10 / 13
Offside: 1 / 1
Corner Kicks: 4 / 3
Discipline Summary
Racing Louisville:
44’ Savannah DeMelo (yellow)
73’ Ary Borges (yellow)
North Carolina Courage:
77’ Mille Gejl (yellow)
81’ Denise O’Sullivan (yellow)
Referee: Danielle Chesky
VAR: Kelsey Harms
