Spearheaded by a Makayla DeMelo first-half hat trick, Racing Louisville’s W League team secured a comfortable 7-0 triumph Wednesday over St. Charles FC at the Lynn Family Sports Vision & Training Center.
Louisville improved to 2-3-1 on the season, maintaining its position in fourth place in the Valley Division of the nation’s premier pre-professional women’s soccer circuit. Racing had seven current Academy players or graduates in the starting XI.
“I thought it was a good match,” said Callie McKinney, Racing’s W League head coach. “We got to see a lot of attacking pieces and got to get a lot of attacking opportunities.”
Long Beach State’s Makayla DeMelo, the younger sister of Racing midfielder Savannah DeMelo, opened the scoring in the 12th minute. Sixteen minutes later, Sarah Schupansky doubled Louisville’s advantage with a pinpoint right-footed strike from the top of the box.
DeMelo added a third in the 32nd minute thanks to a precise delivery from Racing Academy product AG Gibson, who is headed to the University of Louisville this fall. DeMelo netted her third in the 43rd minute from an Angelica Alzugaray pass.
“The timing of her runs from the midfield line going into the backline set her up for success,” McKinney said of DeMelo. “She did a really good job getting on the ball, finding her space, creating her space to be able to score the goals that she did.”
In the second half, three Racing Academy talents scored. Forward Caitlin Chase converted in the 60th minute after some sustained Louisville pressure. Molly Richards smashed a volley home amid a scramble inside the box in the 74th minute, and U.S. Youth National Teamer Bruni Pilati capped the performance off with a stunning solo run and finish down the right flank in the 77th minute.
In total, four different Racing Academy players tallied a goal involvement.
“It means we’re getting better as a club,” said McKinney. “We’re going in the right direction. We want the academy players out here getting the experience and the exposure.”
Racing is chasing a spot in the USL W League playoffs. The teams at the top of each division will advance to a USL W League single-elimination tournament which begins in July.
Next up, Racing will head north to Scudamore Field in the Cincinnati suburbs for a meeting with Kings Hammer FC at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Racing will return to the Lynn Family Sports Vision & Training Center for its final home match to host Indy Eleven at 4 p.m. on June 30. Home matches are free to attend and open to the public.
Visit RacingLouFC.com/WLeague for more information on the 2024 campaign.
