LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — This one wasn’t written by the Racing Louisville FC coaching staff or public relations department.
It was written by Hollywood.
Ask Emina Ekic, a hero in her hometown whose professional soccer career soared Friday night as she scored the first goal and assisted on the second as Racing Louisville defeated the Washington Spirit, 2-0.
"I don’t know how to explain my emotions," Ekic said. "It’s incredible. I was really excited ... just a lot of emotions ... the second I scored everyone was around me and the lights went off. It was so loud but quiet at the same time because it was so loud I could not hear anything."
For more than 75 minutes, the Louisville women’s professional soccer team never made the Spirit sweat.
Six shots. One blocked. Two on goal.
Nothing that caused even a mild stir with the 6,011 fans who gathered at Lynn Family Stadium for the team’s second home regular season match.
Just as Racing failed to score in its opener against Kansas City. Or in its final match in the National Women's Soccer League Challenge Cup.
My first Racing Louisville column. What was I going to write?
That both teams played with determined passion?
That Louisville was lucky that Trinity Rodman, the daughter of you know who (yes, Dennis Rodman), nearly scored with a rocket off her right foot in the opening minute?
That in Michelle Betos, Louisville has a poised, acrobatic goalkeeper who made 10 saves, several of considerable difficulty?
All that was true. So was this: Louisville (1-0-1) won because of a hometown hero.
Her name was Emina Ekic.
You know her because she was a terrific player for the University of Louisville as well as at duPont Manual High School, where Ekic was twice named the Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year.
When Racing made Ekic the fifth overall pick in the 2021 college draft, local soccer fans roared. So did Ekic.
"This is where I wanted to be," Ekic said. "I’m so glad that I ended up here."
Of course, she did. Her parents could attend her matches, as they did Friday night. So could her brother. And some cousins and former U of L teammates. Ekic said she had family watching the live stream of the match in Australia.
I hope they were patient. Ekic did not enter the match until the 61st minute. That was plenty of time for her to make an unforgettable memory.
Ekic added to her bio Friday night. She scored Racing Louisville’s first goal and then assisted on the second as they defeated Rodman and the Spirit, 2-0.
"Quite honestly, we have seen that week in and week out from Emina," Racing coach Christy Holly said. "It is not terribly surprising once we saw her in that position. We see her continually creating that and we are very proud of what she has done."
First regular-season goal in franchise history.
First regular-season victory in franchise history.
The lights flashed. The crowd roared. The flags waved. The purple smoke filled the air behind the goal in the south end of the stadium that Ekic helped fill with his considerable skills.
Ekic will turn 22 next month. She’s 5 feet 4 inches, quick, agile and undaunted.
For her goal, she took the ball away from a Washington defender deep on the right side of the field. Dribbling with her right foot and then her left, Ekic maneuvered into the middle of the field as she eyed Washington goalkeeper Audrey Bledsoe.
Before Bledsoe could move into position, Ekic powered a sizzling shot from about 20 yards into the bottom left corner of the net.
"She has a lot of growing to do, but for her to pop up and score that type of goal in a big game is something great for her self belief," Holly said. "It is something that we know she can do on a consistent basis."
She wasn’t finished.
Escaping Washington’s pressure, she streaked past the defense on the right side of the pitch. As a defender approached, Ekic slipped a sharp pass to Cece Kizer. She knew what to do with it, scoring Racing Louisville’s second goal about six minutes after the first.
Even Rodman, as talented as she is, couldn’t bring Washington back from the two-goal deficit.
"Emina has been incredible," Betos said. "She does it with grace."
Betos said that earlier this season, after she stopped one of Ekic’s shots in practice, that Ekic had an unusual response.
"She said, 'Thank you, I’ve never been challenged,'" Betos said. "I love this kid."
For Louisville, this was the last home match for nearly a month. Racing’s next two matches will be at North Carolina (Thursday) and Portland (June 5)
Racing will not return to Lynn Family Stadium until June 20 when Houston visits. By them, Racing’s lineup will strengthened by the arrival of two players from Europe — defender Gemma Bonner and forward Ebony Salmon.
"We want to make sure nobody outworks us," Holly said.
On Friday night, nobody did.
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