LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – It was a similar script to its franchise-opening draw last Saturday, but this time Racing Louisville FC saw the ending flipped with a late goal by the Washington Spirit leading to a 1-0 defeat in the NWSL Challenge Cup at Audi Field.
Trinity Rodman, the daughter of former NBA star Dennis Rodman, got free along the endline near the right corner and fed Ashley Sanchez on the far side of the goal. Her shot squeezed past Racing keeper Michelle Betos and into the net for a 1-0 lead in the third minute of stoppage time.
The blemish squandered what had been another fast start by Racing Louisville. It created several quality opportunities early, but couldn’t cash in. That wound up costing them, in the estimation of coach Christy Holly.
““I’m obviously exceptionally disappointed,” Holly said. “You can’t afford to give away goals at the end of the game in the NWSL. If you continue to give teams opportunities, at the end of the game they are going to punish you. It’s a tough learning lesson for the team. We’ll take it on board and try to move forward. … (Missing early opportunities) is a huge issue. It’s been one in two games. We’ll start the game well and create really good goal-scoring opportunities, but we aren’t clinical enough. . . . It’s a tough lesson, but a real good lesson for an exceptional young team. We need to learn the hard way at times.”
After holding the initiative for much of the first half, Racing appeared a bit more fatigued in the second. Washington wound up with a 19-8 advantage in shots (7-4 on goal) and held possession for 56.2% of the game.
Louisville midfielder Savannah McCaskill said the team remains upbeat, but isn’t allowing itself to use inexperience as an excuse.
“This is a learning moment for us,” she said. “. . . We have to see games out, whether it’s the 93rd or whatever minute we have to do a better job of clearing our lines and not conceding a goal. . . . The vibe in the locker room is really good. We’re resilient. We’re hungry. We want to show that we’re not going to be another expansion team that just is, first year in the league, ‘woe is me kind of thing.’ We want to really come in and show that we’re here to compete and win games. That’s going to come with some hard moments as well, but we’re willing to put in the hard work and grow from these experiences.”
Racing now gets to catch its breath before returning to play on Monday, April 26, against the North Carolina Courage at Lynn Family Stadium.
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