Marisa DiGrande
Connor Cunningham

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) - Racing Louisville Football Club made its intentions clear with the moves it made: It is laser focused on making the National Women's Soccer League playoffs.

It is one thing to say that. It is another thing entirely to back it up and show you are serious.

Well, with nine games left to go, Louisville is now in a playoff spot. It is nowhere near a guarantee Racing hangs on, as one win does not mean you found consistency. 

However: If this new-look Louisville team keeps looking anything like it did Saturday night in a 3-1 win over Chicago, then it just might be time for that elusive postseason to be captured.

"Early on in the first half of season, there was a lot of like, 'You guys start off well, you play well in certain patches of the game or you guys are finishing well,'" Racing Louisville FC head coach Bev Yanez said. "For me, that was a complete performance. And I'm very, very proud of the group."

"Our game management overall was great tonight," Louisville midfielder Marisa DiGrande said. "And I think that's something in the first half of the season, maybe we were kind of struggling with a little bit was finishing out games. And I think we absolutely did that perfectly tonight.

"We just wanted to be calm and controlled on the ball. And I think throughout the whole 90 we had a good amount of possession. I think we played some really good soccer."

Racing Louisville FC

It was as professional as Louisville has looked all year. The home side completely controlled possession, finishing right at about 60%. The expected goal score was 1.98 to 0.58. A team that scored four goals over a five-match winless skid in NWSL play before Saturday found the back of the net three times for the first time since May 18. 

"It was the little details that I spoke to them about afterwards," Yanez said. "Killing time, wasting time, wanting them to press, connecting extra passes to tick the clock off and getting into corners. But also, when we had opportunities, we took advantage of them. So, I thought the group was in a very good head space. And I thought it was a very complete performance."

Uneven ones have been costly for this group. But Yanez was focused on a strong start first.

"I wanted to start off on a high," Yanez said. "I wanted to start off on a really good note."

You can't ask to play a much better song than one that gets the whole band involved. In terms of team buildup, Racing's opening goal was a sign that maybe the chemistry with new pieces won't take long to build.

You saw the ball fly around before Lauren Milliet found Bethany Balcer, who bent a strike of a pass to an open Uchenna Kanu for the early 1-0 lead, giving Louisville's new star striker her first assist here.

"Everyone was checked in from an identity perspective," Yanez said. "We spoke about specifically how we felt our structures could punish a team who was in a 4-4-2 block. And we felt like we did that very well."

It was the most accurate passing performance of the season, as Racing finished with a completion percentage of 87.3%. The previous season high fell well short of that: 82.2%.

"I think there was a lot of best's of tonight, right," Yanez said. "It was our best performance from a 90-plus minute perspective and we had really good opportunities."

For a moment, you could have understandably worried Racing was letting another good one slip away. Despite dominating a majority of the game, Chicago's Jameese Joseph beat Katie Lund near post in the 59th minute to even things up at 1.

But one of the reasons Louisville was comfortable making moves had an immediate response. Marisa DiGrande, a midfielder who has impressed this club, calmly put away a great ball from Kayla Fischer for Racing to retake the lead just two minutes after losing it. Fischer also added a goal of her own later for a little insurance.

"We definitely needed this," DiGrande said. "And I think going into the second half of the season, this is exactly how we wanted to play this game and get the three points."

"We need to ride this momentum," Yanez said. "I'll also say that we will continue to push ourselves to be better in every aspect possible."

That is part of the reason Yanez and second-year general manager Ryan Dell intently sought out not just talented transfers, but experienced winners. Balcer started in her debut while Janine Beckie, who did not get into Louisville until Thursday, subbed on in the 69th minute.

"I knew right away that this was a culture that I was going to love," Beckie said. "The girls have been fantastic. The staff has been great. The setup here is second to none, it's world class. And there's really no better way to start than a big, big win."

The winger's wisdom in reminding many of her younger teammates how hard it is to sustain success will be key. But the Olympic gold and bronze medalist as well as NWSL champion already senses that will not be an issue.

"I've kind of seen it all," Beckie said. "So, what excites me is the potential of this group and the youth.

"We've got a lot of hungry players that have a lot of potential and a lot of passion to play this game. And I think from a front office perspective, they're ambitious. I think the moves that they've made in this transfer window have been ambitious. And I think that really talks to what Bev sees this team doing."

The head coach gave an emphatic fist pump when the final whistle blew. As her competitive edge continues to shine like Racing did Saturday night, she knows as well as anyone that her team can't lose it.

"We want more. We want more," Yanez said. "And I want to keep this group as hungry as possible."

Racing Louisville FC

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