LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Some games need a flowery, flowing setup to get you hooked or interested in what can happen.
Saturday night's road match for Racing Louisville FC at Bay FC does not need a grand explanation of what it means. The fourth-year franchise in Racing, a club that has never made the NWSL playoffs, visits an expansion side who is two points ahead of Louisville for the final postseason spot.
"We will get across that line," new Racing defender Courtney Petersen said. "We have every single piece to the puzzle to get across that line for playoffs, and we're going to make history this year."
"We need to stop looking around and seeing what everybody else is doing, what other results are happening amongst the league and the table," Louisville head coach Bev Yanez said. "We need to get what we need to get done."
There are just eight games left in the NWSL regular season. The difference between the seventh playoff spot and Racing, who sits behind in 10th with 19 points for the season, is just four points.
The club made its transfer window moves with games like this in mind. Petersen, one of four players acquired over the past month, is a five-year NWSL veteran. So, she keeps her evaluation of how this group breaks through fairly simple.
"Honestly, Racing just needs to be Racing and not worry about anybody else," Petersen said. "It's Racing versus Racing at this point."
"To be totally frank, we need to focus on us," Yanez said. "We need to focus. We need to work hard, and we need to do everything we possibly can. For us, it's all about us."
Louisville's last match saw a loss that deflated some momentum the club had when it first returned to NWSL regular season action with a 3-1 win over Chicago. Former captain Jaelin Howell returned to Lynn Family Stadium with Seattle Reign FC, who came back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to snatch a win from Racing.
While this is a team who has seen too many leads disappear to give much benefit of the doubt, the numbers from the last game do support Louisville leaving a win on the table. Racing outshot Seattle 17 to 5, controlled possession and the game finished with an expected goal figure of 2.03 to 0.93 in the home team's favor.
Yanez and second-year general manager Ryan Dell sought out not just experienced players, but winners to help finish games. The former striker who finished 25 career NWSL goals feels her team has the right balance of youth and experience to get the job done.
"One of the things I talked about this week is belief versus belonging," Yanez said. "We want to start belonging. And I think for us, we feel it. We feel it as a group.
"We're in a good spot. The energy is great. The vibes are fantastic. And I think it's just feeding off of that, having a good week of training and going into this match very prepared in every way, shape and form that we possibly can be."
Racing had a 2-1 lead but lost.
Petersen has not been around very long to know much, outside of first impressions of her new team, since arriving to Louisville from Houston. But she has been impressed and also noticed some things about Racing when playing against Louisville.
"Louisville has always been a great club to play against. They've always been really gritty," Petersen said. "Everybody is on the same page. And so, it's been really easy to just hop in and understand what they expect from every single player here and their role."
The 26-year-old's role will likely help replace some of what former Louisville outside back Carson Pickett brought to this team. Like Pickett, the former first-round pick has a dangerous left foot, but can also help at center back in addition to naturally playing outside.
She also has familiarity with some Louisville players. Petersen played with Savannah DeMelo and Ellie Jean within the U.S. Youth National Team system and is close friends with Marisa DiGrande from playing together elsewhere professionally.
"It's just kind of assessing where she would best fit into our system and the group as a whole," Yanez said when discussing Petersen's role. "And I think we are quickly seeing what her ability is and what her attributes are. She has a fantastic demeanor, a very professional demeanor."
It came across with her guarantee. So does a frank understanding of the playoff push for a first-year head coach looking to lead Racing Louisville Football Club to history.
"If we can take that mentality, take that attitude, and we believe, results will follow," Yanez said.
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