Curtains

Photo by Elizabeth Shaw

The full color version of the photo above (in poster size) hangs in the office at my house, so you can assume that it is the picture I look at the most during workdays. It reminds me of the delayed start, horrible weather, and low expectations I had that day. However, in the picture…joy…utter joy. That wasn’t even the best game against North Carolina this year! It is moment frozen in time and Racing led 1-0 in a match that they would draw 1-1. In and of itself, it is still a great moment. It is full of hope and possibility. Again, it was a dreary day and a disappointing outcome, but in that moment, all was right with the world for the Racing players on the pitch.

Racing accomplished much this season, and you can find my piece on the State of Louisville website in a few days where I outline those accomplishments. This post is more forward looking, but I wanted to stop first and remember a special season full of special moments. The goal depicted above was the first of the season, so it is special in that way. It also secured a point, and we know that in the end every point ended up mattering.

My first post of the season declared my restated intent and ultimately allowed space for my wife Elizabeth to express herself in her wit and photography. I also set the parameters for my writing by ‘boxing myself in” basically requiring myself, however tenuously, to incorporate an epigraph from The Wire and a line or two from Paddy McAloon into my analysis of the most recent match. I could say that the original intention of this was to focus me, but in reality, it was to make me not lose interest in what I was sure was going to be a bad team and long season. As the season extended it was a challenge, but never one that I couldn’t overcome. The thing that I noticed most of all was that almost all of the epigraphs were “downers” and the lyrics I had preselected were the melancholier ones.

This was all due to expectations and those expectations were blown out of the water. I already have in my mind how this might differ next year, and I might restrict myself to a single album. I have one in mind, but I am pretty sure that there are enough dark and light elements to cover the gamut of emotions next season. I guess, my point is that I am planning for next year and I am sure Racing is too.

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Let me start again by saying that Racing is in a decent position to start the year because they have something that they really haven’t really had before: a General Manager with a coherent strategy.

I don’t spend a ton of time talking about Caitlyn Milby and that is probably due to her clear and demonstrable competence. She has done an excellent job quietly and efficiently without much fuss. She got extensions done on Racing’s most key players and Racing only has a handful of players that have been contributors this season and are out of contract (Borges and DiGrande topping that list if my data is up to date). I would like to see Ary return based on her performance at the tail end of the season. DiGrande has been reliable and would be welcome if both parties agree.

This may seem harsh, but everyone else is expendable in my opinion. I would love to have the 2021-2024 version of Bethany Balcer, but who knows if that player still exists. Other than the three I mentioned, I don’t think there is much point in extending anyone’s stay in Louisville. I think Katie Lund needs to move on and should be successful on the right team. Maddie Pokorny would be fine as a last player on a roster, but we can’t assume she came back from injury the same player she was before it.

Caitlyn Milby’s to-do list for the offseason is likely:

• At least one clinical striker: Racing’s lack of finishing was on stark display all season, but the best microcosm was the penalty shootout in the playoff match against Washington. Balcer went first and buried hers. None of the others were close. This season, Racing had seven “attackers” with more than 1000 minutes. Only Emma Sears had a “goals scored” number higher than her xG. Louisville was in the bottom 3 in the league in G-xG (goals scored minus expected goals) behind Bay and a surprisingly poor finishing Orlando team, who didn’t have a single attacker whose goals scored was higher than her xG. For anyone ruing the loss of Reilyn Turner, let me just share that she returned 5 goals on an 8.41 xG, so building a time machine for that trade doesn’t solve this particular problem.

• Center back and midfield depth: Center back depth has been an issue from day 1 with Racing and this definitely isn’t the worst shape the club has ever been in, but you would like to see your “next best” center back sitting on your bench instead of being on the pitch already. For some reason known only to Bev, Petersen found herself on the bench in the last few matches after having started most of the season. Theoretically you could look to her as a utility defender, but I think you need at least one more nominal center back on the squad that Bev can trust. Who knows what the status of DeMelo will be going forward, but if the club loses Ary and Digrande they are in deep, deep trouble in the midfield. I can’t imagine not signing a free agent or two here. I think Bev needs to figure out what she wants this midfield to be in the future because it could go all kinds of different directions at the moment.

• Roster sanity: I might lose my mind if there are 5 keepers in the team photo next season. Racing struggled to keep 3 healthy all at once, so I get it, but the goal should be to roster 3 and be done with it. The other thing that might make be lose my mind is any more matches with less than the allotted 9 players on the bench. In the playoff match, Racing once again went with 8 on the bench. There wasn’t anyone available that they could have put on the bench (maybe except for Lund, but that wouldn’t have helped). Some players definitely won’t be back. I want insult them or your intelligence because you know who they are. They were too many unproductive players on the roster this season, and that cannot continue to be the case going forward if Racing is serious about making the next step.

There are a few other things that Racing needs to sort out on the tactical side. The first one is the ability to convert defending into possession when it is prudent. This season Racing was decent on counters and was always looking to score quickly once they obtained possession. I don’t disagree with that. However, in key points in matches they need to figure out a way to keep possession for possession’s sake. Too many times, late in matches Racing was either unwilling or incapable of managing possession in their own half to try to move forward, especially with a lead. We have all seen teams settle into a shell for the last 10 minutes of a match and that is just how things are done. I do see other teams at least try to work the ball out of danger instead of consistently playing it long to nobody only to see it return to danger immediately. Several matches jump to mind but the Gotham away match is fresh in mine. Racing may not ever be a team that scores by playing through their opponent, nor do I think they should try to. However, in some cases, simply having the ball at your feet for a few seconds is enough to pick out the next pass and try to relieve some of the pressure.

I also think Racing is lacking in the number of technical staff that they employ. Carm Moscato left in the middle of the season and almost immediately Racing’s attacking prowess suffered. They recovered some of it at the end of the season, but there was definitely a dip right after she left. Racing’s main staff is effective, but I think they could definitely do with an additional staff member to go along with Carm’s replacement.

I think the biggest challenge will be avoid settling for what worked this season. Every other team will look to improve and if Racing doesn’t get better, expect them to finish lower than they did this season. Weber and Fischer are serviceable center forwards. That doesn’t mean that their jobs should be safe or comfortable. Taylor Flint should have someone breathing down her neck that wants her starting job so bad she can taste it. Emma Sears should come into training camp with a target to score 5 left-footed goals next season. Hase and O’Kane should be fighting for every minute that they get and consider themselves fortunate if they get the minutes that the got this season. Arin Wright and Janine Sonis should be losing sleep over the players pushing them for their spots. Nobody should be comfortable going into next season. The period of moderate expectations ended in Washington.

“Deserve got nuthin’ to do with it”

Courtesy Connor Cunningham

Stolen The Wire Epigraph

"Deserve got nuthin' to do with it."

For those of you who haven’t seen The Wire, it is a show about a haute cuisine chef who takes over the family business…selling heroin outside of a sandwich shop.

I use this particular quote from The Wire quite a bit. Probably more than anyone wants me to. This time I want to expand it, paraphrase the sentiment, and soften it to a degree: An outcome isn't necessarily a reflection on what you deserve, it's just your time to experience it.

Racing did almost nothing wrong in its match against Washington, but that didn’t change the outcome. It shouldn't cheapen the result, nor should it make it easier to digest. Somebody has to win, and somebody has to lose in playoff matches. It's a cruel fate to let a match go to penalties, but what other option is there?

Every team bar one gets eliminated in a season. It was just Racing’s time. Depending on your perspective there may be no solace in that or there may be plenty of it. The fact that Racing came up just short seems right. It seems to sum up the season perfectly.

Racing found itself level at the end of the first half of regular time, the end of regular time, the first half of extra time, and at the end of extra time. If that didn’t prove that Racing was exactly where they belonged, I don’t know how to convince you otherwise.

It wasn’t Racing’s best performance of the season, nor near its worst, but maybe it was the one in which all of us could be the proudest. It was a “never quit” performance. It wasn’t one that showed a ton of “fighting back” because it was one where they were the better team for noticeable stretches.

For the longest of times, Racing has been dealing with being not quite good enough when the margins are at their finest. In this case however, the margins where barely there (they still exist and I will get there when I close the curtains on the season in a future post). They belonged in the playoffs, and they belong in the playoffs in the future. They may not always get there, but now we know the possibility exists.

Post Match Moment of the Match

Arin Wright was emotional and proud of the team and the effort. “Deserve” came up as it always does when you play well, but you all know my feelings on that. She also added that this was the beginning of something. I hope that's true. It feels like it is true. She then mentioned that this was the season the Racing found its identity. I feel like that is true too. In her words, “we found what made us, us.”

Janine Sonis was also proud of the fight from the team and I think we all can get behind that sentiment.

Coach Bev echoed the sentiments of disappointment, sadness, but ultimately pride in the team's effort in the match and the season.

This section of my post-match wrap up pieces has essentially become a recap of the post-match media availability, and I have been lazy about picking out my “favorite” part. This time it was pretty easy. I got to say this to Bev:

“I don’t think anybody considers this season for Racing anything other than a massive success.”

She smiled and said, “thank you for saying it in that manner.”

Excuse my vanity…more on that later.

Were the Announcers Good?

Kate Scott and Lori Lindsey were on the call. They found a good balance calling the match and while Racing fans might generally disagree with their assessment that Washington were the clear favorites and that Racing ultimately was playing with house money, that is how the neutral observer would have seen it too. When it went to penalties, they were still pushing the narrative that Racing “had nothing to lose.” I don't think that is ever true in a match that goes to penalties, but I get what they were trying to say.

TV Kit Rating

One of the reasons I don’t like Racing’s green kits was evident in this match. In the shade they essentially disappeared which isn’t a great viewing experience. NO MORE DARK GREENS KITS AFTER THIS ONE PLEASE!

I am a fan of Washington's highlighter kits. They are the best kit that the Spirit has worn in a long time. From my kit rating piece:

“I have hated every other Washington jersey that I have ranked, but I love this one. It was my top choice, but that’s democracy for you. Many people despise yellow and yellow jerseys. I love them. I like the mix of greens and yellow. I hope Washington sticks with yellow on future kit releases.”

I will stick with that assessment. 8/10

The Kayla Fischer Honorary Yellow Card of the Match (brought to you by Taylor Flint)

This was a well-played match and a fairly played one. Borges picked up a card late but rode it out through extra time. If was a well officiated match and a good representation of the quality of football in the NWSL.

“Sentimental is part of the deal”

“Wild Horses”/Jordan: The Comeback/1990”

I don’t know how much I will remember this match in a year. If Racing goes on to do bigger and better things this match will be a footnote. Kayla Fischer scored a goal that meant so much until it meant nothing. It is a shame, but the only way to get over it is to score more and make them count for more. Players will probably be retaking their missed penalties in their dreams for weeks, but I hope they come to some sort of peace with it. Washington was just slightly better because they were much more experienced.

When you watch sports for long enough, you will have favorite seasons and teams. If you are an “experience over results” person, sometimes that means that you recall teams fondly even if they don’t win anything shiny. I can recall several teams that I remember more fondly than “better” teams that won trophies or championships. I won’t bore you with an extensive list, but in general I think everyone likes teams that are “good when they aren’t supposed to be” or “ahead of schedule” at building something. I will always treasure the 2021 version of Racing. They were the first. There was a lot to hate about that season because of what happened off the pitch, but there was also a lot of bravery in it. This team will also be right up there among my favorites. There was a lot of difficulty in this season too, but many, many bright spots. I just hope the memories don’t dull as much as they always tend to do.

This is site is an unapologetic vanity project. I think that is crystal clear. If it wasn’t fun I wouldn’t do it. If it was objective, I wouldn’t do it. This year I realized that it was richer to share it with Elizabeth and I want to thank her for her contributions which include more than the readers will ever know.

This site can now remind me when I forget, but I hope I never forget this season.

Spirit 1 (3) Racing 1 (1) Player Ratings

Racing fought valiantly, but just didn't have enough in the tank at the end. Next season the expectations will be raised, but this will only be a temporary disappointment for a really good season for this team.

Bloomer-7: Kept Racing in a couple of times, but painfully watched as Washington buried their near perfect penalties.

Sonis-7: Great effort from her today.

Wright-7: Had a few key blocks.

Jean-6: Probably needed to be a little stronger on the header for the goal, but otherwise solid.

Milliet-7: Had a half decent chance on goal and ran her legs off.

Flint-6: Really off her game in the first half, but recovered to have a decent match.

Borges-8: Really active but finally ran out of gas by the end.

O'Kane-7: Applied really good pressure especially early.

Hase-7: Found herself in good positions several times.

Sears-7: Almost scored at the end of regular time.

Weber-6: Had a good clearance off the line, but not involved other than that.

Fischer-8: Great instinctual finish on the goal.

Spirit v RLFC -1 (Playoffs)

Racing gets a big game on big CBS at noon on Saturday. Avoiding Kansas City is a bonus, but Washington will pose their own puzzles to solve. Louisville almost pulled off 3 points earlier in the season at Audi Field and depending on your perspective in that match, they were either unfortunate to drop points or extremely fortunate to have been leading 2-1 in the final minutes.

Players like Sonis and Wright will bring the playoff credentials, but Janine mentioned in the pre match media availability, “all of our young players have gotten so much experience,” then added, “I think there is a piece of inexperience that is actually an advantage in these types of situations,” stating that the less experienced players might not feel the pressure that more experienced players might feel. On her season as a whole she said, “I have just loved playing for this team this season. I fully expect us to play for another three weeks.”

When asked if she expected to make 26 appearances for a playoff team in her rookie season Katie O'Kane simply stated, “No” and laughed. She then added that she it was something that she hoped for, but was really just focused on making the team at the beginning of the year. She has taken each step one at a time, first getting substantial minutes, then earning a regular starting spot.

This team’s “one match at a time” mentality will serve them well in the playoffs. It's hard to picture any team taking Racing for granted, but Washington could be thinking ahead, as anything other than a finals appearance would be a disappointment for them.

“The Life of Kings”

Photo by Elizabeth Shaw

Stolen The Wire Epigraph

"...the life of kings."

For those of you who haven’t seen The Wire, it is just like “Cheers” but in an abandoned row house with Bubbles playing the role of “Norm”.

“I go into the 2025 with the absolute lowest of expectations. I can’t envision how this team will be good. They may be competitive. If they do turn out to be decent, it will be counter to most of the previous evidence.”

-Me, here

“I expect a regression back to Racing 1.0 or Racing 2.0 defensively. I am not sure who is going to ‘lead the line’”.

“The club could be feeling really good about this season, and I imagine that most clubs do in their own protective bubbles and echo chambers. I just wish I had something to go on other than 4 years of failure. There hasn’t been enough positive change in the offseason to offset even the losses that needed to come.”

-Me, here

“I thought Racing had a chance to win, but in my heart, I didn’t believe it.”

“I think Racing is a dinosaur set for extinction. They have always moved too slowly or not had the right pieces.”

And this last one really stings…

“I don’t think Bev will turn things around.”

-Me, here

I have always said that I don’t have any emotional capital invested in by “being right”. I am so glad to have been wrong on so many things.

In a world where people double down and go into their echo chambers, nobody likes to openly admit that their opinions are wrong and definitely there is a bizarre resistance to “change your mind” on much of anything. I changed my mind here, here but mostly here.

Is it odd to be so emotional about something to which you didn’t really personally contribute?

Bev turned things around. The whole team did, but with her at the helm of the ship.

The last few weeks made things nervier than I wanted them to be, but the end result ended up being so much sweeter. I promised myself not to check the score of the North Carolina match. I checked the score of the North Carolina match several times. Gotham FA’ed and my guess is that they are about to experience FO part in Kansas City next weekend.

The match itself, objectively, wasn’t a thing a beauty, but we don’t care. Bay offered next to nothing going forward. Their only real threats seemed to come from isolated attacks, mostly from Bay’s wing players. I really thought that Bay would fold with an early goal, but without Racing finding one, they did put up a fight defensively and North Carolina fans should not complain about Bay’s defensive effort. They were just a bad team playing out their last match with dignity.

Racing only needed a single moment of magic and Hase scored a goal that everyone will remember. It feels like her first goal has been coming for a while, so this was the absolute best time to get it. It will surely be a special memory for her.

This whole season will be a special memory to me. It has been the most fun season to write about and to observe.

I will paraphrase HL Mencken here: I find myself more and more convinced that I had more fun writing about this team than in any other enterprise. It is really the life of kings.

Post Match Moment of the Match

There could be hundreds, but the joyful walk around the stadium was my favorite moment after the match. It’s traditional for a reason. It is quite good when the season ends on a positive note.

Lo Milliet seemed to be the most emotional player in the time after the whistle. It’s hard to imagine that this win means any more to one single person than her. She praised the defensive performance and said that the defense had really performed well all season. When asked if she was tempted to peek at the score of the North Carolina match at half she said that the players kept their phones put away.

Bev on the other hand was aware somewhat of the score of the other crucial match at halftime. She said that she felt that she had to be for tactical reasons. I don’t think she shared the score with anyone. Bev was so clearly happy after the match, and Racing will do well to hang onto her after the job she has done this season. She trusted her process and by not making the game bigger than it needed to be by focusing on one match at a time, she ultimately got the job done. She always defers credit. She deserves a huge credit. She pointed to the home loss to San Diego as the point at which their season changed. “We’re too special…we had some tough conversations as a group but we ultimately wanted the success for each other.”

Ella Hase was the hero but was deferential in her comments saying that she was “prouder of the performance we had after the goal” and “Katie, my girl, played a really, really good ball” and that we should be interviewing Katie. That’s silly. Hase had a fantastic match all of the pitch. She also got hilariously distracted by her boyfriend during the interview. Maybe that was my second favorite moment.

JBS versus noses in LFS

Somebody has to make the bacon and the sausage. Due to the short notice of the match start time, JBS seemed to be doing a little bit of processing. Mercifully, the “eau de Butchertown” only wafted for a few moments prior to kickoff and then after the match. I wonder whose role it is to make sure that things are coordinated. Do they have a backup? Please tell me that both JBS and Soccer Holdings have roles with outlined job responsibilities that say something like “serves as Vice Stench Reduction Coordinator when the Head of Stench Reduction Coordination is unavailable.”

Did the stadium have good food?

To nobody’s regret, this bit will be retired going forward. The mini cheesecake bites were the highlight. I always like a good French Onion dip as well. The “sausage” of the night appeared to be chorizo, of which I am evidently not a fan of in link form. The fruit salad was hilarious being comprised of only blackberries (the king of all berries) and cantaloupe (trash fruit incarnate). The dichotomy was striking. I was greatly appreciative of the hot chocolate and the coffee. I run cold by nature.

Rando of the match

Nobody enjoys hearing about “first world problems” but one of the reasons that Elizabeth and I will be moving to different seats next season is that people tend to hang out in the loge boxes whether or not they buy tickets. I don’t mind so much except more than once I have had to kick people out of our box (including an unnamed local media personality who was very gracious about it). At one match earlier in the season a very nice young man invited himself into the box and talked Elizabeth’s ear off. That was fine (her opinion may vary on that). On this night however, there was a rando guy who was sitting in the box next to us and talking loudly throughout the first 30 minutes. He was barking out such helpful advice as “play defense” when Racing was in firm possession. Someone called security on him (not us) because they sent a security guard to “check our tickets”. The guard then went to the next box and checked the loud guy who was obviously not supposed to be there. Minutes later a crew escorted him out of the box. He was back in the second half standing outside of the box (which is permitted) and was much less raucous. Anyway, my tip for box squatters next season: be discrete and don’t call attention to yourself. You will make out just fine. Maybe also don’t stand in a box if someone else is sitting in it. It amazes me how many people feel comfortable doing that without asking.

The Kayla Fischer Honorary Yellow Card of the Match (brought to you by Taylor Flint)

If I keep a similar format next season I WILL be keeping this section. It will likely be renamed to fully honor Flint and her league-leading discipline record. She hit double digits by picking up a yellow for a tactical foul in the 57th minute which I honestly didn’t even remember. The only card for Racing for a bad foul was the one the one that Ary picked up which was labeled as a “Reckless Offence” according to Opta. Wright’s was also labeled as such by Opta, but that seems a stretch. Bloomer pickup up a tasty one for “Time Wasting” (correct and labeled in the traditional manner). Lema for Bay picked up one after that for an “Argument” (I prefer the traditional label “Dissent” for this).

Lightning-in-a-Bottle-O-Meter

Whenever Racing wins a match, I will rate how much of it was down to catching lightning in a bottle versus Racing just doing the things they do well.

This is another section I expect to retire for next season. I expected Racing’s wins to come few and far between and when they have won this season, they haven’t been “lucky”. On this occasion once again, the only bit of fortune that Racing received is that they played a bad team. Bay haven’t been great all year but did outplay Racing in the reverse fixture. In this match, Racing dictated play and took the match to Bay. None of Bay’s shot were on target, but there were only six to begin with. With the team looking to do bigger and better things, the fact the Racing has now finally beaten every other team in the league (until next season when Boston and Denver join) becomes a footnote. 1/5

“If you’ve never been nowhere, don’t you pay that no mind.”

“Machine Gun Ibiza”/Jordan: The Comeback/1990

I don’t know if we will ever know how expectations played into the story of the season, but they will for sure next season. If you’ve never been nowhere, nobody expects you to be anywhere. Now Racing is in the playoffs, and likely are the draw nobody wanted. There has to be a nagging feeling in the back of the mind of any future opponent of Racing in this year’s playoffs: You cannot let things go to penalties. Bloomer has at least one save in her, maybe two if you do. Racing will want to win their first playoff match, but honestly, they are playing with house money the rest of the way regardless of what the coaches and players may say. Washington isn’t a bad draw for Racing, so maybe there will be more destinations in the future.

Let me speak once again on the collective success of the club this season: “Black wand, white magic, nitroglycerin”

• Black Wand - You need players to get anything done. You need the right players, and you need them bought in. Just like a stage magician, Bev waved her wand and then: pledge, turn, prestige (the three acts of a magic trick). However, the players did the work. Sears needed to score double digit goals and did so. The rookies needed to not be rookies for long, and they never seemed like they were. The defense had to work. It did. “All the pieces matter” is my motto, and this season showed how much,

• White Magic - It is the benevolent counterpart of malicious black magic. It’s selfless. Has there ever been a more selfless coach than Bev Yanez? She has preached her principles without making it about her. Make no mistake though. It was magic. There was no previous evidence that these types of performances were possible with this group. Last season’s performances were not necessarily bad or underwhelming, but they sure weren’t this. Bev doesn’t seem like the type of person who gets caught up in awards or junk like that. This season’s achievement is its own reward.

• Nitroglycerin - Isn’t it funny how it is explosive and healing at the same time. Jordan Bloomer has been this team’s nitroglycerin this season. The change in the team has been noticeable. It made it okay for the rest of the team to adopt her personality a little bit. Individuals can be fiery in and of themselves, but Racing never seemed like a fiery team until she took over. I often malign goalkeepers as interchangeable and not as pivotal as the outfield players, but to this team it has been the most important change.

I learned a lot by being wrong this year. I think that is my takeaway and advice. Don’t be afraid to be wrong, admit it, and move forward. You will enjoy yourself much more when you do.

Racing 1 Bay 0 Player Ratings

I was so excited, that I kind of forgot I usually do Player Ratings right after the final whistle. I apologize for the lateness. Racing did the job that needed to be done and because Gotham are hilariously unpredictable, find themselves with a 7th place finish and a playoff appearance.

Bloomer-6: Her rating is not meant to be an indictment on her, just indicative of how little she had to do because Bay provided nothing in attack.

Sonis-7: Always seemed to be where she needed to be.

Wright-7: Had the odd run forward and had to be careful after picking up an early yellow when Lema beat her for pace.

Jean-8: Untroubled and snuffed out anything remotely dangerous.

Milliet-7: Typical energetic and confident performance from Lo. Looks to be getting her connection with Sears back up to where it was earlier in the season.

Flint-8: Bay had zero answers for her defending in the box.

Borges-7: Other than one bad touch that almost gave Bay a promising break, everything she seemed to do came off well and pushed Racing forward.

O'Kane-8: Hase commented after the match that Katie’s pass to send her through was terrific and better than the goal she herself scored.

Hase-9: That is maybe a fair assessment aesthetically, but for what it ultimately meant for the club, her first goal couldn’t be more memorable.

Sears-7: Troubled Bay all evening, but couldn’t quite find a finishing touch or an incisive enough pass.

Fischer-7: A real nuisance to Bay in the first half.

RLFC v Bay FC -1

Win and they’re in…that’s the marching orders for Sunday. Despite multiple chances to take the drama out of the last day, Racing is leaving it as late as possible to secure its first ever playoff appearance. The opponent across the pitch will be Bay FC who will have nothing to play for except to ruin Louisville’s season. Bay has a lame duck head coach, and their form has been abysmal. You can throw all of that out the window because nothing sends bad teams home happier than ruining another team’s season.

Racing will be looking to get out to a fast start. In recent home matches Racing has not been able to turn dangerous early chances into goals. That will be the plan for Sunday. Bay will likely fold if Racing can jump on them early. That is easier said than done, however. The most important thing for Racing will be to stick to its principles and play with concentration and focus.

All of the things that Bev has had the team focus on this season will come together and decide if their fortunes. In her pre match interview Bev stated that “flexibility” was one of the areas of focus for the season, but that she didn’t picture the team needing to be this flexible. Arin Wright joked about not knowing who North Carolina was when asked if she was worried about them ruining Racing’s hopes. Racing should do us all a favor and let us keep our phones tucked away safely for this match.

I remained unconvinced that international form means much in club football, but in this case one would like to hope that Sears has a few more goals in her (although I am pretty sure that even Bay will put up more of a fight than the New Zealand international team did). It would be fitting if it is Sears that carries Racing to the playoffs. She has been the best offensive player for Racing this season and Racing have to score to secure the playoffs on their own. Let’s hope the goals for Racing score early and often and turn the last few minutes into a party.

"Don't worry kid, you're still on the clock."

Courtesy of LCC

Stolen The Wire Epigraph

“Don't worry kid, you're still on the clock."

For those of you who haven’t seen The Wire, it is a show about a guy in an inflatable frog suit who terrorizes the local law enforcement.

This match was somewhat of a microcosm of Racing’s season. Start fast but ultimately get nothing from it, fight back hard and get everyone’s hopes up, then bungle it in the end but not bad enough to lose hope completely. Now, if Racing makes the playoffs, it will be in the “barely made it” category. I think most of the fan base was somewhat expecting that to be the case, but this team has had every opportunity to take the drama out of the final match and just can’t seem to do it.

Retrospect always gives better analysis, but with 15 minutes left I was surprised how defensive Racing set up. I get wanting to protect a lead, but I think Racing has proven that they can’t really protect a lead like this against a good team for this long of a period. Shift the decision forward 8-10 minutes and go into your shell at the 83rd or 85th minute and I think I can get on board. The 75th minute is just too early. Obligatory Arsenal aside: my beloved Gunners (men) might just win every match this way this season and win big things doing so but they have, when healthy, the best back line in the world (line up in the comments sections to fight me on this). Jose Mourinho’s teams frequently got accused of parking the bus, but they did know how to do it effectively. I guess my point it that setting up to defend in this manner takes world-class players and a mentality to commit to it. You can’t park the bus when you have players trying to be heroes. You do it as a unit with a plan, or not at all.

Of course, Racing was going to set up in this manner in the final minutes, but it seemed to be a plan without a decent way to counter. To my eyes, it didn’t appear all that organized like it did against San Diego and Angel City. It was definitely not as disciplined. It’s a real shame because is stole a terrific moment away from Sarah Weber. She looks to have a really good shot at being a solid up-front option for Racing.

Racing lives through its press. For some reason it just isn’t willing to die with it. That baffles me. For all of Bev’s and the players’ talk of focusing on their gameplan and on what they do well, they do seem to abandon it with a lead. Everyone knows why, but I don’t think this team is good enough defensively to consistently win matches in the last 15 minutes going into a complete protective shell. We have all seen the number of dropped points in those situations. It’s a “next season” problem to solve, but for now I don’t think Racing should ever take the foot off of the gas with a one-goal lead.

One thing that did strike me in retrospect was the decision to leave Petersen on the bench. Why not commit fully to going defensive and substitute Weber off for her?

However, the team is still on the clock and needs to figure out any possible way to win against Bay. They do have a bit of good fortune in that Gotham will surely want to beat or draw North Carolina and avoid KC. It was a bad weekend for Racing, but not a disastrous one, so they are still in the driver’s seat and at the beginning of the season, I would have taken this deal in a heartbeat.

Post Match Moment of the Match

Bev pretty much jumped in right away to defend the decision to sit back so deeply in the last 15 minutes. “Absolutely, there is not even a second thought about that. You’re closing out a match away.” I asked a follow up about how the players didn’t seem to be set up to transition out of that formation and get some possession. I didn’t get a sense from Bev that she thought that there was anything different in the set up that she would have changed. I will he honest, I hated that answer. It was the one I expected though.

Janine however did give a better explanation tactically for the shift. According to her, Gotham’s midfield is flexible and they do tend to drop players deeper from time to time (Howell being the obvious one here) or out to the sides. That meant Racing felt comfortable to shift Flint into the backline earlier. Gotham’s front three were playing a little narrower, so an extra central defender was prudent, giving the fullbacks the ability to defend wider. That’s a really good two thirds of a plan. You expect your forwards to keep up pressure, but multiple times when Fischer, Weber and Sears got touches, there wasn’t even a thought to try to hold the ball, if only to give the back line a chance to step forward and get out of the last quarter of the pitch for a few seconds of relief. Teams that deploy this strategy well don’t always get counter attacking opportunities, but they do at least make the midfielders expend some energy to win back the ball from attackers and disrupt the flow of attack. A team built on rhythm as much as Gotham is surely going to find a way to get good chances, especially if their defenders don’t have to expend any defensive energy worrying about a counter.

Weber said that she “trusted the technique” on her instinctual finish that gave Racing the lead. I think we now can see the type of striker she is going to be, and it is one that complements Sears well. Next season I would like to see her get some tap ins from follow ups on shots from distance. When she doesn’t have to dwell on the finish, she is quite good. I think the rest of the finishing will come with a few more goals to lift her confidence. Weber did admit that she could have done better to step into the pocket to receive some of Racing’s clearances in the last 15 minutes, but I don’t recall any clearance having any attacking purpose behind it other than just hopefulness. Weber did say that the set up was trying to exploit Gotham’s high line, but because the attackers were not getting pressure on the midfielders, I personally don’t think that was ever going to work because Gotham consistently had 3 defenders back to cover that danger.

Were the Announcers Good?

JP Dellacamera and Jill Loyden were on the call.

What did Janine Sonis do to these two? Loyden called her Beckie, an honest mistake, but come on you’ve had all season. JP got the pronunciation of Sonis right a few times at the beginning when Jill caught herself and switched back to Janine’s married name but then slipped right back into “So-niece” early in the first half. He must just have a mental block on that one. Retire.

I had a slight chuckle at Loyden’s reference to Racing players as “physically robust”. I think I got what she was trying to say, but definitely enjoyed that phrasing.

Then Jill just openly kind of admitted what I think the general consensus is among the league and fans. They prefer Racing getting that final spot versus North Carolina. It’s honestly best for the league if Racing makes the playoffs. That doesn’t change the facts on the ground, but at least to Jill, Racing is the sentimental favorite. Or maybe just for this broadcast. She did know which set of fans were watching.

TV Kit Rating

Racing and Gotham went with their 2024 primary kits in this match. In my 2024 rankings I had Racing at 6th place and Gotham at 5th although at the time I wasn’t that crazy about either of them. You’ve got to respect Gotham’s commitment to a two-tone color scheme. You turn on a match, and you immediately know it’s Gotham. I like that. I definitely prefer the 2024 iteration to the 2025 version. By the way, I missed that Red Bull arena (which I guess wasn’t technically on a naming rights deal because their entire sporting enterprise exists to sell caffeine to the over caffeinated) changed its name to Sports Illustrated Stadium. I struggle to see how SI is relevant in today’s world, but whatever. The group that owns SI also owns the image and likeness rights to Muhamad Ali, Elvis and Marilyn Monroe. So, you know, a real blue-collar enterprise. Anyway, the jersey is alright. 7/10

The Kayla Fischer Honorary Yellow Card of the Match (brought to you once again by Taylor Flint)

The Friday leading up the match, Paul Miles asked Taylor Flint a question I was too chicken to ask her. He basically asked her if she needed to “dial it back” coming off of suspension. She basically said that she “turns it up a notch” partially joking but added that she was going to play her game regardless. At the time it made me think of this:

Not so funny now.

The foul she committed was reckless and unnecessary. To my eyes, she looked to be trying to win the match on her own in that situation. A clearance there would have been good, but Racing’s goal wasn’t under any more immediate danger when she committed that foul than it had been in the previous five minutes. Her recklessness allowed Gotham to put the ball at the foot of the one player as a Racing fan you absolutely do not want to see have a chance: Rose Lavelle. I saw someone comment that “parking the bus doesn’t” work. We can debate that, but what definitely doesn’t work is having the driver of the bus come out and assault a pedestrian with a tire iron. The bus has to work as a unit, thus the metaphor. Flint tried a little hero ball, and it cost Racing two points in my opinion.

However, if I am interpreting the rules correctly, a yellow card in the last match does not carry over into the playoffs.

“Any Suspensions for yellow card accumulation earned in a Player or Team Staff’s last Regular Season Game will not carry over into Playoff Games; however, the applicable fine will be collected in the 2025 season. All Players and Team Staff will start the Playoff Games with a zero yellow card total. “

So, rest easy, Racing fans. Don’t rest so easy, Taylor Flint’s wallet.

“Infinities of dreams imploding into one”

“The Ice Maiden”/Jordan: The Comeback/1990”

Now there is only one guaranteed way forward. Racing needs to beat Bay. Here are the point totals that Racing has accumulated against every team based on their current position.

• KC-0

• WAS-1

• ORL-4

• SEA-0

• SD-3

• POR-1

• Gotham-4

• NC-4

• HOU-4

• AC-6

• UT-3

• BAY-0

• CHI-4

The ones that stick out to me are the 0 against the Reign, the 1 against the Thorns, and the 0 against Bay. Match by match you can quibble with results, but Seattle and Portland at the ones where I think you need to be in the 2-3 point range. To salvage the season, they need to get 3 points against Bay at home. Racing has 3 losses in its 3 matches against Bay and if my memory serves, they came on 3 pretty lackluster performances.

Of course, now we have a cursed international break. International Friendly is code for “pointless chance for a player to get unnecessarily injured”. Racing sends key players away to hopefully return in one piece. Upon a healthy return (fingers crossed) they will be faced with the third consecutive “most important match is Racing’s history”. It’s good for drama and terrible for Racing fans’ health.

You can spend the next two week searching the past for two dropped points in the list above, or you can concentrate on bringing a positive attitude to Lynn Family Stadium on Nov 2nd at either 3pm or 5pm. The stadium will likely be nervy, but a good and large crowd always helps. It’s the one thing you can control as a fan.

Gotham 2 Racing 2 Player Ratings

Racing went too defensive too early and paid the price. Their playoff hopes will now go down to the final day.

Bloomer-7: Make some good stops in the first half to keep Racing within striking distance.

Sonis-7: Nice goal, but got beaten by Purce consistently.

Wright-6: A couple of questionable decisions by her put Racing under unnecessary pressure.

Jean-7: Easily the best defender on the afternoon.

Milliet-6: Her loose pass led to the opening goal, but redeemed herself on the pass that ultimately led to Weber's goal.

Flint-5: Your best player has to be better and smarter in end of match situations. She made a terrible tackle the was unnecessary and the free kick that was conceded led to Gotham’s equalizer. Picked up a yellow card to boot.

Borges-6: Had a decent game but it took her some time to make an impact on the match.

O'Kane-6: Average.

Hase-7: Really active in the first half. I am not sure Fischer gave any more than she would have in the last 30 minutes.

Weber-8: Great instinctual finish.

Sears-8: Had a nice assist, but she now leads the team in minutes and could use a break.

Gotham v RLFC -1

The Friday evening results didn’t break Racing’s way, so if they don’t want to leave things to the last match, a win will be required on Sunday in New Jersey (we don’t let the any other city get away with this nonsense, play in a stadium in New York or drop it from your name). On Friday the teams prepared for the upcoming match and spoke with the media. Taylor Flint commented that the team had a really good week of practice and that the team and staff believe that good practices translate to good performances. I have been around long enough to know that no player or coach ever admits to having a “bad” week at practice, so take that for what it’s worth. I asked Arin Wright if she thought the team was playing their best football at this point of the season, and she said that she thought the team was. I asked Bev a similar question about the team maintaining a consistently high level of play over the season and she thought that their consistent level showed and that it was key to being in the position that they currently sit (a good chance to make the playoffs).

Selfishly, I want them to get things done on Sunday. I think we all do. I don’t want a nervous crowd in Lynn Family Stadium on the final day (although if there isn’t anything to play for other than positioning it could impact the number of attendees). The fact is that Racing has simply played better on the road this season. The team has 3 more points in one less match on the road this season. If you think that Sears needs to put in a good performance for Racing to win at this point, that also occurs more often on the road.

A good piece of news is that Racing is seeming to get healthy at the right point in the season, or at least healthier than they have been recently. Arin Wright appears to have recovered from her leg injury. Milliet put in a full 90 minutes int he last match. There was a bit of a surprise announcement yesterday in that Pokorny and Lund have come off of the SEI list. Pokorny is a really valuable piece as a substitute which is something Racing sorely needs. The players are also not carrying as many minutes this season as they have in previous ones. Last season, Racing has 3 players play 100% of the minutes. This season, Petersen and Sears are the highest with 96%. It might be good to try to sit Petersen for a few minutes at some point over these last two matches to get her some rest. Sears could come off for some rest too, and she also has National Team minutes on her legs. I am a little concerned about her as she has played quite a few full 90s for Racing recently.

“How come they don’t fly away?”

Photo By Elizabeth Shaw

Stolen The Wire Epigraph

“How come they don’t fly away?”

For those of you who haven’t seen The Wire, think “Miami Vice” but bleaker and just as many “hey, that guy was on Miami Vice. You know…that guy from the thing…” Also, for a bonus Miami Vice story, check out my “As it Happened” piece on Lou City tomorrow.

Games are trees. Seasons are forests.

For the umpteenth match in a row, Racing was left with no other option than to trot at a less than full bench. This could be the case for the rest of the season if Morris doesn’t recover from what is ailing her. I have been thinking about squads and rosters recently. I have come up with this aphorism:

“You win duels and tackles by the one, halves with eleven, matches with sixteen, your place in the table with twenty, and bigger things with twenty-six.”

Essentially, don’t expect to consistently win matches when your twenty isn’t up to snuff or even consistently twenty. You can forget about bigger things beyond that if your roster is paper thin.

I ask you, “How many more points does Racing have if their roster is just two to three players stronger?” None? Three? Ten? It is an unanswerable question, but I think you get my point.

In a weird way, Racing has done itself a tremendous disservice by playing so well. Their effort and flexibility and having a great coach has papered over so many cracks in the wall, that even I believe that this team is good enough sometimes.

It’s all fool’s gold.

Bev Yanez has pulled off one of the greatest magic tricks that I have even seen. She has this team and fans believing that Racing can do big things. It is a terrific sleight of hand. “Look over here! Here is a great effort and a tremendously gritty performance.” “Pay no attention to the nine players on the availability report and the constant switching we have to do to hold a match together.”

Every gritty performance and every “almost” this season has felt different from the same platitudes provided in the past. That’s because Bev can pull wins out of this team that no other coach could.

I ask you to take a step back now and look at the forest:

• Nine players on the availability report.

• A roster of 28 on the website, but 4 on SEI/Maternity, 3 listed as OUT and not likely to return, 1 on loan, 2 without an NWSL minute in their career, 2 backup keepers, leaving only Bloomer and 15 outfield players to make a up matchday squad and bench you can use to win a match.

• The situation above has led to the following number of minutes played by rookies: Hase-1341, Weber-1282, O’Kane-1233. They have been fantastic, the lot of them, and maybe next year it pays off in spades, but they should all be closer to 700.

• In addition, Sonis’ and Petersen’s and Ary’s flexibility have put them in situations where they are passable, but not the long-term solution.

In retrospect, how does this team not have 23 points instead of 33?

Racing has seemed unlucky most of the season, but if you take a step back, you can see that this team has done well…really well for the circumstances it has been given.

However, this team’s wings are clipped. The sum total of everything above is the reason why Racing just can’t demonstrate prolonged prosperity. Several players (Sears, Flint, Jean) seem to be thriving in the system but many more (Petersen, Ary, Sonis, DiGrande, Fischer, Balcer, all three Rookies) are being adversely impacted by the squad construction (or lack of it). None of it shows up in tremendously detectable ways, but a sloppy pass here and a misplaced clearance there could be attributed to the mental fatigue of being put in situation where you are not doing what you do best. I don’t know how Ryan Dell continues to fail upward, but he is responsible for a big part of the roster mess and Caitlyn Milby has done a fine job cleaning up his mess, but she is probably only halfway done.

Nobody can nor should fault the effort and performances of this team, but until the roster is constructed in a manner in which all of the birds can fly high, the birds with clipped wings will not be able to soar.

Post Match Moment of the Match

One of the symptoms of the terminal diagnosis “team not deep enough” syndrome or whatever I was trying to say in the above section is that match performances will seem “good enough to win” to those closest to the situation. Bev was pleased with the performance in that “I can’t be upset. We created a lot today.” In a nutshell she said that if you don’t bury your chances and your opponent keeps looking at the scoreboard and its 0-0, you give that opponent hope. That’s what stone-cold finishers are for, and my mortal enemy (she knows why) Bethany Balcer came on and showed what she can do when given half a chance. Okay…I was actually delighted for her to score, so she has been downgraded to frenemy (along with Kaitlyn Whiteside…she also knows why). Bev used hindsight as a legitimate excuse as to why Balcer isn’t getting a few more minutes, and I get it, but I have to think that in this match, you have to bite the bullet and put her on even earlier. She brings goals, 100% fit or not. Some of it is, as Balcer put it, “the life of a forward” but I was done with Fischer’s evening about 10 to 20 minutes before she was subbed off. I asked Sonis point blank about the positional shifts that happened in the match (and an unspoken request to have her comment on the season as well). She did admit that “it can be difficult in game to shift your mindset”, which she had to do when put in attack. I get that under dire circumstances it is necessary, but this match was evidence of the accumulation of the burdensome demand that a substandard roster has put on the players remaining.

Did the stadium have good food?

There was a vegan bratwurst in the club that my all-of-a-sudden-sort-of-vegetarian wife and photographer called “good”, so I will take her word for it. There was also an Italian beef sandwich thing that was quite good. You can be honest with me. You just skip over this section, right? Who cares what I eat? One more match recap and I will bury this section 6 feet underground. They did have cheesecake though so that was bonus.

The Kayla Fischer Honorary Yellow Card of the Match (brought to you by Taylor Flint)

We had a textbook yellow card in this match. Weber went in late and hard on a Stars player. It was proper nasty. Definitely worthy of being “Kayla Fischer” like. Not “Kayla Fischer” worthy on the night? Kayla Fischer. She was bullied off the ball more than once and seemed hesitant for some reason. I don’t know what it will take for her to find some match-to-match consistency. Maybe it’s an offseason of dedication to discipline and focus. I think you have to stick with Weber now, and I am also not sure if I wouldn’t go Balcer for Weber at 60 or 70 depending on the scoreline in these next few matches. Flint will be back next week to get a red card for being tall or “existing” just in time to miss another crucial match. The officials were pretty good last night, so since that was the case let me remind you or how collectively their HORRIBLE INCONSISTENCY continues to ruin soccer. That is all.

“Your dashing horsemen, all gone away, left you the stable bill to pay.”

“Cars and Girls”/From Langley Park to Memphis/1988

The horse is dead, but I am going to keep beating it. How the heck are you supposed to win matches at this point of the season with the roster that Racing has? Most players are contributing and playing up to the best of their abilities, but there are too many square pegs, not quite in round holes, but in rectangular ones. They sort of fit, but loosely. Playoff teams need rosters of 26 serviceable players. Racing carried around 24 this season and not all of them stood a chance of seeing the pitch for meaningful minutes. Maybe another good rookie class will make the roster better next season, but I do go back to my early season assessment of the roster and question its playoff worthiness. I was wrong in my assessment, but not because of the facts on the ground. I just underestimated Bev. Never again.

That doesn’t change the fact that team still finds itself in decent position, but again, how much of that is due to underperformance by other teams. The wheels seem to have fallen off all 3 California teams. Chicago is only good enough to be a nuisance. Utah is only good under no pressure.

I still think Racing is going to sneak in but it will probably have to go to the final day.

On the bright side, with another offseason Bev and Caitlyn could finish the roster reconstruction and be a true force next season. For now, they are still left cleaning up a long-term problem.

Racing 1 Stars 1 Player Ratings

Photo by Elizabeth Shaw

It wasn’t a result that Racing wanted, but it could end up being a vital point rescued. Parts of the performance were good, but only Balcer proved to have the killer instinct.

Bllomer-6: Made one good save on a night where she wasn’t troubled much except for the goal.

Sonis-8: Credited with the assist on Balcer’s goal and played in at least 3 different positions on the night.

Petersen-6: Her failure to clear the ball effectively ultimately led to Chicago’s goal. Other than that, fairly solid.

Jean-6: Off night for her. She lost possession dangerously a couple of times but recovered.

Milliet-8: In her return to the starting lineup, she had a vital goal line clearance to keep it 0-1. Getting her and Sears on the same page again will be vital.

Borges-8: She is a great deputy for Flint and keeps putting in very good performances.

O'Kane-7: Solid but needs to do more with her touches inside the box.

Fischer-5: Might be the most frustrating performance from a player I have seen in a while. Muscled off the ball unnecessarily multiple times and didn’t get off a shot on a great opportunity where she tried to walk it in.

Hase-6: Started strong and then faded a bit.

Sears-6: Failed to get a really decent look all night.

Weber-7: She is getting in the right positions but has to find her finishing boots.

Balcer-8: Heroine of the match. So happy for her. Bev needs to trust her more.

RLFC v Chicago -1

There has been a lot of uncharted territory that Racing has traversed this year. All of this feels new and somewhat precarious. It has been a gloriously weird season. It’s hard to overstate how much I underestimated this team. Now, with 3 matches left things can still go great or horribly wrong.

I will tell you that I would feel much better if Racing was able to have more than 7 subs on the bench on Friday, but I am afraid that is likely to be the case again with Weber presumably returning and Flint being unavailable. There’s thin and then there is thin. Racing will likely list 9 players as “out’ once again, with 3 out those being SEI.

That puts a lot on the shoulders of the healthy players and Emma Sears is carrying her fair share at the moment. Having reached 10 goals in a season for Racing puts her in a one-member club. With that accomplished I asked her what the next goal was. Her response was, “maybe 15? We’ll see…you never know.” We can only dream…

Ellie Jean has thankfully been available for most of the year. Now, she is the only person on the back line in her “natural” position. I asked about if she felt responsibility to keep the back line stable. She said that she was happy to be able to step up and be a leader on the back line. Quietly, and maybe not so quietly now, she has probably become the key defender on the team.

Bev has already out achieved every previous Racing head coach including the year-one version of herself. In a roundabout way, I think she is likely pleasantly surprised to be where Racing currently sits in the table. She has framed up the last 5 matches as a set and both Emma and Ellie mentioned this. It’s good to be 2 for 2 so far.

Everybody says that they are not underestimating Chicago. I believe them, but the Stars has a prominent goal scorer in Ludmila. They almost always seem to have a goal in them as well. The key for Racing will be to decide if a little more possession against Chicago is prudent or if it will be better to concede more possession like they have been doing to great effect. Chicago does tend to give up goals (an average of 2 per match), so what Racing can’t do is fail to capitalize on good chances, because there will likely be at least a few.

“A man must have a code.”

Stolen The Wire Epigraph

“A man must have a code.”

For those of you who haven’t seen The Wire, it is the story of 3 friends who either a) spend their free time hunting demons, or b) use hunting demons as code for scoring heroin.

After a rather dull and uneventful first half, where it looked like the clash of styles between the Courage and Racing was only succeeding in putting the viewer to sleep, the style battle kicked into high gear at the start of the second half. Announcer Jill Loyden commented that Racing’s opening goal was “against the run of play” which is an odd thing to say in a half that is only 5 minutes old, but I guess I get her point. Racing’s style, or code if you will, is all chaos and pressing and disrupting, and the Courage likes to string together passes and play “beautifully”. The Courage had been winning the style battle, or so they thought, running into halftime. These types of matches have always been fascinating to me because of the great difference in attitude and style. Admittedly, given infinite time and resources I think most fans would prefer to watch a team win beautifully. That isn’t going to ever be Racing’s style. Their code, and I agree that this is the right way to go for them, is to win, not ugly exactly, but through wearing down their opponents physically and mentally. Their code is definitely more “Barksdale/Stanfield” level street code versus an aspirational code of ethics about “doing things honorably and with grace.” That does not work for this team.

The most important thing about a code, however, is to stick to it. It is particularly relevant if your code is more “streetwise” than “collegial”. Maybe more than any other player, Kayla Fischer is the embodiment of the positives and negatives of Racing’s code. She has a very eventful 75 minutes: goal, assist, yellow card, making Courage defenders complain to officials. She is always on that razor’s edge. Racing will likely be on that edge too for the remainder of the season.

Post Match Moment of the Match

Sears, Fischer and Bev spoke after the match. Sears has no really good explanation for the discrepancy in her goal scoring on the road versus at home. She did talk about having friends from Charlotte in the crowd. Compared to Charlotte, Raleigh probably does seem like a bit of a destination. (Reminder: I find North Carolina charmless).

Kayla said that the team had a good week of practice and created the goals from pressure. Agreed. She also commented on being prepared for North Carolina to play the ball through the middle and to be ready to pounce on mistakes.

Bev talked about Sears being a special player. Once again, agreed. She also talked about halftime adjustments in spacing, which obviously worked. Bev praised the work ethic, which is virtually always present. She commented that Racing had even more chances to expand the lead before they ultimately did on Emma’s second goal. Finally, she praised the “type of result” that this ended up being.

Were the Announcers Good?

JP Dellacamera and Jill Loyden were on the call. Yet again, I was not in my normal friendly confines at home, which oddly seems to happen when this duo in on the call. I watched the Racing match in the Lynn Family Stadium press box as Lou City won 2-0 against the Indy Eleven.

Please retire, JP. Or NWSL, please retire JP. I assume this guy had a fastball at some point but has clearly lost it. In every match he mispronounces Sonis as “So-niece”. He obviously doesn’t care about getting it right and nobody wants to correct him. He kept saying that the Manaka goal that was ruled offside, was a VAR overturn. It was reviewed by VAR but as a confirmation of the on-field call. I am not a friend to officials, which regular visitors to this space know, but I do think that officials get offside calls right most of the time (because it is objective, my beef with officials are usually with their discretionary decisions). It’s lazy and insulting to the officials to not credit them for getting it right the first time.

Usually, I like Loyden, but this wasn’t her best match either. “Comfortability” is making its way into the vernacular and new words don’t bother me. Language always has and always will evolve. However, the way she used it seems odd and off-putting.

The duo seems overly fawning on the Courage’s play in the first half, but adequately self corrected when the match slowly swung in Racing’s favor.

Go home, Fotmob. You’re drunk.

Fotmob as an app isn’t 100% reliable, but it does help me with real time stats and if I miss a fact, it usually gets those facts correct…at least eventually. This however, seemed like a real “glitch in the matrix” type moment. I might be the only person in the world who caught this, which is way I grabbed a screenshot. At about the same time as Sears scored the third goal in Cary, Damian Las was sent off in the Lou City match in Louisville for a DOGSO. I don’t know exactly how Fotmob ingests real time information, but it seemed to take two “Louisville-themed” events and get the logic confused. It would be interesting to know if this was human error or some kind of AI confusion occurring. Anyway, for a brief moment Damian Las broke the laws of physics according to Fotmob and scored a goal in Cary at virtually the same time as he was heading to the locker room in Louisville. Only one person is Louisville is allowed to break the space-time continuum and that is Jordan Rivers who is often on the radio when I turn off my car upon arriving at Lynn Family Stadium while also voicing an announcement from inside the stadium. Sometimes, I swear he is also voicing an announcement and then I immediately run into him on the concourse. I have confronted him about this, but he remains dodgy. Just be sure to continue to use your powers for good, Jordan.

TV Kit Rating

For the second time this season, I found myself watching Racing play an opponent in the same color that Lou City was playing in. The first time was purple and purple for the Orlando away match. This time it was pink (hot) and pink (salmon, maybe?). Anyway, the details on the authentic version of this jersey do not read on TV and it just seems pink. From my kit rankings:

“I do enjoy the irony of having “Aesthetics” written on such a boring and dull jersey, so kudos, I guess? I would say that the fans deserve better, but have you ever been to Cary, NC? Don’t bother if not. It sucks. Cary definitely doesn’t deserve nice things, so I am done complaining about them not having them.”

I will always take the opportunity to take a shot at Cary, and its joke of a stadium (the pitch is nice though, to be fair). I am delighted that Racing finally won there.

Rest in pieces, North Carolina Courage. And your terrible kit. 3/10

Lightning-in-a-Bottle-O-Meter

Whenever Racing wins a match, I will rate how much of it was down to catching lightning in a bottle versus Racing just doing the things they do well.

Racing played the way that they wanted to play and so did North Carolina. There have been so many times in past matches when it seemed like Racing outplayed the Courage (and plenty not) and didn’t even get a point. This one seemed beyond fair. The Courage are short key players but so is Racing. Racing could only seat 7 players on the bench. The facts and previous evidence were against Racing coming into kickoff. Then for 45 minutes, bar one pretty poor defensive letdown, they had the Courage right where they wanted them. Racing didn’t seem to benefit from any call or decision. The second goal was a gift, which might be the only thing you could point to. Racing dictated the match and fooled North Carolina into thinking that they were the ones in control. 1/5

The Kayla Fischer Honorary Yellow Card of the Match (brought to you by Taylor Flint)

Flint’s card, which will see her miss the next match, was softer than a Letterkenny birthday party. The only real explanation may be that it was given for dissent instead of the intensity of the foul. Bev was not forthcoming on if she received an explanation but did lament that the card was on Flint’s first foul. If it was based purely on contact the center official should be embarrassed and resign immediately because it was a terrible judgement call not based on anything other than reputation. Fischer got a typically Fischer-esque card. It was 2 minutes after she scored and not really necessary.

“Does heaven wait all heavenly over the next horizon?”

“Cars and Girls”/From Langley Park to Memphis/1988

I think we are all prone to overreact to individual results no matter how much we know intellectually that we shouldn’t. Three losses in a row plus all of the other stuff that went with it felt like hell. Why shouldn’t a couple of wins in a row feel like the exact opposite, not only because of the immediate gratification, but also because it might ultimately lead to more. I will leave facing the harsh realities for another time.

Sears was fantastic as was Fischer. It is the first time in a while that I felt like the good chances either found the back of the next or had to be stopped by an opponent. For the most part, the defense was solid and in a match like this, the midfield did what is needed to do.

Maybe the most encouraging takeaway is that Racing seemed to want that 3rd goal. They may have felt as if they needed it, but the entire team felt elevated after Fischer’s goal because it prevented them from reliving that “here we go again” feeling. Racing has to maintain discipline and focus in its last three matches to ultimately get where they want to go.

Courage 1 Racing 3 Player Ratings

It was an Ohio State kind of night, as Sears and Fischer supplied the offense. The second half was their best offensive performance in a while.

Bloomer-7: Had a fine save early in the match to keep it 0-0, and another one late.

Morris-6: Partly to blame for the Manaka goal.

Petersen-6: Caught ball watching on the Manaka goal.

Jean-7: Nervier than usual in her passing, but still solid overall.

Sonis-7: Split duty again tonight with Milliet's sub in for Hase.

Flint-7: Played through an early harsh yellow card to have a good match. Will miss the next one.

Borges-7: Has found herself in really good form recently.

O'Kane-7: Was gifted an assist on a terrible ball by Jordan.

Hase-6: Not as involved as the other forwards but didn’t have to be.

Fischer-8: Really eventful match with a goal, assist, and a yellow.

Sears-9: Was a great Jordan save away from a hat trick.

Lou City & Racing Foundation 2025 Soccer Ball

All Photos by Elizabeth Shaw

Lauren Milliet and Aiden McFadden posing with their Impact Player of the Year awards

Nearly 1000 people attended the Lou City & Racing Foundation Fourth Annual Soccer Ball on Tuesday evening.

The Soccer Ball serves as one of the main fundraising opportunities for the foundation and is also very fun.

Here are Elizabeth and I with Ray Serrano and his wife Jennifer who were seated at our table. The table directly behind us sat several other Lou City players.

Our dedicated and committed introvert, Elizabeth was brave enough to grab some selfies. Here she is with Aiden McFadden, who is an absolute delight off the pitch. (On the pitch his demeanor is definitely all business.)

“New favorite” Adrien Perez

“Favorite classic” Kyle Adams

Here is Elizabeth showing Josh Jones one of her favorite pictures she took of him while Kevon Lambert looks on.

Some of the Lou City players standing in line for the very popular bourbon pull.

The dashing Mr. and Mrs. Flint as they arrived

Fisher and Sears being the H and I in Ohio…O!H!I!O!

I never get the chance to take pictures with my favorite players, but since I was technically off duty, I grabbed a quick selfie with Emma Sears. I swear she isn’t actually taller than me.

Here is me with Lo, who I am definitely taller than.

The Soccer Ball is also an excuse for me to buy a purple themed outfit from Amazon each year.

“Business. Always business.”

Photo by Elizabeth Shaw

Elizabeth’s photo gallery from the match

It’s fall, so bye-bye AC! Racing 1-Angel City 0 — Fleur-de-lis FC

Stolen The Wire Epigraph

“Business. Always business.”

For those of you who haven’t seen The Wire, it is a light-hearted mystery where three unlikely friends work together to score heroin without leaving the abandoned row house they occupy together.

Most of the match wasn’t a ringing endorsement for NWSL soccer, especially the first half, but Racing ultimately put together a good enough chance for its goal and defended strongly enough to take home all three points. It was scrappy and will likely have to be scrappy from here on out. Once again Racing did not have enough healthy players for fill out a full bench. If I was in the league office, I would seriously look at a way to fine clubs for doing this repeatedly. Racing doesn’t have any options to get up to nine players really, but in my opinion, you always end up paying the piper one way or another when you try to do “more with less”.

On this day however, Racing had just enough to get the ball over the line as it were. Angel City rarely, if ever, troubled Racing. The decision to drop Flint into the middle of the back four in the final 10 to 15 minutes (which actually ended up being 20 to 25 minutes) was a nice wrinkle (more on that later). For once, Racing was able to bring in fresh defensive legs off the bench in the form of Lo Milliet and her energy and focus definitely helped the back line stay solid during those last several minutes of the match.

Angel City’s strategy, at least in the first half, seemed to be to try to make Racing play through them. Racing doesn’t really want to play that way and frankly without DeMelo in the midfield, I think every future opponent will try to make Racing do the same. Fortunately for Racing, Angel City let them press a little too easily in the second half and ended up making a mistake that cost them. Sears did the high effort work and Weber finished it off with a highly skilled shot. It was Sears’ first assist of the season and only her second ever in a league match. As a footnote, this was Racing’s 100th goal scored in Lynn Family Stadium by my accounting methods, but yours may vary.

The ultimately overturned penalty seemed to be the correct decision, and it set up a tense and nervy finish for the home crowd once again. Twelve minutes of stoppage time seemed like a joke, but it played out anyway. Maybe the most encouraging part of the night was that Racing never seemed to lose their nerve collectively or individually. Ellie Jean was so calm and effective, that for large portions of the match I kind of forgot she was out there. Usually, she is having to make tackle after tackle to prevent attacks. She didn’t attempt a single one in this match.

It was definitely business-like performance in front of 6,000 fans and a couple hundred dogs.

Post Match Moment of the Match

Photo by Elizabeth Shaw

Taylor Flint was awarded for her 100th league appearance in the company of her family, including her dog. There were lots of dogs on the pitch after the match, which always makes things extra fun. I am a cat person, but other people’s dogs are great! Sarah Weber handed out praise to Sears for her work rate in dispossessing Angel City in order to set up the goal. She also said that she prefers scoring “instinctually”. Milliet talked some about the impact of going to a back 5 in the last several minutes of the match, but honestly it was just good to see her in uniform in person once again that she could have said anything I would have just nodded along.

I really, really wanted to ask Bev about the maneuver to put Flint in the middle of the back line. I don’t think I have every been more excited to ask a question. She shared that the move was something that the team had been working on for a while and actually had a hand signal prepared in order to utilize it. I had not noticed Racing use this tactic before, and I am excited to see if they deploy it again with a lead. Bev indicated that they may, but she also indicated that it would be dependent on how the opponent was set up.

Stink-O-Meter

Home fans have had a nice run of odor free nights in Butchertown, but for about 15 minutes tonight the stadium reeked of pig. By the end of the evening, it either dissipated, or I got used to it. However, at its peak, it was very high on the offensive odor smell. It was a 🐖🐖🐖🐖🐖 out of 5 in my opinion. This comes off of a Lou City match where it was also faint, but apparent. It might be time to remember the essential oil nasal inhalers again.

Did the stadium have good food?

It seems like as the season winds down every year, the club starts to run out of new ideas, so it relied on old standbys for the evening. They did expand the dessert section to include peach pie/cobbler. I have never been one for warm fruit. I stuck to the standard, dip/sausage/Caesar salad combo with some pork barbecue to sample. The club did have a salmon option for once. Nothing against salmon, but I think it is over relied upon and personally I could happily live the rest of my life without it.

Lightning-in-a-Bottle-O-Meter

Whenever Racing wins a match, I will rate how much of it was down to catching lightning in a bottle versus Racing just doing the things they do well.

Racing didn’t seem particularly fortunate or unfortunate on the evening, but the twelve minutes of stoppage time made the hurdle slightly more difficult. Weber’s goal could just as easily have been miss hit, and I seem to recall a ball going close for Angel City in stoppage time (it must have been a touch from Racing, because it didn’t register on Opta’s shot chart) that made me jump a little. On the whole Racing won the match in the manner that they are built to win. 1.5/5

The Kayla Fischer Honorary Yellow Card of the Match (brought to you by Taylor Flint)

Flint is back in the league lead for yellow cards. In this match, she picked up a pretty soft one from Shawn Tehini who I thought called the contact a little too close, in the first half especially. This is what drives fans nuts in my opinion. In the previous Racing match the officials let all kinds of contact go. It was internally consistent but diametrically opposed to how this match was called. I think the league would be way better off if they suspended card accumulation rules until they figure out their consistency issue. If Flint picks up a yellow card in any of the remaining four matches she will have another suspension. Personally, I think picking up one in either the next match at North Carolina or the following one against Chicago is the way to go, because I don’t think she would be missed as much in the Chicago match, and the Gotham match is likely to be a tough one anyway. In an ideal world, she would go yellow card free, but based on recent evidence, “that ain’t happening”.

“‘Chance being a fine thing’ brought us together”

“The World Awake”/Protest Songs/1989

I don’t think this starting XI is one that Bev would have ever dreamed up when she started the season. However, I think most coaches in their career have this happen to them if they coach long enough. This line up might be enough to squeak out a victory against Angel City and possibly a few other teams, but I think a playoff win is likely beyond this set of current players. The roster at the beginning of the season definitely didn’t seem like a playoff worthy roster in my opinion, and with the healthy players available now, it barely seems like a functional one. I am getting the message loud and clear from Soccer Holdings. They want to invest just enough to be the chicken but not the pig. It is their right. It just feels disingenuous to ask the players and coaches to be committed to breakfast like the pig is, when the owners just want to supply enough eggs to “be competitive”. I have never shied away from my opinion that sports team ownership is a public service as much as it is a business venture, and I am sorry if that offends your capitalistic sensibilities (not actually sorry). I am fairly certain that Soccer Holdings loses a significant amount of money investing in this team. I am 100% certain that I do not care. They knew what they signed up for.

So…that leaves us with a coach working her tail off with one hand tied behind her back, and players doing the same and playing out of their natural positions. “Next woman up” makes for a good rallying cry and a good story, but in reality, it doesn’t win you much. My opinions are rightly summed up as “just the way I am” and Racing is also just left being “just the way we are” which isn’t a super encouraging way to be heading into the final four matches of the season. However, on the night they were good just good enough.

Racing 1 Angel City 0 Player Ratings

Photo by Elizabeth Shaw

Racing finally hold on to a lead and take all 3 points. 12 minutes seemed obscene, but they saw them out.

Bloomer-7: Definitely not a bad night, but stayed when she could have caught at least once.

Morris-7: Solid if a little nervy at times.

Petersen-7: Neither centerback seemed troubled much at all in the match.

Jean-8: This clean sheet belongs to her.

Sonis-7: Really good in defense and attack on the night.

Flint-7: I like how Bev deployed her in the last 10+12 as a third centerback.

Borges-8: Absolutely killed it. When the match was flat she brought the energy. She stepped up big.

O'Kane-7: Another solid effort.

Hase-6: Not as threatening tonight for some reason.

Weber-8: Great to see her score on a tougher than it looked finish.

Sears-7: First assist of the year was a good one.

"Ain't never gonna be what it was."

Courtesy of LCC

Stolen The Wire Epigraph

"Ain't never gonna be what it was."

For those of you who haven’t seen The Wire, it is a documentary about a struggling newspaper that decides to shift from filling its print edition with AP articles to reporting on the best corners to score heroin.

Racing will look back on this road trip as a nightmare in every conceivable way. They got 0 points out of a possible 6 and will end it in 10th place. They lost 2 key players, and one may not see the pitch again this season (no inside knowledge here, just conjecture). Injuries and bad form have coincided to hit this club at once and are likely related. There was some good news in that Lauren Milliet was back on the pitch for a few minutes, but that really is one of only a few bright spots.

I wrote a few times prior to the trip that I thought Racing was short on its roster. It is so short now that Racing recalled Allie George back from loan early. She will likely not see minutes here, so the minutes she was getting in Ft. Lauderdale were going to be key to her development. Racing as a club likes to “run lean”. Its technical staff is small, and its roster is on the smaller side too. If I haven’t said it so bluntly before, I will say it now. Racing is carrying too much dead wait on its roster. Without being specific, there are too many players with too few minutes. One can only assume that their quality isn’t up to requirements. Filling in a back of a roster is hard, I will grant you that. However, it is killing Racing now. Every player that has taken the pitch for Racing in these last few months has absolutely been worthy of taking it. There are just too many square pegs in round holes at the moment to say the roster is constructed appropriately. On Friday’s back line, there was one only player who was in her planned position from the start of the season. As a unit, they struggled. One other item of note: Baron, who has been a mainstay on the bench, was not in the squad.

This is the currently reality unfortunately. Personally, I think if Racing is to have a prayer at recovery it’s going to be on the younger players. Weber came on and made an immediate impact when she replaced Fischer, who looks lost for whatever reason at the moment. Unfortunately, Hase and O’Kane didn’t have matches of the quality that they have demonstrated in the past. In is unfair to put so much burden on them, but Racing has done so through its roster construction.

If (and now I am squarely in that "if” mindset) Racing is to make the playoffs, this needs to be Emma Sears’ team starting right now. She scored her eighth goal of the season on a steady and composed finish (something Fischer completely botched in the first half). Sears is going to have to be excellent from here on out if Racing is to get back in the playoff hunt. This is the time of the season where big players step up and pretenders fold. I will be watching how Sears responds in the next few matches.

Post Match Moment of the Match

The national media’s interest/empathy is good for exactly one news cycle it seems. For those of you who didn’t catch my deliberately under publicized recap of the last match, the national media was out in full force to ask Bev and players questions that focused them on Sav and not the match. That was fair, expected, and they performed empathy fairly valiantly. The rest of us will continue to be concerned about Sav long past any deadline or new cycle. You show you care by showing up in my opinion. I show up every time its humanly possible. Sometimes I wonder if Bev and the players would prefer it if I was less diligent. However, there is only one reason I do and that is because I care and care deeply. That also means I tend to ask questions that I know that they would prefer not to answer, but somebody has to do it. You’ve seen the state of the first amendment in this country at the moment. It needs all of the help it can get.

First things, first while on the record Bev didn’t want to say much about Sav other that she is “doing well”, I do know that she is expected back in Louisville soon. I don’t know how soon, but that is good news regardless.

Emma Sears as a goal scorer and Janine Sonis as a goal scorer and captain drew the short straws last night and had a paltry crowd of media to which to answer. Both Emma and Janine were clearly disappointed in the result and proud-ish of the second half performance. Emma was glad to see Milliet back on the pitch and called Lo her “wing woman” which I found amusing even though I knew that she (probably) was limiting that to the pitch. Sonis, who I like more every time I talk to her, gave a fair assessment of the team’s and her own performance. She owned up to being at fault (partially in my opinion) for not getting closer to Lacasse on her goal. She did confide that Emma essentially told her to go for it on her wonderful free kick goal. She did add that the team misses Arin Wright “a lot”. That was painfully obvious to all of us.

Bev talked about Racing not winning the second balls much in the first half and that really being the key to their huge deficit at half. Bev won’t make any excuses but did talk about the “clear reality” of the position in which Racing now finds itself. She praised Weber’s energy when I asked her about it. She did also share that she thought that in this case that the quick turnarounds for Racing were more taxing emotionally than physically.

Were the Announcers Good?

Maura Sheridan was on the call and Jordan Angeli was on the color on Friday once again.

Subsection: How was their “Louisville”?

Louisvillians are persnickety on the pronunciation of their beloved hometown. I will be monitoring the broadcaster’s commitment to getting it right.

Sheridan: 3 syllables a few different ways, but none all that distracting.

Angeli: Pretty much spot on, most of the time.

The pairing is astute most of the time when calling Racing matches. This time was no exception. After Utah caught Racing in offside traps a few times I believe that it was Angeli that said, “Do you think Utah knows that Louisville likes to go long?” Why yes…yes they do. I chuckled. They also correctly called out the abomination of a performance by the center referee in the second half who got whistle happy and forgot how to manage a match. I could happily live with this crew continuing to call Racing’s matches.

TV Kit Rating

Utah decided to go with their 2024 primary kit and forced Racing into their cursed green kits again. Good idea Utah. I think you all know my opinion on the green one at this point

I like Utah’s kit. Yeah, I wish the blue was royal blue. That seems like a missed opportunity, but people like navy over royal blue for some reason. The mountains on the kit don’t read, but still, I like it. One of these seasons Utah is going to kill in on their kits. This one is still an “almost” one. 8/10

The Kayla Fischer Honorary Yellow Card of the Match (brought to you by Taylor Flint)

There was nothing too shocking in the discipline department for this match. Sears got one for a rough tackle and now sits on 3 yellow cards for the season. DiGrande’s was more cynical but still it stopped a potentially dangerous attack, so it was worth picking up. For a brief second it looked like Flint picked up one for dissent, but that was just broadcast misattribution. On the Utah side, while Tanaka had a wonder strike, she also ran afoul of the center referee enough for the official to make a hand gesture to her with her fingers about an inch apart after she made a careless foul while on a yellow. I am shocked that Utah didn’t sub her off after that, but she managed to keep her nose clean, something the Utah staff must have known she was capable of doing.

“Equating elegance to real estate”

“Elegance”/Swoon/1984

Racing’s precarious position in the table is now gone. Truth be told, their position in the table disguised some shortcomings for a while (lack of finishing in both senses of the word being the glaring ones). As fans of Racing, we hope this is rock bottom, or the floor of who they are as a team. The first half performance was flat, evidenced by Racing’s previously mentioned lack of winning second balls. Optimists will point to the second half comeback, but I think that was fool’s gold to some degree. First, Utah didn’t really need to do much other than not fall apart completely. They just about managed it. Racing was always going to be the aggressor after half and Utah was going to let them. Utah has been better recently, but they still aren’t that good.

Tenth place is a rather inelegant place to find oneself after what has been Racing’s best season to date. True, they are missing key players, but if you are supposed to have a tough mentality, “next player up” has to be part of that and recently they haven’t been up to it. Racing is experiencing death by thousands of tiny cuts at the moment. They have to find a way to pull out of this tailspin and fast.

Royals 3 Racing 2 Player Ratings

Racing's disorganized first half ultimately doomed them after a valiant effort in the second. Racing now finds itself on the outside looking in from a playoff perspective.

Bloomer-5: Maybe could have done better on Utah's second. Not nearly as sharp as usual.

Morris-5: Not nearly as impressive as her debut.

Petersen-5: Isn't a centerback.

Jean-6: Not at her best, but the best defender on the evening.

Sonis-6: Mixed bag for her. Great goal. Terrible defending on Utah's third.

Flint-6: Had a wonderful header correctly disallowed for Jean's offside.

O'Kane-5: Needed more from her.

Borges-6: Hit the crossbar on a fine long effort.

Hase-6: Didn't track back hard enough on Utah's second.

Fischer-5: Ugh…offside too often and a really poor effort on a breakaway.

Sears-8: Gave Racing life. This has to be her team now if Racing are going to make a late push.