"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.

Reign 1 Racing 0 Post Match

Courtesy Nikita (LLC)

This brief post is a buffer between the big picture and the smaller picture. In the bigger picture, nothing else matters other than Savannah DeMelo’s health. If that is all you feel equipped to handle at the moment, this is your chance to beg off a normal match review. If you stick around, I feel obliged to say that you are going to get a “normal” match review from me and I don’t pull punches on those or censor myself due to other circumstances. I acknowledge Sav’s medical issue, but do not dwell on it. Here is the link to my normal piece.

“Don't matter how many times you get burnt, you just keep doin' the same.” — Fleur-de-lis FC

Reign 1 Racing 0 Player Ratings

The unusual circumstances of this match led to a choppy affair. One thing is clear: Racing has to finish their chances more clinically.

Bloomer-8: Made 2 fantastic saves when she had to.

Petersen-6: Went down on contact prior to Fishlock's goal leaving Jean powerless on a 2 on 1.

Wright-7: Excellent, but went down on a non contact injury.

Jean-8: Had another excellent match but was left stranded on the goal.

Sonis-6: Some good moments and a few nervy ones.

Flint-6: Silly yellow card and needed to do better on her offensive chances.

Borges-7: Really good on Sunday and decent on Tuesday.

O'Kane-6: Played less than 40 minutes and didn’t make too much impact.

Hase-8: Racing’s best offensive option by far on the evening.

Weber-6: Not super involved.

Sears-7: Has to finish better when she finds herself in good spots.

Reign v RLFC -1

I will start off with one bit of excellent news and that is that Lauren Milliet is back to “full participation” in training. Note that this is different than “full fitness” although with Lo, that seems to not take very long. She had been practicing in drills for some time and was working on her fitness on the side pretty much since she sustained her injury, so I figure it is just a matter of time before she is fully available. Nobody works harder than she does. I had heard some buzz that she was pushing herself to be ready for the “end of the season” which I took to mean the last match or two. It appears that she could be ready much sooner. One potential wrench in those plans is that Racing will be staying on the west coast after the Seattle match since there is a short window between Sunday’s 8pm EDT kickoff in Seattle and the Friday 10pm EDT kickoff in Utah. If Milliet isn’t ready for Seattle, I see no need for her to make the trip.

Racing has only ever beaten Seattle once (Semi-final of the 2023 Challenge Cup) but has drawn them 6 times. This feels like a chance to get all three points. Seattle’s form has been rather unimpressive, but they do tend like to “win ugly” from time to time (see the win in Louisville earlier this season). That match was a clinic in not finishing their chances by Racing. Finishing is the next stage for this team (matches and chances).

There are a couple of things that I think could be logical contributors to Racing’s lack of finishing matches. First, is that recently they have been short on match-killing subs. Balcer keeps getting used, but she is not a possession-oriented striker and is consistently put into situations where she is not asked to play to her strengths. Another available midfielder or defender would be better. However, Racing is starting to get some options healthy. Maddie Pokorny would be fantastic in a 60/70th minute sub role and she is practicing but hasn’t made a squad yet. The second and more subtle factor is that I think pressing teams fade past the 80th minute. Racing keeps giving up last minute goals and in the match they didn’t (San Diego) they did give the Wave a few corners and they couldn’t convert.

That is what make finishing chances so vital. Listening to BTRD this week, Kaitlyn Whiteside echoed a point that I have made plenty of times. Your best striker can’t be so one-dimensionally one-footed. At least not when your other attackers don’t score all that much. Set pieces and corners are great weapons, but sometimes they disguise the fact that a team can’t really score as often as they need to during open play. One of the things I track is goals scored from what I classify as “sustained possession”. What I mean by that is the team has the ball and has passed the transition phase of play and the goal is scored from open play. It is the “breaking down your opponent” portion of goals. Last season Racing scored 37% of their 43 goals this way. This season they have scored 19% of their 27 goals this way. What is better for Racing this season is their dead ball goals (41% of all goals in 2025 and 26% of all goals in 2024). One concerning thing about that fact is that Carm Moscato was the architect of Racing’s set piece success and she isn’t around any longer. The point is that the finishing of chances has to be better than it has been.

"If you with us, you with us."

Photo by Elizabeth Shaw

Link to Elizabeth’s gallery of the match

Every thorn has its rose Racing 1- Portland Thorns 2 — Fleur-de-lis FC

Stolen The Wire Epigraph

“If you with us, you with us.”

For those of you who haven’t seen The Wire, it is a supernatural mystery comedy…no it isn’t. I just wanted an excuse to post this picture to commemorate the release of new Episodes of Wednesday.

Arin didn’t wear this for the match, but did rock a black full-leg band.

The result of last’s night’s match wasn’t very fun if you were a Racing fan, but I will try not to be too much of a downer today. All in all, the performance was good. A draw was probably a “fairer” result, but soccer is a cruel, cruel mistress and if you get deeply involved sometimes you get hurt with results like this one.

I always go back and forth on things that get said on the pitch that aren’t strictly on the record. However, in this case I don’t have any qualms. After Bev’s press interview after the match, she pleaded with those of us there, something along the lines of “stay with us”. Honestly, it hadn’t even occurred to me to give up on this team after a few disappointing results where they dropped points from a winning position. We are with you, Bev. All of us. Now we may turn out to regret it like Michael Lee definitely did about 15 episodes on from Chris Partlow uttering the epigraph above to him (the epigraph for that episode show up frequently here, so I am loathe to use it yet) but for now we are all bought in. We are part of the crew, regardless of how much we eventually may end up getting hurt.

Post Match Moment of the Match

Nobody really wants to do press after a disappointing loss, but Katie O’Kane obliged us since she scored her first career NWSL goal. It must absolutely suck to score a memorable goal in a loss. Maybe it’s just bittersweet. Anyway, nobody we talked to really has any answers as to why Racing keeps conceding late goals. My opinion: there really isn’t one. The match is 90 minutes for a reason. Late goals are memorable, but they are not particularly unique. In the little bit of data that I have, it doesn’t point to more goals happening after the 75th minute than during the span from the 16th to the 30th minute. Things have a way of balancing themselves out, so I expect the trend to stop soon, and it probably won’t be due to anything in particular that the players or staff end up doing.

Bev, prior to the video recording her reaction, was commenting on how cruel the result was, but not in a downbeat way. She was proud of how the team played (they were hilariously short-handed for this match in that they only sat 8 players on the bench including 2 keepers) despite the result. Racing’s history is full of “moral victory” post-match press interviews, but this wasn’t one of them. The result was accepted, not mourned, which is a huge difference. You can do that when you believe in yourself. There is still plenty of time to right things, just don’t leave it too late.

Did the Stadium Have Good Food?

The premium club had pretty standard fare, but I would like to air a general complaint.

I hope the first person who decided to put dried fruit in salads is burning in hell!

I hate dried fruit. I have always detested raisins. I find that food preparers these days will sneak craisins into spots where we used to get raisins. Nice try, Satan! I scooped a decent-sized helping of “broccoli salad” onto my plate. Said Broccoli salad was really more of a slaw, of which I am fond. I did however suspect that any kind of more exotic slaw is the opportunity to poison me with shriveled grapes or cranberries. My cursory inspection (an ocular pat down if you will, for IASIP fans) assessed the purplish part of the salad to be cabbage. There definitely was cabbage, but it only served as a trojan horse for those stupid craisins. Slaw/salad preparers be warned. I will be lobbying whoever I can lobby to create rules that prevent you from having two ingredients of virtually the same color in slaw-like dishes. I scooped all of the craisins out of my salad, performed an exorcism and set them on fire.

From a Neutral Perspective

Amazon Prime was there for the match, so everyone pretended like this was a big deal. All that it ultimately does is clog up the press box and sideline with extra people and equipment.

Anyway, they picked a fine match so kudos to them, I guess. I am not much of a “neutral” viewer of sports other than the NFL and NBA. I don’t watch much of any soccer where I don’t have a rooting interest. I do feel like, for reasons that I frankly detest (the “I just hope everyone has fun contingent”), that the NWSL has a fair share of this type of fan. For them, the match had to be a very good watch. If I wasn’t invested in the outcome of the match, this one would have been highly entertaining. The first half was free flowing from a footballing perspective. The second half was chock full of drama and late drama won it. Everyone likes a saved penalty other than the fans of the team whose penalty is saved. Sears almost goal was memorable, and I will think about it for quite a while. Own goals are heartbreaking, but again also memorable.

I would rate this match a 9/10 on the watchability scale for general entertainment purposes.

Bonus Kit Rating/Swap

Photo by Elizabeth Shaw

I like jersey swaps, but the picture above is a hilarious fashion nightmare. Love it. I also love it that Turner and Sears seem to be genuine friends. I believe that their families (from what I have observed in the stadium) share in the love fest. The funny thing is that after Sears and Turner swapped jerseys, they swapped them back before heading to the locker room. Players get a limited number of jerseys, so sometimes this is due to a league/club rule that prevents a permanent swap.

I went back and looked at my 2024 ranking of this Portland kit. I had it ranked in the “boring” category. I now think it looks quite striking on the pitch. I love the socks. 7/10

Please, for the love of all things holy, do not let us see Emma Sears in action in an opposition kit any time soon.

The Kayla Fischer Honorary Yellow Card of the Match

Racing almost escaped the match card-free, but a late pull back from DeMelo has her now sitting on 4 cards. She isn’t renowned for consistently behaving herself, so expect number 5 and a one-match suspension very soon. I was so focused on the 5th yellow card from Flint last week, that I missed that Fischer had her 5th in the last match as well. Shame on me, but really, shame on her for her second suspension of the season. I feel like she is really only hurting herself at this point. The fifth card was harsh, but I don’t recall any of the others being that way. Borges covered well for Flint (more on that next) but Fischer’s absences aren’t having the impact that they did early in the season. She has essentially misbehaved herself out of a consistent starting role. It’s a shame.

“Don’t start pretending you’ve feelings of anguish if you’d prefer to dance”

“Here on the Eerie”/Swoon/1984

It’s entirely possible to be disappointed at a result and pleased with a performance. I have tried to avoid that too much this season as it became a played-out trope in previous ones. Like I said above, I am not going to wallow today. In bullet point form, here is what has me feeling mostly good.

• Ary Borges: I think Ary’s biggest challenge is that other players are starters in the roles in which she shines the most. She would be good in DeMelo’s role, and she proved herself in Flint’s role on the evening. She played it differently than Flint does but showed that a different type of deep-playing midfielder can work in Bev’s system. She was lively and tidy all night. She is always lively; it’s the tidy that sometimes escapes her. She isn’t going to supplant Flint, but if she can play with the focus that she did on the evening she becomes an asset wherever she plays.

• The football in general: Maybe it was the opponent, but Racing worked the ball better than they usually do. They still needed to find the end product, but it is very easy to visualize another of the 37 touches that Racing had in the opposition box finding the back of the net on a different night. If not a season high (too lazy to verify) it is a recent high. Getting into good spots in the box is half the battle. Sears actually attempted a left-footed shot inside the box too. The O’Kane goal was a thing of beauty.

• Attitude: The players were disappointed, but not down. They felt like they played well. They did. Sometimes things just don’t go your way. Results need to improve soon, but I truly believe that if Racing plays as they have been, they will.

• Jordyn Bloomer: I am running out of superlatives here. Bev called her “a Star.” Everyone will talk about the penalty save, but the one in the 55th minute is the pick of the bunch. All of the Racing players are somewhat approachable, but none are more “approachabler” than Bloomer. Because she is that way, you can just go up and ask her stuff. She’ll give you an honest answer whatever you ask. On that save she did confirm that she was unsighted and had an instinctive reaction. Now, she said it in the hilarious manner in which she says everything, but I’ll be darned if I can remember it well enough to do it justice.

On the more feeling nervous side:

• Solidity on the back line: The defense didn’t play poorly. It you disagree I suggest you punish yourself by rewatching some 2021/2022 vintage defensive performances from Racing to reset your expectations. This match, however, did reveal the weak spots. Turner (and most teams don’t have a player quite like her, thank goodness) put Sonis on skates to win a penalty and beat her on the shot that set up Portland’s first goal. There are many things you can cover collectively that you can patch over one-on-one. Sonis is a good right back, but not a great one. Now, I know I am going to sound like a hypocrite here, but the drawback to playing Sears on the left (which I still like on balance) is that when she switched sides late in the match when Morris came on, you put her in a position where she has to defend crosses with her weaker left foot. On the go-ahead goal, Sears gave Mallie McKenzie too much space and her cross created all kinds of trouble and ended up leading to the own goal. Sears isn’t a great defender, but the circumstances meant that she needed to be on at this point in the match. It wasn’t a major mistake, but possibly just a tiny moment of loss of concentration that cost Racing the match.

Racing 1 Thorns 2 Player Ratings

Racing led again. Gave it up…again. Have to figure out to be more clinical when their chances come.

Bloomer-8: Good save on a pretty pedestrian penalty attempt. Made an even better save in 55th minute.

Petersen-7: Solid. Good on corner delivery.

Wright-6: Involved in attack a little more than usual. Good to see her moving well.

Jean-6: Own goal was rough. Otherwise pretty good.

Sonis-6: Conceded a penalty when Turner put her on skates.

Borges-8: Excellent. Both sides of the game.

O'Kane-8: Wish she had a better outcome to celebrate her goal.

DeMelo-7: One of her better performances in recent memory.

Hase-6: Not as effective on the night.

Weber-7: Fantastic assist on the goal.

Sears-7: The post was cruel to deny her a goal.

RLFC v Portland -1

Racing has a second opportunity in a week to move up the table with a win. Portland comes to town, once a problem team for Louisville but now more of a team looking to recover some form. There was much discussion of the 3-3 draw in Portland earlier in the season during the media availability on Wednesday. That match doesn't seem as relevant to me as motivating factor as the San Diego away match did. I think both teams know what to expect of each other and I expect this to start Racing’s run into “cagey” match season. Bar a couple of matches, I think every team’s priority from here on out is to start with a clean sheet. Of course all of that goes out the window with an early goal, but at this point in the season I think matches often start with the mentality that it is okay to shorten the match to a half and be level at halftime. Just a theory. I could be way off base.

Racing will have a glaring, Taylor Flint-sized hole in their midfield for this match. The last time that happened San Diego demolished Racing at home. Wright's absence would compound that, so fingers crossed on her availability. Like I said in my wrapup of the Houston match, I think the roster is a little short at the moment. If that doesn't bite you early in a match it can still bite you late. Bev gave a very Bev answer when I asked her about the depth. I think she feels comfortable with the sqaud she has available, but I am not sure I do.

As much as Racing will want a clean sheet here, I don’t see it in the cards. I think multiple goals from Racing are needed here to give them a shot at 3 points. Reilyn Turner is the top scorer for the Thorns. Turner’s goals for Portland have been just as valuable as Sonis’ assists and versatility have been for Racing so that trade, now a year old, can probably be classified in the win-win category.

“And then he dropped the bracelets.”

Photo by Elizabeth Shaw

Link to Elizabeth’s gallery of the match

Houston, we have a problem with you scoring in stoppage time. Racing 1-Dash 1 — Fleur-de-lis FC

Stolen The Wire Epigraph

“And then he dropped the bracelets.”

For those of you who haven’t seen The Wire, it is a show about a love triangle between a teenage girl and two brothers, who ultimately decide that instead of striving for love, they are better off moving into an abandoned Baltimore rowhouse and getting addicted to smack.

No matter your place in the table, your recent form, or how much you “want it”, no opponent is this league is going to roll over without a fight, especially when they still have something for which to play. It’s tough to accuse Racing of anything in this match other than being on the wrong end of some atrocious officiating, (we’ll call that the “Lynn Family Special” going forward because the number of horrible officiating performances I have witnessed at Lynn is WAY TOO MANY for a serious officiating organization to allow) and Houston’s recent dogged determination to never give up (laudable, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise).

In the end, the amateurish officiating probably didn’t change the outcome of the match. I am never going to win the “Sears didn’t foul Campbell on the disallowed goal” argument because “attempting to catch the ball” is almost always interpreted as the keeper being anywhere near it with their hands up. I hate this rule interpretation. Racing had opportunities to close out the match but gave up an objectively pretty well-worked goal to Houston. Racing had been possessing the ball in their own half but wasn’t good enough with their individual touches to keep the possession when it mattered. One tiny nitpick: was Racing maybe better off leaving DeMelo in for those last few minutes instead of subbing on Balcer (who is also WAY too hard on herself on TikTok)? Personally, I would have kept on a midfielder on instead of subbing in a forward still working her way back into match fitness. I think Balcer needs to be on sooner if you are going to sub her in, and not after Racing has decided to switch to game-killing mode.

If you are going to label yourself (or in all honesty it’s probably the rest of us doing the labeling) a '“contender” you are going to have to learn from this. You need to handcuff a suspect by yourself and not rely on a partner (there seems to be some misunderstanding of this epigraphic quote on some of The Wire fan sites) if you are going to be serious about making the playoffs. A point here isn’t a disaster, but I will file this result under “does not meet expectations”.

Post Match Moment of the Match

Sometimes (alright, most of the time) I can’t help myself when there is a question that I want to ask and I know I probably shouldn’t. I end up doing it anyway. I am the World Heavyweight Champion of getting “no commented” by Bev. However, I think we all know that there is value in getting a “no comment” out there versus not broaching the subject. You’re welcome, everyone. I asked a very specific and pointed (and frankly rather innocent) question about an explanation, if any, that Bev got from the 4th official. She immediately went into “no comment” mode at the thought of the performance. At least her “overall I am going to say no comment” is on the record and you can’t really get fined by the league for that little smirk she gave me.

Sonis, as captain, drew the short straw for press duties but didn’t have to answer anything too challenging. She thought the makeshift backline performed admirably. Houston is one thing, but Portland quite another so I think we are all crossing our fingers for a quick recovery from Wright. This is especially true because Flint will be suspended for the next match.

Speaking of Flint, she gave her typically expressive post-match interview. The stadium misattributed Racing’s goal as an own goal, so she learned that she got the goal credited to her during the post-match press conference and was obviously pleased.

Did the stadium have good food?

I am not the “vegan police” but the vegan chili in the club was suspiciously good. Instead of alleging that there is any chicanery going on I will give my compliments to the chef because I could not tell the difference between the vegan pork and any other pork I have eaten. Then again, I am not a “foodie”. The Southwest eggrolls, while arriving late, were also worth it.

Banner Watch

There was a new Women’s Cup banner that according to Peter Brown, the Lavender Legion President, was courtesy of Legion member Holly Freeland and others. It was designed by Brigid MoonDragon, who has also done some work for me. Great job everyone! I mean, it’s still no “Sav-acado” banner, but it looks quite nice.

Show to Binge Rather than Rewatching the Match

When the match isn’t particularly entertaining, I like to provider a viewing alternative. Thankfully, this hasn’t be the case recently.

As a committed anglophile, I would struggle without my BritBox subscription. It’s a good place to get the best of BBC, Channel 4, etc. In this case, the series is an ITV production set in Canterbury. There are some familiar faces like Andrew Buchan most notably from Broadchurch and Charlotte Ritchie who is great at everything other than winning tasks on Taskmaster. However, the stars of the series are most definitely Rose Ayling-Ellis and Kieron Moore, playing characters making questionable decisions but with their hearts in the right place. It has all the stuff and plenty of feels.

The Kayla Fischer Honorary Yellow Card of the Match

Kalya Fischer is back in the bad graces of the officials, to nobody’s surprise. As far as I can tell this was the first ever NWSL match for Atahan Yaya. It sure felt like it. If there is a future match for which he is in charge, I am going to wait until the quietest moment and yell “you suck, Yaya”. His lack of NWSL experience is relevant here because I felt like he either studied film or read a dossier and made some “reputation” calls, thus making decisions on what he expected to happen instead of what actually did. Fischer’s card was harsh, and you wonder if that impacted her pressing early in the match. Bev wisely saw enough at half after Fischer seemed to get a final caution late in the first half and subbed on Weber. It could also have been preplanned. I forgot to ask.

DeMelo’s yellow was cyclical and smart, but Flint’s will hurt the most. Racing is a different proposition without her. Borges and O’Kane and DiGrande will likely fill her position and minutes for the Portland match.

“While I waste my time in regretting that the days went from perfect to just okay.”

“Cruel”/Swoon/1984

This habit of giving up later equalizers is something that Racing needs to fix. It isn’t unique to this club or this iteration of Racing. The team needed three points here, not necessarily because of the table, but because of the expectations now put upon them. Racing is predictable in many ways. Some of that is good predictability in that their opponents now dread facing them, which is never good for the collective psyche. You know what you are going to get. Unfortunately, this still includes shaky possession in stoppage time. Racing’s depth has improved but, in this match, despite adding a defender this week, they found the only substitute option late in the match to be Balcer. An extra midfielder or defender makes the most sense here, but Racing was fresh out of experienced ones on the bench. The roster building has been good the last 12 months or so. However, on this night, they were one player short in my opinion. At this point, Barón, Kalitta and Scott don’t appear to be anything more than emergency replacements based on their lack of usage. If there ever was a match to give Barón stoppage time minutes, I feel like this was it.

You might win a match with eleven or sixteen, but you win bigger and better things with twenty and twenty-four. That has to be Racing’s next step. Injuries haven’t helped here, but I feel like Racing is still in the situation where the roster contains fringe players. That may be the reality under which Racing has to operate, but on this night, it probably cost them.

The draw is an okay result, but the Portland match is now much bigger and will be undertaken shorthanded. We will see just how shorthanded next week.