Being a short turnaround to the KC match and having no media availability to document gives me the opportunity to use the -1 post for anything that pops into my head. There are a couple of things to note first:

Maja Lardner won player of the week. Well done!

No update yet on Hodge’s availability but expect one today. Kansas City will be a tall order, so there isn’t much to say about that match without having a chance to talk to Bev or the players.

As of writing this, there hasn’t been an announcement for the NWSL Save of the Week. For me, Atkinson’s penalty save on Marta should win. That prompted me to write about something that has been bugging me for some time.

I don’t think the Racing fanbase ever appreciated Katie (Lund) Atkinson enough. I was probably one of her loudest critics, but it was always coming from a place of deep respect and the highest of high expectations. I thought she had the opportunity to be world class given the right scenario. She just never could overcome some of the mental errors that I think held her back. That being said, she is a demonstrably better keeper than Jordyn Bloomer.

When I make an assertion, I come prepared to back it up. Atkinson has been great this season. Alyssa Naeher exited a May 16th match for the Stars against the Courage. Since then, it looks like Katie has secured the starting keeper role. She kept two clean sheets for the Stars in April prior to that. I think she has likely proven herself enough to be the Stars #1 going forward. The numbers show that despite Naeher’s legendary career, Lund is the best choice. In 733 minutes played this season, Naeher has let in about 5 more goals than expected based on numbers from American Soccer Analysis. By comparison, Atkinson has played 845 and prevented about 6 more goals than expected. Katie was always an excellent shot stopper for Racing.

What Katie wasn’t for Racing was a vocal leader. It is a valid argument to say that Bloomer was exactly what Racing needed last season. I am sure I said it. The cold hard facts are that this season, Bloomer is letting Racing down between the sticks. While I appreciated what Bloomer did last season, I never felt that she needed to be handed Racing’s starting role over a healthy Atkinson. It can be debated that Katie was never healthy at any point last season, but this season she is. Based on the numbers, I would much rather have 2026 Atkinson than 2026 Bloomer.

Inside the numbers, Katie and Jordyn are about league average in claiming aerial crosses, fielding (the things that outfield players do other than passing), and sweeping. Neither is great at handling (the ability to cleanly catch and secure the ball). Bloomer is slightly better at passing. Where Katie is vastly superior is in shot stopping, or at least she has been this season. Only Jane Campell has better shot stopping stats than Atkinson this season. Jordyn is near the bottom of the league. It’s an inherently flawed stat for keepers, but the Goals Added stat from American Soccer Analysis is the best that I could find. According to that stat, Katie has “added” 5.38 goals to her team (mostly through stopping shots) and Jordyn has ”added” -1.13 goals to Racing, mostly by not as effectively stopping shots. Here’s the bottom line. Ten clubs have keepers performing better this season than Bloomer and only five teams have keepers performing worse.

None of this to say that Bloomer needs to be benched, but she also can’t be ignored as part of the issue this season. She needs to play better. I thought her late save against Angel City was a routine one, but the best part was that she punched it out of the way preventing a rebound. On the goal, she needed to do better.

I hope Katie receives a warm welcome on Saturday in Louisville. The only thing she did wrong for Racing was get injured. She had to hear the excitement from fans that Jordyn finally got her shot. The volume of enthusiasm and way it was expressed in some forums never sat right with me. I always thought Katie was the superior keeper. I think she might be extra motivated on Saturday to prove it.

Current v Racing -1

“I’d love to do it and you know you’ve always had it coming”