“I can feel the earth begin to move”
Photo by Elizabeth Shaw
Match Haiku
Cloudy afternoon:
One a banger, one cheeky
Milliet steals the show
“I can feel the earth begin to move”
“She bangs the drums” - The Stone Roses, 1989
There are obviously many things to talk about, but let’s start with this. If I ever find out who comprised the 3% of people who didn’t vote for Lauren Milliet as Player of the Match I am going to personally spit in your next concession item that you purchase at Lynn Family Stadium.
Just kidding…probably.
Milliet scored the goal of her life to give Racing an early lead that was somewhat fortunate based on how shambolic the defensive effort had been to that point. Based on what we have seen so far, Racing isn’t going to win many 1-0 matches. However, they did manage to hold a 2-goal lead pretty effectively in the second half and only the last few minutes of stoppage time ended up being extra nervy. You have to admit that Racing is nothing if not entertaining.
The good definitely outweighed the bad in this match, but Racing once again looked susceptible on the counter. I am tremendously grateful that Emma Sears in on Racing’s side because can you imagine having her running at this back line? It sends shivers down my spine. Speaking of Sears, she would also benefit with another teammate who could match her speed and determination on the counter because at least a couple of times her attacking moves fizzled out because there was no teammate to pass to.
On the positive side, Racing definitely seems more clinical in their finishing this year. They are getting in good spots and scoring enough goals to be competitive in matches. It remains to be seen if they can be stout enough defensively to see out a match that requires a bit more steel.
What did we learn in this match? We saw just a fraction more composure and purposeful possession for possession’s sake, something that was a focus for the team in the last couple of weeks. It’s not a seismic shift yet, but there are signs that things may be started to, if not turn around completely, at least stabilize.
Some of this has to be due to having a full strength back line. Wright and Jean had a decent, but not great match as a pair. However, allowing Taylor Flint to do Taylor Flint things is always a welcome sight.
Post Match Moment of the Match
Lo and Weber were obviously delighted by Lo’s upper 90 finish. Elizabeth captured this great shot:
Photo by Elizabeth Shaw
Lo called it the goal of her life. It surely was. It will take some doing for it not to win goal of the week, but those types of polls are dumb anyway, so it will be my goal of the week regardless. Bev talked about the slow start defensively and said that it was something that was discussed at half and that she showed a couple of pressing clips to highlight what she saw. I asked Weber a follow up from Thursday where she highlighted the focus on possession and composure. She said that she was “super proud of the team’ and highlighted their ability to “stay calm on the ball”. On Lo’s second goal she said that she was just trying to put herself in the frame of the goal because Emma is such a good crosser of the ball.
Thing I bought at ear X-tacy back in the day
(I would have loved to have been a music journalist in the 90s in England, but unfortunately, I lived here. Therefore, I will do a little retrospective music journalism to amuse myself. I will even try to tie it to Racing or soccer in general.)
Artist: The Cure
Single: a letter to elise
Year: 1992
Format: CD single (Import)
Store Location: 1140 Bardstown Road, probably
My copy
I blame Robert Smith for my lack of skill on the guitar. Okay…he doesn’t get the full blame, but if I had to come up with a percentage of the blame he shoulders, I would put in 20% range. Elizabeth has to accept an equal 20% of the blame because just around the time I was starting to get competent, she came into my life as a beautifully wonderful distraction. The remaining 60% is simply that I lack any natural ability and have a terrible musical memory. Back to Robert. The Cure was the band I was listening to when I decided to start learning. His meandering guitar lines from Disintegration were fun and somewhat easy to play, but not great for somebody that should have been learning technique.
The album that this single comes from Wish was released in 1992 and was their most commercially successful album, if not their creative peak. I won’t go into labyrinthian logic about why I purchased a single of a song I already owned (stop me on the concourse one day if you want to hear that boring story) but I bought it for one B-side and ended up discovering that the other B-Side was even better.
“a foolish arrangement” is an odd song. It has a wordless chorus. That wordless chorus is composed of one of the laziest guitar runs you will ever hear. I love it. It is easiest enough for me to play and to me it’s hypnotic. There isn’t anything else like a good B-side. It’s like a song especially for you.
It was a most unexpectedly delightful purchase. I got what I wanted (the B-side that prompted the purchase) but so much more. Kind of like a win with a Milliet brace (which I never dreamed was possible).
The Taylor Flint Honorary Yellow Card of the Match
There was only one yellow card for Racing in the match. It was a late tactical foul from Morris, so not much to write about there. Let me then use this space to complain about the official’s management of the match. I think they (eventually) got almost every call right. It was a well officiated match. It was also an inefficiently managed one. Shortly after the match, there was lightning in the area, so we were rather fortunate to get the match in before it happened. I frequently complain about the amount of stoppage time that gets added in NWSL matches. The numbers yesterday didn’t bother me (6 in the first and 7 in the second) because they seemed right to me. What bothered me was that too much of that stoppage time was the officials doing administrative things very slowly. There were a couple of VAR stops for no reason that I saw. After one stoppage the officiating team almost awarded a dropped ball to Orlando instead of a freekick to Racing for a handball. Sports at is core is entertainment, so these unnecessary delays detract from our enjoyment.
The Louisville (Draft?) Kings Sports Betting Corner
(Racing’s new co-tenant at Lynn Family Stadium surely only exists to quench the thirst of those who must “have action” on sports 365 days a year. I am not a gambler, but if you are I will suggest “easy money” from time to time. Your challenge will be to see if you can actually bet on it.)
I wonder what the payoff would have been on a Lo Milliet brace in this match. +1000? +10,000?
Anyway, the real future bet should be this: Lo Milliet goals in 2026 Over/Under 2.5
I say take the over now that her confidence is up. Sometimes you score in bunches. Here’s to hoping she blows that 2.5 over out of the water.
“I hear my needle hit the groove”
I think we now know the songbook for Racing’s success this season: score lots of goals. The team has enough attacking threat up front that goals shouldn’t be the issue, especially when your right back can score two in a match. Early indications are that Weber may have made “the leap” in that she could be ready to contribute goals in the 8-10 a season range. Sears has expanded her skill set to include more left-footed strikes and she looks to make passes just enough to be a true multi-dimensional player. You have to have Fischer in the lineup somewhere, so for now the 10 is the best spot for her, but she needs to work on her field vision and distribution more. I believe Hase will get her fair share of goals as well.
I don’t know how to put this nicely, so I guess I won’t. Right now, the defense stinks. Racing could have (should have?) been down a couple of goals before Milliet scored her first goal. There was a lot of desperate defending, luck, and good shot-stopping from Bloomer to keep Racing in the match early. It will take a while to get Wright up to speed and comfort. Jean looks a little shakier recently than she had at the tail end of last season. To help out with this, Racing has been working on possession and composure, which is the right thing to do. You can’t change your system mid-season and there aren’t lineup changes that would make a difference right now. Bev is trying to figure out this specific version of Racing. Her adjustments at half probably won Racing this match, but it was still too nervy at the end. Racing finally conceded from a corner. They went all of 2025 without doing so, but I think that was a statistical anomaly (and Taylor Flint) instead of any ground-breaking tactical thing they were doing.
The good news is that Racing will likely win, lose or draw the fun way…in matches with a bunch of goals. It will be hard for any of the future ones to be as fun or memorable as this one. The team now has a Wednesday/Sunday road gauntlet to get through. “Defense travels” is the conventional wisdom, and Racing will likely need to do much better on that front if they want to continue to accumulate points. For now, it may take 3 or 4 goals to win a match, but it will be fun to watch them try.
