Racing 1 Current 0 Post Match Thoughts
Courtesy Connor Cunningham
They are perhaps no more thrilling ways to win a soccer match than to win it in the last minute of stoppage time. At face value this win only managed worsen Racing's draft position to 4th, but everyone in the organization surely believes that this is something to build on.
Racing put on its most organized defensive performance of the year. I don’t think this back four of Fox, Murray, Bonner, and Lester will be the first choice back 4 next year, but on the night, they played really well as a unit. This was greatly aided by Jaelin Howell’s performance in front of them as well. On the stat sheet this was a really even match, and in those types of matches this year Racing tended to either lose or draw them. I had 0-0 as a likely score line in my head, pretty much the entire match. However, this was a performance from a team that has maybe finally learned how to play well enough on the defensive end to keep themselves in every match they play. In my opinion, 1-0 is the sweetest score in soccer in that it requires fight the entire match, regardless of whether the goal was scored in the first minute or after the 90th.
The milestones I mentioned in my preview were reached. Milliet made her 50th NWSL start for Racing and Fox made her 50th appearance. Fox seemed surprised by the fact that she had reached 50 appearances when I mentioned it to her post match. I am almost certain that players don’t track or worry about such milestones, so they can be easily overlooked unless someone points them out.
Remember that I am a fan first and foremost and only have media credentials through the generosity of the club, so making these and getting them signed was a highlight for my wife and me.
The team performed the traditional lap of appreciation around the stadium, which I am 100% positive was made more fun by the late goal.
For some of these players it was probably the last chance to walk around Lynn Family Stadium as a member of the Racing squad, so I hope they appreciated it and took it in. Now, I am going to present a couple of observations for you to make you own judgement. I witnessed Michele Betos, Yuki Nagasato, Sav McCaskill, Sinclaire Miramontez, Julia Ashley, Jorian Baucom, and Addyson Merrick all make an effort to talk to Racing fans, staff and players after their return to Lynn Family Stadium (I was not in attendance for Kaliegh Riehl’s return, but I am sure she did the same). Cece Kizer spent all of her post match time in KC’s half before making a beeline to the visitor’s locker room. If she has any appreciation for her time in Louisville, it wasn’t on display last night. The other thing I didn’t see was any of her old teammates reaching out to her. Maybe I missed it, which is entirely possible. If anyone else witnessed anything different I will be happy to eat crow. UPDATED: She did talk to Jess and friends and family and signed autographs for multiple fans so my apologies.
Racing bettered its performance in the table last year in points, goal difference and places from the bottom. Chicago and Angel City still have a match to play, so at least one team and possibly two will miss the playoffs with 30 points. Accumulating half of the points available at 33 will be the magic number for playoff qualification if Chicago wins. It will be 32 if they don’t. In retrospect, an additional 9-10 points from Racing seems a little too much to have asked for this year. Racing probably felt like they were on the “unfair” side of the scoreline a few times, but the win last night and at Gotham surely evened those out. Racing seems ready to make a playoff push next year and Jess McDonald said as much after the match, but it will require regression from at least 3 teams ahead of them and also require that Washington doesn't immediately rebound which seems entirely possible. If they do, that number becomes 4. Racing will need to add quality and depth in the off-season, something Coach Björkegren pretty much confirmed in his post match interview last night.
I will likely post a post season review on here this week, but will definitely have something published on the State of Louisville website, so watch out for that. I will be completely honest. This season was fun to write about, but I enjoyed last year's team slightly more. There is no real reason behind this other than last year's team was the first. I think this year's team was much better, so I am hoping that next year will be even more fun to cover. The team seems to be moving in a better direction, but I will stop short of calling it the “right direction” just yet.
