Racing 5 Royals 1 Post Match Thoughts
Courtesy Elizabeth Shaw
Racing put in its most complete performance on Saturday and ultimately cruised to a 5-1 victory over the short-handed and frankly over-matched Utah Royals. It was the sign of a superior team taking care of business, which is something that should never be taken for granted in the unpredictable NWSL.
It was clear how much the victory meant to the players and the coaches, and to celebrate it in front of a record crowd made it extra special. If you could bottle a feeling and an experience in order to reproduce it on demand, I believe you could do a lot worse than picking yesterday’s match. Now, comes the grind. I think if Racing have gotten over the proverbial “hump”, now is the time to show that they know how to grind out results when they need to do so. I think it would be foolish to expect Racing to head to Gotham and pull off another 4-goal victory. However, getting all 3 points isn’t beyond them and shouldn’t be beyond them in any upcoming match. The importance of this match was getting the victory to prove that is could be done. Hopefully the mental hurdles are cleared and now the focus to turn completely to replicating good performances.
While this was Racing’s best performance, it certainly wasn’t perfect. Sometimes coaches have to dig deep for coachable moments in victories, but I don’t think that is the case here. I have been really pleased with Uchenna Kanu’s performance so far this season, and she had another good game yesterday. However, she switched off for a moment when the match approached halftime and it cost Racing a goal in my opinion. The Royals had just won possession back and Kanu wasn’t tremendously out of position, but her slight hesitation to track back to help Pickett on the left side meant that Carson was isolated when the ball was played to Utah’s right side. Pickett was left deciding which player to cover and she slipped when trying to cover both. A fine finish from Griffitts meant that Racing went into halftime at 1-1. It shows that you can’t shut off even for a moment if you want to win in this league. Fortunately Racing showed its class, and this moment became a footnote rather than the story. It is still a moment that is coachable, and I expect that next time Uche will be where she needs to be.
DeMelo finished her best game in a long time as Racing’s all-time leading scorer. I think that this match was a good reminder of her best quality which in my opinion is being in the right place at the right time. She is still trying to do too much in my opinion, but by scoring her first goal in a while and seeing new names on the score sheet maybe she can get back to her very best. She was excellent in the second half after having a rather pedestrian first half. Perhaps the biggest sign of her continued maturity was avoiding a second yellow after Encarnación gave her a final talking to. After that final warning she played in a more controlled manner and scored twice. I think there is a lesson in that more measured performance.
It will be interesting to see how Bev uses Turner and Sears going forward. I liked the double substitution of the rookies with the score level and with the opponent being Utah. I’m not sure how that would go in the same situation with say the score level and Racing on the road against North Carolina. I think Bev likely wouldn’t play it any differently, as coaches tend to like to show faith in their players. Being more of a pragmatist, I think I would go with the substitution of DiGrande a bit earlier on the road. In fact, I think on the road I would have gone with Baggett over Goins or Motlhalo on the bench. The good news is that Bev has actual decisions to make versus having no real options.
Goals make matches fun and all four goals from open play had something to like about them. I think Sears’ goal was my favorite, but the mirror image goals from Kanu and Turner aren’t that far behind. Pickett and Milliet both had excellent matches, so it was good to see them rewarded with assists. Lo was so close to scoring herself, and if that one would have gone in, it would have been the best of the bunch. The Milliet/Wright combination was the most frequent passing combination for Racing in the match. It’s good to see the right side of defense gelling as much as the left side.
