For once, there isn’t rain the forecast for a Racing match at home. It may be on the hotter side, but it will be an interesting night to watch the crowd that Racing attracts. Orlando, the defending champions should be a decent draw on paper, but it’s hard to know what Racing’s steady state attendance number will be this year. It will be the last chance to catch any NWSL action in Louisville for over a month, due to the upcoming summer break.

Racing got a reality check on Saturday but shouldn’t carry over too much sting into this next match because of how well Kansas City are playing and the fight Racing showed in the second half. Orlando is equally as tough. I like a back 3 in this league and specifically on Orlando. It cuts the defensive responsibilities into thirds instead of halves. Racing have might try to experiment with some different looks at different points in the match. I think I would rather have Sears on the Dyke/Pickett side over Sams’ side, but we will see what Bev thinks.

Any result here for Racing isn’t disastrous but stealing some points before the break would be good for the psyche. After the long summer break, the schedule doesn’t get any easier. Here are some things to consider going into the break.

The transfer window opens on July 1st. Racing has by my count 19 players on its roster that have contracts that only run through the end of this season. At least a few of them have to be keeping an eye on Boston and Denver. The newer expansion teams have been willing to splash money on players. There are also some names on that list that might be attractive to teams looking for a final piece for a playoff push. Racing has bought and traded in the summer window in the past as well. Just be braced for the chance that the roster that returns after the break might look different that the one that exists now.
Balcer was seen in practice today

I have no information on what that means exactly, but as close as Bev keeps things to the vest, one would have to think that is means that Bacler is at least on the path towards returning. I have no idea how fully she participated in practice, but the staff felt comfortable enough letting the media see her in the warmup drill today. Reason would seem to point to a return post break.

There are just as many games after the break as before it, so anything can happen in the table. Nobody is out of it, but Utah and Chicago have to been looking at their rosters and deciding if they have assets that are valuable in the short term. Mina Tanaka is a free agent at the end of the season for Utah and Bea Franklin is for Chicago is as well. I don’t have any inside knowledge on these players, but they might be interesting to teams looking for extra pieces.

RLFC v Pride -1

They used to make steel there, no?