Spirit 3 Racing 0 Post Match Thoughts

Courtesy ISI Photos

Racing are now officially eliminated from NWSL playoff contention. Saturday's loss was similar in scoreline to the last few losses, but the performance was improved.

Racing's top 3 draft picks in the 2021 NWSL College draft were for once all on the field and healthy. The 198 combined minutes played by Fox, Otto and Ekic were the most minutes played by the top 3 draft picks in a match. A few words on each:

Fox: Emily started in midfield for the second consecutive match and was just as effective in this role as she has been at left or right back. I believe that she will almost certainly start there again in the next match with McCaskill picking up her 5th yellow card of the season which requires her to miss the next match. As I said before, the decision on where she plays in the future will depend on need.

Otto: Taylor played a full 90 for the first time in her professional career. She looked solid on the ball and completed 86% of her passes. This was the first time that I have had the chance to see her play more than 45 minutes. It's easy to see why she is so highly regarded. I believe we might see a Fox, Otto, Olofsson midfield next match.

Ekic: Emina has been getting sporadic playing time, but in the last couple of matches has looked more like the player she did earlier in the season. I’m convinced that 2 of her shots would have found the back of the net if not for timely blocks by a Spirit player. Her other shot produced a nice save from Bledsoe.

Cheyna Matthews once again looked dangerous off the bench. In fact, the subs all looked sharp. I am not going to dwell on the negatives, but I will say the to some degree disorganization led to all three goals and leave it at that.

I still think this team has a few points left in them this year, but even if they don’t, they can be proud of how hard they have fought under difficult circumstances.